Israel anxiously followed the news about the American
struggle in Iraq to depose Saddam Hussein, as the first
reports of casualties came in and Iraq showed no signs of
collapsing in the face of the fierce American onslaught.
Israel has not suffered any attacks from Iraq in the first
few days of the war, and indeed Iraq has not shown that it
still has any long-range missiles or other means to threaten
Israel. Nonetheless all of Israel remained on high alert.
The United States is leading a coalition of 43 countries
whose main goal is to depose Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. The
Allies are: Afghanistan, Albania, Australia, Azerbaijan,
Britain, Bulgaria, Colombia, Costa Rica, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Eritrea, Estonia,
Ethiopia, Georgia, Honduras, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Japan,
Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Marshall Islands,
Micronesia, Mongolia, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Palau, Panama,
Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Rwanda, Singapore,
Slovakia, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Spain, Turkey,
Uganda, United States, Uzbekistan.
A report on Monday quoted senior officials in Washington as
saying that allied forces destroyed missile launchers in an
area in western Iraq, the region from which any missiles
aimed at Israel would have to be launched. However, the
report did not say if they were SCUD missile launchers, a
hazard to Israel, or other, short-range missile launchers
which are the only kind permitted to Iraq and are not a
hazard to Israel.
The Israeli Air Force patrolled the skies around the clock
but on Sunday it reduced the frequency of those aerial
patrols, as the American assault on Iraqi arms has reduced
the threat of an airborne attack on Israel. In addition to
Israeli aircraft in the skies, American fighters and bombers
from the aircraft carrier the U.S.S. Roosevelt, which
is stationed in the Mediterranean, may have passed over
Israel on their way to missions over Iraq.
Despite the lower alert for air attacks, Defense Minister
Shaul Mofaz said on Monday that the alert for an Iraqi
missile attack will not be reduced in the next few days.
Brig.-Gen. Yosef Kupperwasser, head of the Intelligence Corps
research and assessment branch, said no preparations for a
missile launching have yet been spotted in Iraq, but US
activity in western Iraq does not "guarantee an inability of
the Iraqis to operate from the area."
Kuperwasser said that Iraq at this time has no intention of
justifying the US-led campaign by attacking Israel with long-
range Scuds. However, the current Iraqi strategy might
change, inducing Saddam Hussein to try to attack Israel. The
Iraqi strategy now is to defend itself and to be seen as the
victim, he said. According to IDF intelligence there are no
indications that the Iraqi regime and military are collapsing
as a result of the US-led attack, he added.
Mofaz told the weekly Cabinet meeting that while the US
campaign is proceeding as planned, it is too early to assess
its status. The key, he said, will be breaking the Iraqi
regime's main support in and around Baghdad.
Responding to the Iraqi claim that US is using Israeli
munitions to bomb Baghdad, Mofaz answered that the fragments
found were from decoy missiles Israel sells to the American
air fleet. Called TALD, the air-launched missiles are
engineered to draw enemy antiaircraft fire away from planes,
or to "saturate" antiaircraft radars.
Israelis are being asked by the security authorities to carry
gas masks wherever they go, but few Israelis are doing so.
Military officials said the Israeli public was being overly
complacent in not following the instructions closely.
Numerous cabinet ministers came to the weekly meeting without
their masks, including prime minister Sharon himself,
Education Minister Limor Livnat, Foreign Minister Silvan
Shalom, Minister-without-Portfolio Natan Sharansky, and
Housing Minister Effi Eitam. Other ministers did bring their
masks.
As for threats from Palestinians, Mofaz said there are
"warnings," and security forces continue to detain suspects.
IDF soldiers arrested 19 Palestinians Monday night in the
West Bank, including a senior Tanzim activist believed to be
responsible for lethal terror attacks on Israelis.
Mofaz said that popular support for Iraq on the Palestinian
street remains widespread.
The cabinet also adopted a resolution put forward by
Sharansky saying that the government of Israel is "following
with concern" and "views with gravity" manifestations of
antisemitism in Europe. The government called upon the
world's leaders to do what is needed to prevent these
incidents and to prosecute lawbreakers.
On Monday, the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved
the IDF's request for 13,800 emergency call-up orders that
were issued last week with the start of the operation in
Iraq. Meanwhile 11,600 remain mobilized in special Air Force,
Home Front Command, and rescue units.
Each day of mobilization costs the IDF over NIS 10 million.
This is in addition to the hundreds of millions of shekels in
costs when Israelis were instructed to open their gas mask
kits.
A Home Front Command source confirmed that the opening of the
masks cost "millions" since some of the equipment will need
to be refreshed or replaced, and especially since many
unsealed their oxygen canisters or tampered with other
elements of the gas mask kit. The source noted that 96
percent of the population has been outfitted with updated
kits. Home Front Command distributed 3.5 million kits since
September, only a fraction of which were faulty. As of Sunday
evening, there remain only about 100,000 without updated
kits.
According to intelligence sources, launching a Scud is no
simple matter. Even if the launcher is stored in an
underground bunker or hanger, once moved it is easily
detectable. Before launching a missile, a weather balloon
must be sent up, which is also easily detectable. Finally the
Scud's fuel must be warmed up prior to launch, which also
reveals a launcher's position to sensitive satellites.
