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1. IDF Chief of Staff in Germany: IDF Protects Jews
by Hana Levi Julian
[weJe Email readers, please click here to view the video reports contained in this article.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi proclaimed to the world from a podium in Germany on Monday that the Jewish Nation has "renewed itself in its Land" and that it would not be wise for Iran, or anyone else, to "test our power."
Ashkenazi made the statement as part of a speech he delivered mostly in Hebrew from Platform 17 of the Grunewald Train Station in Berlin, where a Holocaust memorial marks the forced deportations of tens of thousands of Jews to the Nazi death camps.
The German Bundeswehr (national defense force) Chief Of Staff, General Wolfgang Schneiderhan, accompanied Israel's military leader. Ashkenazi had earlier visited the Wannsee Villa where in 1942 the Nazi leadership conferred and decided to liquidate European Jewry. Ashkenazi's own father was a Bulgarian survivor of the Holocaust.
The IDF chief of staff noted the close relationship that exists today between the armies of Israel and Germany. "The very fact that the German Chief of the General Staff and the Israeli Chief of Staff are standing here together, shoulder to shoulder, 64 years after the Second World War, and the warm cooperation our militaries share, demonstrates our steadfast determination that never again will such atrocities occur," Ashkenazi said.
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The need for cooperation in quelling the Iranian nuclear threat was a central issue on the agenda in talks between the two military leaders, and one that Ashkenazi underlined in his speech at the Holocaust memorial. "Anti-Semitism refuses to disappear from the world," he observed, with an oblique reference to the vitriolic rhetoric often heard in harangues by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against the Jewish State. "It changes its face, language, path and justifications, but its aim remains the same. Today, state leaders openly declare their desire to destroy the State of Israel, and deny the right of the Jewish People to national sovereignty."
The Israeli military leader made clear, however, that Jerusalem would not tolerate an existential threat from the Islamic Republic, or from anyone else. "The Jewish nation has risen and has been revived in its Land, and the nation stands by its independence and its security. The Israel Defense Forces, the shield of the Jewish Nation, is not a an army that seeks to wage war -- rather it is an army of defense. We do not relish combat. But if war is forced upon us," Ashkenazi warned, "we will do all that is necessary to enable the citizens of Israel to live safely in their homes. No one should test our strength or resolve."
The IDF Chief of Staff added that past history has firmly engraved upon the Jews the lesson that they can rely upon no one but themselves:
"The wails of our Jewish brethren, who were marched onto train cars, humiliated, beaten and killed, rise from the silent steel plates that rest on this platform. At this moment, and forever more, their echoing cry is the injunction of Israel's obligation, and mine, as the current head of her army; our obligation to always remember and never forget the worst atrocities in the history of mankind, our obligation to never take the threats of those who would harm us lightly, our obligation to ensure our security ourselves, and never let anyone else control the future of Israel."
Ashkenazi then stated, in English: "In the name of the entire Jewish Nation, I am committed to do our utmost in order to prevent Jewish blood from being spilled once again."
2. Turkish PM: Iran is Our Friend
by Maayana Miskin
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan confirmed his country's increasingly close ties with Iran on Monday in an interview with British newspaper The Guardian. Of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Erdogan said, “There is no doubt he is our friend.”
Relations between Iran and Turkey are “very good,” Erdogan reported, even as many Israelis see Turkey increasingly distance itself from Israel. He defended Iran against charges that it is actively seeking nuclear weapons, saying the Islamic republic wants nuclear technology “for the purposes of energy only.”
The Turkish PM will visit Iran this week, and will meet with Ahmadinejad as well as Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The talks are expected to focus on economic ties between the two nations, which have grown dramatically in recent years to an estimated $9 billion.
Erdogan said he would not challenge Iran over the alleged abuse of pro-reform demonstrators. Turkey does not interfere in Iran's domestic affairs, he said.
When asked about Turkey's ties to Israel, Erdogan stated that the two countries remain strategic allies. However, he also slammed Israel for allegedly threatening nuclear war on Gaza.
Israeli Flags Burn in Istanbul
Hundreds of Turkish Muslims protested against Israel on Monday in response to calls from Muslim leaders in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Muslim leaders in Jerusalem had accused Israel of planning to harm the Al-Aksa Mosque atop the Temple Mount.
Screaming “We will defend Al-Aksa,” the Turkish demonstrators marched on Israel's consulate in Istanbul. The protesters burnt Israeli flags and waved PLO flags and pictures of the Al-Aksa mosque.
3. Venezuela Doesn't Want Israeli Tourists
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
Venezuela, under President Hugo Chavez, is taking additional steps to deter Israelis from visiting the country. An Israeli tour group slated to visit Venezuela was forced to cancel its trip this week due to unreasonable demands placed on the would-be tourists.
The group of 13 Israelis was set to fly to Venezuela in coming days, with lodging, tours and flights already arranged by an Israeli travel company, Echo Outdoor Touring Ltd. When Echo requested tourist visas for its clients, the demands of the Venezuelan government placed an insurmountable barrier that ultimately led to the cancellation of the trip.
The difficulties began with the absence of a Venezuelan diplomatic presence in Israel. In January of this year, Venezuela expelled Israel's ambassador from the country and cut diplomatic relations. Israel responded by expelling Venezuela's ambassador to Israel. Under the current circumstances, Israelis seeking a Venezuelan visa must apply through a consulate outside Israel.
In its efforts to secure the necessary travel documents, Echo contacted Venezuelan embassies and diplomatic personnel in Kenya, Spain, Greece, Italy, Germany and Colombia, as well as appealing to the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry.
As Echo CEO Ronen Raz told Arutz Sheva Radio, "It is an accepted procedure, when there is no consulate in Israel of a country that requires visas, we simply send the passports abroad and receive the visas." In the case of Venezuela, Raz continued, the initial reply from that nation's Foreign Ministry was that such an arrangement was not possible.
However, after lengthy negotiations, the Venezuelans agreed to accept the Israelis' visa applications in the Venezuelan embassy in Amman, Jordan. "There, to our surprise, they demanded that we appear in person with a pile of documentation in order to receive the visas," Raz said. "There are those who are afraid to travel to Jordan."
Requested documents included a letter in English from each traveler's place of employment, affirming his or her employment status, original bank statements going back three months, an English-language medical affirmation of health, and more.
Several days of what Raz called "ping-pong" with the Venezuelan authorities ensued, including the Echo CEO calling on his personal connections in the Latin American country. Nonetheless, as noted, the trip had to be called off due to the excessive demands and inflexibility of the Venezuelan authorities when it came to the Israeli tour group.
"The company had no choice but to cancel the trip and return the travelers' money to them, which meant absorbing a large financial loss," an Echo statement explained. "As a result of the difficulties placed in our way by the government [in Venezue - difficulties which never existed while there was an embassy in Israel - we have no choice but to conclude that these difficulties are a result of the political situation in the country and their only purpose is to prevent Israeli travelers from getting there."
The company has decided to suspend further trips to Venezuela until the binational relations with Israel are restored.
Iran is a Different Story
In the case of Iran, however, the matter is quite different, according to Israeli sources. In July, an Israeli diplomat in Latin America, Dorit Shavit, told the Jewish News Agency of Argentina (AJN) that Venezuela is issuing fake documents to Iranians to help facilitate their travel in the region.
"With these documents, they don't need a visa to enter any other country in Latin America.... No tourist enjoys these benefits and nobody knows what these Iranian citizens are doing," she added.
Israeli officials have criticized Venezuela's President Chavez for his support of Iran's nuclear program, his support of Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, and his outspoken condemnation of Israel.
4. PA Violating Water Accords as Israel Faces Crisis
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The Water Authority rejects Amnesty International claims, to be released in a report on Tuesday, that Israelis whet their thirst at the expense of Palestinian Authority Arabs. The Water Authority countered that PA Arabs continually violate Oslo Accords by illegally drilling for water and spilling untreated sewage.
“The Amnesty report is selective and incorrect, to make an understatement,” said spokesmen for Water Authority chairman Uri Shore.
Despite several claims by human rights organizations that Israel has taken water away from what is now the Palestinian Authority, the amount of water available to PA Arabs since the Six-Day War in 1967 actually has gone up while Israelis have suffered a whopping 70 percent drop in their resources.
“The amount of natural water, including underground aquifers, the amount of water available annually to every Israeli before 1967 was 500 cubic meters a year,” the Water Authority explained. “Today the figure is 149 cubic meters, while water available to PA Arabs actually has increased by 22 percent, from 87 cubic meters to 105 cubic meters a year per capita.”
It noted that the gap that exists “is not so great” to be termed a disaster.
At the same time, the PA is not treating sewage for agriculture, as agreed on with Israel in 1995 as part of the Oslo Accords. NGO Monitor’s President Prof. Gerald Steinberg said, “Amnesty’s report manipulates the issue of water and ignores the complexities of history and law in order to again falsely portray Israel as a brutal regime. The report adopts a painfully simplistic narrative which places blame solely on Israel, to the extent that the Palestinian leadership is absolved of responsibility for the agreements signed under the Oslo framework."
Israel’s water resources are near an all-time low, following four years of drought along with increasing water usage and a growing population. Higher water levies and conservation measures have cut water consumption by more than 20 percent this year.
Forecasters have cautiously predicted this winter will be wetter than usual, but it would take a modern miracle to replenish the country’s resources.
Scattered heavy rain fell in northern and eastern parts of the country on Monday as another heat wave hit the country. The amount of precipitation was impressive by falling a period of a few minutes but had little effect on Kinneret and underground aquifers.
5. Abbas Threatens to Quit, Obama Steps In
by Maayana Miskin
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has sent multiple messages to United States President Barack Obama threatening to quit, Channel 10 news reported Monday night. Abbas blamed Israel and the U.S. for pushing him to desperation, saying negotiations with Israel were at a stand-still and Obama had “abandoned” him.
Abbas also mentioned the serious hit to his popularity caused by the delay of a United Nations vote on the Goldstone Report. The report accused Israel of war crimes in connection with the three-week Cast Lead counterterror offensive in Gaza.
Obama responded to the threats by calling Abbas and calming him, according to the report.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's spokesman said Monday night that Netanyahu could in no way be blamed for the standstill in Israel-PA talks. “Netanyahu has taken a serious of steps aimed at renewing the peace process, as the American government well knows,” he said. Unlike Netanyahu, Abbas and other PA leaders have taken an increasingly tough stance and added previously unheard-of preconditions to talks, he said.
"The prime minister calls on the Palestinians to renew negotiations immediately, without preconditions,” he concluded.
Coalition head Ze'ev Elkin said Abbas's reaction to Netanyahu was proof of the Israeli prime minister's success. “Apparently Abu Mazen [Abbas -ed had reason to prefer [Kadima head Tzi Livni to Netanyahu,” he said. Netanyahu “knows how to stand up for Israel's national interests and security,” he added.
"Abu Mazen needs to understand that Binyamin Netanyahu is the prime minister, and will be the prime minister for years to come,” Elkin said. “Netanyahu's government reflects the will of the decisive majority of the Israeli public.”
6. Shomron Jews to Left: We'll Show you Provocation
by Maayana Miskin
Jews living in the town of Kida in southern Shomron (Samaria) announced Monday that if the IDF permits Arabs and leftist supporters to enter the town on Tuesday, they will respond in kind.
Arabs who demand to “harvest olives” in the fields surrounding Kida are not actually interested in harvesting, but rather in causing a provocation, Kida residents said. If the army allows them to enter the fields in order to provoke Jews, Jews in Kida plan to respond by holding a peaceful rally next to a nearby Arab village, they warned.
The protest rally is to take place on state-owned land surrounding the Arab village. Jews are usually barred from the land for reasons relating to regional security.
Kida residents said it was clear that the Arabs and leftists who come during the annual olive harvest are not interested in farming due to one simple fact – there are no olives growing in the fields which they insist on entering.
In addition, the Arab “farmers” who plan to come are not the owners of the fields in question, they noted. “They're doing this in order to provoke us, and to gather information for use in terrorist attacks,” residents said.
Residents said they had already informed IDF commanders that they have no intention of allowing hostile Arabs to approach their town. Their opposition is particularly strong due to a recent terrorist attack in the area, in which Kida resident Yair Hirsch was wounded while driving in the nearby town of Shilo.
7. Farmers Demand Foreign Labor, Sales to Gaza
by Maayana Miskin
Hundreds of Israeli farmers continued to protest Monday against what they say is a serious shortage of foreign workers. Farmers insisted that allowing hundreds of foreign workers to enter Israel for the harvest would increase the number of jobs available for Israeli citizens.
The demonstration took place along the Arava highway in southern Israel.
The protesting farmers said that they needed another 600 foreign workers in order to complete the pepper harvest, which is to begin in the near future. If the Finance and Agriculture ministries do not step in to provide assistance, vegetables could rot in the fields, they said.
Agricultural Committee chairman Chaim Hevlin rejected arguments that foreign workers take jobs from Israelis. Workers who come from Thailand to harvest produce in Israel actually create jobs, he argued, by increasing agricultural output and thus upping the demand for goods and services such as boxes for storing vegetables, fertilizer, and vegetable transport.
Hevlin accused the government of neglecting the Arava region, despite promises from various ministries to work on behalf of Jewish settlement in the area. If the government does not fulfill its promises by assisting local farmers, protests will continue, he warned.
Police are currently engaged in a large-scale operation to reduce the number of illegal foreign workers in Israel.
Fruit Farmers Push Gaza Sales
Disruptions in the sale of Israeli fruit to Gaza caused farmers to lose 100 million shekels in 2009, Fruit Growers' Association head Ilan Eshel said Monday. Farmers were often unable to export fruit to Gaza for security reasons.
The lost sales to Gaza hurt fruit growers in two ways, Eshel said: first of all, by causing them to lose a market that would have produced an estimated 100 million shekels in profit, and secondly, by flooding the Israeli market with fruit, causing prices to drop.
Farmers accept that Gaza crossings are often closed for reasons related to national defense, Eshel said. However, he said, Israeli officials must simplify the export process when crossings are open, instead of using a complicated bureaucratic process that makes export difficult. As an example, he reported that farmers were not allowed to export kiwi fruit to Gaza this year.
