Israeli Air Research Articles

The Targeted Killing of Salah Shehadeh: From Gaza to Madrid

On 22 July 2002, an Israeli Air Force plane dropped a one-ton bomb on a densely populated residential neighbourhood in Gaza City. The military objective of this operation was to kill Hamas' military leader in the Gaza Strip, Salah Shehadeh. More than six years later, in Madrid on 29 January 2009, Judge Fernando Andreu Merelles opened a criminal investigation against seven Israeli political and military officials for allegedly committing a war crime - and possibly a crime against humanity - in that operation. The basis of jurisdiction claimed was universal jurisdiction. As the same facts have been reviewed by different legal authorities in Israel, this case provides us with some considerations on the extent and applicability of the principle of subsidiarity.

Role of Air-Medical Evacuation in Mass-Casualty Incidents—A Train Collision Experience

On 21 June 2005, a passenger train collided with a truck near Revadim, Israel. The collision resulted in a multiple-scene mass-casualty incident in an area characterized by difficult access and a relatively long distance from trauma centers. A major disaster response was initiated by civilian and military medical forces including the Israeli Air Force (IAF) Search and Rescue teams. The air-medical evacuation from the accident site to the trauma centers, the activities of the airborne medical teams, and the lessons learned from this event are described in this report. A retrospective analysis of data gathered from relevant elements that participated in management, treatment, and evacuation from the accident site was conducted. The accident resulted in 289 injured passengers and seven of the injured were killed. Six helicopters (performing nine sorties) participated. Helicopters evacuated trauma victims and aided in transporting air-medical teams to the site of the collision. Overall, 35 trauma victims (10 urgent) were evacuated by air to trauma centers. The length of time between the first helicopter landing and completion of the air evacuation was 83 minutes. The air-medical evacuation operation was controlled by the commander of the IAF Search and Rescue. Different crew compositions were set in real time. Air-medical evacuation during this unique event enabled prompt transportation of casualties from the scene to trauma centers and provided reasonable distribution of patients between various centers in the region. This operation highlighted the necessity for flexibility in medical decision-making and the need for nonconventional solutions regarding crew compositions during management of an airborne evacuation in similar settings. Air-medical evacuation should be considered as a part of responses to mass-casualty incidents, especially when the site is remote or characterized by accessibility difficulties.

Metabolic syndrome and biventricular hypertrophy in essential hypertension

The hypertrophyof the right ventricle is not because of pressureoverload, and therefore non-haemodynamic factors,such as angiotensin II, aldosterone, insulin, thesympathetic nervous system and endothelin may beinvolved in this process.The contribution of non-haemodynamic factors tothe development of cardiac hypertrophy may alsoexplain why in several studies it has been shown thatthe increase in left ventricular mass precededhypertension. For example, we followed 500 younghealthy Israeli air force aviators, who underwentechocardiography at the start of their military servicefor an average period of 7.5±3.0 years.

Pitfalls in Aeromedical and Ground Crew Engagement: Lessons Learned

Aeromedical (AM) evacuation of trauma victims from action is an integral part of trauma care. The Israeli Air Force Rescue and Evacuation Unit is responsible for nearly all AM evacuations in Israel. We present three recent cases, within 1 year of operation, of engagement process failure during evacuations performed by the Rescue and Evacuation Unit. We then discuss possible pitfalls and lessons learned. In sum, we reveal that successful AM and ground crew engagement can save lives, as long as the engagement process is as short and efficient as possible.

The Watchman Fell Asleep: The Surprise of the Yom Kippur War and Its Sources (review)

Watchman Fell Asleep: Surprise of Yom Kippur War and Its Sources, by Uri Bar-Joseph. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2005. 306 pp. $27.95. great nineteenth-century British historian Thomas Babington Macaulay once commented that English Civil War had been discussed and less understood than any event in history. One wonders what he would have made of debate over responsibility for Israeli failure to predict, and prepare for, Egyptian and Syrian invasion of October 1973, which three and a half decades later is still a highly contentious matter. In this excellent book that focuses on Israel's intelligence failure in 1973 and its causes, Uri Bar-Joseph has gone some way to ending confusion (at least for English language readers, who cannot draw on vast literature available in Hebrew on subject). title is adapted from words of prophet Ezekiel, which include line if watchman sees sword coming and does not blow trump to warn people ... I will hold watchman accountable for his blood. These words, according to author, hang on wall of offices of a number of senior officials of AMAN, Israeli Military Intelligence, organization that had primary responsibility for assessing threat of invasion and warning military and political leadership in good time. But alas, as author shows in relentless and lucid fashion, over whole year prior to outbreak of on Yom Kippur, holiest day in Jewish calendar, the watchman saw sword and did not blow trumpet. And sword took many lives. watchman did not blow trumpet since for almost a year by then, he was asleep (p. 1). author argues that in two years prior to there was a belief across highest ranks of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) that a number of factors including Israeli air superiority and President Sadat's political weakness meant that any military engagement with Egypt would end in a speedy and decisive Israeli victory. This belief led to an institutionalized arrogance that would ultimately have devastating consequences when coupled to The Conception, a thinking framework which in this case proved wholly wrong. At its heart was belief that Egypt, key to any future Arab attack, would avoid a large-scale crossing of Suez Canal, unless Egyptian Air Force could upgrade its capabilities to hit Israeli Air Force (IAF) bases deep inside Israel. As this was not possible in short to medium term, there would be no major military attack by Egypt or Syria (which would only join a led by Egypt). Nowhere was this view more deeply held than in senior ranks of AMAN. Major General Eli Zeira, who had been appointed Director of Military Intelligence (DMI) in October 1972, was not only convinced that a major Egyptian offensive was unlikely and that other factors such as Egyptian frustration over status quo and a desire to regain land lost in 1967 were irrelevant, but he also believed that his role was to communicate this certainty to his military and political masters at opportunity. What compounded this problem was that two other key AMAN officials, Yona Bandman, head of Egypt branch, and Brigadier General Arie Shalev, head of Research department, shared their boss's outlook. As Bar-Joseph points out, there were a number of senior AMAN officers who by beginning of October 1973, at very latest, believed that Egypt and Syria were getting ready to invade. But what author terms Weltanschauung of intellectual megalomania and hubris (p. 172) of Zeira and his followers won day, and in order to prove this Bar-Joseph puts forward case after case where AMAN chose to explain incoming signals in every possible form but for war (p. …

Dietary Intake of Pilots in the Israeli Air Force

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the dietary intake of pilots in the Israeli Air Force and to determine whether reported consumption met the Military Dietary Reference Intakes. Thirty-one pilots completed a 24-hour dietary recall and physical activity questionnaire. Blood parameter values were collected from medical records. Results showed that energy-adjusted sample mean intakes of nutrients met the military recommendations with the exceptions of dietary fiber (53% of the recommended level) and calcium (84% of the recommended level). Macronutrient distribution of energy was 17% from protein, 47% from carbohydrate, and 36% from fat. Although saturated fat consumption was not more than 10% of energy, cholesterol consumption was well above the 300 mg/d presently recommended. For all pilots, blood parameter values were in the normal range. Overall, the diet of Israeli pilots was found to be well balanced, but negative dietary patterns (i.e., high cholesterol intake and low fiber intake) characteristic of the general population were observed in this group.

‘Moderate Islam’: Defining the Good Citizen

On 23 August 2005, John Howard, then Prime Minister, called together Muslim ‘representatives’ from around the nation for a Muslim Summit in response to the London bombings in July of that year. One of the outcomes of the two hour summit was a Statement of Principles committing Muslim communities in Australia to resist radicalisation and pursue a ‘moderate’ Islam. Since then the ill-defined term ‘moderate Muslim’ has been used in both the political and media discourse to refer to a preferred form of Islamic practice that does not challenge the hegemony of the nation state and that is coherent with the principles of secularism. Akbarzadeh and Smith conclude that the terms ‘moderate’ and ‘mainstream’ are used to describe Muslims whom Australians should not fear in contrast to ‘extremists’. Ironically, the policy direction towards regulating the practice of Islam in Australia in favour of a state defined ‘moderate’ Islam signals an attempt by the state to mediate the practice of religion, undermining the ethos of secularism as it is expressed in the Australian Constitution. It also – arguably – impacts upon the citizenship rights of Australian Muslims in so far as citizenship presents not just as a formal set of rights accorded to an individual but also to democratic participation: the ability of citizens to enjoy those rights at a substantive level. Based on the findings of research into how Australian Muslims and members of the broader community are responding to the political and media discourses on terrorism, this article examines the impact of these discourses on how Muslims are practicing citizenship and re-defining an Australian Muslim identity.

‘Moderate Islam’

‘Moderate Islam’

Exhibiting the “Just-Lived Past”: Hizbullah's Nationalist Narratives in Transnational Political Context

On 20 July 2006, eight days into an Israeli air assault on Lebanon, Israeli shells hit the Khiam detention center, the notorious site where Lebanese resistance fighters and civilians had been imprisoned and tortured during the twenty-two-year (1978–2000) Israeli occupation of south Lebanon. A news article describing the destruction of the center was subtitled, “After being remade in recent years into a monument to political atrocity, the jail at Khiam now lies destroyed by Israeli strikes,” and noted, “Fragments of walls, concrete held erect by stubborn rebar, point mute to the sky” (Quilty 2006).

North Korean Newsbriefs

The Sixth Round of the Six-Party TalksNorth Korea shut down its nuclear reactor at Yongbyon in July 2007 and began disablement of its three facilities in exchange for energy aid, political guarantees, and normalized relations with the United States. This came after the 13 February sixparty agreement, which entitles the impoverished Stalinist state to receive 950,000 tons of heavy fuel oil or its equivalent, so long as certain conditions are met. The events of July were followed by U.S.-North Korea talks in August, a bilateral working group meeting in Geneva from 1 to 2 September, and the 2 to 4 October sixDuksung party talks in Beijing. The latter laid out a timetable of 31 December for disablement in the tentative six-party accord, Second-Phase Actions for the Implementation of the Joint Statement, announced on 3 October. A team of U.S. nuclear experts arrived in North Korea on 1 November and began monitoring disablement of the Yongbyon nuclear facilities four days later.The Bush administration is now pursuing a more reconciliatory foreign policy of engagement with Pyongyang, having vaguely promised in Geneva to begin the process of delisting North Korea as a state sponsor of terrorism upon its completing the disablement process and providing a full declaration of all nuclear programs by the end of 2007. If North Korea is removed from the U.S. list of terror-sponsoring states, the poverty-stricken will be eligible for large multilateral financial aid, including loans from the World Bank. North Korea has completed phase one of the February agreement by shutting down the Yongbyon reactor complex; phase two consists of declaring and permanently disabling all nuclear facilities, which is ongoing as of this writing; and the third phase, complete dismantlement of all nuclear programs and facilities, is set for the end of 2008. The possibility of a sudden reversal in U.S.-North Korea policy cannot be ruled out, however.According to an unnamed senior U.S. official quoted in Chosun Ilbo in October, delisting North Korea as a sponsor would take a considerable amount of time to actually implement. Furthermore, it would require Congressional approval. Hardliners representing contending political factions in Washington, such as Vice President Dick Cheney and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton, who are committed to the rightwing doctrine of regime change, as carried out in the invasion and occupation of Iraq, have criticized engagement and raised allegations about North Korea providing nuclear assistance to Syria, an ally of Iran. These accusations followed an apparently unprovoked Israeli air raid on Syrian targets on 6 September. North Korea has provided missile technology to Syria, but both countries strongly denied any nuclear connection.The Japanese government also expressed opposition to delisting North Korea, citing the abduction issue. On 9 October, Tokyo extended by six months trade sanctions originally imposed in 2006 after the North Korean nuclear test. This decision has strained U.S.-Japan bilateral ties and the alliance in the war on terror to some extent, complicated subsequently by Japanese suspension in November of fuel to U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, an action taken in response to the Democratic Party of Japan, which refused to support enabling legislation in the Diet. Popular hostility in Japan to the U.S.-led war on terror is another factor. Tokyo maintains that North Korea kidnapped seventeen Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s to train spies. Thirteen were accounted for and five repatriated to Japan in 2002. Pyongyang, considering the matter closed, maintains that the remaining eight are dead and there are no more Japanese abductees in the country. The agreements thus brokered between the U.S. and North Korea have, in spite of their apparent tenuousness, opened some room for negotiations between the leaders of the two Koreas.Joint Document of the Second Session of the Sixth Round of the Six-Party TalksA joint document, named the Second-Phase Actions for the Implementation of the Joint Statement, was released on October 3, 2007, after a two-day recess of the second session of the sixth round of the six-party talks. …

Sinusitis in Pilots of Different Aircraft Types: Is Allergic Rhinitis a Predisposing Factor?

Despite the high association of allergic rhinitis and acute sinusitis, their exact relationship remains unclear, especially in pilots. The purpose of this study was to analyze the possible relationship of a history of allergic rhinitis with the occurrence of acute sinusitis in Israeli air force pilots. A comparative case series was conducted. Events of acute sinusitis were compared between Israeli air force pilots with (n=54) and without (n=82) allergic rhinitis who presented for their annual physical examination. Previous episodes of acute sinusitis were noted in 33% of the pilots with allergic rhinitis and 21% of the control group (p=0.09). A separate analysis of young pilots (<26 years old) yielded corresponding rates of 57% versus 29% (p<0.001). When the groups were divided by type of pilot, the results showed that 54% of the transport pilots, 34% of the fighter pilots, and 13% of the helicopter pilots with rhinitis also suffered from acute sinusitis, as opposed to 28, 15, and 15%, respectively, of the control group. Despite careful selection, allergic rhinitis is still a very common disease in pilots and may pose a risk of acute sinusitis. The lower prevalence of acute sinusitis in combat than in transport pilots with rhinitis may be explained by vasoconstriction due to psychological and physiological stress during flight missions.

Interventricular Septum Thickness Predicts Future Systolic Hypertension in Young Healthy Pilots

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) has been associated with hypertension, although debate exists as to whether LVH is caused by elevated blood pressure (BP) or is a risk factor for its development. The present study evaluates the association between left ventricular structure and the development of hypertension in a young healthy population. We followed young healthy Israeli Air Force aviators from initial echocardiography at the start of their military service to a mean of 7.5+/-3.0 years. Data collection included annual BP measurements, height, weight, smoking habits, and lipid profile. We monitored 500 Air Force men with a mean age of 20.5+/-3.3 (range, 17-40) years and baseline BP of 125+/-13/74+/-8 mmHg. Systolic BP during follow-up was associated with baseline systolic BP, interventricular septum (IVS) thickness, and ejection fraction, whereas diastolic BP was associated only with baseline diastolic BP and body mass index. The probability that the systolic BP during follow-up would be higher than the median was twice that in those with an IVS thickness greater than the median. In conclusion, IVS thickening was associated with long-term elevation of systolic BP. Therefore, it seems that IVS thickening is not merely a result of long-term BP elevation, but may predict the development of systolic hypertension.

Evil from the North: The DPRK-Syria Axis and its Strategic Dimensions

Abstract The Israeli Air Force attack on a Syrian military base reportedly containing materials of strategic value supplied by North Korea, has shed some light on the largely concealed issue of the relations between the two countries. Considered “rogue states” and a part of the alleged “axis of evil,” both the DPRK and Syria are internationally isolated, economically backward and politically oppressive. Yet, their attempts to acquire strategic weapons should not only, or necessarily, be interpreted as an indication of strength and aggressive intentions, but could and perhaps should be interpreted as a reflection of a sense of vulnerability and persecution and subjective weakness rather than strength, as well as a response to perceived threats and actual encirclement. However, whatever their motivations, these measures—explicitly or implicitly supported by Russia and China—raise security concerns that are common to both Israel and the ROK. Facing a similar threat from the north, Israel and the ROK—both eco...

Evaluation of Magnetic Resonance Imaging Regulatory Methods in the Israeli Air Force

The use of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging (MRI) among many medical professions is growing. Many health care systems have formed control mechanisms to ensure proper utilization of MRI. This western world trend is also valid in the Israeli Air Force (IAF). At the time of the study, two methods existed for consideration of MR requests in the IAF: (1) consideration by a primary reviewer, no clinical guidelines (applied to all MR examination requests, knee MR excluded). (2) Consideration by a primary reviewer according to basic clinical guidelines established by the Israeli Defense Forces medical section and by communication with an orthopedic specialist (applied to knee MR requests). Both methods did not include consultation with established criteria (such as American College of Radiology (ACR) appropriateness criteria). To evaluate the appropriateness of the current regulatory methods of MRI utilization in the IAF by comparing approval/rejection decisions to established ACR criteria. The study is a retrospective analysis of written records of air force personnel, for whom MRI was requested by a specialist. We gathered information regarding the clinical problem and the final decision concerning approval or rejection of the MRI request. We then consulted with the ACR appropriateness criteria. In case a matching ACR clinical variant was found, an appropriateness value was assigned to the request. Otherwise, the request was noted as "ACR irrelevant". We predetermined to label all studies with an ACR value of 1 to 3 as inappropriate, 4 to 6 as "gray zone," and 7 to 9 as appropriate. We then compared the ACR-based decision to the original outcome of the request. The overall approval rate for MRI requests evaluated by a primary reviewer only was 96%. The overall approval rate for MRI requests evaluated by a primary reviewer, basic clinical guidelines, and specialist consultation was 51%. Among the four most prevalent MR requests types (brain, knee, spine, and shoulder), requests in the 7 to 9 scale (appropriate requests) accounted for 52%. Regarding appropriate requests, there was a 100% approval rate by a primary reviewer only compared with 17% for requests considered by a primary reviewer, basic guidelines, and specialist consultation (83% of appropriate requests were rejected by this method). Requests in the 1 to 3 scale (inappropriate requests) accounted for 3% of all requests. In this group, there was a 100% approval rate by both methods of consideration. Requests in the 4 to 6 scale (gray zone requests) also accounted for 3% of the total and requests which could not be assigned an ACR appropriateness value (ACR-irrelevant requests) accounted for 42% of total requests. The rate of approval of these requests by a primary reviewer only and by a primary reviewer, guidelines, and consultant was 97% and 83%, respectively. Both MR approval mechanisms that were applied in the IAF have not shown a strong correlation with ACR appropriateness criteria, with significant rates of both overuse and underuse of MRI. The high rate of requests that could not be assigned an ACR appropriateness value may indicate a need to broaden the appropriateness criteria coverage of clinical conditions and variants.

Osirak Redux? Assessing Israeli Capabilities to Destroy Iranian Nuclear Facilities

Does Israel have the ability to conduct a military attack against Iran's nuclear facilities similar to its 1981 strike on Iraq's Osirak reactor? The Israeli Air Force has significantly upgraded its equipment since the early 1980s, but the Iranian nuclear complex is a much harder target than was the Osirak reactor. Iran has three facilities that are critical for nuclear weapons production: a uranium conversion facility, an enrichment facility, and a heavy-water production plant and associated plutonium production reactor. This article analyzes possible interactions of Israel's improved air force, including the addition of F-15I aircraft and U.S.-supplied conventional “bunker-buster” precision-guided munitions, with the Iranian target set and air defense systems. It concludes that Israel has the capability to attack Iran's nuclear infrastructure with at least as much confidence as it had in the 1981 Osirak strike. Beyond the case of Iran, this finding has implications for the use of precision-guided weapons as a counterproliferation tool. Precision-guided weapons confer the ability to reliably attack hard and deeply buried targets with conventional, rather than nuclear, weapons. Intelligence on the location of nuclear sites is thus the primary limiting factor of military counterproliferation.

Tracking Regional Anthropogenic Air Pollution: A Case Study in Israel

Typical mid-winter anthropogenic air pollution episodes are caused when pollutants are trapped in the lower atmospheric boundary layer due to the generation of surface inversion favored by synoptic conditions. We analyzed the optical properties of atmospheric aerosol particles obtained during one such episode using a sun/sky radiometer at two measurement sites: one located in the densely populated and industrialized central part of Israel, and the other in a reference site, about 150 km away. Aerosol optical thickness and volume size distributions showed an increased burden of fine aerosol particles in the central part of Israel. In order to verify the local origin and anthropogenic nature of the effect, the analysis was accompanied by examinations of the synoptic conditions, air mass backward trajectories, and conventional in situ air pollution measurements made by a ground-based sampling station. This case study shows the ability of optical measurements to track urban and industrial atmospheric air pollution expressed by high concentration of fine aerosol particles. In addition, it emphasizes the role of local Israeli air pollution sources and may explain the difference in the properties of long-term aerosol optical observations between the two sites. The advantages of the optical method presented are speed (almost instantaneous), automated measurement, and sensitivity to aerosol particle concentration as well as aerosol size fraction. The drawback is that the optical measurements discussed deal only with aerosol particles and cannot distinguish between different types of pollutant gases.

Agile software testing in a large-scale project

Agile software development in general and Extreme Programming (XP) in particular, promote radical changes in how software development organizations traditionally work. We present and analyze new data from a real, large-scale agile project to develop a business-critical enterprise information system for the Israeli Air Force (IAF). Our results offer new evidence that agile testing practices actually work, dramatically improving development quality and productivity. We describe the organization's successful practices and guidelines in four key areas: test design and activity execution, working with professional testers, planning, and defect management

Nasser and the Six Day War, 5 June 1967: A Premeditated Strategy or An Inexorable Drift to War?

On the morning of 5 June 1967, the Israeli air force launched a surprise attack against the airfields of neighbours Egypt and Syria. Two hours later, the two Arab air forces lay in ruins. The attac...

Remarks on Air Power and the Six-Day War

The author cites numerous shsortcomings in Moshe Gat's essay published in the October 2004 JMH regarding the Israeli Air Force's evolution and its behavior during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Dr. Gat's response is appended.

Air Power in the Six-Day War

In the aftermath of Israel's stunning victory over Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian forces during the 1967 Six-Day War, accolades for the victory were often showered upon the Israeli Air Force (IAF). Indeed, many believed that it had been Israeli air power that had been the decisive element in the war by first eliminating the Arab air forces and then obliterating the Arab armies in turn. While the IAF did play an extremely important role in the fighting, it was not the decisive element of Israeli victory, and its impact was felt in very different ways from the common perception. Indeed, an appreciation of the true role of Israeli air power in the war reinforces both the importance of psychological factors in combat, and the ability of air forces to have a psychological impact disproportionate to their physical impact.