'170,000 Rockets Aimed at Israel':: Israel's Chief of Military Intelligence presents the magnitude of Israel's struggle to defend itself.

Israel's Chief of Military Intelligence, Major General Aviv Kohavi, painted a clear and graphic picture of what Israel faces on a daily basis on Wednesday: a constant barrage of terrorist threats. 

"Israel is surrounded by 360 degrees of actual enemies," Kohavi stated, in a speech at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) quoted byWalla!. 

"We call this period in time the "Era of Fire", in light of the amount of missiles and rockets we face as a constant threat. There are about 170,000 rockets and missiles that threaten Israel," Kochavi said.

"The fighting in Syria, as well as operation 'Pillar of Defense', has resulted in a slight decrease.  However, it will increase again," he added. "For the first time the enemy now has the ability to hit Israeli cities hard."
Kohavi issued a new term to describe Israel's enemies: "paramilitary terrorist groups." 

"We cannot continue to call Hezbollah a terror group," Kohavi maintained. "They have over 100,000 rockets and missiles, some of them advanced. The same can be said of Hamas. The line between a terror organization and a military organization continues to blur." 

"Today, Israel is threatened with warheads that contain half a ton of explosives - but also warheads that contain 900 kilograms of explosives," Kohavi explained. "Our enemies are working on procuring weapons systems in the air and on the sea to break through our Air Force and Navy. IAF pilots can no longer move freely toward their targets and have to dodge missiles that threaten them." 

Kohavi also related to Syria, which has been caught in an all-out Islamic holy war since 2011. According to the Major General, the security threat is enormous: over 30,000 global jihad terrorists are concentrated there, and many are in training camps to bring terrorism abroad. 

"Syria has become a magnet for terrorists in Europe, America, Asia and North Africa," he noted. "The terror will not stay there, but will spill over into sleeper camps in Lebanon and Sinai and infect the entire region." 
Jihadists have been slowly crossing the border into Turkey, Kohavi stated, "where they are a threat to Europe. The distance between Syria and Turkey is not far."

"We are talking about extremists clinging to extremist ideologies - anti-Western and anti-Modern ideologies," he continued. "We are talking about exceptional cruelty and brutality close to our borders." 

In addition, Kohavi warned that Iran's nuclear program remains an imminent threat. "Iran's nuclear program continues," he stated. "It is just waiting on Iranian leaders to decide whether or not to produce one bomb, or more." 

Kohavi does remain slightly optimistic, however, about threats closer to Israel's borders. "The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt and Hamas in Gaza are under great distress right now," he said. "This is a serious opportunity for the State of Israel."  

Kochavi also referred to cyberspace and the threats against Israel launched on that front. 
"Last year, there were dozens of attacks carried out on Israel's security systems and hundreds of attacks on state institutions," he said. "The field of cyberwarfare has only just begun." 

"Cyber​​warfare, in my humble opinion, will soon emerge as a more important discovery than gunpowder," he stated. "The ability to use cyberspace is unlimited - and that's not just ametaphor. In the past we gathered the same intelligence with 40 people that we can now do with four." 

Arutz 7

Palestinian Authority's Double Standards on Prisoners

The daily Al-Quds al-Arabi recently revealed that dozens of Palestinians have been held in Kuwaiti prisons since 1991. The families of these prisoners do not know anything about their conditions. The Palestinian Authority ambassador to Kuwait, Rami Tahboub, refused to comment on the plight of the prisoners there. Reached by phone, the ambassador first said he was busy with a meeting. He later stopped answering the phone.

As far as the Palestinian Authority leadership is concerned, the only "heroes" are those prisoners who are held in Israel. For the Palestinian Authority, Palestinians who are being tortured and killed in Arab prisons are not worth even a statement.

While the Palestinian Authority continues to demand the release of Palestinians from Israeli jails, it has long been ignoring the fact that thousands of Palestinians are languishing in prisons in several Arab countries.

The families of the prisoners held by Israel at least know where their sons are and most visit them on a regular basis.

But in the Arab world the story is completely different.

The daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi recently revealed that dozens of Palestinians have been held in Kuwaiti prisons since 1991. The families of these prisoners do not know anything about their conditions.

That Palestinians are being held in prison in an Arab country is not surprising. What is not understood is the Palestinian Authority's position.

According to the report, the Palestinian Authority has never approached the Kuwaitis concerning the fate of the prisoners.

Mohammed al-Udwan, the father of one of the Palestinians held in Kuwait for the past 25 years, said that he still does not know exactly where his son, Essam, is being held. He and other families complained that the Palestinian Authority has not done anything to help them.

The Palestinian Authority ambassador to Kuwait, Rami Tahboub, refused to comment on the plight of the prisoners there. Reached by phone, the ambassador first said he was busy with a meeting. He later stopped answering the phone.

Hassan Khraisheh, Deputy Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council in Ramallah, urged the emir of Kuwait to put an end to the "tragedy" of the Palestinian families whose sons are held in his prisons without trial.

Khraisheh called on the emir to inform the families whether their sons were still alive. "If they are dead," he added, "then we want confirmation and information where they are buried."

Kuwait expelled hundreds of thousands of Palestinians after U.S.-led coalition forces liberated the tiny oil-rich emirate in 1991. The move came in retaliation for the Palestinian Liberation Organization's [PLO] support for Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait a year earlier.

A Palestinian billboard from 2006, honoring Yasser Arafat and Saddam Hussein. (Image source: Screenshot from video by Palestinian Media Watch]

After liberation, the Kuwaitis also arrested many Palestinians on suspicion of collaboration with the Iraqi occupation army.

Recently, the Kuwaitis finally allowed the Palestinian Authority to reopen the Palestinian embassy in the emirate. The move came after Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas apologized for the PLO's support of Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait.

But the Palestinian Authority leadership is apparently too afraid to ask the Kuwaiti authorities about the Palestinians who went missing in the emirate during the past two decades. Abbas does not want to alienate the Kuwaitis; he is apparently hoping that they will resume financial aid to the Palestinians.

Two weeks ago, Abbas boasted that he had acted as a mediator to secure the release of nine Lebanese nationals abducted 17 months ago in Syria.

Abbas's announcement enraged families of Palestinian prisoners in Kuwait and other Arab countries. The families said that Abbas's top priority should have been to secure the release of Palestinians, and not Lebanese, from Syrian prisons.

Hundreds of Palestinians are held in various prisons in Syria, some for more than two decades. In the past year, at least two prisoners were reported to have died in Syrian and Egyptian prisons.

Again, the Palestinian Authority leadership has not even demanded an inquiry into the deaths or the continued incarceration of Palestinians in the Arab world.

A prominent Palestinian writer who spent three weeks in jail in Syria described the prisons there as "human slaughterhouses." Salameh Kaileh was arrested in April last year on suspicion of printing leaflets calling for the overthrow of Bashar Assad.

"It was hell on earth," Kaileh told Associated Press. "I felt I was going to die under the brutal, savage and continuous beating of the interrogators, who tied me to ropes hung from the ceiling."

For the Palestinian Authority, the plight of Palestinians in Arab prisons does not seem to be an important issue. As far as the Palestinian Authority leadership is concerned, the only "heroes" are those prisoners who are held in Israel. For the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinians who are being tortured and killed in Arab prisons are not worth even a statement.

source - Khaled Abu Toameh