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1. Syrian-Turkish Joint Army Drill Intensifies Threat to Israel
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Syria is tightening its military alliance with Turkey as it reinforces its recent threat to send Israel back to “the Stone Age” if it attacks Hizbullah. Syrian President Bashar Assad told a Kuwaiti newspaper on Saturday it has “surprises" in store for Israel.
Turkish military officials said that its soldiers began joint military exercises with Syria on Monday, the second time in a year. The army maneuvers are another sign of closer ties between Damascus and Ankara, which was considered to be a friend of Israel until last year, when it fell in line with most of the Arab world’s anti-Israel campaign.
Turkey also has established closer ties with Iran, and an Iranian-Turkish-Syrian-Lebanese axis would pose a monolithic threat to Israel from the north.
Syrian sources told the Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai that if Israel were to attack the Lebanon-based Hizbullah terrorist army, Syria would impose a naval blockade on Israel, using ground-to-sea missiles.
The regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad also has the capability to fire 60 ballistic missiles and 600 tactical missiles in one day, the sources told the newspaper. They added that if Hizbullah is attacked, Syria would fight alongside the Lebanese army, which has shown signs of being part and parcel of Hizbullah’s forces.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday tried to defuse the hostile atmosphere, stating that Israel has no intentions of staging an attack.
Diplomatic tensions flared up two weeks ago after it was revealed that Syria has been arming Hizbullah with long-range Scud missiles. The report was first carried by Al-Rai and may have been leaked by the United States in order to create pressure for United Nations Interim Forces (UNIFIL) to beef up their patrols in Lebanon.
Syria categorically denied the charges, and the United States officially said it is investigating the report.
2. Demand that Hebrew U. Dismiss Judge Goldstone from Board
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
An Israeli attorney has demanded that Hebrew University consider removing Judge Richard Goldstone from the Board of Governors and withdraw an honorary degree because of his report to the United Nations alleging that the IDF committed war crimes fighting Hamas terror.
The lawyer, David Schoenberg, told Arutz 7 that lower-level officials at the university have given him bureaucratic answers that there is no mechanism to fulfill his request. He wrote to Hebrew University President Prof. Menachem Ben-Sasson, demanding a direct reply.
Goldstone, whom President Shimon Peres has called “a small man, devoid of any sense of justice,” chastised Israel for allegedly breaking the rules of war after the Operation Cast Lead retaliation to thousands of deadly rocket and mortar shell attacks on southern Israel. Alan Dershowitz of the Harvard Law School called Goldstone "a traitor to the Jewish people."
Worldwide Jewish anger was so intense that Judge Goldstone had canceled plans to fly to his native South Africa for his grandson’s Bar Mitzvah because of the threat of protests by local Jews. One South African rabbi said that many members of the Jewish community “believe he put Israel in danger" and they wouldn't like him receiving the honor of being called up for the reading of the Torah during prayers at the Bar Mitzvah ceremony.
An agreement was worked out this week with the South African Jewish Board of Deputies that cleared the way for Goldstone to attend. There will be no protests, but a meeting will be held between him and Jewish leaders “shortly after” the Bar Mitzvah.
Attorney Schoenberg explained that his appeal to the university followed his discovery that Goldstone was named as a governor several years ago, after he was promoted to the position of judge.
“After studying his report [on alleged war crimes], I think his position of honor should be reconsidered,” Schoenberg told Arutz 7. “This is a man who succeeded in causing grave damage to the State of Israel on the basis of twisted descriptions of reality.”
Besides having received an honorary doctorate from Hebrew University, Judge Goldstone was awarded similar honors at the universities of Cape Town, Notre Dame, Maryland, Glasgow, Calgary, Princeton, Brandeis, and the Brooklyn Law School, among others.
3. Actor Turns 'Conscientious Objector,' Gives Up Anti-IDF Role
by Hana Levi Julian
Israeli actor Mickey Leon preferred to play the role of a “conscientious objector” rather than take a part in a British television series that portrays the IDF in a bad light.
The anti-Israel series, which contains messages similar to those broadcast in a Turkish series that hit the airwaves a few months ago, is called “Palestine.” Shooting is drawing to a close and the show is expected to air shortly, without Leon.
Leon, interviewed by Arutz Sheva, said he rejected a role as an Israeli army captain who was planning to separate a Palestinian Authority Arab girl from her mother in order to use her as a human shield. The part involved the Israeli army captain allowing IDF soldiers to take the girl with them from one end of an Arab village to the other.
The Israeli actor, who in 2008 portrayed Boaz Rein-Buskila in “Waltz with Bashir”, turned down the role despite the professional and monetary benefits it would bring. He added that a number of other actors also rejected the role for the same reason.
“My conscience would not allow me to do it,” he said. “I am not willing to compromise my values. I represent the State [of Israel] and did not want to represent it that way. I know there is no such protocol [in the IDF], and I am not willing to have a British viewer who might see this series, believe that this is how we behave. The first connotation that came into my mind from this scene was that of the Holocaust,” Leon explained.
At the end, he simply decided not to take the part. Those that stayed held a meeting on the set to determine how they would handle the demands of the script, which Leon said he did not find at all surprising. “I did not want to play this role,” he said. “I have an obligation to the state and also to my friends in the army”, he added.
Leon noted that he tried to get the producer to remove the scene. He succeeded only in persuading the producer to remove one line from the script: “That's Israel Defense Forces procedure.”
The producer later told Leon the idea that the IDF uses PA Arab children as human shields came from a Gaza activist who has lived in the region for an number of years. The series itself was filmed entirely in Israel.
4. Sixth Time: Forces Raze Jewish Neighborhood
by Hillel Fendel
Once again, special Yassam and Border Police units, accompanied by Civil Administration personnel, destroyed the neighborhood of Maoz Esther on Tuesday. The outpost neighborhood is located outside Kokhav HaShachar in the Binyamin region, not far from an illegally-built Arab neighborhood.
This was approximately the sixth time since last summer that the outpost has been razed. After each destruction, the residents vowed to rebuild – and have kept their promise. Today, as well, the residents said that they would begin rebuilding within hours, and that "the answer to eviction and destruction will be construction and settlement in all parts of the land of Israel. We will settle everywhere in the Land."
MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) said, "[Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu and [Defense Minister Ehud] Barak are strong and resolute when it comes to Jews, but they don't dare to touch thousands of illegal Arab homes."
The neighborhood was founded in late 2007, and it was named in memory of Kokhav HaShachar resident Esther G'alyah, who was murdered by Palestinian terrorists in a roadside shooting in November 2002. Esther left seven orphans behind; one daughter, along with her young husband and baby, were among the first residents of the new Jewish settlement site.
Earlier Tuesday, MK Tzipi Hotoveli (Likud) said that the Sasson Report – drawn up by a Meretz party member and which determined that outpost neighborhoods in Judea and Samaria built after 2003 are "illegal" – should be nullified. Hotoveli noted that it was the Sasson Report that led to the destruction decrees on the Yovel neighborhood in the community of Eli, where the widows and orphans of two fallen war heroes reside.
"But this has nothing to do with bereavement and the like," Hotoveli said. "Existing neighborhoods should be legalized. The Government of Israel has changed its policy towards the towns in Judea and Samaria, and there is no plan on the agenda to leave these areas. Therefore the time has come to legalize those towns that are not situated on private land."
In response, Sasson said that such a move would impair Israel's relations with the United States.
Five families currently live in Maoz Esther, and an active synagogue named Shirat Yonadav serves dozens of people every Sabbath. The synagogue is named for Yonadav Hirschfeld, who was murdered in the Merkaz HaRav terrorist attack and whose family lives in Kochav HaShachar.
5. The Week's Assistance to Gaza: April 27, 2010
by Hana Levi Julian
An official ban on commercial trade with Israel has not stopped the Palestinian Authority from allowing Gaza to accept weekly deliveries of thousands of tons of humanitarian aid.
Last week, from April 18 to April 24, a total of 439 truckloads bearing 10,983 tons of various food items and other essential products made their way from Israel through the various Gaza crossings, according to the IDF Coordinator of Governmental Activities in the Territories (CoGAT).
Among the food items were 57 truckloads of fruits and vegetables, 42 truckloads of wheat, 24 truckloads of meat, chicken and fish products, 35 truckloads of dairy products and 13 truckloads of sugar.
Dry goods included 31 truckloads of hygiene products and 18 truckloads of clothing and shoes.
At the Karni Crossing, 104 truckloads of animal feed were transferred through the massive conveyer terminal.
At the Nahal Crossing fuel terminal, 1.046 million liters of diesel fuel were pumped into Gaza for the power station, and 99,500 liters of diesel fuel were transferred for regular transportation purposes. In addition, 19,980 liters of gasoline and 502 tons of cooking gas were pumped through the terminal.
Traffic was steady at the Erez Crossing as well, where 228 PA Arab residents of Gaza – medical patients and their escorts – crossed into Israel to travel to various destinations for treatment, including to areas in Judea and Samaria. An additional 50 Gazans entered Israel for various other reasons as well.
Also crossing through the Erez terminal were 149 staff members of international non-governmental aid organizations who entered Gaza, and 146 staff members who crossed from Gaza into Israel.
6. First Israeli in NBA Visits Israel – Excited to be Home
by Yoni Kempinski
Omri Casspi, the first Israeli to play in the NBA came to Israel for a visit. Casspi, was very excited to be back home and he spoke with Arutz Sheva TV moments after he landed.
In the following video, Casspi relates to his feeling as a representative of Israel and Jews worldwide, the belief in G-d which helped him achieve his goals, and his opinion that Israeli basketball is indeed a good starting point for a young basketball player on the way to the NBA.
7. Obama’s Security Advisor Apologizes for ‘Greedy Jews’ Joke
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
James Jones, U.S. President Barack Obama’s National Security Adviser, has apologized for an anti-Semitic joke he told while addressing a conservative think tank in Washington. “I wish that I had not made this off the cuff joke at the top of my remarks, and I apologize to anyone who was offended by it," Jones said in a written statement.
The joke, roundly criticized by the Anti-Defamation League and by several of those present at Jones’ speech, was omitted from the official White House transcript. Observers said that the altered transcript could be excused for having been a version of remarks “prepared for delivery.”
Jones, who served as former President George W. Bush’s Middle East military envoy and was considered by the IDF to be a “thorn in the ribs,” (Israeli idiom for 'pain in the neck'-ed.) updated an old joke about a greedy Jewish merchant and placed it the setting of Afghanistan. Unnoticed by media reports of the joke that emphasized its Jewish aspect, Jones also referred to a Taliban terrorist as a “fighter” and “warrior.”
The joke involves a Taliban "fighter” who asks a Jewish merchant for water, only to be told that he sells ties, not water, but that there is a restaurant two miles away. The Taliban "warrior,” after delivering an anti-Semitic tirade, returns an hour later saying, “Your brother tells me I need a tie to get into the restaurant.”
The New York Magazine’s Dan Amira tried to rationalize the joke, saying it was not anti-Semitic. It pointed out that Jones knew most of his audience was Jewish and that he really “meant to celebrate Jewish shrewdness and business savvy with members of the Tribe, not mock the Jewish people for their trickery and avarice.”
The magazine also reasoned, “This is not one of those crude, disparaging ethnic jokes we've heard our fair share of on many a school-bus ride. Seriously, did you get the feeling that the protagonist was a 'greedy Jewish merchant'? The guy the Jew screwed over was a member of the freaking Taliban (evil)…. We're not exactly talking about Bernie Madoff stealing retirement savings from the elderly here. The Jew wasn't acting out of greed so much as obviously justified payback.”
The joke was “inappropriate," ADL national director Abraham Foxman told ABC News. "It's stereotypic…. This was about the worst kind of joke the head of the National Security Council could have told."
One think tank member said the joke was "wrong in so many levels," and added, "Can you imagine him telling a black joke at an event of African Americans?"
A transcript of the joke follows:
A member of the Taliban was separated from his fighting party and wandered around for a few days in the desert, lost, out of food, no water. He looked on the horizon and he saw what looked like a little shack, and he walked toward that shack and as he got to it, turned out that it was a shack, a store, a little store owned by a Jewish merchant. And the Taliban warrior went up to him and said, 'I need water, get me some water.' And the merchant said, 'I'm sorry, I don't have any water, but would you like to buy a tie? We have a nice sale of ties today.'
"Whereupon the Taliban erupted into a stream of language that I can't repeat about Israel, about Jewish people, about the man himself, about his family -- and just saying 'I need water, you try to sell me ties, you people don't get it.'
"And passively, the merchant stood there until this Taliban was through with his diatribe and said, 'Well, I'm sorry but I don't have water for you and I forgive you for all of the insults you've levied against me, my family, my country, but I will help you out. If you go over that hill and walk about two miles there's a restaurant there, and they have all the water you'll need.'
"And the Taliban, instead of saying thanks, still muttering under his breath, disappears over the hill -- only to come back about an hour later and walking up to the merchant and says, 'Your brother tells me I need a tie in order to get into the restaurant.'"
