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{{short description|Israeli physicist}}
'''Nahum Shahaf''' ({{lang-he|נחום שחף}}) (1946- ) is an Israeli ]. After completion of his master's degree in 1977 at ], he went on to become a leading figure in the Israeli unmanned aircraft development industry and also received an Israeli science ministry award in 1997 for scientific ingenuity in the field of image compression.<ref name="res"> {{languageicon|he|Hebrew}}</ref> Shahaf is also known for his controversial role in leading an investigation into the shooting report of 12-year-old ] in September of 2000 where, after investigation, he reported his belief that it is highly unlikely that Israeli soldiers killed the boy and that it is highly probable that the entire incident was staged by the local ].
'''Nahum Shahaf''' ({{langx|he|נחום שחף}}) is an Israeli ] who specializes in ballistics and film technology.<ref name="Guysen"/>


==Biography==
He is currently the president of Natop, an electro-optics and image enhancement company.<ref name="res"/>
Nahum Shahaf earned a ] degree from ] in 1977. Throughout most of the 1980s, he worked on ] (UAVs) for the ] (IDF), which Israeli journalist ] described as placing Shahaf "among the leading developers" of the technology.<ref name="Lord"/> According to his ], Shahaf worked primarily on UAV optical tracking systems, before shifting his focus to missile systems and inventing over the next decade.<ref name="cv"/> In 1997, he received an ] award for creativity for his work on compressed digital video transmission.<ref name=Fallows />


==Al-Durrah investigation==
==Background==
] was a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, reported to have been shot and killed by ] (IDF) gunfire on September 30, 2000. Shahaf, noticing what he considered an anomaly in the video footage of the shooting, contacted Major General ], head of the ].<ref name="CordesmanMoravitz"/> Shahaf proposed that he and Joseph Doriel, an engineer Shahaf had previously collaborated with on ], should investigate the incident.<ref name="Cygielman"/> Samia agreed, and on October 23, 2000, Shahaf helped arrange a re-enactment at an IDF shooting range, in front of a CBS '']'' camera crew. In late November 2000, the investigators concluded, based on the angles and rate of fire, that Israeli troops had probably not shot the boy.<ref name="CNN"/>
Shahaf completed his master's degree in 1977 at ]. As an Elcint employee he helped develop ] technology. From 1981, he had worked with the ] on developing unmanned Israeli aircraft <ref name=Fallows/> at ] heading the unit that formulated strategy in the area of visual intelligence. <ref></ref> In 1989, he moved to ] to develop ] ] technologies. In 1994, in connection with his work at Israel Aircraft Industries, he and fellow inventor Moshe Meidan applied for a ] ] for developing a method and system for moving object detection. <ref></ref>
In 1991, he set up the Natuf Company, developed a system to compress video material, for which he was awarded a ''Science Ministry prize''. He applied for a patent for a see-through protective wall <ref></ref>, as well as a system to protect buildings from cellular antenna ].


Israeli newspapers ''Haaretz'' and the ''Jerusalem Post'' claimed that Shahaf had no ballistics experience and ''Haaretz'' described the investigation as "dubious."<ref name="Cygielman"/> His previous involvement in raising doubts about the identity of Rabin's killer became the subject of controversy.<ref name="Schwartz"/> Shahaf, however, claims he spent months painstakingly collecting footage from reluctant cameramen and splicing the pieces together in rough temporal order to create an unbroken film of the day.<ref name="Gutmann"/> Shahaf believes that al-Durrah was not killed by the IDF and may still be alive.<ref name="TempleRaston"/>
According to Israeli reporter ], "Nahum Shahaf has worked in Israel's defense establishment as a physicist for the optical intelligence unit of the IDF. He has contributed much in various ways to the defense system, and was among the leading developers of pilotless light aircraft and video instrumentation. Shahaf investigated the damage done by the Iraqi missiles in 1991, and concluded that part of the damage was caused by ]s." <ref></ref>


In December 2007, following ''Haaretz's'' report on his work, which op-ed writer ] described as an "eccentric obsession," <ref name="Levy"/> Shahaf filed a ] lawsuit against the newspaper charging that ''Haaretz's'' coverage had caused investors to back out of financing one of his inventions. He filed for 400 million ] (US$103 million) in damages.<ref name="Lawsuit"/>
A Fellow at the Israel Ministry of Science and recipient of the Ministry's creativity prize in 1997, Shahaf describes his work as <ref name="Guysen">] interviews Nahum Shahaf]</ref> "a scientist, a physicist specialized in ballistics and the technology of filming images."


⚫ ==References==
== Work on the Al-Dura incident==
⚫ {{reflist|refs=


<ref name=Fallows>.</ref>
After he approached IDF ] Major General ], Shahaf was asked to begin a second investigation of the case. On ], ], Shahaf helped to arrange a re-enactment of the shooting on an IDF shooting range, in front of a CBS '']'' camera crew. In late November of 2000, at the conclusion of the inquiry, General Samia presented his findings at a press conference, explaining that the findings were "based on measurements, bullet angles and evidence that the Palestinian boy was hit by a volley of gunfire while Israeli soldiers were firing only single shots." <ref name="CNN"> AP - November 27, 2000 </ref>


<ref name="Lord"></ref>
According to Shahaf:


<ref name="cv">{{in lang|he}}<!--Hebrew--> </ref>
<blockquote>I believe that one day there will be good things in common between us and the Palestinians.…But the case of Mohammed al-Dura brings the big flames between Israel and the Palestinians and Arabs. It brings a big wall of hate. They can say this is the proof, the ultimate proof, that Israeli soldiers are boy-murderers. And that hatred breaks any chance of having something good in the future. <ref> ''The Israeli-Palestinian War: Escalating to Nowhere'' p. 373 by ] and Jennifer Moravitz ] 2005 </ref> </blockquote>


<ref name="CordesmanMoravitz">{{cite book|last1=Cordesman|first1=Anthony|last2=Moravitz|first2=Jennifer|title=The Israeli-Palestinian war: escalating to nowhere|page=372|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2005|isbn=978-0-275-98758-9}}</ref>
===Accolades and criticism===
For his involvement on the Al-Dura incident, he has been described by journalist ] as someone who has given himself "entirely to a cause .. and can talk about its ramifications as long as anyone will listen". <ref name=Fallows>Fallows, James. , '']'', June 2003.</ref>


<ref name="Cygielman">.</ref>
Shahaf received the ''Abramowitz Israeli Prize for Media Criticism''<ref></ref> from the media watchdog group ''Israel's Media Watch'' in 2008 for what the group described as "revealing the truth behind news fabrications" in relation to the Al-Dura incident. <ref></ref> On the other hand, Shahaf has been criticized for his work on the case, which has been described as an "eccentric obsession" by one Israeli commentator. <ref>http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/909972.html</ref>


<ref name="CNN"> AP - November 27, 2000 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080215034538/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/meast/11/27/israel.boys.death.ap/ |date=February 15, 2008 }}</ref>
⚫ ==References==

<ref name="Schwartz">Schwartz, Adi (2007). "", ''Haaretz'', November 8, 2007, accessed January 24, 2010.</ref>

<ref name="Levy">Levy, Gideon. . ''Haaretz'', October 7, 2007, accessed October 23, 2008.</ref>

<ref name="Gutmann">''The other war: Israelis, Palestinians, and the struggle for media supremacy'', Stephanie Gutmann, Encounter Books, 2005, p. 75.</ref>

<ref name="TempleRaston">{{cite news|last=Temple-Raston|first=Dina|title=Engineer Casts Doubt on Veracity of Claims That Israelis Killed Palestinian Boy in 2000|url=http://www.nysun.com/foreign/engineer-casts-doubt-on-veracity-of-claims-that/10581/|work=The New York Sun|date=March 15, 2005}}</ref>

<ref name="Lawsuit">{{cite news|title=400 million lawsuit against Haaretz|url=http://www.nrg.co.il/online/4/ART1/667/290.html|work=NRG|language=Hebrew|date=December 5, 2007}}</ref>

<ref name="Guysen"> ] interviews Nahum Shahaf ()</ref>

}}


===Bibliography===
⚫ {{reflist}}
*Cygielman, Anat (2000). , ''Haaretz'', November 7, 2000, accessed March 22, 2010.
*] (2003). , ''The Atlantic'', June 2003, accessed March 21, 2010.


==External websites== ==External links==
⚫ *
* {{in lang|he}}<!--Hebrew-->
* {{in lang|he}}<!--Hebrew-->


{{Authority control}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Shahaf, Nahum}}
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Latest revision as of 19:13, 31 October 2024

Israeli physicist

Nahum Shahaf (Hebrew: נחום שחף) is an Israeli physicist who specializes in ballistics and film technology.

Biography

Nahum Shahaf earned a Master of Physics degree from Bar-Ilan University in 1977. Throughout most of the 1980s, he worked on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which Israeli journalist Amnon Lord described as placing Shahaf "among the leading developers" of the technology. According to his curriculum vitae, Shahaf worked primarily on UAV optical tracking systems, before shifting his focus to missile systems and inventing over the next decade. In 1997, he received an Israeli Ministry of Science award for creativity for his work on compressed digital video transmission.

Al-Durrah investigation

Muhammad al-Durrah was a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, reported to have been shot and killed by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) gunfire on September 30, 2000. Shahaf, noticing what he considered an anomaly in the video footage of the shooting, contacted Major General Yom Tov Samia, head of the Israel's Southern Command. Shahaf proposed that he and Joseph Doriel, an engineer Shahaf had previously collaborated with on conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, should investigate the incident. Samia agreed, and on October 23, 2000, Shahaf helped arrange a re-enactment at an IDF shooting range, in front of a CBS 60 Minutes camera crew. In late November 2000, the investigators concluded, based on the angles and rate of fire, that Israeli troops had probably not shot the boy.

Israeli newspapers Haaretz and the Jerusalem Post claimed that Shahaf had no ballistics experience and Haaretz described the investigation as "dubious." His previous involvement in raising doubts about the identity of Rabin's killer became the subject of controversy. Shahaf, however, claims he spent months painstakingly collecting footage from reluctant cameramen and splicing the pieces together in rough temporal order to create an unbroken film of the day. Shahaf believes that al-Durrah was not killed by the IDF and may still be alive.

In December 2007, following Haaretz's report on his work, which op-ed writer Gideon Levy described as an "eccentric obsession," Shahaf filed a defamation lawsuit against the newspaper charging that Haaretz's coverage had caused investors to back out of financing one of his inventions. He filed for 400 million shekels (US$103 million) in damages.

References

  1. The Mohamad A-Dura affair: a gross imposture? MENA interviews Nahum Shahaf (Copy)
  2. Who Killed Muhammad Al-Dura? Blood Libel-- Model 2000 Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs Amnon Lord 15 July 2002
  3. (in Hebrew) נחום שחף - קורות חיים
  4. Fallows 2003.
  5. Cordesman, Anthony; Moravitz, Jennifer (2005). The Israeli-Palestinian war: escalating to nowhere. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 372. ISBN 978-0-275-98758-9.
  6. ^ Cygielman 2000.
  7. Israel claims Palestinian gunmen may have shot boy in high-profile killing AP - November 27, 2000 Archived February 15, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  8. Schwartz, Adi (2007). "In the footsteps of the al-Dura controversy", Haaretz, November 8, 2007, accessed January 24, 2010.
  9. The other war: Israelis, Palestinians, and the struggle for media supremacy, Stephanie Gutmann, Encounter Books, 2005, p. 75.
  10. Temple-Raston, Dina (March 15, 2005). "Engineer Casts Doubt on Veracity of Claims That Israelis Killed Palestinian Boy in 2000". The New York Sun.
  11. Levy, Gideon. Mohammed al-Dura lives on. Haaretz, October 7, 2007, accessed October 23, 2008.
  12. "400 million lawsuit against Haaretz". NRG (in Hebrew). December 5, 2007.

Bibliography

External links

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