Maj. Gen. David Zini observed, “The concept of a surprise attack is not clearly envisioned or internalized by our forces. As a result, operational readiness is seriously lacking.”

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

IDF Gen. David Zini, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new pick to head the  Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), sounded the alarm in March 2023 that Israel was not prepared to deal with a serious attack such as the Hamas invasion that ensued six months later.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) cited Zini’s early warnings as a key factor in appointing him as the new security chief.

At the time, Zini was approached by the commander of the Gaza Division, who asked him to assess the military’s readiness to deal with a surprise attack.

Zini concluded there was inadequate preparedness for such a scenario and recommended improvements to ensure readiness.

The PMO approved an excerpt from the classified report for publication.

Zini wrote, “In nearly every sector, our forces could be vulnerable to sudden raids, challenging the idea of being ‘surprised but not defeated.'”

He continued, “There are many opportunities for such attacks to occur during normal operations. I believe an above-ground assault is the most likely and accessible approach.”

He added that there was an inadequate understanding of and preparation for “surprise raids.”

“The concept of a surprise attack is not clearly envisioned or internalized by our forces,” he wrote. “As a result, operational readiness is seriously lacking.”

Zini recommended that clearly defined scenarios were required so the IDF could anticipate and prevent such attacks.

“The main problem lies in the situational awareness of the troops and the general defense system.”

The PMO announced the appointment of Zini despite warnings from the Supreme Court and Attorney General that he was not allowed to proceed as long as investigations into the so-called “Qatar-Gate” scandal were ongoing.

The Supreme Court also called the attempt to dismiss former Shin Bet head Ronen Bar, who resigned, improper.

The Supreme Court called the decision to fire Bar “improper,” “unlawful,” and a product of Netanyahu’s “conflict of interest.”

“The government failed to provide a tangible reason for removing the Shin Bet chief,” wrote Court President Justice Isaac Amit in the majority’s opinion. “At best, it rested on a thin and shaky foundation. At worst, it was arbitrary.”

The post Netanyahu’s pick for Shin Bet chief warned Israel was vulnerable to attack 6 months before Oct. 7 appeared first on World Israel News.

Could Trump order such a hit? It seems farfetched, but so too analysts and diplomats have described many of Trump’s positions which are now reality.

By Michael Rubin, Middle East Forum

In the early morning hours of January 3, 2020, two cars sped along an isolated stretch of the 12.5 kilometer road that leads from Baghdad International Airport, past a U.S. and Iraqi military base, and into Baghdad’s green zone, the highly secure areas where many government officials work or reside.

U.S. forces had tracked its occupant, Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, since he arrived on a charter flight from Damascus.

The U.S. government believes that the Qods Force, the external and special operations wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, to have been directly responsible for the deaths of several hundred Americans.

President Donald Trump gave the order, and an MQ-9 Reaper fired several missiles, engulfing the cars in flame; all that was left of Soleimani was his severed hand with his tell-tale ring.

Donald Trump Makes a Bold Move

Soleimani’s assassination’s shocked both the Islamic Republic and even many in Trump’s inner-circle. Few thought Trump, for all his bluster, would give such an audacious order.

After all, when the Islamic Republic downed an American RQ-4A Global Hawk surveillance drone that cost almost $200 million flying in international airspace, Trump declined to respond.

Criticism of both his Democratic and Republican predecessors for engaging militarily far from American shores was also a staple of Trump’s record.

Trump was unapologetic about the assassination. “Last night, at my direction, the United States military successfully executed a flawless precision strike that killed the number-one terrorist anywhere in the world, Qasem Soleimani,” the president said, adding, “Under my leadership, America’s policy is unambiguous: To terrorists who harm or intend to harm any American, we will find you; we will eliminate you. We will always protect our diplomats, service members, all Americans, and our allies.”

That Soleimani was an Iranian government official did not concern Trump, nor did the possibility that Iran would retaliate.

Ultimately, despite Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s threats, Iran did not do much. There was some drone attacks on Iraqi bases in which the United States co-located forces, but these caused only minor injuries and property damage.

The lessons Trump learned are that he could get away with shredding diplomatic convention and self-imposed restraints, impose a price for killing Americans, and be applauded by even his more isolationist base.

What Trump Could Do Next…

As Trump initiates his second term, the closing incident of his first administration should worry senior Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officials up to and including Lieutenant-General Asim Malik as well as his immediate predecessors.

After all, the ISI has with duplicity and direction killed nearly as many Americans as has the Qods Force.

Pakistan, like Iran, Qatar, and Turkey, nurture proxies on the assumption the international community will reward the sleight of hand with impunity.

With its support for groups ranging from Kashmir and Khalistani terrorists to Taliban groups and the Islamic State-Khorasan, the ISI deserves designation as a terror group while its institutionalization within and dominance over the Pakistani government should lead to U.S. designation of Pakistan as a terror sponsor.

Pakistani terrorists have repeatedly targeted Americans. The 2008 Mumbai attacks killed not only Indians but also Americans among other nationalities, including a 13-year-old girl.

The September 11, 2001 Al Qaeda attacks on New York and Washington, 2008 Mumbai attacks, and then October 7, 2023 attacks all became possible only because states like Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, and Iran calculated they could avoid accountability by outsourcing policy to terror groups.

The Mumbai attackers are not just directed by hatred of India; like their Al Qaeda and Hamas brethren, antisemitism ran deep, as they scoured Mumbai for Jewish targets.

The ISI actively protects terrorists. While the ISI’s protection of Al Qaeda founder Osama Bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, is the premier example, it is not the only one.

The ISI also protects Sajid Mir, a terrorist responsible for the Mumbai attacks, who is on the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Most Wanted list.

While Pakistan said it had arrested Mir to get off the Financial Action Task Force gray list, the Counter-Terrorism Department of the Punjab Police did not announce his conviction, nor did it allow the media to cover his alleged trial.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s claims that Mir is in prison appear to have the same credibility as Pakistan’s earlier denials that Al Qaeda leader Usama Bin Laden was in Pakistan.

Either way, the ISI refuses to allow the United States, which maintains a $5 million bounty for his arrest, to access Mir, likely fearing he would tell American officials the truth about his sponsors.

The United States tried diplomacy with Tehran for decades to compel the Islamic Republic to cease its terror sponsorship before Trump ordered Soleimani’s assassination.

Successive administrations have done the same with Islamabad, only to have Pakistani authorities lie repeatedly.

There is not a single U.S. director of Central Intelligence who believes his Pakistan counterpart in the ISI to be either truthful or uninvolved in the deliberate murder of Americans.

A Complicated Question

Could Trump order such a hit? It seems farfetched, but so too analysts and diplomats have described many of Trump’s positions which are now reality.

Frustration has grown so great under President George W. Bush that his deputy secretary of State, Richard Armitage, reportedly threatened that the United States could bomb Pakistan “into the stone age.”

Armitage’s subsequent denial was pro forma to help both sides save face.

Pakistan, of course, is also a nuclear power, but that did not stop Barack Obama from launching a direct attack on Bin Laden’s Abbottabad compound.

When push comes to shove, the United States does not respect Pakistani sovereignty because Islamabad deserves no such respect.

Any attack on the ISI chief would likely coincide with outreach to Pakistan’s civilian leadership—whose private reaction might be relief—as well as a broader U.S. effort to make sure Pakistan’s nuclear stockpiles remain under lockdown.

A hit on the ISI chief would also require intelligence penetration, but this is not a high hurdle. After Soleimani was killed, Iranian-backed interests in Iraq detained nearly half of Baghdad International Airport’s workers.

They never caught the culprits; frankly, Iraq is so penetrated, they likely would not even have enough prison space. Pakistan is not much different.

Would a drone strike on ISI Chief Asim Malik be likely? No. Frankly, the CIA and Pentagon would strongly urge against hitting any sitting official. But, a former ISI director-general like Ahmad Shuja Pasha is another thing.

After all, he oversaw the agency during the Mumbai attacks and whose relationship with Washington was deservedly poor.

Pakistan would react with outrage, but every demarche and statement would only focus more attention on its record of terror support.

Still, with Trump again in the White House, it is time Pakistanis asked both whether the assassination of Soleimani was the exception or the rule and if they believe Trump will be as weak as Biden when it came to the willingness to avoid holding those who killed Americans responsible for their actions.

The post Could Donald Trump give Pakistan’s ISI head the Qasem Soleimani treatment? appeared first on World Israel News.

In the wake of an attempted suicide bombing intended to detonate in a synagogue, miraculously thwarted due to premature detonation, security officials ponder what Israel’s response will be to combat this rising threat.

The post WATCH: What can Israel do to prevent more terror attacks? appeared first on World Israel News.

It turns out that Israel has been quietly releasing hundreds of Gazans each month, typically in the middle of the night.

By Ruthie Blum, JNS

If Mohammed Abu Salmiya hadn’t filmed a couple of hate-filled videos upon his triumphant return to Gaza on Monday morning, the Shifa Hospital director’s release from Israeli incarceration would have remained under the radar.

But Abu Salmiya, one of some 50 Palestinian detainees let out of the Sde Teiman military base in southern Israel and whisked back to the terrorist enclave from whence they came, was proud to highlight his ordeal.

It’s lucky he did.

Otherwise, the fact that he’s now back in the business of using his illustrious license and position to store weapons and abuse hostages would have escaped notice—not only of the Israeli public, but of the very government that’s supposed to have learned a lesson or two on and since Oct. 7.

In his clips, Abu Salmiya failed to mention his own key role in Hamas’s atrocities, which involved aiding and abetting the perpetrators of the massacre and mass abductions.

This isn’t mere speculation; all evidence of Shifa operations is fully documented, with footage, photos and Israel Security Agency Interrogations galore.

Naturally, this didn’t stop the Shifa chief, who was arrested in November, from accusing the “enemy” of criminal behavior toward the “hundreds of doctors, nurses and medical technicians” in Israeli prisons.

Nor did it prevent him from encouraging the “resistance” to fight to free all Palestinian terrorists—or from having the nerve to call on human-rights organizations to visit them and see the “tragic” conditions under which they’re being held.

“The prisoners have lost weight—at least 25 kilos,” he said. “Everyone is suffering.” About the starving hostages, some of whom he happily harbored in his facility, he had nothing to say.

He was too busy vowing to resume his “medical” work and rebuild Shifa.

Dr. Mengele is grinning in his grave.

Two people not the least bit amused are Avi and Adi Marciano, whose 19-year-old daughter, Noa—an Israel Defense Forces field observer—was murdered on Shifa grounds.

“Noa was abandoned before Oct. 7, by not having been listened to,” her father posted on Facebook after learning the news about Abu Salmiya’s newfound freedom.

“She was abandoned on Oct. 7 when they didn’t come to save her. She was abandoned again afterwards when they didn’t do enough to bring her home alive. And now, seven months after we buried her, the State of Israel decides to release those responsible directly or indirectly for her murder.”

He went on, “Sorry, my child, that even now they continue to abandon you. I am willing to accept the release of those involved in the murder of my daughter only as part of a hostage deal. Not like this.”

It turns out that Israel has been quietly releasing hundreds of Gazans each month, typically in the middle of the night. The IDF tends not to confirm or deny this information after it is publicized by Palestinians in the Strip.

According to Hebrew press reports, the prisoners are released through a side gate to northern Gaza near the IDF’s Zikim base.

Two ostensible reasons for these releases are overcrowding in detention centers and the removal of suspicion from those found by the ISA to be “uninvolved” civilians.

The excuses are lame. In the first place, the number of so-called “civilians” in Gaza is questionable; many residents of the hell-hole have been hiding hostages in their homes.

Others have been providing tacit support for the travesty by keeping mum on the whereabouts of any of the 120 remaining captives.

Indeed, not a single righteous person has emerged in that moral sewer—not even to help baby Kfir Bibas and his four-year-old brother, Ariel.

Second, if overcrowding is an issue, it can be solved by adding lock-up facilities.

Israel is at war with monsters still raping and beating innocent people whose only offense was living or working peacefully in the Jewish state.

Third, even if there were such a thing as a non-guilty person in Gaza, Abu Salmiya sure doesn’t fit the bill. No wonder politicians from across the spectrum are going ballistic and playing the blame game.

The trouble is that many of them are Cabinet ministers, which makes their outrage at the move reminiscent of the shock on the part of the authorities at having been caught by surprise on Oct. 7.

In response to the justified hysteria, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant stated: “The procedure for the incarceration and release of security prisoners is under the auspices of the ISA and the Israel Prison Service, and is not subject to the approval of the defense minister.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office had a slightly different take, arguing, “The decision to release the prisoners followed discussions at the High Court on a petition against the detention of prisoners at the Sde Teiman detention facility. The identity of the released prisoners is determined independently by security officials based on their professional considerations.”

The PMO added that Netanyahu has demanded an immediate investigation into the incident.

The ISA’s reaction was the most appalling of all. After bemoaning the lack of prison space, the security agency actually averred that Abu Salmiya “met all the requirements [for release] regarding the level of danger he poses.”

As an afterthought to that ridiculous claim, the agency agreed to probe its decision. You honestly can’t make this stuff up.

Perhaps it’s time for the Saturday-night protesters to aim their anger at the justices whose power they’ve been preserving for being more concerned with the welfare of Hamas terrorists than with the hostages.

And while the demonstrators are at it, they might want to demand that Netanyahu fire ISA director Ronen Bar.

The post Has Israel’s security apparatus learned nothing from Oct. 7? appeared first on World Israel News.

The terrorist revealed that multiple branches of Hamas used to use the hospital as a base, because ‘it provides security.’

The post WATCH: Captured Hamas terrorist confesses to extensive military operations based in hospital appeared first on World Israel News.

All 42 plaintiffs underwent medical evaluations indicating that they’re suffering from physical or mental trauma.

By Amelie Botbol, TPS

Forty-two survivors of Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre at the Supernova music festival at Kibbutz Re’im are suing the Israel Defense Forces, Israel Security Agency, and Israel Police for negligence, and are claiming 200 million shekels ($53.6 million) in damages.

The claim was filed by lawyers Anat and Gilad Ginzburg, who note that the night before Hamas’s invasion, top security brass held meetings amid intelligence indicating abnormal activity in the Gaza Strip.

“One phone call would have prevented 364 people from being murdered, raped, or both, and another 40 from being kidnapped into Gaza,” Gilad Ginzburg told the Tazpit Press Service. “We blame the police and the army for allowing the producers to hold the festival [along the border], even though we know that IDF surveillance officers raised the alarm and felt that it would be unsafe,” he added.

On Oct. 7, Hamas terrorists launched a multi-pronged cross-border assault on southwestern Israel, killing 1,200 people overall.

Ilya, 34, a software engineer from Tel Aviv, attended the festival and escaped unharmed, at least physically. One of the plaintiffs in the case, he stressed the difficulties survivors face in their daily lives.

“While I was not injured physically, I will need to undergo psychological treatment, probably for the rest of my life. I struggle to function, so I will need financial help to take care of myself in every possible way,” Ilya told TPS. As a result of the trauma, he suffers from anxiety, depressive thoughts, trouble sleeping, and has difficulty interacting with others, he added.

However, the lawsuit is primarily about justice and holding people accountable, he emphasized.

“A lot of things happened that should not have. Someone needs to take responsibility for it,” he said. “We feel that we were abandoned. We should have been protected.”

All 42 plaintiffs underwent medical/psychological evaluations indicating that they suffer from physical or mental trauma as a direct result of the massacre.

According to Ginzburg, the suit could take years to make its way through the courts. He also expects additional Oct. 7 survivors to take legal action. “After we began speaking to the press and the public became aware of the suit, we received hundreds of calls from victims of the Supernova festival who wanted to join,” he said.

However, Maurice Hirsch, director of the Palestinian Authority Accountability Initiative at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, told TPS that the plaintiffs face an uphill battle.

“Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre was, unfortunately, a well-planned and executed act of war. Even the general understanding that there were some kind of prior warnings of some nature isn’t sufficient to base a claim,” he said.

“It’s impossible to hold the state responsible for every attack that happens—unless there is a clear act of criminal negligence,” he added.

Hirsch warned that a successful lawsuit of this nature could open the door to liability claims against the Israeli political and security echelons for every terror attack the country has ever suffered.

A spokesperson for the Israeli Justice Ministry told TPS that the state’s response to the lawsuit would be submitted directly to the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court and is not available to the public.

The post $53.6 million lawsuit launched by Supernova massacre survivors against Israel’s security agencies appeared first on World Israel News.

Israeli who fatally stabbed Palestinian denied legal counsel, sparking concerns from right-wing MKs.

By Lauren Marcus, World Israel News

Hundreds of Israelis protested outside of the police station in Ariel on Saturday evening, where an Israeli man suspected of stabbing a Palestinian to death has been held without access to legal counsel since last Thursday.

Last week, an Israeli man fatally stabbed Ali Hassan Harb, 28, during a massive brawl which saw some 40 Israelis and Palestinians fighting near Ariel, in northern Samaria.

The Hamas terror group claimed the slain man as a member of their organization, releasing a martyrdom poster with Harb’s face superimposed against the Dome of the Rock the day after his death.

Police arrested an Israeli man, whose name has not been cleared for publication, who they suspect stabbed Harb. Notably, the investigation is being spearheaded by the Israeli Security Agency (ISA), an entity which typically deals with terror suspects and better known by its Hebrew acronym, the Shin Bet.

The Shin Bet has denied the Israeli man access to an attorney. Israeli law guarantees suspected criminals legal counsel as a right, save for exceptional situations of terror and threats to national security.

Thr Shin Bet’s involvement and refusal to allow the man to speak with a lawyer suggest that the investigation is being treated as a terror incident.

MK Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionism) expressed concern over the investigation in a statement, saying that “the ISA is under Naftali Bennett’s direct control, the body responsible for complaints of those under investigation is under Gideon Sa’ar, and yet they are more concerned with political spins than protecting Jews!”

On Saturday evening, a large crowd of protesters, estimated to number in the hundreds, gathered outside of the Ariel police station and called upon the authorities to allow the man legal counsel, Kan reported.

“The conditions under which he is being held are inappropriate. It’s not ethical,” rebel Yamina MK Idit Silman said at the protest.

“Thank you for coming out to support him. Most importantly, you’re fighting for our homeland. We will fight together,” she added.

On Sunday afternoon, Israeli police arrested the first Palestinians suspected of being involved in the brawl, all of whom are relatives of the man who was killed.

The post Hundreds protest after Israeli suspected of stabbing Palestinian denied access to attorney appeared first on World Israel News.