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In a War with Hezbollah, What Will Happen to Israel’s Electrical Grid?
Frontpagemagazine ^ | June 27, 2024 | Hugh Fitzgerald

Posted on 06/27/2024 7:38:41 AM PDT by SJackson

How Israelis are preparing

A war with Hezbollah now looms, but perhaps, since both sides know that they will suffer terrible damage, it will continue to be avoided. Hezbollah has 130,000 rockets and missiles, some of which, through sheer numbers, managed to avoid interception by Israel’s three-layered anti-missile defense, consisting of Arrow-2 and Arrow-3, David’s Sling, and Iron Dome. Even now, the IDF must be calculating how many, in that vast array of rockets and missiles, can be destroyed on the ground, before they are launched, by Israeli airstrikes and missiles. And the IDF has to estimate, too, how many of Hezbollah’s rockets and missiles will get through those anti-missile defense systems and land on Israel’s cities, including Haifa and Tel Aviv.

More on one casualty of such a war — Israel’s electricity grid — and how soon that grid can be repaired, has been the subject of heated discussion, about which you can find more here: “‘If Nasrallah wants to take down Israel’s power grid, he only needs to make a call,’ Noga CEO says,” Jerusalem Post, June 20, 2024:

The CEO of Noga – Israel Independent System Operator Ltd., Shaul Goldstein, said there is no guarantee that there will be electricity in Israel in the event of a future war with Hezbollah on Thursday at the Institute for National Security Studies conference in Sderot.

“After 72 hours without electricity in Israel, living here will be impossible. We are not in a good state and unprepared for a real war,” Goldstein said. He added that Hezbollah could easily take down Israel’s power grid.

“If Nasrallah wants to take down Israel’s power grid, he only needs to make a phone call to the person in charge of Beirut’s power system, which looks exactly like Israel’s. He doesn’t even need a drone; he can call a second-year electrical engineering student and ask where the most critical points in Israel are – everything is on the internet. I won’t say it [exactly where] here, but anyone who goes on the internet can find it,” Goldstein said.

“Israel is an energy island, and we need to supply ourselves – this is also our advantage; we are trained to work in isolation. When I took the position [as CEO of Noga] and began researching what the real threat to the electricity sector is, I asked – let’s say a missile hits the electricity sector, and there’s a power outage for one hour, three hours, 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, and beyond. What happens to Israel in such a situation? The bottom line is that after 72 hours – it is impossible to live in Israel,” Goldstein warned at the beginning of his remarks.

“He added, “People do not understand how much our lives here depend on electricity.”…

More and more Israelis have been buying home generators in preparation for the possibility of the country’s electric grid being brought down by missiles launched by Hezbollah.

Energy and Infrastructure Minister Eli Cohen commented, “The State of Israel will not be left alone. We are preparing for every scenario, holding discussions and assessing the situation, and spending billions of shekels to ensure a regular supply of energy to all Israeli citizens.”

He continued, “In recent months, we have increased our inventory and purchased a lot of equipment in order to have backups. The State of Israel has the ability to generate electricity from a large variety of sources – we have gas rigs, we have huge reserves of coal, and we also generate electricity from renewable energy. Many actions, which cannot be specified, have been taken to ensure a regular energy supply. The chance of a power outage for many days is very low.”

Israel has many sources of energy: vast coal deposits, natural gas from the Tamar and Leviathan fields in the eastern Mediterranean, an ever-expanding number of wind farms and solar energy collectors, can all be used to provide energy to restart a damaged electrical grid. I would like to believe the reassuring words of Energy and Infrastructure Minster Eli Cohen, about the preparations being made for every scenario, in case of attacks on the country’s electricity grid. Perhaps it will be possible to switch, within days, from energy sources that now power the electricity grid — natural gas and oil — to others, including coal, wind and solar. But the view of Shaul Goldstein, the CEO of Noga (the Israel Independent System Operator Ltd.,) which he just delivered to the Institute for National Security Studies conference in Sderot, is frightening, and while he has been denounced for revealing too much about the ease with which Israel’s electrical grid could be taken down, he has not been convincingly refuted. I hope he is wrong when he says that Israel would not be able to survive a 72-hour total takedown of its energy grid. I fear, however, that he is right, but few want to listen to such unnerving forecasts. It was the same way before October 7, when those who warned of an impending Hamas attack were right, but ignored by those higher up, who refused to believe the bad news — with the results we all see.


TOPICS: Editorial; Israel; War on Terror
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1 posted on 06/27/2024 7:38:41 AM PDT by SJackson
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To: SJackson

It is my belief that Hezbollah will be more worried.


2 posted on 06/27/2024 7:41:49 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: dennisw; Cachelot; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; Lent; GregB; ..
Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
3 posted on 06/27/2024 7:45:54 AM PDT by SJackson (The Pilgrims—Doing the jobs Native Americans wouldn’t do)
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To: DIRTYSECRET

They should be, at least at the top. Their leadership isn’t in Qatar, rather in Lebanon where they can be targeted.


4 posted on 06/27/2024 7:47:50 AM PDT by SJackson (The Pilgrims—Doing the jobs Native Americans wouldn’t do)
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To: DIRTYSECRET

I think massive amounts of armor, are moving north, toward Lebanon.


5 posted on 06/27/2024 7:48:04 AM PDT by Mark17 (Retired USAF air traffic controller. Father of Air Force pilot. Both bitten by the aviation bug)
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To: DIRTYSECRET

It is my belief that Hezbollah will be more worried.

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It is my belief that both sides should be very worried.....and flat out terrified.


6 posted on 06/27/2024 7:48:52 AM PDT by laplata (They want each crisis to take the greatest toll possible.)
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To: Mark17

Times of India published a video on YouTube a night or two ago saying that the battle with Hezbollah we getting rather intense


7 posted on 06/27/2024 7:52:24 AM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
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To: SJackson

Even Leftist pols in Israel are hinting at a short total war in Lebanon. Immediate destruction of all infrastructure: electricity, water, sewage, food production, ports, and roads.

Israel has hardly used its own rockets and missiles, much less the entire tactical arsenal.


8 posted on 06/27/2024 8:29:07 AM PDT by jjotto ( Blessed are You LORD, who crushes enemies and subdues the wicked.)
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To: jjotto

Israel has no choice. Never mentioned in the press is that Israel has refugees too, somewhere around 130,000-150,000, Israelis, 15% or a bit more in the north, forced from their homes by action near Gaza, they still fire rockets, and by rockets in the north which makes homes and towns uninhabitable. It goes without saying Lebanon is in violation of prior truce and ceasefire agreements by allowing attacks from their territory. Israel has to move Hezbollah back and destroy their rocket capabilities on the ground.


9 posted on 06/27/2024 8:41:29 AM PDT by SJackson (The Pilgrims—Doing the jobs Native Americans wouldn’t do)
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To: SJackson

I got a bad feeling about upcoming events Israel vs Hezbolleh. Which may be good, I usually over-worry about such things.


10 posted on 06/27/2024 8:56:32 AM PDT by Attention Surplus Disorder (The Democrat breadlines will be gluten-free. )
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To: Mark17

Many on the ground reports of Israeli armor moving north. Not rumors.

American pet surrender monkey Benny Gantz:
“We can put Lebanon completely into the dark, and take apart Hezbollah’s power in days.”


11 posted on 06/27/2024 9:10:19 AM PDT by jjotto ( Blessed are You LORD, who crushes enemies and subdues the wicked.)
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To: laplata

*It is my belief that both sides should be very worried.....and flat out terrified.*

You may be right but at least it’s we who shouldn’t be worried. The issue just might end up being settled once and for all.

I for one would like to see Lebanon go back to being 80% christian. Don’t know how it ever was that way but it was also compared to Paris.


12 posted on 06/27/2024 9:24:20 AM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: DIRTYSECRET

We’ll see how it transpires but if you think it won’t affect us, you need to think again. Iran, Russia and China are allies or support Hezbollah. If the US steps in to help Israel, look out. Israel could be wiped out.


13 posted on 06/27/2024 10:15:09 AM PDT by laplata (They want each crisis to take the greatest toll possible.)
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To: DIRTYSECRET

I think the comparison was with the French Riviera.


14 posted on 06/27/2024 11:12:09 AM PDT by ansel12 ((NATO warrior under Reagan, and RA under Nixon, bemoaning the pro-Russians from Vietnam to Ukraine.))
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To: SJackson

https://www.jihadwatch.org/2024/06/heroism-and-barbarism-at-kibbutz-ein-hashlosha


15 posted on 06/27/2024 1:44:41 PM PDT by combat_boots
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To: laplata

*Iran, Russia and China are allies or support Hezbollah. If the US steps in to help Israel, look out. Israel could be wiped out.*

Nixon put me on alert during the Yom Kipper-’73. The Soviets threatened and made them back down. No telling what Biden would not do. The last thing we need to worry about is Israel being wiped out. They would take a lot of folks with them.


16 posted on 06/27/2024 2:51:55 PM PDT by DIRTYSECRET
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To: DIRTYSECRET

Good point.

I should have said Israel could get hurt very badly rather than get wiped out.


17 posted on 06/27/2024 4:35:58 PM PDT by laplata (They want each crisis to take the greatest toll possible.)
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To: combat_boots

$30 Per hour

https://gellerreport.com/2024/06/amnesty-international-muslim-leftwing-orgs-hamas-terror-goons.html/


18 posted on 06/27/2024 4:52:03 PM PDT by combat_boots
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To: DIRTYSECRET

EVERY nations power grid is in exactly the same situation.


19 posted on 06/27/2024 7:40:12 PM PDT by Elsie (Heck is where people, who don't believe in Gosh, think they are not going...)
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To: Elsie

Not exactly. Israel’s power grid is concentrated in a small area, and Hezbollah is right next door with 130k-150k rockets and missiles. The Houthis and Iran might get involved too, Iran being the much more substantial threat.

Larger countries, even if GDP per capita poor, would take much longer to wear down. Look at Russia’s effort vs. Ukraine, and Ukraine is much more poorly defended.


20 posted on 06/29/2024 2:53:47 AM PDT by Paul R. (Bin Laden wanted Obama killed so the incompetent VP, Biden, would become President!)
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