Israel’s fight for independence after the Second World War is filled with spectacular and courageous exploits as well as daring moves to thwart both the British government in Palestine and the subsequent Arab advances. One such story is that of the “Ayalon Institute” on Kibbutz Hill outside of the town of Rehovot, south of Tel Aviv. It was here that for several years after the Second World War, several million rounds of 9×19mm ammunition were produced for the Haganah under the supervision of Ta’as. A military industry wing that would later morph into Israeli Military Industries (IMI) after independence.
Israel
Israel’s Attempt at a 9mm Revolver
This article will examine what is known about a prototype revolver developed by pre-state defense organizations and the industrial group Ta’as in collaboration. This project started in the 1940s as an effort to design and produce a sidearm using the ubiquitous 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge. The proliferation of Sten guns throughout the region meant a sidearm of the same caliber would simplify logistics significantly for the Jewish underground. 9mm Parabellum was also readily produced in pre-state Israel (prior to 1948 in a covert operation that included the Ayalon Institute) so it was a logical choice in caliber.
Podcast V26 – Part Two: The Six Day War-War of ’67: The Spine Breaker
In this article we continue our interview with Egyptian artist Galal Abdo Hashem, you can find part one of this series, here. When we reached the Six-Day War and the War of Attrition in our interview with Galal, we tried to get all the possible details we could from him. In the end, he told us that he will speak about the notable incidents as he has many stories that would take months to cover.
Podcast V26 – Part One: Galal Abdo Hashem – The Shrapnel Collector of Egypt
In our journey to uncover wartime stories from all sides during the Arab-Israeli Conflict we managed to meet Galal Abdo Hashem, an Egyptian living in his home city of Ismalia, a city that witnessed the horrors of war more than once during the 20th century. Galal Abdo Hashem is not a war veteran with military training, in fact, he never fired a single shot towards his enemies, but he decided to do something instead that gained him notoriety and his name written on Egypt’s Honor List. To this day he gives lectures, speaks with journalists and appears on TV shows to speak about his experience and journey during a time when Egypt was at war with Israel. This article is the story of one of Egypt’s civilians who, despite taking up arms to defend his homeland, decided there was another way to contribute to the war effort – art.
V20: Post Shot Show 2020 Episode
In this episode, Miles, Matthew Moss (historian, author and Silah Report’s Editor) and Nate (one of our great patrons) discussed a variety of interesting firearms and equipment they noticed in SHOT Show 2020.
V18: IDF Gear Review and Excalibur Grenade Launcher in Libya
In the 18th episode of Silah Report, our guest was IDF Gear Review, who enlightened us about small arms in Israel. He also shed light on some of the cultural aspects of the IDF. Miles spoke about his brief experience with one of the IDF units when he visited Israel recently. Finally, an extremely exotic grenade launcher found in Libya and following some research has been able to enlighten us about its origins.
Operation Balak: The IDF’s Star of David on Nazi Rifles
“All is fair in love and war” is an idiom in English that refers to the practice of otherwise questionable actions being considered acceptable under exceptional circumstances. When talking about weaponry in general, one example to illustrate the aforementioned saying would be the direct use of an enemy’s arms of war to forward one’s own agenda. Anti-Communist Afghan Mujahideen fighting their Soviet enemies with Soviet-made weaponry, Islamic State attacking regional adversaries with US M4’s and M16’s or the post-war US government employing former German and Japanese scientists and technologies for their fight against the Red Menace are all examples of this common practice. The Israeli Defense Forces‘ hexagram emblem on Nazi Mauser-manufactured Kar98k carbines is another interesting manifestation of this idiom.
Israel Suspends all Training with Micro Tavor & IMI Training Ammo
Perry Novotny
In a dramatic step, the Firearms Licensing Department of Israel’s Ministry of Public Security (MPS) issued an order on 4 December 2019, immediately suspending all live-fire training with Micro Tavor (X95) 5.56 × 45 mm self-loading rifles and IMI training ammunition until further notice.
Sinai Bedouin Equipped With IMI Makleon
Since the terror attack that occurred on the 24th of November 2017, many Bedouins in Sinai rushed to join the Egyptian Armed Forces’ fight against Sinai Province (ISIS’ branch in Sinai) as a sanctioned militia. Although they do receive armament and supplies from the military, they are already well armed with smuggled weapons that came from Libya, Sudan, and even Israel as seen in this photo!