| | 1. | Mofaz to Russia: By Inviting Hamas, You´re Breaking World Unity
| | By Hillel Fendel
| Defense Minister Mofaz, after a speech to his NATO colleagues asking for a united diplomatic front against Hamas, told off his Russian counterpart for Russia's breaking of the lines.
| Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz met with Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov on Saturday during a NATO conference in Sicily, Italy. He said that last week's invitation by Russia for Hamas leaders to visit Moscow "created a break in the international unity against Hamas and terrorism."
On Friday, Mofaz addressed the NATO Defense Ministers and said that the Hamas victory had meant a "defeat for the forces of peace in the Middle East." In a speech that barely merited a mention in the world press, Mofaz explained that Israel would not accept a terrorist government that calls for its destruction.
Mofaz also had words of criticism of Russian cooperation with Iran and Syria.
The meeting between the two Defense Ministers included an invitation to Mofaz to visit Moscow. Ivanov also said that the Russian Army's Chief of Staff would soon visit Israel. Nevertheless, tension caused by Russia's attitude towards Hamas was apparent.
Mofaz said it was not "logical" for Moscow to invite Hamas in the midst of the global war against terrorism, nor is it acceptable:
"It cannot be that Russia calls for international cooperation in the struggle against terrorism on the one hand, and at the same time, opens a gate to an organization like Hamas - while the entire international community supports the policy and conditions presented by Israel."
Mofaz compared Hamas several times to the Chechen threat faced by Russia. In fact, a document published by the Israeli Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, located north of Tel Aviv, shows that Hamas supports the Chechen rebels in their fight for independence from the Russian regime. Hamas support for the Chechens is seen in posters, CDs and films that have been found in Judea and Samaria, and Hamas considers the Chechens part of the global Jihad.
Minister Ivanov said that as Hamas has been voted into power, "at the end of the day, the whole world will talk with Hamas." He said that Russia would make clear that a continuation of terrorism and refusal to recognize Israel is unacceptable.
Despite the fact that Hamas has already accepted the invitation, Ivanov said that the invitation is not yet official.
Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Cabinet today, "The moment the new PA legislature is sworn in [with its Hamas majority], the rules of the game change. It will then be a Hamas Authority. We are not winking at anyone; if we say no, it's no, and if we say yes, it's yes."
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| | 2. | UN Nuclear Inspectors Pared Down, by Iranian Demand
| | By Hillel Fendel
| UN inspectors have removed most of its surveillance equipment from Iranian nuclear sites. Iran's demand to do so came in response to the decision to bring the issue to the UN Security Council.
| Iran's president also threatened that, in light of the plan to debate the issue in the UN, his country might even pull out of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Meanwhile, the Sunday Telegraph reports that the US military is drawing up plans for "devastating bombing raids backed by submarine-launched ballistic missile attacks against Iran's nuclear sites."
The Iranian demand and threats, revealed by unnamed "diplomats," were reminiscent of the Egyptian demand in May 1967 for UN peacekeeping forces to leave the Suez Canal area. Egypt thus signaled its intention to attack Israel, though Israel pre-empted the move in what became the Six Day War.
North Korea left the non-proliferation treaty three years ago, and shortly afterwards went public with its nuclear weapons program.
The International Atomic Energy Agency is now left with only the most basic means to monitor Iran's nuclear activities.
Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz, in Sicily for a NATO conference, met afterwards with his Russian counterpart and warned him against cooperating with Iran. Mofaz noted the three-fold aspect of the Iranian threat upon Israel: nuclear development, an extremist anti-Semitic president, and long distance ground-to-ground missiles.
Mofaz said that the UN's taking up the issue is not sufficient, and that international sanctions against Iran are a must.
The Sunday Telegraph reports that US military strategic planners are identifying targets, assessing weapon-loads and working on logistics for a military operation against Iran - in the event that diplomacy does not work.
The "virulent anti-Israeli threats of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad" and the reports of Iranian nuclear progress have prompted the U.S. to reconsider its hesitation to attack militarily. The most likely strategy, the Telegraph reports, would involve aerial bombardment by long-distance B2 bombers, each armed with up to 40,000 lbs. of precision weapons.
The paper said that U.S. President George Bush will be faced with the decision of whether to attack "within two years."
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| | 3. | Mesh´al Cites Importance of Israeli Arabs in Hamas Strategy
| | By Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
| Hamas, having won the Palestinian Authority elections, sees itself as also representing the Arab citizens of Israel, the organization's political leader, Khaled Mesh'al, told reporters in Qatar.
| Israeli-Arabs, he said, are one of the most important engines behind the drive to transform all of Israel into "Palestine." In particular, Mesh'al cited the Israeli-Arabs' role in the effort to overwhelm Israel through an Arab "right of return."
The Hamas leader's statements in Qatar were not the expression of a new stance, however. In December, a Hamas campaign video praised Arab citizens of Israel who wish to destroy the country "from within."
Israeli-Arabs are only one aspect of the pan-Arab, pan-Islamic strategy of Hamas, according to Mesh'al. The terrorist organization claims to represent all those identified as Palestinians throughout the world, but is also seeking to motivate the Arab and Islamic masses to act as a counterweight to Israeli dominance locally. The strategy of appealing to the wider circle of Arab and Muslim peoples is particularly relevant at this time, as the masses are at a stage of "awakening," Mesh'al said, apparently in reference to ongoing worldwide riots over Danish cartoons of Islam's founder, Muhammad.
Hamas policy, the terror organization's representative explained, is based on five pillars: resistance, political reform, steadfastness, deterrence and Arabism.
Mesh'al reiterated the Hamas view that the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza was a victory for the organization's policy of ongoing terrorism. The Israeli side, he said, is in withdrawal and more successes are to be expected.
"There is no liberation [of Islamic lands] without resistance, and there is no honor for the Islamic nation without resistance," Mesh'al declared, expressing confidence that the uncompromising position of Hamas will force world governments to accept the legitimacy of the organization.
Mesh'al's confidence regarding obtaining international recognition received a boost this week from Russia's plan to immediately open talks with Hamas. This weekend, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, "We believe that in order to return to the negotiating table between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, gearing towards the implementation of the Roadmap Plan, we may not exclude Hamas." Lavrov made the comments during a meeting with UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan and US Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice.
At the same time, Hamas leaders are preparing for a Western suspension of funds to the PA by appealing to Arab and Muslim states globally. This week, a Hamas delegation is due to visit Saudi Arabia in search of replacement funding. Khaled Mesh'al's visit in Qatar was apparently also part of those efforts.
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| | 4. | Unrest Over Amona Continues
| | By Hillel Fendel
| Close to 2,000 educators demand an official inquiry into the police violence and sexual harassment against youths at Amona. A less powerful Knesset parliamentary inquiry has already been approved.
| "Our Children's Blood is not Up For Grabs," the protestors will cry out this Tuesday. This, in light of the many serious head and other injuries inflicted by the security forces upon the youths who came to protest the demolition of houses in Amona.
The several incidents of sexual harassment of high school girls will also be protested, including a case of severe molestation (reported by the B'Sheva weekly this past Friday) that was stopped by a boy who hit one of the two offenders with their own club.
"Ehud Olmert did not order Yassam policemen to molest a girl," wrote Ariel Kahane in Thursday's edition of the B'Sheva weekly, "nor did [Public Security Minister] Gideon Ezra detail exactly how to strike and curse and abuse the youths... But what they and the other commanders spread liberally was an unambiguous 'commander's spirit.'"
Kahane quoted a series of combative statements made on the eve of the Amona events by Olmert and the heads of the police and army. "You have clubs, and you have helmets. You'll know what to do," said IDF Central Commander Maj.-Gen. Yair Naveh shortly beforehand.
Michal Raz, a nurser living in Amona, said she saw and clearly heard a commander briefing about 60 helmeted policemen and saying, "Your mission is to open as many girls' heads as you can." Another resident met his friend, a Yassam policeman, who said that he and his colleagues had received orders to "smash you, to break hands and legs."
It is precisely this spirit that may very well be investigated by the Knesset commission of inquiry that was voted upon last week, according to Knesset House Committee Chairman Daniel Ben-Lulu (Likud).
Ben-Lulu has scheduled a session to get the inquiry rolling for tomorrow, when the Knesset holds its festive birthday session. (The Knesset was founded on Tu B'Shvat of 1949.)
Ben-Lulu told Arutz-7 today, "I want to work quickly, as we only have [a short time] in which to work." The mandate for the parliamentary commission of inquiry lasts only until the next Knesset is sworn in, on April 17. If the commission's findings are not submitted by then, they will have no validity - unless the next Knesset votes to extend the mandate.
Ben-Lulu said he hopes to present to the Knesset a list of the committee members by tomorrow afternoon. "In addition, we have to determine what precisely will be investigated," he said, "although it could be that the members will decide this. I personally feel - and it could be that the other MKs will feel differently - that what should be investigated is not the police nor the soldiers, but rather the political echelon that gave the orders."
MK Yitzchak Levy (National Union) told Arutz-7 that, given the tight schedule and the upcoming elections, there is little chance that the inquiry will get off the ground. He is not disheartened, however: "The fact that it was approved is a good start, and hopefully the next Knesset will continue its work. By then, more evidence against the police will have been collected, and in general, we will continue to push this issue..."
In any event, the Knesset inquiry will have only symbolic value. The educators' demonstration demanding a more powerful commission of inquiry is to be held Tuesday afternoon at 2 PM, outside National Police Headquarters in Jerusalem (near Ammunition Hill).
The promotional literature states, "We will stand en mass - heads of yeshivot and ulpanot, school principals, rabbis, educators and teachers - outside police headquarters and demand an official commission of inquiry to investigate the police brutality in Amona and the grave damage done to our youth."
Asked about the Knesset's parliamentary investigative committee voted on by the Knesset last week, one of the organizers said,
"That one has no teeth and no authority at all. What we are demanding is something like the Ohr Commission that investigated the deaths of 13 Arabs in Wadi Ara at the beginning of the Oslo War. It is appointed by the government and the Supreme Court, and its recommendations for indictments are generally accepted."
The promotional literature for the rally further states:
"For the future of the State of Israel, and for every citizen in Israel - we must stop the police brutality before it leads to catastrophe.. Even youths who wear yarmulkes and girls with skirts have civil rights."
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| | 5. | Peretz Ready to Negotiate With Abu Mazen, Not With Netanyahu
| | By Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
| Labor Party leader Amir Peretz said that he will be initiating a meeting with PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas in coming days. With the Likud's Netanyahu, however, he has nothing to discuss.
| During an interview with correspondents from Israel's Channel 2 television Saturday evening, Knesset Member Peretz said that his meeting with Abbas (also known by his nom de guerre, Abu Mazen) would be to determine what stance the Palestinian Authority leader will take regarding the Hamas-led PA legislature. Peretz said he will ask Abu Mazen if he intends to take any steps to prevent the establishment of a PA government that will declare agreements with Israel to be null and void.
Shortly after the Hamas electoral victory in the PA, at the end of January, Peretz said that Israel should not negotiate with a Hamas-led government that wants to destroy the Jewish State. As for defense against attacks from the PA, Peretz earlier this month called on the government to immediately move ahead with fortifications of communities in proximity to the Gaza Strip.
Regarding possible electoral outcomes in Israel, Peretz told Channel 2 interviewers that he would not agree to be part of a government in which Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu was finance minister. Peretz, a labor union boss, said that the differences between himself and Netanyahu form a nearly unbridgeable gulf both in matters of foreign policy and in domestic socio-economic policy.
As finance minister in the Sharon government, Netanyahu's budgetary cutbacks earned him the wrath of advocates of the social welfare policies Peretz champions.
Prior to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's massive stroke, Netanyahu had challenged Sharon and Peretz to a three-way televised debate. At the time, Peretz agreed to participate, though Kadima rejected the idea. It is not yet known if such a debate will be held between Peretz, Netanyahu, and current Kadima party head and Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
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| | 6. | Sharon in Critical, Stable Condition Following Surgery
| | By Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
| Following emergency surgery over the Sabbath, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is listed in critical but stable condition.
| The prime minister, hospitalized and in a coma since January 4, underwent a four-hour operation on the Sabbath during which a damaged 50-centimeter (20-inch) section of his large intestine had to be removed. Serious necrosis of the intestine was discovered during a scheduled CT scan.
Professor Shlomo Mor-Yosef, the director of Hadassah Hospital in Ein Karem, where Sharon is currently receiving treatment, told reporters that as of Saturday evening, Sharon's situation was critical, but stable, with "no immediate danger" to his life. The intestinal tract problem, however, is "taking us several steps back in his treatment," according to the director.
Prof. Mor-Yosef explained that one-third of the prime minister's large intestine had to be removed, but that the surgery itself was successful and without complication. The intestinal problem doctors treated, he said, is not unusual for comatose patients, but each passing day in a coma increases the risk for further medical deterioration. In order to monitor Sharon's recuperation from the intestinal surgery, he was moved to the general intensive care unit from the neurosurgery intensive care unit, where he had been until today.
"Sharon's central problem," Mor-Yosef said, "is unconsciousness, not the stomach problem... In the past week to ten days, there has been no change in that situation."
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| | 7. | Security Shorts: Moslem Rioting, Kassams, Missing Parachutist
| | By Hillel Fendel
| Arab terrorists in Gaza fired three Kassam rockets at Israel today, causing no damage. One landed in the southern industrial zone of Ashkelon, near the Rotenberg Electric Station, another one landed further south, near Zikim, and a third one landed near Sderot. Israel did not immediately retaliate, though IAF craft fired lightly at the launching areas during the course of the night...
An Israeli woman was lightly injured in her head in a rock-throwing attack in Samaria. She was able to continue driving to Karnei Shomron, where she received preliminary medical attention. She was hurt in the course of massive Arab rioting in the area caused by the finding of graffiti likening Islam-founder Muhammed to a pig. The inscription was scrawled on a mosque in the area.
Israeli troops are searching for an Israeli parachutist who was involved in an accident and landed near Hevron this afternoon. They have been pelted with stones by the Arabs of the village of Halhoul for their efforts, however...
The Erez Crossing was opened again to Arab workers from Gaza, following its closure late last week in the wake of an attempted terrorist attack there...
Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz said today, "We're in the midst of wave of terrorism, and it will continue." Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that this description is an exaggeration...
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| | 8. | Iran’s Leader, Ahmadinejad, Calls on Nations to “Remove Israel”
| | By Scott Shiloh
| At a rally in Teheran, commemorating the 27th anniversary of the revolution that created the Islamic republic, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reiterated his call for Israel’s destruction.
| "We ask the West to remove what they created sixty years ago, and if they do not listen to our recommendations, then the Palestinian nation and other nations will eventually do this for them," Ahmadinejad said.
"Remove Israel before it is too late and save yourself from the fury of regional nations," proclaimed Ahamdinejad to a crowd of hundreds of thousands of Iranians, according to state media.
Once again, the Iranian president called the Holocaust “a fairy tale” and accused European nations of being held hostage by “Zionists” in Israel. He said “neutral scholars” should be allowed to investigate in Europe and report on “the truth about the fairy tale of the Holocaust.”
Ahamadinejad compared the Holocaust to the caricatures of Mohammed that ignited a wave of violent protests around the Islamic world. "Now in the West insulting the prophet is allowed, but questioning the Holocaust is considered a crime," he said. The cartoons, he said, were part of a “Zionist plot.”
“We ask, why do you insult the prophet? The response is that it is a matter of freedom, while in fact they are hostages of the Zionists. And the people of the U.S. and Europe should pay a heavy price for becoming hostages to Zionists,” he expounded.
Chastising the West for not recognizing the Hamas victory in parliamentary elections in the Palestinian Authority, Ahmadinejad said, “You [the West] want democracy but do not respect the outcome. It seems that you [the West] only want that form of democracy whose results just repeat your standpoints and only follow your policies.”
The current president of the European Union, Ursula Plassnik, who also serves as Austria’s foreign minister, condemned Ahmadinejad’s latest threat to destroy the Jewish state. “That this type of completely unacceptable remarks are continually being repeated does not mean we should accept them in silence,” she said.
Plassnik also said that the land of Israel should be divided between Arabs and Israelis, living side-by-side in two states, without violence of terrorism.
Right before Ahmadinejad’s speech, which also focused on Iran’s “inalienable” right to develop nuclear power, the crowd chanted “Death to America,” “Death to Israel,” and “Nuclear energy is our inalienable right.”
After Ahmadinejad declared that dust will blind “those who insulted the prophet,” the crowd cried, “Death to Denmark.”
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| | 9. | Israel Gets a Little Closer – Just A Local Call Away
| | By Baruch Gordon
| MSM Netphone Inc. of Cedarhurst, NY announced last month a new revolutionary service by which subscribers are eligible to receive local Israeli phone numbers that ring through to phones worldwide.
| "We are very excited about this new service," said Martin Rothman, MSM Netphone CEO. "For a nominal monthly fee our subscribers will have local Israeli numbers - no matter where they may live."
The numbers function the same as a normal Israeli number. For example, an Israeli resident calling a MSM subscriber in NY, merely dials a local Israeli phone number, and the phone will ring in NY.
The new service includes an exclusive Israeli Bezeq phone number in the 03 area code. Each subscriber will receive his own phone number with the ability to have it ring through to anywhere in the world.
According to Rothman, MSM will be offering the numbers under two programs. The first program requires a broadband connection and a MSM VoIP adapter. With this service, the subscriber can make and receive unlimited calls to and from Israel for a fixed monthly fee.
The second program does not require an Internet connection. The subscriber receives an Israeli phone number, and MSM routes it to ring on a regular land line in the country of the subscriber.
Rothman notes that the new service is a perfect solution for Israelis with family and business connections abroad, or for foreign companies that want to sell to Israel. MSM Netphone forecasts a large demand for this new service.
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