In his weekly Canadian Jewish News media analysis column “According to Reports,†Paul Michaels, CIC Director of Communications, looks at coverage – or lack thereof – following the Israel navy discovery of a ship laden with Iranian arms bound for Hezbollah.
On Nov. 4, the Israeli Navy intercepted the “Francop” cargo ship, which was laden with a massive amount of Iranian-supplied weapons, hidden among civilian cargo and bound for Hezbollah. The story received mixed attention in the Canadian media.
The Nov. 5 National Post gave the story front-page prominence, with the headline “Israelis Seize 500 Tonnes of Iranian-Supplied Weapons” and a photo showing crates loaded with rockets and mortar shells. The accompanying story, on an inside page, gave details about the “unprecedented” size and nature of the seized weapons, and the fact that the shipment was headed for Syria, which typically forwards Iranian rockets to Hezbollah in Lebanon – all in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions.
The Toronto Star carried a substantial Associated Press story headlined “Israelis seize huge arms shipment.” It highlighted a statement from Israeli military spokesperson Avital Leibovich: “All the cargo certificates are stamped at the ports of origin, and this one was stamped at an Iranian port,” which emphasized the Iranian connection.
However, the Globe and Mail, like the New York Times, just ran a brief news digest item.
This was not the only story involving Iranian-supplied weapons making news last week.
On Nov. 3, CTV.ca ran an AP report titled “Israel: Gaza rockets can reach metro Tel Aviv.” It noted that, according to the head of Israeli Military Intelligence, Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin, Hamas successfully test fired an Iranian rocket, capable of flying 60 kilometres, into the Mediterranean Sea. At that distance, it has the capacity to hit Tel Aviv, Israel’s most populous urban centre.
According to AP, “[a]lthough the attacks have decreased dramatically – from 3,300 rockets and mortars fired in 2008 to 250 so far this year – Israeli officials say weapons continue to reach militants through tunnels under Gaza’s border with Egypt.”
Yadlin reportedly told Israel’s foreign affairs and defence committee that Hamas has as many, if not more, rockets than it had before last winter’s war.
The expanding range of Hamas rockets, together with approximately 40,000 Iranian and Syrian-supplied rockets, many of them long-range, in the hands of Hezbollah, poses a major, and growing, security challenge to Israel.
Iran’s determination to keep funnelling rockets and other arms to terrorist organizations on Israel’s doorstep is coupled with its attempts to frustrate the international community’s efforts to rein in its nuclear program. It’s no wonder that Israeli officials are urging that more attention be paid to Iran’s intentions to destabilize the region and act on its stated aim to “wipe Israel off the map.”
* * *
On a more positive note: In “Fish out of Water” (Oct. 29), The Economist looked at recent efforts (many of them faulty) by governments across the globe to promote entrepreneurship. It noted that the pre-eminent success story has been Israel: “The country that has led the world in promoting entrepreneurship has also done the most to plug itself into global markets. The Israeli government’s venture-capital fund, which was founded in 1992 with $100m of public money, was designed to attract foreign venture capital and, just as importantly, expertise. The government let foreigners decide what to invest in, and then stumped up a hefty share of the money required. Foreign venture capital poured into the country, high-tech companies boomed, domestic venture capitalists learned from their foreign counterparts and the government felt able to sell off the fund after just five years.
“Last year Israel, a country of just over 7m people, attracted as much venture capital as France and Germany combined. Israel has more start-ups per head than any other country (a total of 3,850, or one for every 1,844 Israelis), and more companies listed on the NASDAQ exchange, a hub for fledgling technology firms, than China and India combined. It may not have the same comforting ring as ‘the Swedish model’ or ‘the polder model’, but when it comes to promoting entrepreneurship, ‘the Israeli model’ is the one to emulate.”
/cijainfo
@CIJAinfo