From television to reality

Haaretz Editorial

Tests of the "Iron Dome" system to intercept short-range rockets ended on Monday. The Defense Ministry timed the announcement to coincide with the evening television newscasts, and it was indeed an impressive display: From one side an attacking Qassam or Katyusha rocket sailed in, and from the other side, a defensive projectile shot out, smashed the attacker and scattered the debris so that it would not hit the intended military or civilian target. The tests, according to the official announcement, also demonstrated a capability of intercepting salvos of rockets.

In itself, this is a positive development: Some defensive capability is better than total helplessness. "Israel" was slow to comprehend the potential for damage of rockets fired from Lebanon and Gaza. It belittled the impact of what Ariel Sharon's bureau chief called "flying objects."

The result of this disregard was evident in the eight years of deadly harassment of the Negev, which ultimately drew the IDF into a big operation in Gaza, and in the month-long rain of ordnance on "Israel" from Lebanon four years ago.

In developing "Iron Dome" and the system that is supposed to function one aerial floor above it, "Magic Wand," "Israeli" governments acknowledged that they had been mistaken in setting priorities and earmarking resources for the defense establishment. But this was only a grudging admission.

Despite the completion of development and the announcement that the system is operational, there is still no intention to deploy the first two batteries, which will be ready in the fall, to protect Sderot and other communities in the south.

If the IDF's operation a year and a half ago, which began in Hanukkah 2008, was code-named "Cast Lead" because of its coincidence with the holiday, it seems the plan not to deploy the batteries deserves the code name "Hanukkah Candles." The launchers, rockets, radar and command vehicles of "Iron Dome" will evidently be for show, not for use.

This decision is baffling. It broadcasts doubt within both the government and the IDF that "Iron Dome" can actually move from television to the gritty reality of clashes with Hezbollah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. It upsets residents of the south and could also puzzle Washington, which contributed more than $200 million to the program.

It is unclear whether the Katyusha and Qassam launchers who watched the test footage believed what they saw. But it is now fairly clear that those who are supposed to equip themselves with "Iron Dome" and deploy it still do not believe in it.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Irked by Flotilla raid, Turkish Hackers Launch Cyberwar on "Israel"

Haaretz, By Orr Hirschauge

A number of leading "Israeli" information-security companies have been marauded by Turkish hackers.

Turkish hackers have been circulating user names, e-mail addresses and passwords belonging to more than 100,000 "Israelis". The list happens to include plenty of e-mails from major financial corporations, government ministries and data security companies. The city of Tel Aviv's website (shown below, before being fixed) has also come under attack more than once.

Many of the user names were seized in an attack on Homeless.co.il, a real estate classifieds site. The hackers have been trying to steal "Israelis'" personal information since the flotilla incident in late May.

On the face of it, the information from Homeless may not enable the hackers to do anything more than register a false apartment ad in someone's name. But the catch is that many people use the same user names and passwords for all their accounts, including e-mail, Facebook and financial services such as PayPal.

Among the Gmail, Hotmail and Yahoo e-mail addresses were 17 belonging to Justice Ministry employees, 10 belonging to Bank of "Israel" employees, as well as a handful of employees at the Interior Ministry, Finance Ministry and "Israel" Securities Authority.

In the private sector, there were between five and 10 employees from firms such as Bank Hapoalim, Harel Insurance, Clal Insurance, Bank Leumi and Leumi Card. Plenty of high-tech workers were on the list: 54 at software giant Amdocs, 35 at voicemail company Comverse, 25 at ECI Telecom, 24 at HP and 23 at Intel. Not to be left out were information security companies including NICE Systems (19) and Check Point (9).

________________________________________________________________________

South Africa to Reinstate "Israel" Envoy, After Recalled Over Gaza Flotilla

Haaretz

South Africa has decided to reinstate its ambassador to "Israel" nearly two months after recalling him to protest the deadly naval raid on a Turkish-flagged ship carrying aid to the Gaza Strip, AFP reported on Tuesday.

In its statement to that effect, the South African foreign ministry said that it would still support calls for international probe into the commando raid that killed nine Turkish citizens on May 31.

"South Africa reiterates its call that any investigation should be a 'prompt, impartial, credible and transparent', in line with UN recommendations," said the statement, adding that it urged "Israel" to lift its blockade of the Gaza Strip "which is causing untold suffering to thousands of innocent civilians."

South Africa had decided to send Ambassador Ismail Coovadia back to Tel Aviv so that he could monitor developments in the Middle East, the statement clarified.