Is Israel, Like Pakistan, Supporting Home Grown Terrorism?

As Iran continues to develop its nuclear enrichment program despite growing calls from Western States to halt, five nuclear scientists from the country have been assassinated over the last two years. With the most recent killing in January 2012, Iran is accusing Israel of aiding bombers and breeding terrorism in its country. On Monday, Iranian state television aired a 40-minute report showing 13 Iranians who “confessed” to killing the scientists after being trained by Israel’s top intelligence agency, Mossad. While Israel has so far refused to confirm or deny any involvement in the killings, the documentary details exactly how the eight men and five women were “sent to Israel to learn to handle explosives, and receive other military training, including firing weapons”. The suspects detailed the journey to Tel Aviv, saying, “We went to Turkey and we took a boat from there... to go to Cyprus, and from there to Israel, to a small town near Tel Aviv”. Bearing the hallmarks of a sophisticated intelligence agency trying to limit civilian casualties, the attacks have varied from using motorcycle hitman, remote controlled bombs and, of course, shootings. The latest claims are largely reminiscent of Pakistan’s involvement in training mujahideen forces. Like Israel, Pakistan is accused to training and funding militias who are set loose on Indian soil for the sole purpose of breeding terrorism. Israel looks to Iran as its most significant security threat as the former continues to build a deadly arsenal. However, Israel has also resorted to more devious methods of plotting compared with its Asian counterpart. In an effort to disrupt the day-to-day functioning of nuclear facilities in Iran, Israel in collaboration with the U.S launched the deadly Stuxnet virus which slowed down the enrichment program. Meanwhile, both Iran and Israel have been keeping busy building on existing weapons systems to protect against possible attacks. Earlier this week Iran test-fired and upgraded short-range ballistic missiles and Tel Aviv has improved the accuracy of its Arrow 2 missile interceptor system, including its ability to intercept medium-range missiles present in the arsenals of Iran and Syria. By Bindiya Thomas