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1. Fatah Returns to Violence, Wound Border Police in Riot
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Nearly 200 Fatah leaders and Israeli leftists rioted late Wednesday morning near a military prison near Jerusalem and stoned Israeli soldiers and police, wounding two Border Police officers.
The violent riot was in protest of Sunday’s arrest of Abbas Zaki, a senior member of Fatah, led by Palestinian Authority PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Zaki and a dozen others were arrested near Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem after storming an Israeli checkpoint during a march, and he has refused to appear in an Israeli military court.
Following speeches of incitement outside the Ofer military prison located west of Ramallah and near Jerusalem, police dispersed the rioters with tear gas, injuring three demonstrators.
The arrest of Zaki is politically significant because he is the most senior Fatah official to have been arrested by Israel in 17 years, according to the pan-Arab Al-Jazeera news service. “The response from the [Fatah] political leadership has been a commitment to step up popular resistance," according to Al-Jazeera.”
The IDF closed the Bitunia checkpoint, near the Ofer prison, after protesters broke through it. Among the demonstrators were three Fatah Central Committee members, leading rioters who threw rocks at Israeli security officers.
Abbas recently has told English-speaking media he is against violence but in Arabic media he has encouraged “resistance,” a code word for violence and terrorist attacks.
2. Abbas Urged Israel to Topple Hamas in Cast Lead, Says Lieberman
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas urged Israel to topple the Hamas government in Gaza during the Operation Cast Lead campaign last year, according to Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman.
A former close aide to former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert confirmed Lieberman’s claim, which was rejected by Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rdainah, who told Reuters, “This is not true. It is a continuation of the campaign of defamation ... to create an atmosphere that would destroy any chance of salvaging the peace process.”
Although Lieberman was not a member of the Olmert government during Cast Lead, the former Olmert official confirmed to Reuters that his account was "essentially accurate."
Lieberman accused Abbas of duping Israel by asking the government to topple Hamas and then alleging that Israel was guilty of ”war crimes” in the three-week counterterrorist campaign. "A month after the operation ended, he filed a complaint against us with the International Court of Justice at The Hague for war crimes. Is that a partner?" Lieberman asked in an interview with a Hebrew-language newspaper.
Hamas previously has criticized Abbas for not being more vocal against Cast Lead and for not initially backing the Goldstone Report alleging Israel with committing war crimes. Lieberman’s comments “reaffirm the fact that Mahmoud Abbas is no longer fit to represent our people,” said Hamas spokesman Sami abu Zuhri. He charged that Abbas “conspired against his people during a war.”
3. Hamas Police 'Hold Up' Gaza City's Palestine Bank
by Hana Levi Julian
Hamas Police held up the Gaza City Bank of Palestine on Monday, taking nearly half a million dollars allegedly on behalf of a medical organization, “aggressively” forcing staff to open the bank vault.
The Palestine Monetary Association (PMA), which regulates the Palestinian Authority's banking system, responded by calling on Hamas to “abide by the rule of law to safeguard the soundness of the banks so that they can continue to provide services to the people.”
The Patient's Friend Association hospital's assets deposited at the Fatah-controlled bank were frozen after Hamas had seized control of its board following the terrorist group's June 2007 victory over Fatah in a bloody region-wide PA civil war.
The Fatah-run government maintained control of PA areas in Judea and Samaria, as well as primary control over the PA financial institutions. But Hamas took control over the Gaza court system, which then issued an injunction against the bank, ordering it to unfreeze the hospital's assets.
Hamas police showed up at the bank on Monday, ordering the staff to hand over 1.5 million shekels ($400,000). A bank employee who asked not to be named said the police acted “aggressively,” forcing staff to open the vault before they “signed a paper showing the amount of money they had taken.”
The Reuters news agency quoted Fatah-linked banking sources as saying the PMA had frozen the hospital's assets “seeking to apply global regulations against money laundering.”
A spokesman for the de facto Hamas Interior Ministry in Gaza, Ehab al-Ghsain, said police actions were “implementation of a judicial decision” and that the hospital's board has “resorted to court[s] after the Fatah government froze its account in the bank.”
The Fatah-run PA government based in Ramallah, funded by Western nations, continues to pay both Fatah and Hamas civil servants in all of the Palestinian Authority areas, including Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, through its banking system. The PA also receives millions of dollars every month from Israel, which collects tax revenues for the PA.
4. Congress Pressures Obama to Retreat on Jerusalem
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Approximately 75 percent of U.S. Congress members are prepared to sign a letter calling for an end to public criticism of Israel by the Obama administration and to "reinforce its ties with the country," according to the British Guardian.
An open letter states, “Our view is that such differences are best resolved quietly, in trust and confidence." The wording was suggested by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) lobby, which is asking Congress members to help improve relations between U.S. President Barack Obama and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
The one-year-old American government has in effect discarded the Roadmap plan, which already had been detoured by then-U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, by mediating indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and gaining concessions from the Netanyahu government without parallel steps by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
However, its demands concerning Jerusalem apparently have crossed the red line for Diaspora Jews as well as for many liberal leaders in Israel, causing a rift among the president’s advisers.
The White House on Tuesday tried to smooth over relations, with spokesman Robert Gibbs saying he was ”puzzled" by reports that President Obama snubbed Prime Minister Netanyahu by not holding a press conference or providing an opportunity for a public photograph. “I’m puzzled by the notion that somehow it’s a bad deal to get two hours with the president almost entirely alone,” he told reporters. “That doesn’t seem like a lot of punishment to me.”
He also denied a rumor in the media that the United States was prepared to refrain from vetoing a possible United Nations resolution against Israel’s building for Jews in areas of Jerusalem that were restored to the Jewish State in 1967 but are not recognized by United States as being under Israeli sovereignty. Approximately 300,000 Jews live in the neighborhoods, which include Ramot, French Hill and Gilo.
If the report was a trial balloon, the response appears to have let all the air out as Cabinet ministers line up behind Prime Minister Netanyahu to refuse to agree to a temporary building freeze.
Most of President Obama’s advisers have taken a pro-Palestinian Authority stand, backing its claims to sovereignty over part of the city. Foreign media have reported that President Obama’s public stand against Israel, beginning with his speech in Cairo last June that Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria are “illegitimate,” has placed him out on a limb.
“The administration's credibility is at stake,”one source reportedly said.
5. Inner Cabinet Chilly to Obama's Demand for Freeze in Jerusalem
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
U.S. President Barack Obama wants Israel to extend its temporary building freeze for Jews in Judea and Samaria to include parts of Jerusalem, according to the left-wing Haaretz newspaper. However, most Inner Cabinet ministers already have rejected the idea.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, a member of the seven-member Inner Cabinet, said earlier this week, “I have not seen anyone among the seven who has consented to this [building freeze]. The past few days have taught me that there is no point to further concessions.”
He confirmed that President Obama asked for a building freeze in most areas in Jerusalem where the United States does not recognize Israeli sovereignty. The freeze proposal reportedly would be for four months, ending at about the same the 10-month building freeze in Judea and Samaria is supposed to expire.
In return, the Palestinian Authority would agree to direct talks, which has been PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ condition for direct discussions with Israel. He also has presented the Jewish State with demands for recognizing the PA as a country, with Jerusalem as its capital as well as PA sovereignty over all areas of the city that were restored to Israel in the Six-Day War in 1967.
The report was also published in the Washington Post, which claimed the government may reach a “quiet understanding” without formally announcing a building freeze, although it is not known if that would be satisfactory to Abbas. The government has not commented on the report, but other Cabinet ministers have made it clear that stopping construction for Jews in the capital is out of the question.
Benny Begin, a member of the Inner Cabinet, said that even Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s concession to agree to discuss with Abbas the final status of Jerusalem will bring about a hardening in the policy of the Arabs and of the Palestinian Authority.
6. Deputy Minister: If US Balks at Veto, Shun 'Hussein Obama'
by Gil Ronen
Deputy Minister Ayoub Kara reacted acerbically to a BBC report that the United States may abstain from using its veto power if the UN Security Council votes to condemn Israeli building for Jews in eastern Jerusalem.
"If Israel does not receive backing from the United States in the Security Council and the US does not veto a resolution of condemnation,” said the Deputy Minister for Development of the Negev and Galilee, “we should cut off all contacts with Hussein Obama and call upon the American people to raise a cry of dissent against the belligerent policy that has been implemented of late – first and foremost by the president of the US.”
Enough 'abuse'
The “abuse” and “aggression” toward the prime minister is abuse of each and every Israeli, he said, in a reference to the humiliations Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has undergone in his visits to the White House.
Kara intentionally used Obama's Muslim middle name, leaving out his first name, which is also of Muslim origin.
Kara said Netanyahu should receive maximum backing within Israel, and particularly inside the Likud party.
Dep.-Min. Kara was hosted for the Passover seder at Pisgat Ze'ev, along with dozens of Christian Zionists who came from the US to celebrate Passover in Israel.
Dep.-Min. Kara, a Druze, is one of the most proudly and aggressively Zionist members of the current coalition. He has compared his connection to the Jewish people to that of Yitro (Jethro) and Moses. The Druze see Yitro – whom they call Shuaib – as their greatest prophet.
A senior US source has denied the BBC report, saying that no resolution of condemnation of Israel over construction in Jerusalem is expected in the UNSC.
7. Obama: Iranian Oil Obstacle to Sanctions
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
U.S. President Barack Obama said on Tuesday that he hopes tougher sanctions will be placed on Iran "within weeks” but admitted that oil from the Islamic Republic sways some countries from agreeing to harsher restrictions.
The United States wants the current United Nations blacklist to include firms controlled by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
Speaking alongside French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the White House, President Obama said, "What we said, though, was that there was going to be a timeline to it and that if we had not seen progress by the end of the year it was time for us to move forward on that sanctions track. My hope is that we are going to get this done this spring…. I’m interested in seeing that [sanctions] regimen in place in weeks.
“Let's be honest, Iran is an oil producer, and there are a lot of countries around the world that, regardless of Iran's offenses, are thinking that their commercial interests are more important to them than these long-term, geopolitical interests.”
China has been the major stumbling block to an American motion for the United Nations Security Council to endorse tougher sanctions. Beijing’s foreign ministry on Tuesday stated it opposes Iranian capability to obtain nuclear weapons, but it has not yet come out in favor of sanctions. China, like Russia, has supplied billions of dollars in investment and equipment in Iran’s nuclear facilities.
President Sarkozy said, "The time has come to take decisions." Referring to Germany and Britain, he added, "We will make all necessary efforts to make sure that Europe as a whole engages in the sanctions regimen."
