Are Israeli Tanks Being Blown Up By American Missiles?

Israel's Merkava tanks are taking heavy losses in the invasion of Lebanon. According to IsraeiNationalNews:

" IDF officials admit that the biggest surprise of the ongoing war against Hizbullah is the ease by which terrorists have destroyed IDF tanks. At least 30 tanks have been totally destroyed or seriously damaged in bomb and anti-tank rocket attacks involving state-of-the-art Russian anti-tank rockets. About one-half of the military personnel killed in southern Lebanon were inside tanks."

Back in the 80's there was the Iran - Contra scandal where the Reagan administration traded weapons to Iran for help in freeing hostages held in Lebanon. A thousand TOW missiles (Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided) were part of the weapons deal that was sent to them. Current versions are capable of penetrating more than 30 inches of armor, or "any 1990s tank," at a maximum range of more than 3,000 meters. They were sent in exchange for money which was used to support anti Sandanista terrorists in Nicaragua. (A more lucrative source for money was Ollie North's cocaine trafficking.)

Iran needed the armaments for it's eight year war with Iraq, and used most of them up. Because of that, they developed an extensive homegrown arms industry that back engineered arms from various countries. It's ony common sense that they would copy the best stuff including the TOWs from the US. They've been so successful that they don't import arms from abroad but create their own locally, and it's no secret that they supply missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon.

It would be highly ironic that Israeli tanks are getting destroyed by american made missiles or their technology, because what emerged from the Iran - Contra revelations was that Israel itself was the source of the TOW missiles to Iran.