Free Republic

The Israel Defense Forces are so much more than the picture of raw power perceived in news stories and war-centered history books. The IDF functions on a daily basis employing stealth and deception in the battle against Israel's unremitting enemies. Pre-1967, the state and military were perceived as underdogs fighting the good fight against all odds. The devastating effectiveness and efficiency with which the IDF knocked out and embarrassed Arab armies changed the perception of the IDF and the Jewish people into a conquering military machine. The success was so decisive that it altered the mindset of the Jewish people...

Yom Kippur In Israel (photo)Jews in Ra'anana, Israel symbolically transfer their human sins to fowl. By Judy Lash Balint Israel News Agency Jerusalem ----September 21...... The Days of Awe are drawing to their climactic conclusion, and signs of the impending Day of Judgment may be seen all over Israel. In the days before Yom Kippur, thousands of Torah observant citizens in Israel rush to finish the ritual of kapparot, where human sins are symbolically transferred to a fowl, generally a chicken. It's a custom that does not appear anywhere in the Talmud, but whose origin seems to come courtesy of...

Israel: Ariel Sharon Near DeathBy Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem-----February 11.......Israel has been praying for a miracle. For Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to wake up from a stroke induced coma, smile and tell us that we should not be worrying about his health. But on this sunny and cold day in Jerusalem, the news is not good. And most of Israel will not know that Sharon may be living his last hours until they switch on their TV or check their e-mail tonight. A hospital spokeswoman in Jerusalem has just stated that the Israel Prime Minister's "life is in danger."...

Israel Sharon Completes Second Operation, Condition "Severe"Sharon Has Severe Brain Damage, Survival Not ExpectedBy Joel Leyden Israel News Agency Jerusalem----January 5.....It is a sunny day in Israel, but many of us are in tears after spending a sleepless night by the TV. Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has completed a second concurrent operation which has stopped the massive bleeding from which Sharon suffered from. Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has assumed the powers of Israel Prime Minister and is now holding an emergency meeting of the Israel Cabinet. There is very little movement on the streets as the Jewish nation...

Israel Says Never Again With New Holocaust Museum By Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem----March 13....It is not the Eurovision TV song festival or the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team entering the finals of the European championship. There are no ads or promos on Israel television. It is an event which entered my email box as hundreds do from the Israel Government Press Office. But this event was quite different. It talked about a new holocaust museum opening in Jerusalem. At first I questioned if this was a new wing or an extension dedicated by a wealthy contributor in the US...

The deaths of five soldiers from the Israel Defense Forces' Desert Reconnaissance Unit (the so-called Bedouin unit) in an attack on an army outpost near Rafah earlier this month drew public attention to the service of Bedouin in the IDF. However, the reports on the incident paid little attention to the fact that most of the dead were not Bedouin: Three of the five soldiers killed were Muslim Arabs from villages in the Galilee and Triangle, who had volunteered for military service. Chief of Staff Moshe Ya'alon paid condolence visits to the three families - the first such visits by...

Merkava (Hebrew for Chariot). The Merkava Mark IV is arguably the finest Main Battle Tank (MBT) in the world. Produced at the Israel Military Industries (IMI) tank production facility at the Tel Hashomer Armoured Corps Base, it improves, by an order of magnitude, upon the Merkava Mark III. The Mark IV entered service with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in February 2004. Read more at: PardonMyEnglish.com

Israel Defense Forces: A Proud HistoryBy Joel Leyden Israel News AgencyJerusalem----March 27.....This is the proud story of the Israel Defense Forces. The Israel News Agency will be adding content and editing this page in the days ahead. We begin with the creation of modern Israel. A unique feature characterizing the first phase of Israel's War of Independence up to May 1948 was the "battle for the roads." The vast majority of Palestine's main roads ran through areas populated by Arabs, and by controlling the roads, the Arabs could effectively lay siege to areas of Jewish settlement. In March, having failed...

Christmas Eve TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS, HE LIVED ALL ALONE, IN A ONE BEDROOM HOUSE MADE OF PLASTER AND STONE. I HAD COME DOWN THE CHIMNEY WITH PRESENTS TO GIVE, AND TO SEE JUST WHO IN THIS HOME DID LIVE. I LOOKED ALL ABOUT, A STRANGE SIGHT I DID SEE, NO TINSEL, NO PRESENTS, NOT EVEN A TREE. NO STOCKING BY MANTLE, JUST BOOTS FILLED WITH SAND, ON THE WALL HUNG PICTURES OF FAR DISTANT LANDS. WITH MEDALS AND BADGES, AWARDS OF ALL KINDS, A SOBER THOUGHT CAME THROUGH MY MIND. FOR THIS HOUSE WAS DIFFERENT, IT WAS DARK...