The 
two countries we’re going to talk about
today are seldom off the front pages of the
international news media.
As we write this, a news report tells us Israel’s
Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is saying
Iran is waging a religious war in Syria and
that the country has its sights set on attacking
Israel.
“Iran calls for our destruction but it's
also seeking nuclear weapons to carry out
its genocidal designs,” said the prime minister.
Meanwhile, the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
must be one of the most divisive issues out
there, with much of the press and public painting
Israel as the villain.
We won’t get into the politics of it all,
but with these countries being on everyone’s
mind, we thought we’d match them up militarily.
Without further ado, welcome to this episode
of the Infographics Show, Iran vs Israel.
Let’s start with the money.
Israel’s defense budget for 2018 was reported
as being $20 billion, which includes the yearly
stipend the country gets from the USA, approximately
$3.8 billion.
We might also add that the Israeli defense
minister is asking for another $1.4 billion
to fund a military that is constantly in action.
Here we will also add that Israel is to some
extent under the protection of the United
States, but today we’ll be focusing on Israel’s
military alone, and not its power when its
ever-faithful big brother steps in to assist.
Iran’s military budget is considerably lower
than Israel’s, reported as $14.1 billion
for 2017.
Although, a Forbes article in 2018 said things
are about to change, and perhaps that’s
why traditional military sites are not reporting
the 2018 budget.
Forbes writes that The Islamic Revolutionary
Guard Corp, part of Iran’s armed forces
designed to protect the Islamic Republic,
is due for a massive injection of cash.
“The IRGC will receive $8 billion from Iran’s
fiscal budget,” writes Forbes, adding that
Iran plans to spend large, even if that poses
a threat to the welfare of its citizens.
Forbes says Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence
and Security will get one billion, and it
seems the rest will go to the traditional
military.
If this increased spending happens, then Iran
will have more to spend than Israel, but not
by much.
As for people on the ground.
Israel has 615,000 military personnel.
170,000 are active personnel and 445,000 are
reserves.
Add to that Israel’s Shayetet 13, a special
operations outfit said to be one of the best.
As we said in our last show, something to
bear in mind is conscription in Israel.
Most Israelis, when they reach 18-years old,
will become part of the military.
Service time is 2 years 8 months for men and
2 years for women.
We must remember this means Israel has a hell
of a lot of young people already trained to
fight or that have actually been involved
in warfare.
It’s not all action of course, with some
jobs just being hanging out as a safety precaution
on one of Israel’s many kibbutzim.
Iran has a bigger force, though, with a total
of 934,000 military personnel.
534,000 are active personnel and 400,000 are
reserves.
Iran also has conscription, but it’s only
applicable to men.
That means once Iranians reach the age of
18, they must do somewhere between 18 months
and two years in the military.
We might also point out that while women are
not conscripted, some do volunteer.
Iran also has its special forces, from the
marines to its elite Quds Force, and the Saberin
Takavar Battalion, a special unit of the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Ok, so what about equipment on the ground?
Israel has a fairly modern and well-maintained
bunch of machines.
This includes 2,760 battle tanks, 10,575 armored
fighting vehicles, 650 self-propelled artillery,
300 towed artillery, and 148 rocker projectors.
We might add that part of this is the Merkava
IV main battle tank, which National Interest
said in 2017 just might be the best in the
world.
We might add that National Interest says this
about many tanks.
What about Iran’s tools of the trade?
Well, the country owns 1,650 battle tanks,
2,215 armored fighting vehicles, 440 self-propelled
artillery, 2,188 towed artillery, and 1,533
rocket projectors.
As for tanks, National Interest talked about
an Iranian tank that was, you guessed it,
“one of the best in the world.”
This is the Karrar tank, which was made in
Iran and is supposed to be superior to the
Russian-made T-90.
Iran has a number of older tanks that were
made in the USA, the UK, and Russia.
We might remember that Iran and the U.S. used
to be friends in the past, with the U.S. actually
helping Iran to kick-off its nuclear program
in the 50s.
This assistance became known as “Atoms of
Peace”, and yes, that was a term before
it became the name of a band started by Radiohead
lead singer Thom Yorke.
We point this out only to let you know how
fickle relationships can be, and so you never
know, maybe one day Israel might not be a
demi-protectorate of the U.S.
Compared to its land artillery, Israel’s
air force is quite small.
It has 252 fighter aircraft and 252 attack
aircraft.
Israel has also spent big on 9 F-35’s bought
from the USA and also has over 70 F-16 Fighting
Falcons.
On top of that, they have F-15 Eagles and
F-15 Strike Eagles.
So, while small, there isn’t much there
that hasn’t at one point been said to be
a top ten aircraft.
Iran has an even smaller fleet, with 150 fighter
aircraft and 158 attack aircraft.
Some of those were the ones given as a gift
from the USA, in a small fleet F-14 Tomcat
Fighters.
Add to that some rather old American-made
multirole fighters in the McDonnell Douglas
F-4 Phantom II and Northrop F-5 Tiger II.
Perhaps the best aircraft Iran has is the
Russian made Mikoyan MiG-29 Fulcrum as well
as Russian Sukhoi Su24s and 25s.
In the water, neither country is very strong,
with Israel having no aircraft carriers and
not much of anything else.
In total the country owns no frigates, no
destroyers, 3 corvettes, 6 submarines, 32
patrol craft, and 0 mine warfare vessels.
Iran has more to brag about, having a total
of no destroyers, 5 frigates, 3 corvettes,
33 submarines, 230 patrol craft, and 10 mine
warfare vessels.
In numbers, this is, at least, far stronger
than Israel.
As for nuclear weapons, we will use a quote
we have used before regarding Israel, written
in 2017 in National Interest.
It says about all you need to know.
“Israel does not confirm nor deny having
nuclear weapons.
Experts generally assess the country as currently
having approximately eighty nuclear weapons.”
What about Iran?
Well, that’s the million-dollar question.
CNN wrote this in 2018, “Iran does not yet
have a nuclear weapon but does have enough
low-enriched uranium for a single nuclear
weapon.”
Then we had a report on June 4th in the British
tabloid, The Sun, that stated Israel intelligence
agency Mossad had discovered documents in
a warehouse in Tehran that suggested Iran
was on its way to making nuclear weapons.
Depending on what news source you read, Iran
has them already, will have them soon, or
has some good-to-go, but in North Korea.
The truth is out there, but we won’t say
we know what it is.
So, who wins?
Well, we have to give the edge to Iran.
It’s just a bigger military in the end.
We are not alone; other pundits it seems also
give Iran the edge, stating that the country
falls just outside of the top ten most powerful
militaries in 
the world.
So, what do you think?
Does Iran actually have the edge, or could
Israel blow iran out of the proverbial water?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Also, be sure to check out our other video
called Israel vs the USA!
Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t
forget to like, share, and subscribe.
See you next time!
