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1. PA Finds Bibi's Biblical Reference 'Distasteful'
by Maayana Miskin
Senior Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat has criticized Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for mentioning the Jewish people's historic tie to Jerusalem as described in the Bible. He accused the prime minister of “[using] religion to incite hatred and fear.”
Netanyahu had made reference to numerous Biblical references to Jerusalem while addressing the Knesset in a session honoring Jerusalem Day – the anniversary of the day on which Israel's capital was reunited after 19 years during which Jordan held control of the eastern half of the city.
The Bible refers to Jerusalem and Zion 850 times, Netanyahu said.
At first he did not say how many times Jerusalem is mentioned in the holy writings of other faiths, but after he was challenged by an Israeli Arab MK, he said Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Koran at all, although a 12th century interpretation of the Koran does say one passage referred to the city. However, the prime minister clarified, “It is not my intention to detract from the bond other peoples have with Jerusalem... I am challenging the attempts to distract from, distort or erase our unique bond with Jerusalem.”
Leaders in the PA, and Muslims leaders in Israel, have often portrayed the Jewish connection to Jerusalem, and to the Temple Mount in particular, as a threat to Islam. Israel has been accused of attempting to “Judaize” Jerusalem and to damage or destroy the Al-Aksa mosque.
The PA has claimed all of the neighborhoods formerly held by Jordan, including the Old City, the City of David and the Temple Mount, as the future capital of a PA state. Speaking Wednesday, Erekat warned, “East Jerusalem cannot continue to be occupied if there is to be peace.”
Netanyahu, like previous prime ministers, states that Israel's capital will not be divided.
2. ‘Two-Track Lieberman’ Phones Britain, Takes Aim at Saudi Arabia
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has taken on two new tasks -- inviting Britain’s new Foreign Minister William Hague to visit and publicizing Saudi Arabia’s human rights violations.
The Foreign Ministry this week breathed a sigh of relief after Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democratic leader who has condemned Israel and backs a boycott, fared worse than expected at the polls. He was appointed Deputy Prime Minister in the new Conservative government, leaving the Foreign Office post for Hague, a Conservative.
The “Saudi Arabia track” features a campaign to use various North American and European lobbies to raise public awareness of human rights violations in what the United States and media label a “moderate” Arab country. Foreign Minister Lieberman has concluded that Saudi Arabia is financing an international campaign to de-legitimize Israel, according to the Hebrew-language newspaper Maariv.
It reported that the campaign has been secret until now and will include the status of women in Saudi Arabia, which limits their rights and prohibits them from driving. Last year, one woman was punished with 40 lashes for being a passenger in a car driven by an unmarried man, also forbidden.
The Foreign Ministry plans to ask the Obama government to pressure Saudi Arabia to change its policies and will brief Jewish groups and lobbies to insist that the kingdom correct human rights violations. Ministry officials are investigating the possibility of filing lawsuits in international courts.
While Saudi Arabia promotes itself as moderate Muslim country, it has refused any diplomatic contacts with Israel and has gone out of its way not even to sit at the same table with Israelis at conferences.
On the other hand, Hague (pictured)
immediately said after his appointment that he is “natural friend” of Israel. He said he would have voted against the Goldstone report, while Clegg has constantly condemned Israel for the Operation Cast Lead counterterrorist war against Hamas. Clegg also has joined pro-Arab and mass media descriptions of the restrictions at Gaza crossings as a “blockade” that "imprison” Arabs.
Lieberman’s invitation to Hague does not necessarily mean there will be an immediate visit, Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told Israel National News Friday. “It is customary for the Foreign Minister to congratulate a newly elected counterpart, but it will take time before the new government begins to function on all levels.”
Hague has said that Iran is his number one issue. Britain also has to deal with issues such as the war in Afghanistan and Iraq and its relations with Russia and China. It has had increasingly less influence on the Middle East since the European Union began taking on a more active role.
Relations with the previous Labor government Foreign Secretary David Miliband were often less than cordial and worsened after the discovery that Israel allegedly used British passports in the assassination of Hamas co-founder Mahmoud Mabhouh in Dubai earlier this year.
3. Obama Wants to Give Barak $205 Million for Disputed Iron Dome
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
U.S. President Barack Obama said he will ask Congress to approve $205 million for the controversial Iron Dome anti-missile system that at least one expert has called a "scam." The president’s move comes shortly after the return of Defense Minister Ehud Barak from a warm welcome in Washington and Barak's repeated hints at weakening the Likud’s dominance in the coalition.
The Iron Dome system is touted as being able to stop rockets from Gaza and Lebanon, but by all accounts, it cannot intercept primitive and short-range Kassam rockets that explode within two miles of firing and within 20 seconds of detection.
The missile program has faced budgetary obstacles in Israel, and the timing of the Pentagon announcement of President Obama’s request comes a few days after Barak’s audible suggestions that the Netanyahu government needs to be widened.
White House officials have denied that President Obama has been trying to undermine Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and cause his coalition to collapse in favor of Kadima leader Tzipi Livni.
Three weeks ago, President Obama’s and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s extremely warm reception for Barak, with media profile, was in sharp contrast to the chilly greeting he gave Prime Minister Netanyahu less than two months ago. In an unusual diversion from protocol at that time, the president did not host the Prime Minister for a lunch or dinner, did not hold a news conference and did not provide the media with opportunities for photographs.
Since Barak’s return, he has frankly stated at least twice that widening the coalition would help advance the process for creating a new country headed by the Palestinian Authority, a high priority issue for President Obama.
American aid of $205 million for the Iron Dome program would be a political coup for Barak, whose Labor party has only 13 seats in the coalition and is internally divided.
The Iron Dome system has passed several successful tests this year, but it has not been a high priority item for the IDF. Missile tests have proven that the system is effective against Katyusha rockets, and Barak has boasted the system “will allow the IDF to fulfill its obligation to protect Israel in the best way that it can."
However, he has made no mention of the system’s inability to defend Gaza Belt residents against Kassam rockets. Backing him is the commander of the Israel Air Force’s northern air defense division, who recently said, “We cannot promise 100 percent hermetic defense, but what we can promise is that after years of rocket fire against Gaza-belt communities, there will now be an effective solution."
Tel Aviv University professor and military analyst Reuven Pedatzur disagrees. He has harshly criticized the Iron Dome as being overly expensive and under-effective. “Considering the fact that each Iron Dome missile costs about $100,000 and each Kassam $5, all the Palestinians would need to do is build and launch a ton of rockets and hit our pocketbook,” he recently stated at a conference organized to campaign against faulty defense systems.
Prof. Pedatzur labeled the Iron Dome a “scam” and explained, “The flight-time of a Kassam rocket to Sderot is 14 seconds, while the time the Iron Dome needs to identify a target and fire is something like 15 seconds. This means it can’t defend against anything fired from fewer than five kilometers; but it probably couldn’t defend against anything fired from 15 kilometers, either.”
The Iron Dome is being built by Israel's Rafael Advanced Defense Systems. Their chief executive officer Yedidia Yaari and chairman Ilan Biran are long-time and close acquaintances of Barak.
4. Arab MK: Replace Israel with Islamic Caliphate
by Maayana Miskin
Israel should be integrated into an Islamic Caliphate, and Hamas and Hizbullah should be respected as legitimate political movements, according to Israeli-Arab MK Masoud Ganaim in an interview with the weekly paper Kul al-Arab, which is published in Israel. The interview was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
Ganaim explicitly said that he is opposed to Jewish statehood, stating that his Ra'am Ta'al party is “against the Zionist movement and its racist ideas.” If Israel is absorbed into an Islamic Caliphate, he said, Jews will be allowed to remain in the region.
Ganaim (in left side of picture) is a member of the southern branch of the Islamic Movement, a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Regarding Jerusalem, which Ganaim referred to as “occupied,” the MK said that Arabs must be prepared to fight. “Jerusalem and Al-Aksa [Mosque] are both in danger,” he declared. He backed extremist Muslim leaders in saying that Israel is threatening the Al-Aksa Mosque and plans to rebuild the Temple.
When asked if the struggle for Al-Aksa should be peaceful, the MK said Muslims “must not relinquish any means.”
Ganaim expressed support for Hamas and Hizbullah, which both strive to destroy Israel. “The Iran-Syria-Hizbullah axis represents the policy of resistance and non-capitulation, so naturally I am with this axis,” he said when asked which side he would support in a battle between Iran and a handful of Arab nations.
Hizbullah is “a model for a political party that assigns a special place to religious discourse,” he continued.
The world, Israeli included, should accept Hamas, Ganaim said. Hamas was voted into power in democratic elections, and Israel should “respect the will of the Palestinian people,” he explained.
Ganaim's interview comes on the heels of a dispute involving six other MKs from Israeli-Arab parties. MKs Ahmed Tibi, Mohammed Barakei, Taleb a-Sana, Haneen Zoabi, Jamal Zahalka and Afo Agbaria visited Libya. Following the visit, members of the coalition suggested that the Knesset strip the six of their parliamentary immunity.
5. TIME: 'The Next Lebanon War'
by Hana Levi Julian
A report by TIME Magazine this week warns that "the next Lebanon War" is on the horizon, but contends that although the Hizbullah terrorist organization and Israel are both fully prepared for war, neither side is looking forward to the eventuality.
The inevitable, says writer Ramzi Haidar, actually depends more on the U.S. and Iran than it does on either Israel or Hizbullah, given that the two are locked in a battle over the Islamic Republic's nuclear development program.
Iran is aiming Hizbullah's tens of thousands of missiles at Israel in a bid to halt American pressure designed to end its ability to build an atomic weapon. The U.S., for its part, is working hard to persuade the United Nations Security Council to impose tougher economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic.
Israel has vowed to consider the entire nation of Lebanon fair game, rather than restricting its targets to Hizbullah-linked areas, if war again breaks out in the north. The reason: Hizbullah has become a significant player in Lebanon's government, with several ministers representing the terrorist organization in the nation's cabinet and a healthy-sized faction in the parliament. The Lebanese government has issued numerous statements asserting the group's right to bear arms, and validating its status as a military entity “defending” the Lebanese people from “Israeli aggression.”
The terrorist group is supplied by Syria and Iran with generous funding and more missiles and other ordnance than most European nations, according to some reports, including Scuds. IDF Brigadier General Yossi Baidatz, a top military intelligence analyst, told a Knesset committee a week ago that Hizbullah has all kinds of weapons, “including solid-fueled rockets, more accurate and with a longer range.” The Scud missiles recently transferred from Syria to Lebanon are "just the tip of the iceberg," Baidatz warned.
Hizbullah is upgrading its battle plans and preparing for war, TIME reports, while planning to send guerrilla fighters on cross-border raids and sabotage missions, similar to that which ignited the Second Lebanon War. But although the magazine referred to the strategy as “unprecedented in the Arab-Israeli conflict,” it is in fact a common move, one that has been repeated throughout the history of the reborn State of Israel, beginning with raids by "fedayeen" attackers.
A similar attack was perpetrated by members of three Hamas-linked terrorist groups in 2006. The operation resulted in the abduction of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who is still being held hostage in Gaza. Shalit's condition and whereabouts remain unknown.
Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti Al-Rai newspaper claimed several days ago that Western sources told it that "Israel will wage war the minute it discovers the whereabouts of Nasrallah's hideout whatever the time or circumstances," Nasrallah, the anti-Semitic head of Hizbullah, has mostly been in hiding since the Second Lebanon War.
6. IDF: We are Preparing for Peace Talks Success or Failure
by Maayana Miskin
The IDF is preparing for negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority to either fail or move forward, according to the army magazine B'Machaneh. If talks fail, PA Arab violence may become more intense; if they succeed, the IDF may be told to stop arresting terrorists in PA-controlled cities and be unable to prevent weapons smuggling.
Currently, while the PA has control over major cities such as Ramallah and Shechem, IDF forces occasionally enter the area at night to arrest wanted terrorists and search for evidence of rocket production or smuggling. The arrest and search operations have angered PA leaders, who say their own troops should be trusted to handle the struggle against PA-based terrorism. The IDF has found several attempts to produce simple rockets of the kind used in Gaza.
Shortly before Israel-PA negotiations officially resumed, B'Machaneh reports, soldiers from the elite Duchifat unit conducted a patrol in the Tulkarm region, east of Netanya. The goal of the mission was to learn the layout of the area thoroughly in case IDF operations are affected by the peace talks.
"We're preparing by gathering knowledge for the future, because we don't know what will happen tomorrow,” one commander explained. “I don't know if they'll let me go into the city or not once peace talks begin, let alone afterwards.”
Prior to negotiations, Israel made several “goodwill gestures” to the PA, which included removing dozens of checkpoints in Judea and Samaria. (For the possibly dangerous effect on non Arabs, click here.) Previous Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also released hundreds of captured terrorists, and removed many more from Israel's “wanted” list.
7. Israeli Woman is European Champion in Taekwondo
by Maayana Miskin
Israeli citizen Bat-El Gatterer has won first place in her weight class in the European Taekwondo championships. Gatterer is from the Samaria town of Kochav Yaakov, north of Jerusalem.
She was Israel's only Olympic athlete in the field of Taekwondo in the 2008 Olympics, which she reached after taking a bronze at the European qualifying tournament in Istanbul, but was eliminated in her first match.
Bat-El differs from her fellow athletes not only due to her impressive speed but due also to her religious observance. She has occasionally found it necessary to walk to competition venues on the Sabbath (Shabbat) and to live off of kosher instant noodles while competing abroad.
Gatterer, 23, enrolled in her first fighting class at age nine. At age 12 she began Taekwondo. Her coaches were quickly impressed by her talent, and she soon began fighting with the national team.
Between the Olympics and the European championships, Gatterer found time to serve in the IDF.
The fact that Gatterer is from Kochav Yaakov, a town labeled an “Israeli settlement” by the world press, drew some attention during the Olympics. Gatterer described her hometown as “a great place,” but said she hopes to be seen as representing all Israelis, and not only those in Judea and Samaria.
