Israeli jets clash with German ship near Lebanon

Dub13

Reuters
Oct 26, 2006 - 5:19:30 AM


BERLIN (Reuters): Two Israeli warplanes and a German navy vessel have clashed off the Lebanese coast, the Defence Ministry in Berlin said on Wednesday without giving further details.

Germany daily Der Tagesspiegel earlier on Wednesday quoted a junior German defence minister as telling a parliamentary committee that two Israeli F-16 fighters flew low over the German ship and fired two shots.

The jets also released infra-red countermeasures to ward off any rocket attack, the paper quoted him as saying.

The minister did not say when the incident happened or what had caused it, the paper said.

"I can confirm that there was an incident," a ministry spokesman told Reuters on Wednesday. An investigation was underway and he therefore was unable to provide further information, he added.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said she was checking the report.

Germany assumed command of a United Nations naval force off the coast of Lebanon 10 days ago and has sent a force of eight ships and 1,000 service personnel to join the international peace operation in the region.

The naval force is charged with preventing weapons smuggling and helping maintain a cease-fire between Israel and radical Lebanese-based Islamic group Hezbollah.

mike65

Is this revenge for 1933-1945?

Mike.

county

mike65 wrote:

Is this revenge for 1933-1945?

Mike.

you beat me to it mike

Dub13

The problem is Israeli military command and it's officers have got so used to taking the piss with their next door neighbours they have long forgotten about international rules when it comes to non arab countries and think they can get away with what they want.

The political total unacceptiblity of German armed forces firing on Israelis must have something to do with the Israeli attack I suspect.The Israelis know that the Germans can't shoot back and therefore took the piss.

I guess what they are doing is sending a message to the Nato forces - and in particular the German Navy, who has responsibilty for partrolling the Lebanese coast - that they are in charge in that neck of the woods and no one better get out of line.

Of course, from a military point of view, the Germans could quite easily have let off every surface to air missile on the ship at the Israeli aircraft. However, the Israelis can rely on everyone else behaving better than they do. Remember also how supportive Germany has been to the Israeli's for 60 years. Germany must be their second closest ally.

CiaranC

Is this revenge for 1933-1945?

Why, what happened then?

Dub13

I just found this....

The confrontation occurred when Israeli jets scrambled after a helicopter took off from a German frigate serving with a United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) task force.

German Defence Ministry spokesman Thomas Raabe said six Israeli F- 16s had flown very low over the German vessel and one of them fired two shots into the air.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said the helicopter took off without having coordinated this with Israel. As a result, Israel sent fighter jets into the air which forced the helicopter to return to the vessel and land back onto it.

Israeli jets over the past few days have intensified their activity over Lebanon by flying at low altitude and staging mock raids over areas in south and the capital, Beirut.

In another incident, a French patrol was forced to go on alarm stations early October after Israeli warplanes approached close to it and refused to respond to radio messages, Israeli reports said.

lostexpectation

in what way did the german boats clash with the israeli jets?

The jets also released infra-red countermeasures to ward off any rocket attack, the paper quoted him as saying.

what's an infra-red contermeasure?

the_syco

lostexpectation wrote:

what's an infra-red contermeasure?

Something to fool the a heat-seeking missile. Maybe a flare, or something. Though, most modern heat-seeking missile's have systems that can guess your general direction if they loose your signal, and continue on in a collision course.

Lemming

Dub13 wrote:

The political total unacceptiblity of German armed forces firing on Israelis must have something to do with the Israeli attack I suspect.The Israelis know that the Germans can't shoot back and therefore took the piss.

TBH, I'd be hesitant to make such a sweeping generalisation about what the Germany military will or will not do with regards Israeli shenanigans. I wouldn't suggest the germans are going to be trigger-happy mind you, but that I could quite easily see israel stopping to nurse a punch to the nose if shots started straying dangerously close.

The UN has clear rules of engagement for peace-keeping, and I expect that the germans will follow those rules to the letter, however .... with such literal translation comes a double-edge sword. Literal translation swings both ways and the israeli military aren't dealing with a couple of lads from the local newsagent who are out of a job, disgruntled, and learned how to fire a gun by watching tv.

Of course, from a military point of view, the Germans could quite easily have let off every surface to air missile on the ship at the Israeli aircraft. However, the Israelis can rely on everyone else behaving better than they do. Remember also how supportive Germany has been to the Israeli's for 60 years. Germany must be their second closest ally.

Support is one thing. Support when your "ally" is shooting at you is quite another matter altogether.