IDF To Disable Enemy Communications By Imposing Cellcom Service

It will frustrate enemy troops and commanders with its inconsistent and unreliable network coverage.

Tel Aviv, July 12 – Israeli military engineers have developed a way to cripple enemy communications by forcing all wireless traffic to use the Cellcom network, a defense publication reported today.

Jane’s Analysis of Mideast Military Engineering Developments (JAMMED) features in its upcoming issue, due out this week, an article on certain innovative IDF tactics, including a method to impose Cellcom service on a given area, which will frustrate enemy troops and commanders with its inconsistent and unreliable network coverage.

Israelis have struggled for years with Cellcom, the nation’s most popular mobile carrier. However, its share of the market has eroded as other providers such as Orange, Pelephone, and Mirs Communications have stepped in with mobile networks that maintain a connection even when a device moves from one side of a room to the other, a feat that Cellcom has yet to manage. Additionally, the other providers have somehow implemented service that is not limited to open or above-ground areas, two features that IDF planners say make Cellcom the ideal carrier for foisting on enemy fighters.

“It’s one thing to jam signals, and that’s certainly still within our capabilities,” said Lt. Col. Lo Shomea. “But the new system gives us more flexibility than ever before, and a psychological edge.” He explained that an enemy could anticipate, and adapt to, outright disruptions of communication. “But what Cellcom does is convince the user that there really is service, and that a slight tweak of location, settings, or some other physical factor will be enough to improve or restore a lost connection. That will prevent the enemy from resorting outright to any prepared alternatives, allowing our soldiers both to achieve tactical surprise and exploit the isolation of enemy units.”

Lt Col. Shomea said the Cellcom system had shown real promise in recent field exercises. “In simulations, the soldiers playing the role of the enemy showed a distinct disadvantage, and we have been examining ways to adapt the use of the system to likely theaters of operations.” While Shomea declined to specify who the next enemy will be, experts agree that Israel’s next war will most likely involve a rearmed Hamas operating from the Gaza Strip, with the Lebanese organization Hezbollah also a possible foe, though not in the immediate term.

Another planner, Maj. Gal Tedder, said one of the obstacles the development team encountered was a way to simulate the communications environment in enemy territory, where Cellcom does not operate signal towers. “But that problem essentially solved itself, because we realized that’s the same situation Israelis have right now all over the country.”

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