Israel's high tech hit squad wins elite status
SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Saturday, January 13, 2001
TEL AVIV — An Israeli intelligence corps charged with surgically eliminating Palestinian revolt commanders has emerged as the elite force in the military's arsenal against the ongoing uprising.
Israel's military plans to give funding priority to its
new Field Intelligence corps amid the current mini-war with the Palestinian
Authority in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Military commanders said the new corps — established last year — has
produced impressive results during the more than three months of fighting in
the guerrilla war between Israeli troops and Palestinian fighters. They said
the corps has been vital in identifying targets for Israeli troops as well
as providing alerts for Palestinian attacks.
Israeli commando forces have killed about 30 Palestinian revolt
commanders in what PA officials said is an assassination campaign by the
military, Middle East Newsline reported. The targets have been both Palestinian and civilian leaders of the
revolt.
"There is an agreement that we are the priority," Brig. Gen. Amnon
Sofrin, commander of the corps, said. "We have drawn conclusions from the
fighting in terms of doctrine, training, personnel and equipment."
Sofrin said a key lesson included the need for rapid information from
intelligence assets to ground troops. The corps has used unmanned air
vehicles, radar, reconnaissance outposts and helicopters to gather
information. The information is then fed to the Ground Forces Command and
subsequently to field commanders.
"The information now goes faster to the troops," Sofrin said. "We have
closed the gap between our intelligence and operations."
Field commanders agreed. "We have a real-time picture of the ground
situation," an Israeli commander in the West Bank city of Hebron said. "We
are now getting alerts of impending Palestinian attacks and the element of
surprise has diminished."
A senior Israeli air force officer said a priority of the PA is to
smuggle anti-aircraft missiles to down Israeli attack helicopters that prowl
the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The officer said the PA is believed to have
smuggled shoulder-fired Stinger missiles.
Sofrin said his corps plans to ensure that intelligence is relayed in
real-time to the battalion level. Currently, the information flows to the
level of division. He said the corps has agreed with Ground Forces Command
chief Maj. Gen. Moshe Ivri-Sukenik for a tactical UAV for autonomous use by
ground forces commanders.
"We sat down with him and recognized the need for such a UAV," Sofrin
said. "At this point, the tactical UAV does not have a special budget."
Saturday, January 13, 2001
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