Israel Sells F-16 Jets Used to Destroy Iraq Nuclear Reactor to Canadian Company

An Israeli F-16 fighter jet takes off at the Nevatim air force base near the southern Israeli city of Beersheva on October 6, 2010.
An Israeli F-16 fighter jet takes off at the Nevatim air force base near the southern Israeli city of Beersheva on October 6, 2010.
TT

Israel Sells F-16 Jets Used to Destroy Iraq Nuclear Reactor to Canadian Company

An Israeli F-16 fighter jet takes off at the Nevatim air force base near the southern Israeli city of Beersheva on October 6, 2010.
An Israeli F-16 fighter jet takes off at the Nevatim air force base near the southern Israeli city of Beersheva on October 6, 2010.

The Israeli Ministry of Security concluded a deal to sell its old F-16 fighter jets to a private Canadian company, which will be used for training.

The deal included four fighter jets that took part in the 1981 attack on the Iraqi nuclear reactor and in the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, but were retired from active service once more advanced versions of the F-16 came into use.

The deal comprises of 29 jets that were retired in 2016, valued at $100 million, and is set to be the largest of its kind ever.

The planes were sold to the Canadian company, Top Aces Inc, which maintains a large fleet of training jets that it leases for the US Army and other militaries in the world.

It turned out that some of these aircraft were kept in Israeli warehouses, as part of an internal museum, and include the jets that participated in Operation Opera, also known as Operation Babylon, during which they destroyed the Iraqi nuclear reactor in southeast Baghdad.

Iraq built the reactor with French expertise for “peaceful scientific research,” which Iran bombed nine months prior to the Israeli attack, but only caused minor damages.

The attack was considered an “Israeli-Iranian collaboration against Iraq.”

According to the Israeli army archive, the Israeli aircraft were intended for the Iranian air force, but the Khomeini revolution prevented their delivery to Tehran.

At that time, Israeli Prime Minister, Menachem Begin, recorded a new war doctrine, in which he indicated that this was not an exceptional attack, rather a precedent for every future government in Israel.

“We will not allow any of our enemies to acquire weapons of mass destruction.”

The doctrine prompted Ehud Olmert's government to destroy the nuclear reactor under construction in Deir Ezzor in Syria in 2007, and to later fight Iran's nuclear activity.



Zelenskiy Presents New Joint Forces Commander to Ukraine Troops

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy listens to Ukrainian service members during his visit to a frontline, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the city of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine June 26, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy listens to Ukrainian service members during his visit to a frontline, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the city of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine June 26, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
TT

Zelenskiy Presents New Joint Forces Commander to Ukraine Troops

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy listens to Ukrainian service members during his visit to a frontline, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the city of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine June 26, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy listens to Ukrainian service members during his visit to a frontline, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the city of Pokrovsk, Donetsk region, Ukraine June 26, 2024. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via Reuters)

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy presented the new joint forces commander on Wednesday to troops defending the eastern frontline region of Donetsk.

Zelenskiy announced on Monday he was appointing Brigadier-General Andriy Hnatov to the post, which involves strategic planning of operations, replacing Lieutenant-General Yuri Sodol who had faced criticism over serious military setbacks.

Hnatov's main tasks include "preserving as many fighters' lives as possible" while repelling the invading Russian forces, Zelenskiy said in a video address posted on social media.

One of his meetings during the trip addressed security and support for the people of the Donetsk region, including water provision, social issues and evacuation, Zelenskiy said on the Telegram messaging app.

Zelenskiy recorded the video address against the backdrop of a city sign of Pokrovsk, along part of the front that has seen some of the most intense fighting during Russia's 28-month-long full-scale invasion.

In the video, he expressed surprise that some relevant government officials had not visited the region in six months or more.

"There will be a separate conversation in Kyiv, particularly with officials who must be here and in other areas near the frontline – in difficult communities where people need immediate solutions," Zelenskiy said. "Solutions that simply cannot be seen from Kyiv."

Zelenskiy and his army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi also listened to reports from frontline positions.

Ukraine's military has found itself on the back foot this spring as Russian forces opened a new front in the northeastern region of Kharkiv in May and continued to press Ukrainian forces in other directions.