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http://zionism-israel.com/israel_news/2008/07/hamas-using-cease-fire-to-rearm.html
By Aaron Klein
© 2008 WorldNetDaily TEL AVIV A mysterious explosion at a Hamas training facility in the Gaza Strip today occurred while terrorists were attempting to produce rockets that can hit further inside Israel, Hamas sources told WND. The explosion underscores the Gaza-based terrorists' utilization of a cease-fire agreed to with Israel last month to rearm, train and produce advance weaponry for use against Israel. "It is not really a period of rest. We have been training, receiving religious courses ... we've been producing weapons, working on smuggling everything that can reinforce us," said a senior terrorist in Gaza, speaking on condition his name be withheld. "This period will make that our capacities will be much stronger than before the truce," the senior terrorist said. (Story continues below)
Two militants reportedly were killed in a Hamas training camp in the Gaza city of Khan Yunis when an explosion caused a building to collapse.
Hamas sources told WND the explosion occurred while Hamas experts were testing a new Qassam rocket they were trying to fit with two engines. Current Qassams run on one engine. The Hamas sources said the goal during the truce is to produce a rocket that can travel 24 kilometers, which will put the strategic Israeli port city of Ashdod within range. Since Israel agreed to the truce last month with the Hamas terrorist organization, at least seven rockets and a handful of mortars have been fired from the territory aimed at nearby Jewish communities. Members of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah organization, which is at odds with Hamas, took credit for most of the rocket fire. To interview Aaron Klein, contact M. Sliwa Public Relations by e-mail, or call 973-272-2861 or 212-202-4453.
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Ahmadinejad: Iran will not renounce nuclear rights
Iran's president insists his country unwilling to waive nuclear rights. Iranian IRNA news agency quotes Ahmadinejad as saying, 'Even if some countries like Israel, United States join forces they will not dare to attack Iran and they know it very well' AFP
Published: 07.07.08, 14:38 / Israel News Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad insisted on Monday that Iran would not give up its nuclear rights, dismissing calls for Tehran to suspend uranium enrichment, the official IRNA news agency reported. "It is a repetitive scenario," IRNA quoted Ahmadinejad as saying in an interview with Malaysian television from Kuala Lumpur where he is to attend the summit of the D8 group of developing nations. "On one side they (world powers) ask to negotiate and on the other they threaten and say that we must give in to their illegal demands and renounce our rights," he added. Ahmadinejad's latest defiant comments came days after Iran gave an undisclosed response to an offer from six world powers aiming to break the deadlock in the nuclear standoff. The proposal from the world powers offers Iran technological incentives in exchange for suspending uranium enrichment, which the West fears could be used to make a nuclear weapon. "We are in favor of dialogue but we will negotiate in a just atmosphere and on common subjects because negotiations in an unbalanced climate will have no result," Ahmadinejad added. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said earlier that he did not think that Iran's response to the package, "Provides great hope. But it gives a little bit of hope." EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana, who has been leading talks with Iran, also said on Monday he hoped to meet later this month with Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili. Solana refused to give details of the Iranian response, which was delivered in Brussels on Friday. The United States has never ruled out military action to end the Iranian defiance and concerns a strike could be imminent mounted after it emerged Iran's arch enemy Israel had carried out dry runs for an attack. Hitting out at the "satanic desires" of US President George W. Bush, Ahmadinejad shrugged off the idea that the United States could attack Iran. "Even if some countries like Israel and the United States join forces they will not dare to attack Iran and they know it very well," Ahmadinejad said."They know that they cannot use the language of force against Iran and must bend in the face of the will of the Iranian people," he added.
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Last update - 09:51 07/07/2008 By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
The Israel Defense Forces will soon be stepping up its campaign against Hamas' civilian infrastructure in the West Bank, shutting down a large number of Hamas-affiliated charities, confiscating their property, and searching computers and documents that detail their activity. The IDF has been carrying out similar raids in the Hebron, Qalqilyah and Ramallah areas since the beginning of the year, but the campaign will now be expanded to additional parts of the West Bank, in the wake of approval from Israel's legal authorities. After receiving permission to seize property that provides Hamas-affiliated associations with income, even if they are not directly linked to terrorism, the IDF has shut down a mall in Hebron, confiscated buses and prohibited the opening of a new school in Hebron due to ties with Hamas-linked Islamic associations. Offices and storehouses have also been shut down.
The IDF argues that closing Hamas-affiliated institutions cuts off a crucial source of funding earmarked for terror activities. The move is also aimed at making it difficult for Hamas to increase its influence in the West Bank, in a bid to stem Hamas' rising popularity and keep it from wresting control from the Palestinian Authority.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi and Shin Bet security service chief Yuval Diskin have approved the plan to target Hamas' civilian infrastructure. Over the last few years, Hamas has built an "organizational system that, if necessary, could serve as the basis for a state," a senior IDF official told Haaretz. "It's simply a 'state of associations.' They accumulate a lot of popular support and rely on an enormous infusion of funds from abroad, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars a year, from bodies in Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states and Muslim communities in Europe, the United States and South America." A senior IDF officer said the IDF, which is curbing Hamas' military capability and preventing it from challenging the Palestinian Authority more directly, is the primary obstacle to a Hamas takeover of the West Bank. "They have knowledge, funds and skilled people, much more so than Fatah," the officer said. "They won the elections in many towns and local authorities, and they are gradually gaining control of more education, health, welfare and religious institutions." But the officer said the IDF was fighting what he called a "rearguard battle." "We're talking about strengthening the moderate elements that is, the Palestinian Authority but actually the PA has little control over the area. Hamas has taken over all the associations not just blatantly Islamic bodies, but also those that used to be under PA control. The Palestinian public prefers Hamas, because they are less corrupt and more efficient." But although the IDF is targeting Hamas-affiliated institutions, the IDF officer notes that "we have not yet declared war on Hamas." He said such a move would need to be undertaken by the state as a whole, rather than "local work" carried out by the IDF and Shin Bet. Hamas-affiliated institutions that were targeted so far include schools, health centers, charities, and even soup kitchens and orphanages. Dozens of associations were shut down and the food confiscated. Several dozen indictments have been issued thus far, and some operatives have been convicted and sentenced to jail terms. Police have also begun investigating suspected money-laundering and the transfer of terror funds. Unlike in the past, when seized intelligence information was left in storage for years because there weren't enough experts to translate and analyze it, this time a team of translators was set up to deal with the seized material. "This campaign is what most disturbs Hamas in the West Bank," said a senior official. "But this is only the beginning of the effort, and we need more activities and more resources. When it comes to these matters, you can't compare the efficiency of the security forces to the level of effectiveness developed by the army and the Shin Bet over the last few years, in everything related to stopping the terror of suicide bombers from the West Bank."
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The news that Iran is building P2 centrifuges in concealed factories is certainly not good. On the one hand, more efficient centrifuges are not necessarily going to be used to make an A-bomb. It is not quite a "smoking gun" signal in the way that work on detonator mechanisms or warheads might be. On the other hand, the fact that the work is concealed and is undertaken by the Iranian Republican Guard Corps is fairly damning. Iranian Republic guards do not engage in academic research or in atoms for peace projects. If they are working on P2 centrifuges, they may be working on "smoking gun" projects as well. The fact that that is not known in the West might simply indicate the inadequacy of the intelligence networks. The ambiguous project might have looser security with the intent that the news will get out. Ami Isseroff Iran has resumed A-bomb project, says West By Con Coughlin Last updated: 8:13 AM BST 07/07/2008 Iran has resumed work on constructing highly sophisticated equipment that nuclear experts say is primarily used for building atomic weapons, according to the latest intelligence reports received by Western diplomats. The work is aimed at developing the blueprint provided by Dr AQ Khan, the "father" of Pakistan's nuclear bomb, who sold Iran details of how to build atom bombs in the early 1990s. Iran's Revolutionary Guard, which has overall responsibility for the country's nuclear programme, has set up several civilian companies to work on the programme whose activities are being deliberately concealed from the United Nations nuclear inspection teams. The companies, based on the outskirts of Tehran, are working on constructing components for the advanced P2 gas centrifuge, which can enrich uranium to weapons grade two to three times faster than conventional P1 centrifuges. Iran's controversial nuclear enrichment programme at Natanz, which Tehran insists is designed to produce fuel for nuclear power, runs on P1 centrifuges. But Iranian nuclear scientists recently conducted successful tests on a prototype P2 centrifuge at Natanz, and the Revolutionary Guard has now set up a network of companies to build components for the advanced centrifuges. This has raised concerns among Western experts that Iran is continuing work on its nuclear weapons programme, despite Tehran's protestations that its intentions are peaceful. "If Iran's nuclear intentions were peaceful there would be no need for it to undertake this work in secret," said an official familiar with the intelligence reports. A previous clandestine attempt by Iran to develop P2 centrifuges was halted in 2004 after the existence of a civilian company set up by the Revolutionary Guard was exposed. UN nuclear inspectors found traces of weapons-grade uranium at the company when they inspected the premises. Reports that Iran has resumed work on sophisticated uranium enrichment technology follow Tehran's announcement at the weekend that it has no intention of halting its uranium enrichment programme at Natanz. Iranian officials were speaking the day after they had formally submitted their response to a package put together by the world's leading powers including Britain offering a number of incentives in return for halting enrichment. While European officials yesterday refused to disclose details of the Iranian response, one said that "it was not something that made us jump up and down for joy". An Iranian government spokesman said: "Iran's stand regarding its peaceful nuclear programme has not changed." According to recent intelligence reports, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian President, personally ordered the Revolutionary Guard to set up companies for the secret manufacture of components for P2 centrifuges this year. One of the companies is in a residential building in Amir Abad, western Tehran, where its work is unlikely to be detected by UN nuclear inspectors. One of the facilities is said to be run by a company owned by the Revolutionary Guard. The operation is a direct copy of the Revolutionary Guard's previous attempt to develop P2 centrifuges, when research work was undertaken by the Kalaye Electric Company, which claimed it was manufacturing watches. When its true activity was revealed to UN nuclear inspectors in 2004, they found the company had succeeded in building the centrifuges and enriching small quantities of uranium to weapons grade. Senior officials from Iran's Atomic Energy Agency are supervising the current clandestine programme, which is based on the atomic weapons blueprint sold to Iran by Dr Khan in 1994. Reports that Iran is actively working on Dr Khan's blueprint will deepen suspicions that Tehran has resumed work on its nuclear weapons programme. Story from Telegraph News:
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Hamas' Gaza-based Al-Aqsa TV on Saturday denounced a resolution presented to the United States Congress seeking to have it outlawed as a terrorist organization. The resolution, presented on June 26, was "politically motivated and aims at silencing every free voice uncovering U.S. and Zionist acts," said Fathi Hamad, a lawmaker who heads the satellite channel operated by the Hamas Palestinian militant movement. The draft condemned Al-Aqsa for incitement to violence against Americans as well as sponsoring recruitment and fundraising for terrorism against the U.S.
Hamad said the channel "was mainly a resistance broadcaster that presented programs showing the Palestinian cause." The resolution mentioned a puppet show aired by Al-Aqsa in March that depicted an Arab child stabbing the president of the U.S. to death and turning the White House into a mosque. The bill calls on the president to list Al-Aqsa as a "specially designated global terrorist." It also mentioned instances of incitement of violence by the Lebanese Al-Manar, Iranian Al-Alam, Iraqi Al-Zawra and Iraqi Al-Rafidayn channels. If approved, the resolution would call on the president to designate as global terrorists satellite providers that carried stations with the terror group status. The text of the bill noted that that an Egyptian state-run provider, NileSat, carries Al-Aqsa. Hamad said Al-Aqsa would take "alternative steps to secure the continuation of its broadcasts." Washington and the European Union regard Hamas as a terrorist organization and refuse to deal with it unless it recognizes Israel and renounces violence. Hamas seized control of Gaza Strip in June 2007 after routing security forces loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of the secular Fatah movement. Al-Aqsa led the Hamas media campaign during the bloody fighting.
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It is clear that Iran is not going to change its position regarding nuclear enrichment, and that there seems to be little or nothing that anyone can do to make them change their minds, at least while Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is president. This raises the urgency of considering the wisdom or non-wisdom of the repeated leaks about planned Israeli or American attacks on Iran. Those making the threats should understand that if they are repeated too often and not carried out, it will only contribute to an Iranian propaganda victory. Ami Isseroff Iran has said its position on its nuclear programme remains unchanged. The announcement comes a day after it delivered a formal response to an EU offer of incentives in exchange for halting uranium enrichment. A government spokesman said the country was prepared to negotiate with major world powers, but would not give up its uranium enrichment programme. The content of both the EU proposal and the Iranian response have not yet been made public. "Iran will not go back on its rights on the nuclear issue," said spokesman Gholamhossein Elham, in the first official comments since Iran submitted its response to the EU. "Iran insists on negotiations while respecting its rights and avoiding any loss of international rights," he said. Incentives
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, left, receives a package of incentives from EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in Tehran on 14 June 2008
The EU deal offers assistance in developing nuclear power stations. The incentives package from China, the EU, France, Russia, the UK and US was offered to Iran by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana in June. Mr Solana also asked Iran to accept a six-week freeze on further developments on its controversial programme, in return for a similar freeze on new UN sanctions. Separately, the EU also imposed new sanctions on Iran in June. The incentives package builds on a previous offer of 2006 and says that if Iran suspends uranium enrichment, then talks can start about a long-term agreement. On offer is recognition of Iran's right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and the treatment of Iran in "the same manner" as other states under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran would get help with developing nuclear power stations and be guaranteed fuel for them. It would also be offered trade concessions, including the possible lifting of US sanctions preventing it from buying new civilian aircraft and parts. Tehran has consistently denied Western claims that it is seeking to build a nuclear weapon, saying its programme is peaceful. It has repeatedly rejected demands to halt enriching uranium, which can be used as fuel for power plants or material for weapons if refined to a greater degree.
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Officials in Jerusalem are anxiously anticipating the United Nations' upcoming appointment of a new human rights commissioner to replace Louise Arbour, the Canadian jurist and former Supreme Court judge who stepped down earlier this week. As UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon interviews prospective candidates, Israeli officials are attempting to exert their influence in the hopes the world body taps a figure whom Jerusalem perceives as non-hostile. Two candidates in particular are worrisome from Israel's standpoint - Luis Alfonso de Alba, a Mexican diplomat who has expressed anti-Israel views in years past; and the Swiss foreign minister, Micheline Calmy-Rey, who aroused Jerusalem's ire after paying an official visit to Iran earlier this year.
Despite past differences of opinion on a host of issues, Israeli officials have conducted an open, continuous dialogue with Arbour during the last three years of her tenure. The high point of the relationship came two years ago, when Arbour visited Sderot and declared Palestinian firing of Qassam rockets as a war crime. During her stay, Arbour witnessed first hand a Qassam directly strike a factory in the city. East Timor's president said last week he would not take a new job as the UN human rights commissioner, citing possible political instability in his fledgling democracy. Jose Ramos-Horta told political leaders last week he had already accepted the job, but explained in the capital, Dili, that he had changed his mind. Ban said last week that he had spoken to several candidates to replace Arbour.
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The U.S. Defense Department thinks it is increasingly likely that Israel will attack Iran's nuclear facilities by the end of this year. An ABC News report quoted unidentified senior Pentagon sources yesterday saying that Washington was concerned Iran would strike both the United States and Israel in retaliation. One official said such an Israeli attack would have far reaching security and economic consequences, and the U.S. would be accused of cooperating with the Israeli strike.
The ABC News report was just the most recent in a series of media revelations on the possibility that Israel would use force to stop the Iranian nuclear program. Previous reports included Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz's comments on the matter, reported in the New York Times and never denied by Israel, on a large military exercise the Israeli Air Force conducted last month in preparation for such an attack on Iran. There was even a day filled with rumors and false reports of an actual Israeli attack that drove down world markets and pushed up oil prices. In the middle of all this, Iran revealed it had sentenced to death one of its citizens accused of being an Israeli spy for collecting information on Iran's nuclear plans. The increasing media interest all over the globe in a possible Israeli attack can be explained by the convergence of a number of issues coming to a head in a short period. According to reports from the Israeli defense establishment, Iran will cross the "technological threshold" - the point when it will be able to independently produce nuclear weapons - in a year and a half to two years. In addition, the U.S. election campaign will soon enter its final phase, and even if the next administration - whoever its leader may be - is no less supportive of Israel than the present Bush administration, it is clear that its first year will be dedicated more to learning the complex international issues than to actually dealing with them. In the background, the effects are still being felt of the American intelligence community's report from last December stating that Iran had suspended its military nuclear weapons program. President George W. Bush, in his recent talks with Israel, expressed serious doubts about the conclusions. But the common opinion among Israeli politicians and the defense establishment is that Bush will find it difficult to initiate an American attack on Iran in light of the wide-scale opposition in the public and the Congress, as well as in parts of the U.S. defense establishment. This leaves the possibility of an attack on Iran solely in Israel's hands. As far as is known, no decisions have yet been made, but the direction is much clearer than in previous years. It is worth remembering Ehud Olmert's comments to Bush at the end of their meeting in the White House a month ago. He said that every day that passes brings us closer to the solution to the Iranian nuclear problem. What Bush and Olmert tell each in in private no one else knows, but it certainly sounds like a hint to their discussion of a "green light" on the military option. The Air Force exercise, the second in half a year, should also be viewed as an attempt to improve the IDF's preparedness for such an attack. Israel is broadcasting that all its options are still open, and is also informing the U.S. that it is serious. Such firmness might also help advance U.S. willingness to support such an attack, as Israel would need quite a bit of assistance from the Americans if it decides to attack: from coordination of flight paths - due to the U.S. presence in Iraq - along with intelligence, and also bombs that could penetrate the Iranian facilities deep underground. Last week the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mike Mullen, visited Israel and met with the heads of the Israeli defense establishment. ABC News quoted the U.S. defense official as saying that two "red lines" would prompt Israel to strike Iran. The first trigger would be when enough highly enriched uranium is produced at Iran's Natanz nuclear facility to create a nuclear bomb, which U.S. and Israeli assessments predict to occur by the end of this year or by the middle of 2009. The U.S. State Department criticized the comments on the likelihood Israel would attack Iran over its nuclear program. "I have no information that would substantiate that, and I think it's rather foolish of people who often have no clue what they're talking about to assert things and not even have the courtesy to do so on the basis of their name," State Department spokesman Tom Casey said in response to the report. Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said, "I don't comment for Israel," when asked about the ABC News report. "We are going to address the concerns that we have with Iran diplomatically, and with international organizations that can bring some pressure to bear on this issue," he said. "That is the focus of the U.S. effort." The key question relates to the ability of Israel's leadership to make decisions in the present political - and criminal - situation. From what has been allowed to be reported about last year's attack on the Syrian installations, it seems that Olmert was willing to take a large personal risk in response to a goal he viewed as essential. The General Staff also feels a similar obligation, and it is enough to see how many senior officers, particularly from the Air Force, have photos from the Auschwitz flyover on their walls, alongside other reminders of the Holocaust. The so-called Begin Doctrine, which states that Israel will prevent with force if necessary, the introduction of nuclear weapons by enemy countries, was used against the Iraqi reactor in 1981, and also against the Syrians. The international community made peace with the Israeli attacks, twice, since its actions did not cause a war that threatened oil markets.
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Last update - 13:26 05/07/2008 Officials said that the response to the proposal does not address the request of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and the European Union that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment activities. Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said in the response that Iran would be willing to engage in comprehensive negotiations with the EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and the world powers which offered the incentives.
"The time for negotiating from the condescending position of inequality has come to an end," the Iranian minister said, according to the New York Times. Sources involved in the diplomatic effort stressed that he failed to address any of the proposals the incentive package includes.
Also, officials said, Mottaki called the sanctions imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council "illegal" and said they were creating "lack of trust," resulting from "the duplicitous behavior of certain big powers." The governments of the global powers involved declined to comment on the substance of Mottaki's letter. A White House spokesperson said the U.S. intended to study the response and discuss it with Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China before responding formally. Western officials expressed mixed feelings about Iran's response. "There is nothing new in it," said one, but others remained hopeful, citing the fact it was not a downright rejection of the incentives. Government spokesman Gholamhossein Elham told a weekly news conference that "Iran's stance has not changed [on uranium enrichment] and we are ready to hold talks on the common points of the P5+1 incentives package and Iran's package."
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Last update - 08:48 04/07/2008 Colombia hostage rescue: the Israeli angle By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent and Agencies
Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who was released after six years in captivity on Wednesday, compared her "impeccable" rescue operation to Israeli commando operations. Perhaps she did not know it, but Israel indeed contributed to the elaborately-planned, daring rescue mission. Betancourt, who was kidnapped in 2002 by Marxist rebels in Colombia (FARC), was rescued without a shot being fired. Colombian military agents, who had penetrated FARC's leadership, instructed her guards to transfer her to another rebel group. Her captors put her on a helicopter that arrived as scheduled, little knowing that their comrades-in-arms were undercover Colombian soldiers. Betancourt and 14 other hostages who had been held in the jungle, including three Americans, were freed. Since word of the dramatic rescue spread, speculation in the world media has attributed the success to people trained by Israeli intelligence. But an Israeli figure familiar with the military aid to Colombia said there was "no need to exaggerate" Israel's involvement in the operation. The Israelis involved in the operation feel it is important to accord the credit to Colombia. The Israeli activity, involving dozens of Israeli security experts, was coordinated by Global CST, owned by former General Staff operations chief, Brigadier General (res.) Israel Ziv, and Brigadier (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser. "It's a Colombian Entebbe operation," Ziv said Thursday when he returned from Bogota. "Both regarding its national and international importance. Betancourt has become a symbol of the struggle against international terror. This is an amazing operation that wouldn't shame any army or special forces anywhere in the world." Asked about the Israeli involvement in it Ziv said there is "no need to exaggerate." "We don't want to take credit for something we didn't do," a company source said. "We helped them prepare themselves to fight terror. We helped them to plan operations and strategies and develop intelligence sources. That's quite a bit, but shouldn't be taken too far." Israelis may not have taken part in the rescue, but they advised and guided, sold equipment and intelligence technology. The Israeli involvement began a year and a half ago, when Colombia asked Israel for help in its struggle against FARC, which had become a militia specializing in kidnapping civilians and military figures for ransom and drug trading. Israel has over the years sold Colombia planes, drones, weapons and intelligence systems. At the Defense Ministry's suggestion, Global CST won the $10 million contract to work with Colombia. Ziv and Kuperwasser did not take part in the fighting, at the Defense Ministry's instructions. They hired experts who had worked for the Mossad, Shin Bet security service and IDF in various capacities. "Well I have to say that this operation was exclusively carried out by the Colombian Army," Colombian ambassador to Israel Juan Hurtado Cano said in an interview with Infolive TV, Jerusalem.
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U.S. Ambassador Richard Jones said Thursday that Washington would not intervene over Israel's renewed negotiations with Syria, calling it a private Israeli matter. Speaking at a ceremony in his honor at the home of Deputy Defense Minister Majele Wahabe, Jones said the U.S. has not presented a stance on the indirect peace talks. He said that the U.S., like many Israeli officials, were wary of establishing contacts with Damascus, but would not opposed the renewed negotiations.
Meanwhile, a Turkish government source on Thursday told Reuters that Syria and Israel have indeed agreed to hold a fourth round of indirect talks in Turkey in late July. The two countries also agreed to hold fifth and sixth rounds of talks in August. They will decide at the July meeting whether the August talks will be indirect or direct, the source added. The third round of talks started in Istanbul on Tuesday and ended on Thursday. "The talks were constructive and the countries started talking on core issues," the source said. The parties are negotiating over the fate of the Golan Heights, a strategic plateau which Israel occupied in a 1967 war and which Syrian wants it to return. Jones: Attack on Iran unlikely in near future Meanwhile, Jones, whose term is set to expire this summer, also said Thursday he did not foresee an attack against Iran over its contentious nuclear program any time in the near future. The use of force has always been the last possible resort for Israel and the U.S., Jones said, adding that the two states were cooperating on the matter but to his knowledge, have not yet made plans for an imminent operation. "I don't think any decisions have been made on any military action by any party, that I'm aware of," Richard Jones told reporters. "I think a lot of people believe that the use of military force would be the last option and there are plenty of other options that need to be exercised beforehand - and I think we are in the process of exercising those options," he said, adding: We are working very closely with Israel on our diplomatic efforts." When asked about whether upcoming U.S. elections would affect the chance for an operation Iran, Jones said situational tactics were likely to change, but not the fundamental approach to the matter. Speculation about a possible strike on Iran has lifted oil prices, which hit a new record high of above $145 a barrel on Thursday. Traders said the market now had $1150 within reach. The ambassador also condemned the terror attack which occurred in Jerusalem on Wednesday, calling it a "tragedy." U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday reiterated his administration's support for letting diplomatic pressure on Tehran run its course, but that "all options are on the table." Iran, which denies seeking nuclear weapons, has defied UN Security Council sanctions designed to curb its access to technologies with bomb-making potential. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Wednesday, said Wednesday that an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities would be a high-risk move that could destabilize the Middle East. Reports have surfaced lately claiming that Israel carried out a massive exercise over the Mediterranean as rehearsal for such a strike. At a Defense Department news conference on Wednesday, Mullen refused to say what Israeli leaders told him during meetings last week about any intentions to strike Iran. But asked whether he was concerned Israel would strike before the end of the year, he said: "This is a very unstable part of the world and I don't need it to be more unstable."
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Does this explain overtures to the Hamas? President Shimon Peres believes there is no chance of an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. Peres, the one-time proponent of a "new Middle East" made this statement last Saturday at a dinner with the Jordanian and French ambassadors in Defense Minister Ehud Barak's Tel Aviv apartment. At the end of the meal an argument erupted between the Jordanian envoy, Ali Ayed, and a well-known "dovish" attorney, who said Israel had no chance of reaching an agreement with the Palestinian Authority under Mahmoud Abbas' leadership. Barak supported his guest's hawkish stance.
At a certain point, Peres intervened, surprising the participants by joining the attorney's prediction. "It would be very hard to reach an agreement," Peres said, due to the Hamas-Fatah split. He said Abbas had no support among his people, no power to carry out security agreements and that any agreement Israel and the PA made crumbled a day later due to the PA's weakness. Therefore there is no chance of agreement, he summed.
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A million people is a statistic, but one person is a tragedy... We Remember!
Afik Zahavi and Mordechai Yosepov killed by a Qassam Rocket Four Years Ago
Exactly four years ago Afik Zahavi, four years-old, and Mordechai Yosepov, 49, were killed by a
Qassam rocket fired by Hamas from the Gaza Strip at 8:15 in the morning on June 28, 2004. The rocket struck near a nursery school in Sderot. Ruth Zahavi, was taking her son Afik to the nursery school, when the rocket landed and exploded. She was critically wounded in the rocket attack, along with ten other people who were lightly hurt. At Afik's funeral, his father, Yitzhak, prostrated himself on the small body and wept, "I love you Afik. I will see you everywhere. Look how many people are here accompanying you." The boy's mother remained in intensive care in Beersheba's Soroka Hospital at the time. Mordechai Yosepov was sitting on a bench near the Lilach nursery school, where his two grandchildren attend, when the same rocket killed him. Yosepov came to Israel in 1993 from Uzebkistan. He was on his way to the Employment Service to find work when the Qassam rocket struck.
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El Supremo - Hassan Nassrallah, a man of his word. Last update - 18:48 29/06/2008 In response to the Israeli cabinet's approval on Sunday to release Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar in exchange for kidnapped soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, Hezbollah said that the Israeli government's approval shows the strength of the Lebanese militant group. Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV has quoted a senior official, Executive Council chief Hashem Safieddine, as saying the swap also shows that the militant group's word is supreme. Bassam Kuntar, the brother of Lebanon's longest held prisoner in Israel, Samir Kuntar, also praised Hezbollah's 2006 capture of the two Israeli soldiers.
Kuntar told Al-Manar TV that the return of Lebanese prisoners from Israel shows that the resistance is ready.
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Main Points of the Framework of the Agreement on the Release of Israel's Missing and Captive Soldiers in Lebanon (Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser) The Government today (Sunday), 29.6.08, approved the outline for the agreement on releasing the abducted soldiers in Lebanon: 1. The abducted soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev will be returned to Israel, a report on the disappearance of Ron Arad (in continuation of Government decision #978 from 9.11.03) will be delivered to Israel and remains from the Second Lebanon War will also be received. In exchange for the return of the abducted soldiers, the State of Israel will release prisoners and detainees being held in its prison facilities, and will transfer bodies and information, as follows: A. Prisoner Samir Kuntar and four illegal Lebanese fighters being held by Israel will be released to Lebanon.
B. The bodies of dozens of infiltrators and terrorists, including eight members of Hezbollah, will be delivered to Lebanon.
C. Information on the four missing Iranian diplomats will be delivered to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
D. Following the implementation of the deal, Palestinian prisoners will be released. The number and identities of the prisoners will be determined at the sole discretion of the State of Israel.
2. Mr. Ofer Dekel, the official responsible for the negotiations on behalf of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, will continue the process of implementing the negotiations according to the principles detailed in this decision.
3. The Government will hold an additional discussion in order to complete and implement the agreement according to the principles detailed in this decision.
4. The Government of Israel reiterates and confirms its obligation to exhaust all that is required in order to obtain credible and solid information that will shed light on the fate of Israel Air Force navigator Capt. Ron Arad.
5. At the same time, the Government of Israel reiterates and confirms its commitment to continue acting for the release of Cpl. Gilad Shalit.
6. The Government of Israel will not slacken in its efforts to locate and bring home the missing and those Israeli soldiers whose resting place is unknown.
Via: IMRA
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I still hope, because we must always hope, that I am wrong. That the kidnapped soldiers are alive. That there will be no more kidnappings. I know it is not true though. Alive or dead, this deal will encourage kidnappings. Every Israeli who is hurt or whose loved ones are hurt by future violence cause by this swap should be entitled to sue the government, each official personally, journalists who misled the public and the Goldwasser and Regev families, who should be each and severally held responsible for the damage they have done. In the same way, the Tannenbaum family should have been sued by the Regev and Goldwasser families. See below, Ami Isseroff Despite defense officials' warning that prisoner exchange with Hizbullah will prompt further abductions, 22 ministers vote in favor of deal. Earlier, Prime Minister Olmert tells ministers captives are 'probably dead'
Roni Sofer YNET Latest Update: 06.29.08, 16:06 / Israel News
Earlier, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert urged his ministers to vote in favor of the deal. "At the end of a long process, I have reached the conclusion that as the Israeli prime minister I must recommend that you approve the proposal which will bring this painful affair to an end - even at the painful price it requires us to pay," Olmert said during Sunday's cabinet meeting.
Olmert said during the discussion that as far as Israel knows, the kidnapped soldiers are no longer alive, and are believed to have been killed during the abduction or died of their wounds shortly afterwards.
The prime minister said the kidnapping was likely aimed at bringing about the release of Samir Kuntar, as Hizbullah knew it was unable to meet its commitment in a previous deal to provide information on missing navigator Ron Arad.
Olmert explained that although the report submitted to Israel regarding the status of missing navigator Ron Arad was more detailed than the previous reports, it offered no clear answer as to the missing navigator's fate.
"The goal and assumption leading us all this time has been that we are working to return live men. Today we know for certain that this is not the case. The report must be the focus of today's discussion."
Ehud Goldwasser's father Shlomo told Ynet in response to Olmert's remarks, "We welcome the prime minister's words. It's nice that the prime minister has decided to rectify his error. He has made a brave decision and the right one at that."
The meeting was attended by Mossad Director Meir Dagan and Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin. During the meeting, defense sources told the ministers that approving the deal may prompt additional kidnappings, and asked them not vote in favor of it.
At the start of the meeting, Olmert said the deal would affect Israelis' lives in the coming years.
"Even people with the utmost responsibility, like me, have the right and duty to have doubts, as this decision deals with the repercussions on our lives in the coming years."
The prime minister noted, "I admit that I had a lot of doubts due to the problem's multiple aspects, and due to history and the different considerations.
"We have the utmost collective responsibility and mist look the Regev, Goldwasser, Haran (family killed by Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar), (Ron) Arad and (Gilad) Shalit families in the eye - as well as our conscience."
He added that the government is faced with sensitive issues on a weekly basis, but that there was no doubt that the discussion on the captives had particular value, was extraordinarily sensitive and had deep national and moral ramifications.
Olmert said that the negotiations for the kidnapped soldiers' release were held for two years, according to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War. according to the prime minister, during this time Hizbullah attempted to use manipulations and take advantage of the Israeli society's special sensitivities.
Cabinet meeting (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Eli Yishai said before the cabinet meeting that "this is a difficult decision. The question is whether Ron Arad could be brought back today, would we pay the price? We mustn't wait 22 more years. In any event, this is a difficult decision."
Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit said, "I support this deal wholeheartedly. It's our commitment as a government which sends soldiers. They should have been released by now. The media drama is unnecessary and is the result of politics."
Culture, Sports and Minister Raleb Majadele, who supports the deal, said that "we must stop the families' humiliation campaign, and must carry out a mutual and immediate release."
Rallying in favor of deal
The ministers spoke as dozens of people rallied in the government building area in Jerusalem, calling on the ministers to approve the prisoner exchange deal with Hizbullah.
"I hope the ministers will come to their senses and vote in favor of the deal," Miki Goldwasser, Ehud's mother, told Ynet. "We've spoken with the prime minister and we've made our case," she said.
The rally was also attended by several of missing Israeli Air Force navigator Ron Arad's friends, who called on the cabinet not to forget the MIA airman and to continue in their efforts to find out what became of him.
Should the Regev-Goldwasser deal be pushed through, the government would be greenlighting the release of Samir Kuntar, who has long been considered Israel's strongest bargain chip for any information pertaining to Arad's fate.
Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser have been held captive by Hizbullah for 718 day.
Ronen Medzini contributed to this report
First Published: 06.29.08, 11:00
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An excellent book about the disastrous Second Lebanon war ("Kurei Akavish" - Cobwebs), made several very interesting points among others: The first was that the withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 was based on partially distorted perceptions. The second was that orchestrated media efforts played a great role in demoralizing the IDF and in pressuring the government to leave Lebanon rather than making an effort to deal with the problem of Hezbollah. The third was that the Elhanan Tannenbaum swap deal, and others before it, virtually ensured that there would be a new kidnapping attempt, because these deals taught the Hezbollah that Israel is vulnerable to such extortion. So why are Harel and Issacharoff now leading the media PR campaign to railroad through this decision?? An analysis of the current Hezbollah deal by Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel de-emphasizes the security concerns and claims that it is a "myth" that hostage trades create a dangerous precedent. They cite irrelevant "precedents." They don't distinguish between soldiers who fell in battle or went MIA in battle, and those who were captured and killed in a deliberate kidnap attempt. The agreement currently enjoys broad support in the cabinet. However, if Olmert, who still has not made his position clear, expresses reservations about any of the parts of the deal, the vote, which requires a simple majority, may swing against it - particularly among Kadima ministers. Any proposition that enjoys "broad support" could not possibly be stopped by some reservations of Olmert, who is politically weak. Motherhood enjoys "broad support." The only way to torpedo a proposition supporting motherhood might be to get Olmert to support it. Anything he supports is now suspected as a political ploy. Harel, Ravid and Stern, the authors of this article, tell us: "A quick decision needs to be made, yes or no," said a security source close to the negotiations, warning that if the plan fails to gain approval, it might "sentence the families of [Ehud] Goldwasser and [Eldad] Regev to a life of uncertainty." If the plan does get approval it is is more likely to sentence dozens of other Israelis who will be kidnapped or die in future wars to the certainty of death. Who wrote the excellent book that disagrees with the above analyses? Was it some lowly amateur like myself? An outsider from the United States perhaps? A right-wing propagandist? No way - "ayn matzav" as we say in slang. The authors of "Kurei Akavish" are the renowned experts Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff of course. Who is at fault for the media bandwagon and for misleading information? Ami Isseroff
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Israel and Egypt both have to find a more humane and reasonable way to deal with the problem of African immigration. The UN and its agencies must help. It is impossible to expect that Israel will hold all the immigrants fleeing Africa. On the other hand it is totally unacceptable to look on while people are being killed for trying to reach freedom and a better life. Ami Isseroff
Egyptian police shot and killed two African migrants, including a seven-year-old Sudanese girl, as they tried to cross the border into Israel on Saturday, security and hospital sources said. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the security sources said an Egyptian patrol opened fire on the migrants to stop them getting across the border south of the Rafah crossing.
They added that seven other African migrants had been detained, including the dead child's mother. Their deaths bring to 16 the number of migrants killed at the border this year. Hospital sources said the other victim was an unidentified African in his thirties, killed by a gunshot wound to his back. Egypt has pursued a crackdown on African migrants that has seen up to 1,000 Eritrean asylum seekers deported since June 11, despite UN objections.
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Berlin - A German academic has claimed that there is a possibility that the 11 Israeli athletes who were massacred by Palestinian militants during the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich knew of the attack in advance but willfully sacrificed themselves, the German weekly Der Spiegel reported on Saturday. At an academic conference last week, Prof. Arnd Kruger of the Institute for Sport Studies at the University of Gottingen compared the 1929 massacre of Hebron Jews with the athletes' refusal to leave the Olympic Village despite alleged prior knowledge of the attack. During the 1972 Summer Olympics an offshoot of the Palestinian Fatah movement called Black September took over the apartment of the Israeli team, taking them hostage. After nerve wrecking negotiations, the 11 athletes, as well as a German police officer and five of the eight perpetrators, were killed in a botched rescue attempt.
Der Spiegel's Web site quoted Kruger as saying that "the athletes sacrificed themselves in Israel's service." Kruger told Haaretz he did not remember making such statement. He said he only sought to address unanswered questions about the massacre. He said he was a journalist in Munich in 1972 and that he remembered Israelis telling him they think security at the Olympic Village was not tight enough. The possibility that the Israeli team chose not to leave despite being well aware of the risk must be voiced, he said. Kruger maintained that that the fact that some of them did not run away when the terrorists came in was because of the self-sacrifice ideal of the Israeli ethos. He said he wonders how it is possible that Shaul Ladany, who was a racewalker, managed to escape and others didn't, bearing in mind he was neither a sprinter nor a long jumper, and was visually impaired. Kruger said he had sought to bolster his claims with sociological explanations. He said Israelis have a "different perception of the body," and that the abortion rate in Israel is relatively high. Israeli officials in Germany were infuriated by Kruger's remarks. Ilan Mor of the Israeli embassy in Berlin told Der Spiegel that he sees it as a disturbing attempt to de-humanize Israel, and called on the university management to take disciplinary action against Kruger, who is a former dean of the social science department. Mor said Kruger's remarks are a symptom of the "rampant anti-Semitism in Germany, often veiled under criticism of Israel." The German Sports Sciences Association dubbed Kruger's remarks "unfortunate," and said the disciplinary board will convene next week to discuss the case.
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