GNITN – Special Edition

Israel At War – Day 16
Questions Still Remain

I’m Not A Conspiracy Fan

While some will argue against this, mainly because I will entertain some conspiracy theories, I really call myself a pattern follower and I do have the ability to connect the dots on something that is suspicious. For instance, on 9/11 I will admit that the twin towers were hit by two planes and while some believe that them both falling is suspect, I’ve seen enough evidence to support no foul play in that happening. But when the other buildings also fell, I wonder why. There are those who question where the debris went with flight 93 and others who don’t believe the Pentagon was hit by a plane at all. The conspiracies abound, especially after what the world went through with the pandemic and all the shenanigans surrounding where it originated and now all the deaths of people who were vaccinated, many of which died suddenly and very young. All of these theories can wait for another day even though they all pique my interest on varying levels.

Questions Remain About The October 7th Attack On Israel

We’ve been told that there will be a reckoning on this, but it will have to wait until after the fighting is done with Hamas and anyone else picking a fight with Israel, however that doesn’t stop people from asking question now. The first question is how did Hamas breach one of the most heavily guarded borders that day? The second question is how did the vaunted Iron Dome fail that day when it worked flawlessly before and since? The third question is how come the storied Mossad failed to see the attack coming at all or at least see hints of an attack? Israel’s intelligence agencies are usually top notch and rarely if ever miss something this massive. For now, no one has really answered all three of these questionable things with what I believe are credible explanations. I’m not the only one who looks and scratches their head when these are asked. Usually staunch supporters of Israel are beginning to wonder as well.

A Strongly Protected Border

We know that Israel takes its borders extremely seriously and any possible incursion into them are seen as a threat to their security. According to Israeli reports, the breaches were at between 20-30 points which could explain how the terrorists got through which is to simply overwhelm the security. Such checkpoints are made to repel single incursions, but if the number of pressure points is as high as we know now, a targeted assault could explain how so many terrorist actually got in and then were able to help others get in. Still, no report explains why Hamas could accomplish this attack so smoothly and with so much ease. Residents who survived the attacks have asked why the usually solid protection measures failed so spectacularly. These are valid questions and answers must come sooner than later if only to help prevent another attack like it in the future.

Iron Dome Inexplicably Fails

In the early hours of the attack, people wondered how so many terrorist rockets got through. While not a perfect system, it has held up well in previous rocket attacks from both Gaza and Syria. They system works this way as seen in a article from MSN.com (see https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/israel-s-iron-dome-air-defense-system-works-well-heres-how-hamas-got-around-it/ar-AA1i9YXX) :

An air defense system consists of three key components. First, there are radars to detect, identify and track incoming missiles. The range of these radars varies. Iron Dome’s radar is effective over distances of 2.5 to 43.5 miles (4 to 70 km), according to its manufacturer Raytheon. Once an object has been detected by the radar, it must be assessed to determine whether it is a threat. Information such as direction and speed are used to make this determination.

If an object is confirmed as a threat, Iron Dome operators continue to track the object by radar. Missile speeds vary considerably, but assuming a representative speed of 3,280 feet per second (1 km/s), the defense system has at most one minute to respond to an attack.

The second major element of an air defense system is the battle control center. This component determines the appropriate way to engage a confirmed threat. It uses the continually updating radar information to determine the optimal response in terms of from where to fire interceptor missiles and how many to launch against an incoming missile.

The third major component is the interceptor missile itself. For Iron Dome, it is a supersonic missile with heat-seeking sensors. These sensors provide in-flight updates to the interceptor, allowing it to steer toward and close in on the threat. The interceptor uses a proximity fuse activated by a small radar to explode close to the incoming missile so that it does not have to hit it directly to disable it.

A long quote, but now you know how sophisticated it is. So why did it fail on October 7th?

It Has Limits

Going back to the same MSN article we read this:

So, why was the system less effective against the recent Hamas attacks?

It is a simple question of numbers. Hamas fired several thousand missiles, and Israel had less than a thousand interceptors in the field ready to counter them. Even if Iron Dome was 100% effective against the incoming threats, the very large number of the Hamas missiles meant some were going to get through.

The Hamas attacks illustrate very clearly that even the best air defense systems can be overwhelmed if they are overmatched by the number of threats they have to counter.

While some felt that there were shenanigans going on by Russia or even America using high tech interference weapons on the Iron Dome system, according to this author, the answer is simpler than that. On this point there appears to be some plausible theories on how it was defeated. On this conspiracy, I think it was just a very clever attack.

Why The Lack Of Good Intel?

Here I think is where the IDF and its intelligence branches have some explaining to do. Obviously, to be caught so flat footed is embarrassing on its face. Yes, it was a day of rest, but if Israel has learned anything, her enemies always know the Jewish holidays and customs and will definitely try to take advantage of them when attacking. It is odd that an attack of such magnitude and precision was executed right under Mossad’s nose. On this point, no one has been able to explain why Hamas hoodwinked the IDF. And why did they not upgrade their defense systems to the overwhelming amount of rockets fired at them? Surely they knew the limitations of the Iron Dome and surely they knew the amount of rockets Hamas has in its arsenal. According to David Friedman, who was in the Trump administration, it’s hard to explain as we read in this quote from an NBCnews.com report (see https://www.nbcnews.com/news/investigations/israel-us-miss-hamas-was-planning-rcna119335) :

David Friedman, who was U.S. ambassador to Israel in the Trump administration, said: “In the 40 or more years that I’ve been following Israel one way or another, I’ve never seen this happen. I’ve never seen the border breached in this manner. Usually, even one person from Gaza gets close to the border, they’re intercepted and neutralized long before they can do anything. This is just something I’ve never seen before. It’s of course a large intelligence failure.”

In my estimation, this point must be addressed since it will always be the big elephant in any room when trying to assess why Israel was clearly caught by surprise.

Pray For The Israel War Team

You’ve heard me say time and time again to pray that those in charge of the was in Israel have the anointing of the Sons of Issachar when they continue to embark on rooting out and eliminating Hamas. These members of David’s mighty men didn’t fight in a conventional sense, but provided guidance to those who did fight. It is said that they knew the times or understood why what was happening, was happening. They were then also able to formulate what was needed to be done next. The latter was as important as the former, especially in battle situations. As this war continues, and some think the ground offensive could take months not days, there will be hard decisions and reactions. Lives are literally at stake with each move that is made. And add to that all the world leaders pressuring Israel on what they can and can’t do, or how far they can go in rooting out all terrorism and terrorists surrounding them. As many have felt, myself included, there will be a defining moment when Israel will have to go it alone and fight these terrorists in ways that the world will not like if only because the terrorists don’t fight fair. If there is ever a moment when we need to pray for the peace of Jerusalem, it is now.