Why Israel kicks ass, literally. (revised)

I'm not going to claim to be some sort of academic historian. Truth is, I really don't know a heck of a lot about Israeli history before 1948. What I do know is, from the first time I started to learn anything about the nation of Israel in my early adult years, I've been developing a healthy respect for them, and the more I learn, the more that respect grows.

This will be the second time I've taken the liberty of referencing him in one of my hubs, but if you want to read a much better written and in-deptharticle on the complete history of Israel, you should check out James A. Watkins series of hubs, beginning with:

http://hubpages.com/hub/History-of-Israel

For my purposes, I'll stick with the more recent side of the story. Much of the controversy surrounding Israel seems to be in regards to their founding in 1948. For all intents and purposes, one side of the argument states that the U.N. resolution dividing the region into two states, one Arab and one Jewish, was unlawful and stripped the Arabs of land they rightfully owned. The other side states that the U.N. is a world recognized authority and was returning land to the Jewish people that they had rightfully owned in ancient history.

For me, I see the argument either way as a mute point. It's done... get over it. Whether right or wrong, they are there, and they have been for 63 years. In that time, despite constant attempts to wipe them out, they've not only managed to survive, but to thrive. They now own what amounts to pretty much the only non-third world prosperous democracy in the entire region.

Even if the argument could successfully be made that they "stole" that land, a) they did it with the approval, sanctioning, and assistance of pretty much the entire western world and b) What patch of land anywhere on the globe hasn't been taken from one group by another at one point or another (including the U.S.)? At some point, you have to say enough with the bickering and accept the borders for what they are. At this point, it's all political and academic. In other words, irrelevant.

Honestly, I only bothered to write that first part in a futile attempt to stave off the inevitable flood of PLO terrorist supporters who will start in with the rhetoric about all the various "reasons" Israel shouldn't exist. Honestly, I just don't care. Ultimately, it boils down to survival of the fittest... and in the case of Israel, they've proven beyond any shadow of a doubt... over and over again, that they are the fittest.

With that said, I can get on with it. Literally the day after Israel proclaimed themselves a sovereign nation, they were attacked by Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Iraq. So a nation that was exactly one day old found itself at war with four other countries, plus their allies. The fighting lasted about a year, at the end of which a ceasefire was called, effectively ending combat in a "draw". While Israel had been forced to concede to some loss of land, overall as a nation, they remained intact. Not too shabby.

In October, 1956, Egypt attempted to nationalize the Suez Canal. They created a blockade of the TiranStraits, effectively cutting off Israel from their trade routes through the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. In collaboration with British and French forces, the Israelis attacked and won a decisive military campaign in which they not only reopened the Suez Canal, but also captured and occupied much of the surrounding area. While the land was returned due to political pressure from the U.S., Israel did successfully retain traffic rights through the Suez Canal.

Following this second war, despite the entire Arab world repeatedly refusing to officially acknowledge Israel and vowing to destroy them, there was a relative peace. However in 1967 Egypt once again elected to enact a blockade of Israel's primary shipping lanes through the Red Sea. At the same time, Arab nations were preparing for an invasion by building up military forces along the border between Israel and Jordan.

Having no other option, on June 5 Israel launched a preemptive strike called "Operation Focus". This blossomed into what became known as the "6 day war". In the first two days, Israel severely crippled the air forces of Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and destroyed Jordan's Air Force altogether.

This gave them unprecedented air superiority which further aided in three successful ground campaigns. From June 5th through the 10th, Israel basically decimated all opposing ground forces, leading to an unconditional surrender and ceasefire. The fact that, for the second time in a decade, Israel had single handedly defeated the combined armed forces of most of the Arab world is impressive enough in it's own right. What makes it more impressive is the way the numbers break down (via wikipedia):

Total number of available troops; Israel: 264,000 opposing forces: 547,000

Total number of combat aircraft; Israel: 300 opposing forces: 957

Total number of available tanks; Israel: 800 opposing forces: 2504

Outnumbered more then 2:1, and with less than 1/3 the tanks and aircraft, the Israeli forces destroyed almost the entire inventory of military equipment leveled against them, and inflicted casualties on the order of almost 24,000 compared to a loss of less than 1,000. And as if that stillwasn't impressive enough... also take into account, much of the Israeli military's equipment were basically updated WWII relics more or less donated by the U.S. and Britain, compared to the cutting edge (for the time) tanks and aircraft supplied to the Arabs by the U.S.S.R.! A decisive and impressive victory, indeed.

Following the conclusion of the 6 day war, Israel now occupied the whole of the Sinai Peninsula. This, in conjunction with Arab bitterness over their spectacular defeat in the war, prompted another small scale skirmish known as the "War of Attrition" lasting from 1969 until another ceasefire was called in 1970. Though this war was fought primarily between Israel and Egypt, it was once again very lop sided in it's conclusion with Israel losing only 600 men and less than 30 tanks/aircraft compared to Egypt's loss of as many as 10,000 soldiers and over 150 tanks and aircraft. On top of which, they were unsuccessful at retaking any portion of the Sinai Peninsula.

In one final desperate attempt to annihilate Israel, on October 6th, 1973, Egypt, Syria, Iraq, and Jordanian forces once again attacked Israel in what became known as the "Yom Kippur War". Having learned their lesson as to allowing Israel any advance notice of their military intentions, the Arab coalition launched a suprise attack on Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calender.

Having caught the Israelis off guard, the Arabs initially enjoyed a measure of success in their attacks, both for the Egyptians along the Suez Canal as well as the Syrians to the north. But, suprise surprise, within a week, the IDF (Isreali Defense Force) had recovered and began launching counter attacks which, ultimately, took them so far into enemy territory that by October 25th, they were within miles of both Egypt and Syria's capital cities, Cairo and Damascus.

Yet again, not only had Israel repelled the attack and defeated the massive armies of their many Arab neighbors, but they had done it in such a rapid and stunning fashion that the U.N. was actually forced to step in and broker a peace treaty before they were able to outright conquer two of the opposing nations!

From that point on, Israel has mostly managed to stay out of any major military conflicts. I would wager a guess that the majority of Arab nations got tired of getting their collective asses kicked. Immediately following the end of combat operations, Egypt even declared their recognition of Israel's sovereignty and signed a peace agreement with them.

Unfortunately, not being involved in any further full scale military campaigns does not mean the Israeli people have been allowed to enjoy any real measure of peace, however. While the official government policies of many of their Arab neighbors may have finally begun to "get over it", sadly, the cowardly terrorists have not. Israel has almost perpetually had to deal with suicide bombers, rocket attacks, and other despicable acts committed by fanatics and thugs such as the PLO and Hamas.

But even through all of that, here they are. Sixty plus years after the official founding of Israel, one little pea-sized country surrounded by a sea of bully nations who hate them and repeatedly attack them in every conceivable way, and Israel still stands strong despite all of it.

Here are a few of the things that have allowed them to not only survive, but to thrive, in one of the most hostile environments any nation has ever faced:

1) Krav Maga.This ain't your grandpa's martial arts, baby! It's a form of MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) founded by Imi Lichtenfeld around the time of Israel's inception in 1948. While some might consider the tactics employed to be "rather brutal", you also have to keep in mind, this is not a form of hand to hand combat intended for sport or competition... rather for survival. Since then, this has been the primary fighting technique taught to all Israeli military/police personal, as well as to elite special forces teams world wide. I would encourage you to do a little research on the subject yourself if you're interested, but, suffice it to say, if you ever find yourself trapped in an alley alone facing down several armed attackers, Krav Maga would be a good skill set to have.

2) Weapon proficiency. The Israel people have long been world renowned for their skills in not only utilizing firearms and military hardware, also in designing or upgrading various weapon systems, as well. Like I said before, many of the armored vehicles, tanks, and aircraft they've used to defend themselves so successfully throughout the last century were, for all intents and purposes, already outdated at the time they put them to use. Yet, through their own personal "upgrades and customizations", along with a healthy dose of superior tactical planning, they were able to defeat a vastly superior force even while drastically outnumbered... several times.

Not that they're not capable of designing their own outstanding weapon systems. Case in point, the Uzi sub-machine gun. The Uzi'soriginal design was done by 1949 and the first prototype completed by 1950. By 1954 it had been issued IDF wide. While it is finally beginning to be considered "outdated" at this point, it's basic design was so cutting edge that, witha few basic upgrades, it has remained current and relevant for the better part of 60 years. Only the venerable AK-47 has a service record that can begin to compare, with the primary difference being that the Uzi isn't an inaccurate piece of junk.

Another Israeli military innovation is the Merkava main battle tank. While I personally will always have a soft spot for the U.S. M1 Abrams, the Merkava is not to be discounted. It features many of the same features as well as innovative design specs that, to some extent, have no equal. One of note is a front mounted engine, which, unlike most other MBT's around the world which have their engines in the rear, provides an added measure of protection for the crew should a round somehow manage to penetrate the Merkava's substantial composite armor. This also provides the added benefit of allowing for an open crew compartment in the rear of the tank allowing it to serve as an armored personnel carrier or safely pick up and evacuate wounded soldiers from the battlefield.

3) Military service. For all Israeli citizens, military service is mandatory. Beginning at the age of 18, all able bodied men will serve for 3 years, and woman for 2. I can't say something like that would go over too well here in the states, and perhaps that is for the better. But, then again, I think back to the 7 years I put in, and I have to admit, it did me a lot of good. The military can help to instill a sense of discipline and pride in someone, not to mention provide a realization of the strength you truly posses. If the American people ever came to a consensus and decided to enact a policy like that here, ultimately, I can't help but to think it would do our nation as a whole a lot of good.

4) MOSSAD. (Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations) Basically, this is equivalent to our own CIA combined with an elite special forces group. If you watch the CBS show "NCIS", the character "Ziva" is a former member of MOSSAD. Well, it's not just a fictitious TV agency, there very much is a real Israeli MOSSAD with a long history of some of the most courageous and daring covert operations the world has ever seen. Most recently, it is believed they were "allegedly" responsible for two huge set backs in the Iranian nuclear program.

1) The centrifuges used to process Iran's nuclear material suddenly and unexpectedly spun so fast that they literally tore themselves apart. As it turned out, the computers controlling these devices had been programmed with an ingenious virus which not only caused the machines to spin wildly out of control, destroying themselves in the process, but also caused the displays to readout as though everything was normal.

2) Many of the top level scientists and physicists working on Iran's nuclear program have recently been assassinated in very brazen attacks. In broad daylight, typically at traffic lights, two assailants on a motorcycle have pulled up next to them and placed a small explosive device on the driver's window of the scientists' cars, killing several of them.

So, while the rest of the world, the U.S. included, has fallen on weak and half-hearted "diplomatic" attempts to prevent the psychopaths that constitute the "government" of Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, Israel, fearing for her very existence, seems to have taken a slightly more... "hands on" approach.

So there it is, one more hub on a long list that I've been meaning to write finally done! If you have anything constructive to add in the comments, please feel free, and thanks for reading!