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1. Tens of Thousands Mark Tisha B'Av at Western Wall
by INN Staff
Tens of thousands of worshipers streamed on Monday evening and Tuesday to the Western Wall plaza, the only remnant of the ancient Jewish Holy Temple, to mark Tisha B'Av -- the date of the destruction of both the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. Israel National News was there, and presents a special photo essay.
2. Mubarak Will Die Within One Year, Intelligence Sources Report
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s cancer is terminal and he will die within a year, according to intelligence sources quoted by the Washington Times. Western diplomats are worried whether the 1979 peace treaty with Israel will survive. Both countries retain diplomatic embassies and exchanges, but the "cold peace" has been increasingly chilly.
Egyptian authorities have previously denied Israeli and foreign media reports that Mubarak has cancer. It is known that he has traveled to Germany and France for medical care, but the Times report indicates his condition is a lot worse than it seems.
Steven Cook, a senior fellow and Egyptian affairs specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations, told the conservative-oriented newspaper, "When I was in Cairo in May, it was interesting. People were mellow about the prospect of him being ill. Everyone understood the end was near; the estimates were 12 to 18 months.”
The Egyptian president has confounded the rumors by appearing vibrant and alert in recent meetings with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell, among others.
Cook said the public appearances are made possible by drugs, and explained, "I heard that they pump him up with something that makes him able to function, so he can do these meetings and go to these public events."
Mubarak took power in 1981 following the assassination of Anwar Sadat by terrorists linked with the radical Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s largest opposition party and which is officially outlawed.
Mubarak has run a tight regime, using an emergency law that effectively silences political competitors. His likely successors are either his son Gamal, who has displayed strong skills in economic reforms, Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman, or Mohamed ElBaradei, the former chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Martin Kramer, a scholar at the Jerusalem-based Shalem Center and an analyst on Egypt, however, told the Times that he thinks the peace treaty with Israel and Egypt would survive Hosni Mubarak’s death. "Egypt has kept the peace deal with Israel through the wars with Lebanon and through intifadas," Mr. Kramer said.
Mubarak and Saudi Arabia King Abdullah recently were described as “aging autocrats” by The Economist of Britain. Mubarak is 82, and the king is 86.
“Decades of repression have ensured that the opposition is quiescent in Egypt and virtually inaudible in Saudi Arabia, but they have also made these countries vulnerable to violent disruption,” according to the magazine.
Noting the instability that often accompanies transition in non-democratic countries, The Economist warned that Western interests will be in danger over security and energy if the countries do not accomplish a smooth succession.
The underlying potential for an uprising is the elite’s ignoring the poor majority, The Economist added. “Though blessed with natural resources, especially the oil that has enriched Arab dynasties and their subservient elites while often leaving the masses in penury, few Arab countries have seen their non-oil economies flourish or their people enjoy the public services or freedoms taken for granted elsewhere.”
It pointed out that the only stab at democracy in the Arab League has been in Lebanon, which has been divided by civil war and near-civil war for two decades. It added that Iraq is mired in corruption.
The Palestinian Authority’s American-sponsored elections resulted in a victory by Hamas terrorists that left the United States in shock and has ended up with the PA running a government that is not legal because it has unilaterally postponed elections.
“The closed political systems of Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the uncertainties of dynastic power-mongering and the corruption inherent in patronage-ridden autocracies still often lead to plotting at the top and frustration that could spill over into anger at the bottom,” The Economist warned.
“That becomes more likely as the Internet, mobile phones and easier travel make people far less easy to control."
3. Israeli Terror Victims Race in NYC Triathlon
by Maayana Miskin
Two brothers-in-law affected by terrorism raced Sunday in the New York City triathlon. They were sponsored by the One Family Fund, which also raised money for victims of terrorism during the event with the help of dozens of volunteers racing for Team OneFamily.
Elad Belachsan, 27, was paralyzed in one leg during his IDF service while on a mission in Shechem. His brother-in-law, Yeshurun Gavish, lost both parents, his older brother, and his grandfather in a terrorist shooting at the family home in Elon Moreh during Passover of 2002.
Gavish later rescued others from a terrorist attack. In 2006, at age 25, he witnessed a terrorist carrying out a stabbing attack in Petach Tikva. Along with another passerby, he managed to subdue the terrorist and won a Presidential Citation of Bravery for his actions.
Gavish finished the race hand-in-hand with a third brother-in-law, Shaked Rogovsky, who had trained the other two in preparation for the event.
Belachsan, who is married to Gavish's sister Tzofia, completed the bike race and raced in his wheelchair for the foot race. Belchasan had told the JTA news agency that the race gave him a chance to push himself. “It's a great challenge, to see the limits of your body and to extend them,” he said.
The New York-based Team OneFamily raced in the event as well. The OneFamily team trains throughout the year and competes in two or three events annually, each time raising money for Israeli victims of terrorism through sponsorship. The team also holds an annual bike rally in Israel during the Sukkot holiday.
One Family (MIshpacha Achat) is an organization dedicated to aiding terror victims. Team OneFamily is one of their many projects.
4. Bargain Prices for 'Zionist' Clothes in New Gaza Luxury Mall
by Maayana Miskin
While Hamas continues to complain that Gaza lacks building materials, a luxury mall in Gaza City held its grand opening over the weekend. Among the goods on sale are Israeli men's clothing, and items from Turkey, France, and the United States.
Photojournalist Tom Gross, who publicized photos from Saturday's event on his website, noted that the opening coincided with a visit to Gaza from European Union foreign policy director Catherine Ashton. "The BBC and other media have featured extensive reports all day long on what they term the dire economic situation in Gaza; why are they not mentioning the new shopping mall that opened there yesterday?” Gross asked.
Pictures of the new mall were featured on the Palestinian Authority Safa website and by the Associated Press.
A variety of stores sell cosmetics, clothing, office supplies, toys, shoes, appliances and more. The mall boasts air conditioning and a delivery service.
Hamas has often accused Israel of creating a “siege” by keeping its border crossings to Gaza closed. According to Hamas, Gaza lacks electricity and building supplies.
Gross, who has previously posted pictures of fancy restaurants, shops filled with goods, and even an Olympic-size swimming pool during the “Israeli siege,” pointed out that Gaza enjoys a higher standard of living than Turkey, which recently sent citizens on a flotilla to Gaza in violation of an Israeli naval blockade of Hamas. Noting that life expectancy and literacy rates are higher in Gaza than in Turkey, while infant mortality rates are lower, he asked, “Have they considered that perhaps the humanitarian flotillas ought to be going in the other direction, towards Turkey?”
Despite the bargain prices, Israelis are advised that it is forbidden to enter Gaza.
5. Eye for Eye? Terrorist Shot Cop after Israel Cared for Daughter
by Maayana Miskin
Police and Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) agents have tracked down and arrested members of a Hamas terrorist cell responsible for a June shooting attack that killed police officer Shuki Sofer, who was engaged to be married. Two other officers were wounded in the attack.
One of the terrorists, two weeks before the murder, had received humanitarian aid at Israel’s Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, where he had accompanied his six-year-old daughter for surgery that removed a tumor removed from her eye. The operation had been paid for in full by an Israeli charity foundation.
Other members of the cell include those who formerly had been in Israeli custody for security violations.
The terrorists were arrested on June 22 in the village of Dir Samat in the Hevron region. Their arrest was kept under wraps until Monday in order not to interfere with the investigation.
Investigators found that the detainees had formed a terrorist group years earlier and had collected weapons, including three Kalashnikov rifles used in the attack. They had also practiced their shooting skills.
In early 2010 the group decided to begin carrying out attacks, selected Highway 60 as their target and found the point from which they planned to open fire.
The terrorists confessed to the plot and re-enacted the attack itself, which took place during the morning hours of June 14. They turned over to security forces the three rifles used in the attack.
They also admitted they were planning additional attacks, including a kidnapping that was to take place in central Israel. The group had already done reconnaissance in the area and had purchased disguises to make them look like religious Jews.
6. PA TV Teaches Children to Be ‘Combatants’ against Israel
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Palestinian Authority TV this month aired an interview with a child praising a Fatah conference teaching children to be "combatants” against Israel. U.S. President Barack Obama recently asked PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to honor a years-old commitment to halt incitement against Israel.
The latest episode in incitement involves both PA television and the Fatah party, headed by Abbas. The television program showed children’s reactions to a Fatah conference, even though it was held a year ago. The program was telecast July 8 and July 15, and the transcript was translated by Palestinian Media Watch.
"I came here following the conference elections,” a child told the interviewer. “I hope that there will be more conferences like the Sixth Fatah Conference [in August 2009]. These conferences are important for us because it makes us aware of leadership and that we will be combatants and wage resistance against the Israelis." The term “resistance” is the Arab code word for violence and terrorist attacks.
PMW originally reported on the Fatah Conference last year and noted that while the Fatah charter still calls for Israel's destruction, the English version has been removed from its website while the Arabic version remains.
7. Yishai to Lay Cornerstone for New Meitarim Building
by Hana Levi Julian
Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Eli Yishai is scheduled to lay the cornerstone on Thursday for a new administrative center in the southern Hevron Hills. The office of the Sephardic Shas party leader made the announcement on Sunday.
The new office complex for the Judea Regional Council is to be built in Meitarim, a 1,200-dunam industrial park located south of Hevron that opened in 2001. The center will provide administrative services to all Jewish communities in the region.
Included among the companies already established in the park are the Schwartz cosmetics firm marketing its products to Europe, a “Bonjour” chain restaurant and an experimental Paz plant to manufacture synthetic fuel from sewage.
The Regional Development Corporation also recently moved its offices to the park from the nearby community of Otniel, and the bus fleet that serves the region is now located there as well.
The ceremony, announced Sunday by Yishai's office, comes about a month before the end of the 10-month freeze on Jewish construction in Judea and Samaria, which officially ends on September 26. However, the construction of industrial and public buildings is permitted under the freeze, with authorization by Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
Struggle for the Area
Meitarim is located in a largely uninhabited area between Hevron and Be'er Sheva. Millions of dollars in European Union aid is being poured into the region to establish new Arab villages. In many instances, construction is being carried out as close as possible to the roads – in many cases, illegally -- in an attempt to prevent Jews from establishing a presence in the area.
Four years ago, thousands of school children in nearby Susya planted trees on government-owned land, with authorization, in the same area on the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shvat.
However, an American-born leftist rabbi led Arabs and foreign activists in attempting to create a confrontation with the children, standing directly in their path to block them from reaching the site.
Police who were present put a stop to the incident, and the children were later allowed to continue planting more than 5,000 pine and cedar trees. However, within 48 hours, at least half of the saplings were uprooted by Arab vandals.
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