A few thoughts on the Israeli situation

A few thoughts on the Israeli situation

This post is also available in: heעברית (Hebrew)

By Arie Egozi

13885095_s

Israelis are not protected in case of emergencies. There has been lot of talk, but no real change. The reports by the State Comptroller and the National Security Council didn’t help, and the cabinet ministers in charge are still incapable of making up their minds. The Israeli public is totally exposed. This is how things are done in Israel: There are government offices, there are cabinet ministers, but nothing actually changes.

***

The implementation of the plan to protect civilian aviation in Israel from developing threats keeps getting strangely delayed. The decision-makers make no decisions, just fight among themselves for status, or for no good reason. The details are worrying, but have to be kept secret for now.

***

No one is dealing with the issue of the gas mask kits that every Israeli is supposed to have. The plan to raise a special tax to fund their production didn’t go through, but there’s no other solution in sight. In the meantime we have seen chemical weapons used in Syria, but it looks like Israeli officials still expect a miracle that will make everything alright.

www.i-hls.com

The Israeli Navy needs additional new ships, in order to be able to protect the Mediterranean natural gas reserves from various threats – and especially from Hezbollah. But the Navy still hasn’t received additional budget funding. It is being systematically downsized even though its list of duties keeps getting longer. That’s Israeli logic, right there.

***

Despite all the declarations Israel still doesn’t focus on dealing with cyber threats to its infrastructure. There have been plans and declarations but nothing was actually done. Private companies do most of the work in the area, while the government mostly just talks. That, however, is how it’s done in most cases.

***

Israeli UAV designers keep fighting over every contract, both in Israel and abroad. While competition in general is a good thing, in Israel it turned into something harmful. It is actually causing harm to Israeli companies, especially when considering the constantly growing influence of foreign UAV designers. There were no attempts at integration like those in Europe and the US over the last decade, and if the situation continues Israel might lose any advantage it still has in the international UAV market.

AUS&R 650x90b