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1. Berlusconi Doubts Wisdom of Gaza Pullout
by Gil Ronen
Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi hinted in an interview published Sunday that the Gaza pullout ("Disengagement") was a mistake, noting that it ended in "burned synagogues" and missiles being fired into Israel.
Berlusconi arrives in Israel Monday for a three-day visit. He will be accompanied by eight Italian cabinet ministers, who will for the first time participate in a joint cabinet meeting with the Israeli cabinet.
The meeting will also highlight bilateral cooperation in the fields of science, technology and culture. A special conference will be held bringing together leaders of Italian business, industry and science and their Israeli counterparts. Three laboratories that were funded by the Italians will be dedicated in the course of the visit.
Speaking to Haaretz regarding the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, Berlusconi criticized Jewish growth in Judea and Samaria: "Israel's settlement policy could be an obstacle to peace. I would like to say to the people and government of Israel, as a friend, with my hand on my heart, that persisting with this policy is a mistake. I welcomed Prime Minister [Binyami Netanyahu's courage in his announcement of a 10-month [Jewish residential settlement constructio freeze. It will never be possible to convince the Palestinians of Israel's good intentions while Israel continues to build in territories that are to be returned as part of a peace agreement.”
Berlusconi added, however, that "at the same time, what happened in Gaza should prompt some thought. It is not [acceptable for Israe to evacuate communities [and then have face burned synagogues, acts of destruction, and inter-Palestinian violence and missiles being shot into Israeli territory."
Israel's Friend Calls for Return of Golan
The Italian prime minister and business tycoon called on Syria and Israel to “act together for the sake of peace, in the framework of which the Golan Heights will be returned and at the same time diplomatic and friendly relations will be established between the two countries, and Damascus for its part will stop supporting organizations that do not recognize Israel's existence.”
2. Hamas Man Received 'Poison to the Heart'
by Gil Ronen
The agents who assassinated top Hamas terrorist Mahmoud Al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel on January 20 apparently injected him with poison directly to the heart, causing an immediate heart attack, British newspaper London Times said.
The Times reported Sunday that while forensic pathologists initially determined that the 50 year-old Hamas man had died of a heart attack, blood tests carried out in Paris found traces of poison in his blood system.
After killing Al-Mabhouh, the report said, the assassins took photographs all of the documents that had been in his possession and left his body in the hotel room, making sure to hang a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the doorknob. A short time later, the hotel staff found Al-Mabhouh dead.
Minister of National Infrastructures Uzi Landau denied categorically accusations by Hamas that Mabhouh's assassins had entered Abu Dhabi in his entourage when he visited the United Arab Emirates two weeks ago.
"My entourage went to an international conference in Abu Dhabi,” Landau said at the weekly cabinet session. “The wild Oriental imagination [of Hama ... stems from the anger over the fact that the Israeli flag is flying at Abu Dhabi.”
A Hamas official said on Saturday that Al-Mabhouh's assassins may have used false papers to enter Abu Dhabi, and speculated that they might have used Landau's visit to facilitate this.
3. Dershowitz Slams Goldstone: "He's An Evil Man"
by Hillel Fendel
Following his scathing critique of the Goldstone Report, for which Israel is preparing a response, Harvard Law School’s Professor Alan Dershowitz calls Goldstone an “evil man.”
Speaking with Army Radio on Sunday morning, Dershowitz said that Goldstone – whose report to the United Nations on Israel’s anti-terrorism Operation Cast Lead accused Israel of war crimes – “is a traitor using his Jewishness to malign Israel… He is an evil man, one who allowed himself to be used against the Jewish people, an absolute traitor.”
In his internet-publicized analysis of the Goldstone report, Dershowitz wrote that it is “much worse than most of its detractors (and supporters) believe. It is far more accusatory of Israel, far less balanced in its criticism of Hamas, far less honest in its evaluation of the evidence, far less responsible in drawing its conclusion, far more biased against Israeli than Palestinian witnesses, and far more willing to draw adverse inferences of intentionality from Israeli conduct and statements than from comparable Palestinian conduct and statements.”
Goldstone’s report, Dershowitz wrote, “is worse than any report previously prepared by any other United Nations agency or human rights group. As Maj.-Gen. Avichai Mandelblit, the advocate general of the Israeli Defense Forces, aptly put it: ‘I have read every report, from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Arab League. We ourselves set up investigations into 140 complaints. It is when you read these other reports and complaints that you realize how truly vicious the Goldstone report is. He made it look like we set out to go after the economic infrastructure and civilians, that it was intentional: It’s a vicious lie.’”
Methodology Worse than Conclusions
Dershowitz said that though the conclusions are harmful and unfavorable to Israel, it is Goldstone’s “methodology, analysis and substantive findings” that should be criticized. Dershowitz wrote that he has offered to debate Goldstone about his findings, but that Goldstone “has refused, as he has generally refused to respond substantively to credible critics of the report.”
Different Standards for Israel, Hamas
Prof. Dershowitz chiefly targets two aspects of the report. One is the fact that it uses different criteria for judging Hamas actions and Israeli actions: “Its writers applied totally different standards, rules and criteria in evaluating the intent of the parties to the conflict.” For instance, when faced with doubts about various incidents, in Israel’s case they were resolved against Israel, “concluding that its leaders intended to kill civilians,” while doubts regarding Hamas activities were resolved in favor of Hamas, “concluding that it did not intend to use Palestinian civilians as human shields.”
“Moreover, when it had precisely the same sort of evidence in relation to both sides - for example, statements by leaders prior to the commencement of the operation - it attributed significant weight to the Israeli statements, while entirely discounting comparable Hamas statements. This sort of evidentiary bias, though subtle, and perhaps not readily apparent to the non-legal reader, permeates the entire report.”
The Goldstone report also “takes a completely different view regarding the inferring of intent from actions. When it comes to Israel, the report repeatedly looks to results and infers from the results that they must have been intended. But when it comes to Hamas, it refuses to draw inferences regarding intent from results. For example, it acknowledges that some [Hama combatants wore civilian clothes, and it offers no reasonable explanation for why this would be so other than to mingle indistinguishably from civilians. Yet it refuses to infer intent from these actions.”
Conclusions are Wrong
Secondly, Dershowitz writes that the two central conclusions reached in the report are “demonstrably wrong.” The report’s two conclusions are that 1) Israel used the 8,000 Hamas rocket attacks on its citizens as an [excu for the real purpose of the operation, which was to target innocent Palestinian civilians for death, and 2) Hamas was not guilty of deliberately and willfully using the civilian population as human shields. It found “no evidence” that Hamas fighters “engaged in combat in civilian dress,” “no evidence” that “Palestinian combatants mingled with the civilian population with the intention of shielding themselves from attack,” and no support for the claim that mosques were used to store weapons… As we will see, the report is demonstrably wrong about both of these critical conclusions.”
Dershowitz told Army Radio that he feels Israel should respond to the report by conducting its own inquiry, by a committee headed by a former Supreme Court judge.
He said that he and Goldstone were friends and colleagues for a long time, “but now I see him as a traitor… It’s as if they would have taken a Jew to edit the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. He uses his Jewish last name to kosher his slander of the Jewish People.”
4. Benny Begin at New Judea Neighborhood Ceremony
by Hillel Fendel
Minister Benny Begin of the Likud will participate in the dedication ceremony of a new neighborhood in the southern Judea community of Beit Haggai. The event, which will include a Tu B’Shvat planting in honor of the Jewish New Year for Trees, will be held on Sunday afternoon.
The foundations for the new construction were built before the ten-month Jewish construction freeze in Judea and Samaria (Yesha) was imposed just over two months ago.
Begin did not oppose the construction freeze when it was announced, saying it was important in view of the international geo-political landscape in which Israel finds itself, and specifically the U.S. pressure exerted upon Israel.
Begin has also said of late, more than once, that no Zionist party today, “even the most liberal one, can reach an agreement with the PLO in the foreseeable future, as long as Mahmoud Abbas does not change his program.”
Around the same time on Sunday, a similar ceremony will be held on the other side of Yesha, in the northern Shomron town of Mevo Dotan. Entitled “Planting and Building,” the event will include the planting of saplings and the laying of a foundation stone for a new neighborhood. Prominent figures such as Shomron Council head Gershon Mesika, veteran settlement leader Benny Katzover, Tzfat’s Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, and MK Yaakov Katz (Ketzaleh) will address the assembled. For information on planting trees in Mevo Dotan, visit "www.yeshuv.org/events/trees."
5. Hamas Threatens Revenge on Jews Outside Israel
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Hamas threatened to attack Jews outside of Israel in retaliation for Israel’s “changing the rules” and allegedly assassinating a Hamas co-founder and senior terrorist who was eliminated more than a week ago in Dubai. It also suggested that Infrastructures Minister Uzi Landau used his recent visit to Dubai as a camouflage for the counterterrorist operation.
Abu Obeida, spokesman for the al-Kassam wing of Hamas, warned that Israel will bear responsibility for the murder of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, who was responsible for the kidnapping and murder of IDF soldiers Ilan Sa'adon and Avi Sasportas more than 20 years ago. He was found dead on January 20 in Dubai, where he had served as a representative of the Hamas military wing abroad. Israel expelled him in 1989 for terrorist attacks.
Landau’s office has not commented on the accusations. His visit to Dubai for an energy conference marked the first time an Israeli minister has participated in an official event in the United Arab Emirates. No UAE minister met with him.
“We are not talking rhetoric," Obeida told an Arab website identified with Islamic Jihad, "We will hurt the Zionist enemy anywhere and at the right time.” Syrian-based Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal warned, “I am telling you Zionists, do not rejoice. The resistance will continue.”
Mahmoud a-Zahar, a senior Hamas leader, told Arab media Saturday that Landau may have brought people with him traveling under false passports. He said they might have used Landau's hotel room as a control center to carry out the assassination. “The Israeli enemy is completely responsible for this crime," said Hamas political bureau member Izzat al-Rishaq.
Dubai officials said that those involved in the operation were carrying European passports.
Al-Mabhouh’s daughter told Arab media her family is considering issuing warrants against Israeli officials in a British court for the assassination.
6. Netanyahu Declares City of Ariel ‘Jewish Capital of Samaria’
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday completed his week-long campaign to reaffirm Israel’s claim on major Jewish population centers in Judea and Samaria, and declared the Jewish city of Ariel “the capital of Samaria.” He planted a symbolic tree in the city, as he did earlier in the week in Gush Etzion, south of Jerusalem, and Maaleh Adumin, located west of the capital and overlooking the Dead Sea.
Friday’s ceremony capped off tree-plantings in honor of the holiday of Tu B’Shvat, the Jewish New Year of Trees. The festival begins Friday night, the beginning of the Sabbath when planting trees is forbidden.
Accompanied by several strongly nationalist Likud Knesset Members, the Prime Minister reinforced an about-face in Israel’s policy statements, which previously have concentrated on meeting American demands for “goodwill” measures to the PA. "Everyone who sees the geography here understands how important” Ariel and the surrounding areas are, he said.
Prime Minister Netanyahu added that he was planting not only a tree but also "three principles: Growing strength, Jewish settlement and culture in the heart of our land of our forefathers and where we will remain and build.” His remarks implied that the current temporary 10-month building freeze on new homes for Jews in Judea and Samaria will remain an interim measure, as he previously has promised.
Earlier in the week, he planted a tree at Maaleh Adumim several hours after meeting with U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell, who has been trying to negotiate with Israel and the Palestinian Authority PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to return to talks for establishing a new Arab state within modern Israel’s borders that have existed since 1967. The same areas were part of the ancient Jewish kingdoms and since then were without a Jewish state until the Six-Day War more than 42 years ago.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has consistently balked at efforts by the Obama administration to ignore promises made in writing by former U.S. President George W. Bush to former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that major Jewish population centers would remain part of Israel in any future arrangement with the PA.
The American administration has justified its position by stating that Bush’s promises are not legally binding, although the refusal to recognize the Bush policy is a rare if not unprecedented diversion from accepted diplomatic protocol.
Abbas has refused to concede a claim to "every inch" of Judea and Samaria as well as eastern Jerusalem and has demanded that any resumption of talks begin at the stage where they were when previous Prime Minister Ehud Olmert left office. Olmert recently revealed in an interview with an Australian newspaper that he offered Abbas land within pre-1967 Israel in order to give it a direct link between Gaza and Judea and Samaria.
7. US Defying Iran by Arming Arabs
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The Obama administration is arming Gulf States to be able to defend against an Iranian attack while delaying a push for tough sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Reports of the weapons sales came one day after the U.S. Senate gave unanimous approval for a bill to target American companies that provide refined oil to Iran and would impose new sanctions on Iran’s refined petroleum sector.
Iran responded by saying the legislation would have the opposite effect by motivating Iran to continue its nuclear program.
The State Department on Friday denied that the Obama government has prepared a draft for sanctions and that it would distribute the proposal to the United Nations. State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said that the passage of the bill “reflects a shared frustration with Iran’s lack of engagement." Obama administration officials had urged the Senate to wait before passing the bill.
Two major American newspapers revealed Saturday that the Obama administration is moving in the direction of deterring Iran by beefing up Arab countries' defense against Iranian missile attacks, which would be more likely if Israel were to attack Iran’s nuclear reactors.
American officials told The New York Times that, “Our first goal is to deter the Iranians. A second is to reassure the Arab states, so they don’t feel they have to go nuclear themselves. But there is certainly an element of calming the Israelis as well.”
However, Israel is the stated target of Iran, and the Washington Post, reporting on the same topic, stated that the American buildup for Gulf States “has been kept low-key to avoid fueling concerns in Israel and elsewhere about an accelerating conventional-arms race in the region.”
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at a Tehran conference on Saturday, "The Middle East is the crossroad of relations in the world and anyone who has the last word in the Middle East will have the final say in the world as well. Now the question is who has the last say in the Middle East? Well, of course, the answer is clear to every one."
Although the arming of Gulf Sates was headlined by most Israeli media, it comes as no surprise because it is a follow-up last year’s $20 billion arms program for Arab countries that was announced by the Bush administration.
The implementation of the plans includes unprecedented coordination between the United States and Arab states. "It's a tough neighborhood, and we have to make sure we are protected," a senior government official in a U.S.-allied Arab state told the Times.
The same official called Iran “the number one threat in the region.” echoing President Shimon Peres’ latest warning to the new International Atomic Energy Agency that “nuclear weapons in the hands of a fanatical regime such as Iran's pose a threat not only to Israel but to the entire world.”
American aid is aimed at helping Saudi Arabia defend its oil facilities and beefing up its ground forces three times the current numbers in order to deter Al-Qaeda.
The deals with oil-rich Gulf States will pump billions of dollars into the American military industry, which is selling the United Arab Emirates 80 F-16 fighter jets. Patriot anti-missile systems are to be sold to the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar,
A U.S. army commander said in Bahrain last year that the UAE air force alone "could take out the entire Iranian air force, I believe."
