War
Israeli soldiers in action in Gaza
Israel is still fighting intense battles in Gaza. So far 520 Israelis in uniform, including police, have died since Oct 7 and 186 since the IDF entered Gaza on Oct 27th. Over 2000 soldiers have been injured.
One wounded officer, identified only as Yud in a Reshet Bet ratio interview, described how he’d been seriously injured and thought dead. Still in hospital after many weeks, and ready to go into the rehab unit, Yud says he has more to contribute to Israel.
He said he was depressed when he awoke from the first surgery but decided not to let the injuries defeat him. Yud was injured when he and his squad entered a building in Gaza and were attacked with RPGs (rocket propelled grenades).
Also, the IDF Spokesperson's Unit reported that famous Israeli singer-songwriter and “Fauda”TV show actor Idan Amedi, a reserve soldier in an elite unit, was seriously injured on Monday in clashes with terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
Amedi was evacuated to the Sheba Medical Center. Amedi suffered shrapnel injuries in several parts of his body. After surgery he was anesthetized and intubated at the hospital. His condition is now considered stable.
War Hero, Major Dvir David Fima
Also, a real hero in the Gaza war was Major Dvir David Fima. He told a Channel 12TV reporter that “When it comes to the lives of those who are fighting with you ... you know what you need to do.
“You asked if we miss our families. We all miss our families, but it is also important for me say that we will stay here for as long as we need to, and however long they say so that in another 40 years, 50 years, the residents of the south and the State of Israel will actualize its sovereignty.
“So that every farmer who is close to the border can pick his orange, his lemon, and his tangerine safely.And that is our mission here, to ensure this, I hope for generations to come.”
Major Dvir David Fima, 32, husband and father of a young son, died when he jumped on a hand grenade to save his unit.
Observers report that more and more soldiers still in combat uniforms with mud on their boots and rifles strapped across their backs, are seen at shopping centers, streets, and coffee shops. Some may even be from Maj. Fima’s unit.
Gaza
Speaking to Israel TV, IDF spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told the press that Israel was moving into the next stage of combat, releasing reserve soldiers, and focusing more on specific targets.
However, Hagari said that the IDF was still in intense combat in the south of Gaza, especially in Khan Yunis, believed to be the center of Hamas leaders hideaways. He said that the Hamas military infrastructure in the north was dismantled but that Hamas squads are still moving around, acting independently. He also said that the war would take time and stretch well into 2024.
A CNN report by Rob Picheta said that “history has shown that the military is not that successful eradicating political military movements that are deeply rooted.”
Bilaly Saad, an associate fellow in the Middle East and North Africa at Chatham house, said on CNN that, “The IDF leadership understands very well that the most they can do is severely degrade the military capabilities of Hamas.”
The CNN report also stated that Yeheh Sinwar was responsible for building up Hamas’ military. Reportedly, Israel knows the location of Hamas leader Sinwar, but is slow to act since Sinwar has reportedly surrounded himself with hostages.
Gen. (ret) Israel Ziv told Channel 12TV news that Israel can’t fulfill its mission in Gaza without eliminating Sinwar and freeing the hostages. But he emphasized, “If we don’t have a ‘Day After’ plan we’ll be in Somalia. This needs to be dealt with at a government level, and so far, nothing has been done.”
And another tragedy. An IDF probe found that an Israeli tank shelling a nearby building caused a tunnel blast that led to the deaths of 6 combat demolition engineers. According to the investigation, the tank round activated a detonating cord that snaked into a tunnel being rigged up with explosives, setting off an early explosion that killed the soldiers.
Long range rockets at Hama manufacturing plant in Gaza tunnel
Army Spokesman Hagari also said that the IDF uncovered a vast rocket and explosive manufacturing plant 30 meters underground.
According to Reuters, the tunnel was in Bureij, in the central Gaza strip, and contained large factories manufacturing long-range missiles, their engines, and their explosives, capable of hitting targets over 75 miles away.
IDF Col. Or Volliozinsky told reporters that there were “a chain of factories on the main road, and under the homes of civilians.” Many of the factories, above and below ground, were on the Salah Al-Din humanitarian area used for evacuation of Gazans.
A dozen tunnel entrances were found in the area. An elevator led down into the tunnel that manufactured the rockets. The tunnel was interconnected to others that allowed the rockets to be distributed around the Gaza strip. “Building a factory like this takes a lot of time,” said Col. Or Vollozinsky. It is estimated that the tunnel network costs tens of millions of dollars.
Rockets continue to be fired from Gaza on nearly a daily basis, mostly in the south and the north. On Monday, Hamas sent a volley of over 20 rockets deep into Israel. Sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and the Dan region. Cars in Tel Aviv sought shelter beneath bridges and viaducts. No injuries or damage was reported. The Iron Dome took out those missiles that could have fallen into populated areas.
Clearly, the danger still exists. All of the residents of the southern communities along the border were evacuated. Nearly 100,000 are living in temporary housing in hotels and hostels. The IDF has said residents beyond 4 miles from the border could move back to their homes.
However, Noy Laufer of Kibbutz Sufa said that she and her family wanted to go back to their homes, but they didn’t trust the government to protect them. “They betrayed our trust,” she said. “We won’t go back until the government can guarantee our safety.”
A probe released Wednesday by Hillel Neuer, executive director of the prominent pro-Israel monitor UN Watch, a Geneva-based non-governmental organization that monitors UNRWA (United Nations Relief Works Agency), found that many UNRWA workers praised the Hamas invasion.
On Oct 7, 3000 Hamas terrorists broke through the border fence in 30 places and began a massacre of Israel’s border communities and a music festival held near Kibbutz Re’em. Some 1,200 people were murdered, including women and children, and 240 hostages , most of them civilians, were taken.
Neuer said a social media Telegram chat was uncovered that showed UNRWA teachers celebrating the Hamas massacre shortly after it began, praising the perpetrators as “heroes,” and glorifying the “education” the terrorists received at UNRWA schools. Members of the Telegram channel shared photos of dead or captured Israelis and urged the execution of hostages.
“In addition, UNRWA teachers regularly share videos, photos and messages inciting to Jihadi terrorism, and openly celebrating the Hamas massacre and rape of civilians,” Neuer’s report stated.
Experts point out that UNRWA operates most of the schools in Gaza. And that terrorists’ have been found fighting from the schools, and entrances to Hamas’ tunnels nearby or sometimes inside the schools.
According to the Times of Israel, the USA has offered an award of $10 million for information that thwarts Hamas’ financial network.
North
Hezbollah continues to fire from Lebanon into Israel.
On Monday, Israel struck in Syria, killing top Hamas leader Hassan HaKashah, who was responsible for firing rockets into Israel. Experts expected Hamas to retaliate in coordination with Hezbollah.
Hezbollah fired a precision guided missile at a radar array in a IDF base on Mt. Meron. Experts said that they considered this Hezbollah’s response. And a way to show Israel that Hezbollah has serious weapons at their disposal.
On Thursday evening, Ynetnews reported that, according to the IDF, at least 10 rockets were fired into northern Israeli communities from Lebanon in separate barrages. Three of the incoming projectiles were intercepted by Israeli air defenses.
The Hezbollah rocket attack reportedly caused power outages in several communities in the Upper Galilee region, including Kiryat Shmona, Margaliot, Manara and Misgav Am. The Kiryat Shmona municipality said that at least 7 rocket impact sites were detected throughout the city, including in a school and a residential building.
Ora, from Kibbutz Schtula, told Israel Radio’s Reshet Bet on Wednesday that she wasn’t leaving the Lebanese border Kibbutz, although only less than a handful of kibbutz members remain.
Ora told the radio interviewers that she is busy during the day preparing food for soldiers, Iraqi dishes like kubeh and couscous. She makes about fifty portions a day.
She said that the previous day she’d received a ‘gift’ from Hezbollah terror leader Nasrallah. A missile had struck the abandoned home next to hers. “The earth shook,” she said. But she was determined not to leave. “I’m not afraid,” Ora said. “I refuse to let them drive me out of my home. I refuse to let them win.”
Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has warned the Hezbollah leader not to start a war or Beirut would end up looking like Gaza.
According to Ynetnews, IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday that Israel was responsible for the elimination of Ali Hussein Barji, a top commander in Hezbollah’s drone unit, in southern Lebanon.
“We’ve targeted him using Israel Air Force aircraft,” Hagari said. “Barji led dozens of strikes against Israel using UAVs and drones.”
Also this week, a high-ranking officer in Hezbollah's elite Radwan force was killed in a strike on his car. The attack was attributed to Israel. This is the second such attack attributed to Israel after Wissam a-Tawil, another commander of the Shiite terror group's elite unit, was eliminated in a similar strike on Monday.
According to the Saudi news channel Al Hadath’s in Tuesday news report, Hezbollah tried to strike Israel's Karish natural gas rig in the Mediterranean Sea using drones,.
Israel Radio’s Reshet Bet, spoke to Dr. Amazia Bar Am of Haifa University. Bar am said that Nasrallah was evidently pressured to strike at Mt. Meron’s communications tower array. Something that seriously disrupts Israel’s eyes on Lebanon. “This was Nasrallah’s way of showing Israel what Hezbollah is capable of.”
Bar Am said Nasrallah wants to gain popularity so that he can make sure a Lebanese president is elected that would be a Hezbollah supporter. Bar Am did hot believe Nasrallah was willing to make war in Israel at this time as such an act would impinge on the possibility of a Hamas supporter elected president.
Bar Am said that Nasrallah knows that in a war, Israel would undoubtedly cause terrible damage to Lebanon. Bar Am also said that he didn’t think Iran was interested in a war between Hezbollah and Israel at this time.
According to Ynetnews, The head of the Upper Galilee Council, Giora Zaltz, demanded that the government prevents Hezbollah from being able to fire missiles closer than 10 km from the border: Zaltz thinks this is "a clear and feasible goal."
Amit Sofer, Northern Galilee regional council head, told Channel 11TV “This is a war. 100,000 residents are under fire. We need to return these residents to their homes, but we need to guarantee their safety. We need to do more to save lives in the north.”
UN resolution 1701 calls for a demilitarized zone from the Lebanese border to the Litani river. This resolution has been ignored by Hezbollah and not enforced by the UN. Experts say that the Lebanese government is essentially powerless to oppose Hezbollah and their well-supplied army.
West Bank
According to the Haaretz newspaper, the IDF has informed the government about concerns that the West Bank is about to explode.
The government is reportedly taking the recommendation under advisement.
Sgt. Shay Germay killed in Jenin
Meanwhile, during a raid in Jenin searching for wanted terrorists, Border policewoman Sgt. Shay Germay, 19, was killed when an IED exploded near her armored Jeep. Four other troops were injured.
On a road near Ramallah, an 31-year-old Israeli Arab was killed in a drive-by shooting. Police suspect a nationalist motive. The man was driving a car with yellow Israeli plates.
IDF forces conducted an offensive operation overnight Tuesday in the Tul Karim and nearby Nur al-Shams refugee camps in the West Bank. They discovered explosives buried under roads intended to kill or injure Israeli troops.
Zohar Palti, former Mossad head, told Channel 13TV that Gen. Yehuda Fuchs, head of the central command, and his soldiers were working hard day and night to prevent terror attacks. Palti said that Israel didn’t want to have a three front war: Gaza, West Bank, and Lebanon.
Channel 13TV military correspondent Or Heller said that Israel had yet to transfer monies owed to the Palestinian Authority, a move that exacerbates tensions in the West Bank, and does little to encourage the PA to provide Israel with vital help with the security situation.
Also, according to Ynetnews, police and Shin Bet said on Thursday that they had foiled a terror plot by ISIS supporters. Two men in their 20s, both residents of east Jerusalem, were in custody after they planned to prepare explosive devices to be used against security forces. In the investigation, the security agencies found that the two had searched ISIS online content including horrific killings by the terror group, abroad.
Hostages
An Israeli delegation was reportedly in Cairo on Wednesday for hostage talks. However little progress was made, according to Israel Radio’s Reshet Bet. So far, according to the report, no new proposal for the release of hostages has been put on the table.
Ynet news reported that Israel is concerned that the Israeli hostages were smuggled out of Gaza through Hamas tunnels into Egypt and from there to Sudan and Libya.
According to the report, Israel is using intelligence sources in Sudan and Libya, to determine if the hostages were being transferred to other locations such as Lebanon or Iran.
Life is a horror for hostages, according to former hostages.
Some have appeared before knesset committees and told lawmakers that their fellow captive were sexually abused by guards.
Aviva Siegel testified before a Knesset committee and recounted seeing a woman tortured in Gaza, days after freed teen Agam Goldstein-Almog told of an encounter with girls who had been sexually assaulted.
Aviva Siegel, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Kfar Aza on October 7, also told the Knesset’s Caucus for the Hostages that she had personally witnessed another hostage being tortured during her time in captivity, urging that more be done to win the freedom of the captives, including her husband Keith, who remains in Gaza.
In testimony screened at a weekly rally on behalf of the hostages Saturday night, 17-year-old Agam Goldstein-Almog, who was kidnapped with her mother and younger brothers on October 7, said that at one point they were moved into a tunnel were there were six women who were being held alone.
“Many girls underwent severe sexual abuse,” she said. “They had serious and complex wounds that were not being cared for.”
Another hostage, a woman held in Gaza for over 50 days, said Tuesday that she saw signs that a fellow hostage had been sexually abused by a guard, adding to a growing body of evidence that Hamas weaponized sexual assault and may still be violating victims in captivity.”
Hostage Kfir Bibis will celebrate his first birthday in a Gaza tunnel
Israel Channel 12TV ran an interview with the grandparents of their Bibis grandchildren, Ariel, four, and kfir, one. The two children are still being held in Gaza. “What do they eat? Who takes care of them?”
The Bibis children and their parents, mother Shiri and father Yarden, were all kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7th.
Yuval Arad, the daughter of missing pilot Ron Arad, who was captured when his plane crashed in Lebanon 1986 and never seen again, told the press that all along they too were told by Israeli authorities, “We’re doing everything we can to get his release.” She warned the hostages’ families to be skeptical of government promises.
Ynetnews published a report on Tuesday by the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum. “The testimonies from those who have been released from captivity reveal severe cases of both mental and physical abuse. This includes brutal sexual assault, which also affects men, mutilation, torture, enforced starvation and dehydration,” the report says.
“At least a third of the 136 hostages remaining in Hamas captivity suffer from chronic illnesses, each at immediate risk of death, according to a report.”
Israel is expected to tell US Sec. of State Blinken that no Gazans will be allowed to return home until all the hostages are released.
According to a report in the U.S. based Arab language Alhurra satellite channel, which broadcasts to the Arab world, UN envoy Pramila Patten, the special representative for sexual violence in conflict will travel to Israel to probe Hamas rapes, sexual assaults on October 7.
Red Sea
According to Ynet on Thursday, the US Central Command said Yemen’s Houthi rebels had attacked shipping lanes in the Arabian Sea with an anti-ship ballistic missile, the 27th such attack since mid-November.
Reuters reported that 21 missiles and UAVs were aimed at ships in the Red Sea during Tuesday’s attack. British sources say their ships were a target. British Defense Minister Grant Shapps said, “The situation in the Red Sea is not sustainable…there is no doubt that the Iranians are helping the Houthis carry out these attacks.”
Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said “This is a clear escalation against international trade and ships in the region.”
US Sec. of State Blinken said that “20% of global shipping passes through the Red Sea including aid to Gaza.”
Meanwhile, German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd announced they would continue to avoid the Suez Canal, and would decide again next week if the shipping company would continue to divert its vessels away from the Suez Canal and around the Cape of Good Hope for security reasons.
According to the Times of Israel, the UN on Wednesday passed a resolution that demands the Houthis “immediately cease all such attacks, which impede global commerce and undermine navigational rights and freedoms as well as regional peace and security.”
Houthi spokesperson in Yemen, Mohammed Abdul Salam, said that the UN resolution was a political game and that the US is the one violating international law. Rockets
So far, the Houthis have sent over 20 armed drones and 21 heavily armed rockets aimed at Israel. All were shot down either by US naval forces in the Red Sea or by the Israeli defenses using the Arrow, David’s Sling, Iron Dome or Israeli jets.
An Israeli air force pilot told Channel 13TV that in October he spotted the first unmanned drone aimed at Israel and shot it out of the sky just kilometers from the southern resort town of Eilat.
According to Ynet, Iran’s UAV army posses a serious threat to Israel.
The Times of Israel reported that hundreds of Houthi rebels were trained in Iran.
Anti-Semitism
According to Israel Radio’s Reshet Bet, the American Anti-Defamation League has reported a 360% increase in anti-semitic incidents in 2023 over 2022. The ADL said that over 3000 incidents have been reported.
France has reported 1500 anti-semitic incidents between Oct 7 and mid-November. This was three times the number of incidents reported in all of 2022.
The New York Police Department reported 31 anti-semitic crimes in December.
According to the Free Press, computer scientist Mauricio Karchmer was an MIT lecturer for four years. He loved his job—until Hamas’s attack on October 7. In the weeks that followed, Mauricio, who was born in Mexico to a Jewish family, encountered the “pervasive antisemitism on MIT’s campus.”
In his essay in the Free Press, he wrote that “On November 14, one of the Israeli PhD students in my department confided to me that he was taking a few weeks off from the semester to return to Israel—an active war zone—because he needed to escape the toxicity of MIT’s campus. This week, he told me he is considering leaving MIT without completing his PhD.”
Mauricio writes that he resigned because he cannot teach “those who lack the most basic critical thinking skills or emotional intelligence. Nor can I teach those who condemn my Jewish identity.”
University of Pennsylvania faculty and staff visit Kfar Aza
Ynetnews ran a story about a group of University of Pennsylvania academics that visited Israel this week. This after the university’s president Liz Magill was forced to resign for not admitting to a US congressional committee that calling for genocide of Jews violated the schools code of conduct.
"There's a very, very strong sentiment on campus that is pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel," according to Claire Finkelstein, director of Penn's Center for Ethics and Law.
Finkelstein said, "For many of us who are supportive of Israel, that has been very painful, and many of us feel that it is based on a fundamental lack of understanding of the situation on the ground here."
She blamed some antisemitism on U.S. secondary education, where European history and the Holocaust are taught less and conflicts are portrayed as between oppressors and oppressed.
"It's never too late for an educational institution to educate and that's what this is all about," she said.
Finklestein said anti-Israel sentiment on college campuses predates the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. She cited the pro-Palestinian BDS movement - or boycott, divestment, sanctions - founded in 2005. Critics of the movement say it is discriminatory and aims to economically hobble and undermine the Jewish state.
In New York, pro-Palestinian protesters blocked a highway. One pundit commented that “it doesn’t take many people to get headlines. And this was a good tactic to get sympathy for their cause, even if most people don’t have a clue about the facts of the issue.”
Politics
The High Court of Justice issued an interim injunction on Wednesday barring National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir from giving operational orders to police forces regarding how they manage demonstrations and how they use force during protests.
The court ruled that the far-right minister had violated a decision by the court last year that said he was not permitted to issue such orders.
The court said that Ben Gvir “must refrain from giving operational instructions and orders to the police regarding the implementation of his policy on exercising the right to demonstration and freedom of protest.”
Yesh Atid MK Miki Levi, former chief of police, said that Ben Gvir was not the chief of police and could not give orders to him. “He is the worst minister in Israel’s history,” said Levi.
Earlier this month, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara told the High Court that Ben Gvir has “wrongfully and illegally intervened in police work” related to the right to protest.
As minister in charge of police, Ben Gvir can set policy but is not permitted to instruct police on specific enforcement, Baharav-Miara said.
In the latest polls asking who among Israel’s leaders they thought was doing a good job, only 32% of those polled, including Likud party members, said they thought Prime Minister Netanyahu was doing a good job. 64% thought he wasn’t.
In contrast, 67% of those polled believed IDF Chief of Staff Herzi HaLevi was doing a good job and 63% thought Defense Minister Yoav Gallant was doing a good job.
A channel 11TV poll found that if elections were held today Netanyahu’s coalition would suffer a resounding defeat. Currently, Netanyahu’s coalition has 64 seats out of 120. But in the latest poll the coalition would only receive 45 seats, well short of the 61 seat majority needed to form a government.
The polls showed that United Party leader Benny Gantz’s coalition would receive 71 seats if elections were held today. And would be able to form a government.
Rumors have been circulating that Gantz was ready to call for a vote of no confidence in the Knesset to unseat Netanyahu’s government and result in new elections .
However Channel 13TV political correspondent Raviv Drucker said that Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid, who the polls show would only receive 14 seats in new elections, is against the move since he wants to wait until his party’s popularity rises and he can get more votes in new elections.
Even so, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid has called on United Party leader Benny Gantz and his colleague Gen. (ret) Gadi Eisenkot to resign from the emergency national unity government and its war cabinet.
Channel 12TV political correspondent Amit Segal said he didn’t believe Gantz would heed the call to leave the emergency war cabinet. But, Segal also pointed out that according to the polls Gantz would now have three times as many seats in the knesset if elections were held today. So who knew what he would ultimately do.
Public Opinion
The BBC has apologized for a report accusing the IDF of ‘summary executions’ in the Gaza Strip
Demonstration outside of the BBC
The UK public broadcaster said in a statement that despite attributing the claim of ‘summary execution’ to Hamas and including Israeli response, it ‘had not made sufficient effort to seek corroborating evidence,’ in a report that ran on December 24th.
The statement from the BBC was issued last Friday, almost two weeks after the initial report. “We apologize for this mistake,” said the BBC.
Meanwhile, US Sec. of State Anthony Blinken visited the middle east on a whirlwind tour. He hinted that Saudi Arabia has reportedly said that opening diplomatic ties with Israel is still on the table. Besides a visit to Saudia Arabia and Qatar, Blinken also met with leaders in Jordan, Ramallah, Lebanon and Cairo.
Reuters reported that Blinken said he found leaders in the Middle East were determined to prevent the conflict between Isael and Hamas in Gaza from spreading.
According to Ynet News, Blinken also said that the Oct 7th war toll on Gaza was too high. He urged statehood for Palestinians to allow the regional integration of Israel. And a way to help rule Gaza after the war.
The US and other countries are reportedly concerned that the War in Gaza and the War of attrition on the Lebanese border, and the Houthi missiles aimed at Israel and shipping lanes in the Red Sea, could lead to a sharp escalation of fighting that could include Iran, the US, China and Russia.
The King of Jordan, Abdullah II, has announced that he would host peace talks between Palestinians and Egyptian leaders to see if there was a way to achieve peace between Israel and Hamas.
Israel On Trial
In the Haig, the complaint brought by South Africa claiming Israel is committing genocide in Gaza was heard Thursday by the International Court of Justice. Former Israeli High Court president Aaron Barak will represent Israel on the panel of advisory judges. British Professor Malcolm Shaw will act as Israel’s lead attorney.
The South African complaint does not mention the massacre committed by Hamas. Nor Israel’s efforts to safeguard civilians and also provide humanitarian aid.
Pro-Israeli protest at the Haig
Israel will present her case on Friday. However, a decision is not expected for years. And even then, the court has no legal power to apply criminal punishment. The danger, according to Israeli analysts, is in Israel’s image around the world should the court find Israel guilty of the charges.
According to the Times of Israel, Israel’s Justice Ministry believe the Hague will stop short of demanding Israel halt the war in Gaza. The US has said they believe South Africa’s claims are ‘unfounded.’
According to Ynetnews, PM Netanyahu issued a statement yesterday that Israel has no intention of permanently occupying Gaza or displacing its civilian population and claimed Israel is acting in Gaza in full compliance with International Law.
Israel has allowed over 200 aid trucks daily into Gaza. There are reports that there is enough food in Gaza and no one is starving.
Pro-Palestinians groups are expected to protest outside the court. Families of Israelis held hostage by Hamas are also expected to arrive outside the court.
According to Ynetnews, Israel may highlight South Africa’s ties to Russia, and point out the South African crime rate, with 82 murders and 115 rapes reported daily. Reportedly crime families control entire regions of South Africa.
Pundits question South Africa’s reason for bringing the complaint, speculating strongly that corruption and bribes by Israel’s enemies, like Hamas, Iran and others, might be the cause.
Tech and health
Israel’s Rafael defense contractor says it has successfully tested a new configuration of its advanced short and medium-range SPYDER air defense system which includes the missile launcher, command and command control system, and a built-in radar.
According to Rafael, the SPYDER can be deployed as part of an existing SPYDER battery, or be used independently. Rafael developed the system for export and not to be used in Israel.