On missile-hit warship, Israel readies for all threats
ABOARD INS HANIT: White specks appear on the horizon and a voice crackles over the radio with a warning: “The speed boat is acting independently.” Two boats on suicide bombing missions had been spotted either side of the INS Hanit, one of the Israeli navy’s top warships. “We recognize the target. This is an immediate enemy,” a voice says in Hebrew over the loudspeaker. “Ready for action.” A siren rings out and young recruits rush to the back, hurrying to put on helmets and bulletproof vests before manning machine-guns. The Hanit’s engines go full throttle, dragging it rapidly from three to 27 knots. The speedboats rush forward but cannot catch up.
The “attack” last week was in fact part of a series of war games with Greek and US forces to prepare for a range of threats, from submarines to more immediate risks from Hamas and Hezbollah. The Hanit holds a prominent place in Israeli consciousness. It was struck by a Hezbollah missile off the Lebanese coast in the 2006 war with the Lebanese Shiite militant group, killing four soldiers.
It was the first direct strike on an Israeli warship in decades and Hezbollah celebrated it as among its biggest victories of the 34-day war. More than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 120 Israelis, the majority soldiers, died during the conflict but many in Israel consider the war a failure as Hezbollah was not defeated. The strike on the Hanit symbolized for many how overconfidence fed into that failure. An investigation found that the missile hit because officials didn’t believe Hezbollah had such sophisticated technology and so didn’t turn on anti-missile systems.
‘Big shock’
The Israeli head of the current training mission insists they are still learning the lessons. “The hit of the Hanit was such a big shock to Israel, a trauma, that I am sure no one would let it happen again,” he told AFP aboard the ship, speaking on condition of anonymity under military rules. The ship could have sunk if the missile had struck directly rather than hitting a crane, he said. “The reason that it happened from my point of view was that we were not prepared for this kind of missile.”
Israelis do compulsory military service at 18 and many on board during the recent training exercise were under 10 back in 2006. Nimrod, a young sailor who already has more than 6,000 hours of experience on board during his nearly three years of service, said they were regularly reminded of the deaths. In the corridor near the sleeping quarters, a picture of the four men killed hangs on the wall. The ship is now equipped with Barak missile defense systems, as well as advanced missiles. — AFP