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1. IDF Chief: We Didn't Know Enough About Turkish IHH
by Hillel Fendel
The third day of the Turkel Commission hearings regarding Israel’s handling of the flotilla incident features the testimony of IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi.
Ashkenazi’s testimony followed Monday’s appearance by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, which he had to qualify afterwards by reassuring the public that he takes overall responsibility for what occurred, and Tuesday’s testimony of Defense Minister Ehud Barak, in which he blamed the army for mis-carrying out the government’s correct decision to stop the ship.
Ashkenazi, on the other hand, took full responsibility for the army’s performance aboard the ship, and even praised the soldiers and the Navy Commander. He said the main error was in the lack of sufficient preparation for the extent of violent resistance being prepared against the forces. "If we would have known, we would have prepared a sterile area," he said, meaning that snipers would have been deployed to fire at any one who tried to approach the soldiers as they boarded the ship.
The Chief of Staff presented a detailed account of what occurred and the preparations that preceded it, including documents, photographs and even a video clip.
“The soldiers aboard the Marmari displayed courage and purity of arms,” Ashkenazi said, “and responded correctly to the dangers they faced.” He described dramatically how one soldier was shot in the stomach as he rappelled down onto the ship, and was forced to respond with pistol fire.
He emphasized the importance of stopping such ships from arriving in Hamas, recalling that the IDF stopped a ship two years ago containing an amount of rockets equivalent to 70% of those fired at Israel during the Second Lebanon War.
Gen. Ashkenazi praised the Navy Commander for his handling of an unforeseen situation.
Minister Barak said on Tuesday that there had been “not a few intelligence failures” in the preparations for the raid on the ship. When the soldiers boarded the ship, they were greeted by clubs and iron bars, and even gunshots – an onslaught for which the forces were not prepared.
Ashkenazi acknowledged that the IDF did not have many sources of information on the Turkish IHH terrorist organization, which largely organized the flotilla. “We know much more about Hamas,” he said. “Turkey is not an enemy nation, and I hope it will not become one.”He is scheduled to conclude the first part of his testimony shortly after noon, and then continue behind closed doors.
2. Video Shows Zouabi Knew of Plans for Attack Aboard Marmari
by Hillel Fendel
A video clip indicates that MK Hanin Zouabi, a mild-mannered but extremist first-term Arab Knesset Member, lied outright when she said she did not know that the Turkish terrorists aboard the flotilla ship were preparing to attack IDF soldiers.
The clip, released on Army Radio’s website Wednesday morning – although currently not viewable, apparently because of the heavy demand – shows Zouabi standing next to a group of Turks who are armed with clubs and metal bars.
It is likely that they were among the mob that attacked the sparsely-armed IDF soldiers who rappelled down onto the ship after it refused to adhere to IDF orders to change course. Though the mob proceeded to beat and injure several soldiers, including one very seriously, the small IDF force was able to recover and kill nine attackers.
MK Zouabi said repeatedly after the incident, and again today, that though she was on the ship, she had no knowledge of any preparations for a violent attack on IDF soldiers. Knesset Speaker Ruby Rivlin said he plans to submit the tapes to the Attorney General and to the Knesset Ethics Committee.
Filmed in the stairwell of one of the ship's below-board floors, the clip first shows Zouabi with an orange life-jacket, standing and talking with mob members. One Israel Navy soldier testified that it was at this point that three of his comrades were being dragged below in an attempt to kidnap them; according to his testimony, it is unlikely that Zouabi did not see this.
Zouabi has had, and continues to have, close ties with Azmi Bishara, former leader of her Balad party who, as a Knesset Member, fled the country after being suspected of aiding Hizbullah during the Second Lebanon War.
After seeing the film of Zouabi, a senior Navy source commented, “It is hard to conceive that Zouabi, standing there in the ship’s stairwell, did not see the attempts to abduct IDF soldiers and hide them below-board.”
Her presence on the Marmari evoked a strong public outcry, and the Knesset ultimately voted to strip her of certain privileges, such as the rights to a diplomatic passport and public funding of her legal expenses.
“The Israeli public, and the Knesset Members, are tired of Arab MKs taking advantage of our democracy to harm the country,” MK Danny Danon (Likud) said at the time. “Zouabi must decide if she supports Hamas and Al-Qaeda, or if she is a member of the Knesset of Israel.”
Zouabi herself has stated that she wishes to be both. “I serve my own principles,” she has said, “as well as my people that is oppressed by the State [of Israel], and I have no problem doing so in the framework of the Knesset. My voters did not vote for me so that I would strengthen Zionism… There is a people that voted for Hamas, and I fight for their right to choose.”
Hamas leader Ismail Haniye personally called Zouabi while the Knesset was debating the stripping of her privileges, and encouraged her to “remain strong.”
3. Atlantic Monthly: Israeli Strike on Iran Likely after Next July
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
There is a better than 50-50 chance that Israel will attack Iran after next July, but many Israeli officials think a better solution to the Iranian nuclear threat would be an American strike on its nuclear facilities, Atlantic Monthly’s Jeffrey Goldberg writes.
Under the title of “The Point of No Return, Goldberg’s article describes a probable scenario if sanctions, an internal Iranian revolution or local sabotage does not stop Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in his tracks.
“Uzi Arad, and the Israeli defense minister, Ehud Barak, will simultaneously telephone their counterparts at the White House and the Pentagon, to inform them that their prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has just ordered roughly one hundred F-15Es, F-16Is, F-16Cs, and other aircraft of the Israeli air force to fly east toward Iran—possibly by crossing Saudi Arabia, possibly by threading the border between Syria and Turkey, and possibly by traveling directly through Iraq’s airspace, though it is crowded with American aircraft,” Goldberg wrote in the new issue of the magazine.
“Israel would get only one try. Israeli planes would fly low over Saudi Arabia, bomb their targets in Iran, and return to Israel by flying again over Saudi territory, possibly even landing in the Saudi desert for refueling—perhaps, if speculation rife in intelligence circles is to be believed, with secret Saudi cooperation. These planes would have to return home quickly, in part because Israeli intelligence believes that Iran would immediately order Hizbullah to fire rockets at Israeli cities.”
One general told Goldberg, “Our problem is not Iranian air defenses, because we have ways of neutralizing that. Our problem is that the Saudis will look very guilty in the eyes of the world if we keep flying over their territory.”
With the likelihood that Iran will be able to deliver a nuclear weapon in 1-3 years, Goldberg said that the Holocaust echo of “Never Again” will leave Israel no choice other than to attack Iran without asking the United States for permission or even notifying it in advance.
The growing conclusion among Israeli leaders is that the alternative to bombing Iran would be the annihilation of the Jewish State.
“You don’t want a messianic apocalyptic cult controlling atomic bombs,” Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the journalist. “When the wide-eyed believer gets hold of the reins of power and the weapons of mass death, then the world should start worrying, and that’s what is happening in Iran.”
Israeli leaders have tried to drum in the message that the Iranian threat is aimed at the entire world and not just Israel. The reasoning leaves open the option—and hope—that U.S. President Barack Obama will step into the breach and carry out a military strike on the Islamic Republic. It is speculative whether the young president, who was elected on the back of sentiment against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, would order an attack.
An unnamed Arab foreign minister told Goldberg, “This is not a discussion about the invasion of Iran. We are hoping for the pinpoint striking of several dangerous facilities. America could do this very easily.”
Israeli military officials also have their sights set across the Atlantic Ocean. Goldberg said that Israel’s security advisor Uzi Arad related that Prime Minister Netanyahu often tells visiting foreign officials, “Let me tell you a secret. The American military is bigger than Israel’s.”
“If the choice is between allowing Iran to go nuclear, or trying for ourselves what Obama won’t try, then we probably have to try,” the official added. Our time would be better spent lobbying Barack Obama to do this, rather than trying this ourselves,” one general told me. “We are very good at this kind of operation, but it is a big stretch for us. The Americans can do this with a minimum of difficulty, by comparison. This is too big for us.”
However, President Obama’s style of oratory and “engagement” of enemies has left Israeli officials doubtful. “We don’t believe that he is the sort of person who would launch a daring strike on Iran. We are afraid he would see a policy of containing a nuclear Iran rather than attacking it,” one policy maker told Goldberg.
Would Prime Minister Netanyahu be the man to “pull the trigger” on Iran? The answer goes back to the Holocaust. One official who “spends considerable time” with Prime Minister Netanyahu told Goldberg, “The only reason Bibi [Netanyahu] would place Israel’s relationship with America in total jeopardy is if he thinks that Iran represents a threat like the Shoah [Holocaust]. In World War II, the Jews had no power to stop Hitler from annihilating us. Six million were slaughtered. Today, six million Jews live in Israel, and someone is threatening them with annihilation. But now we have the power to stop them. Bibi knows that this is the choice.”
One mitigating factor against attacking Iran is the effect sanctions are having on its nuclear development. Despite the fanfare of a new centrifuge for enriching uranium, U.S. National Security Council official Gary Samore said, “The particular centrifuge machines they’re running are based on an inferior technology. They are running into some technical difficulties, partly because of the work we’ve done to deny them access to foreign components. When they make the parts themselves, they are making parts that don’t have quality control.”
Regardless of the effects of the sanctions, one Arab foreign minister pointed out the mentality of Ahmadinejad—that others might apply to all Muslim radicals—that while President Obama acts out of “reasonableness,” “Iran will continue on this reckless path, unless the administration starts to speak unreasonably. The best way to avoid striking Iran is to make Iran think that the U.S. is about to strike Iran. “
Goldberg wrote, “Based on months of interviews, I have come to believe that the administration knows it is a near-certainty that Israel will act against Iran soon if nothing or no one else stops the nuclear program; and Obama knows—as his aides, and others in the State and Defense departments made clear to me—that a nuclear-armed Iran is a serious threat to the interests of the United States, which include his dream of a world without nuclear weapons.“
4. Jews Sound Off against Iran’s New Holocaust Denial Website
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Jews have come out swinging against a new Iranian Holocaust denial website, which the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called a “virtual cesspool” of anti-Semitism. The ADL called on the U.S. government to publicly condemn the latest anti-Jewish offensive in the Islamic Republic.
The “HoloCartoon” site mocks the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were murdered in gas chambers, death marches, by hunger and by other forms of torture. It also displays cartoons showing Jews with hook-nosed worms tunneling holes in history books, and another caricature displays fake bodies at a concentration camp.
"It is rife with anti-Semitic imagery, Jewish conspiracy theories, Holocaust denial and factual inaccuracies," the ADL commented. "HoloCartoon is a pernicious website replete with vicious anti-Semitism and caricatures of Jews fabricating the Holocaust story to advance their goals, and depictions of Jews as murderers and manipulative money worshippers.
"Its pseudo-history makes a mockery of the Holocaust and the site is little more than a virtual cesspool of anti-Semitism."
The website introduces the viewer to a Pink Panther theme song and tries to show that "the killing of 6 million Jews in the Second World War known as the Holocaust was a sheer lie." The site is “dedicated to all those who have been killed under the pretext of the Holocaust," Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported.
ADL director Abe Foxman, a Holocaust survivor, said, "This type of anti-Semitism is the calling card of the Iranian regime and a reflection of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who continues a drumbeat of Holocaust denial and Jew-bashing.”
Israel’s Yad VaShem Holocaust Memorial Museum stated, ""The vulgar and cynical approach of the website, a combination of Holocaust denial and distortion, illustrated with anti-Semitic caricatures, further illustrates Iran’s disregard for reality and truth vis-à-vis the Holocaust, Jews and Israel."
5. Chaim Perlman is Released to House Arrest
by Eli Stutz
The Petach Tikva Magistrate's Court Wednesday refused to accept a police request to extend Chaim Perlman's detention, ruling there was not enough conclusive evidence gathered that could prove the case against him.
Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) authorities have accused him of killing four Arabs ten years ago, and Perlman has been held in administrative detention without any charges being laid against him for several weeks.
The court ordered his release to house arrest in the town of Tekoa in Gush Etzion despite the fact that he was identified in a line-up of suspects but which the judge noted was of questionable value when it comes to a suspect whose picture is at the top of Israel's newspapers.
Earlier it was reported that one of the viewers in the line-up recognized Perlman and claimed that he was attacked by him. Police cited this to the court in an attempt to extend Perlman's remand for at least one more day. On Monday, Petach Tikva Magistrate Court Judge Nahum Sternlicht rejected a police request to extend Perelman's detention by eight days and ordered a 48-hour extension instead.
He ruled that the court did not find substantial evidence to bring about the conviction of Perlman. He said that although the suspicions are serious, they are only suspicions and consideration should also be given for Perlman's long period of custody.
The judge stated that after reviewing the material, there was no real progress in the investigation.
6. More Wind Turbines to Hit Golan
by Elad Benari
Israel is continuing to invest in wind energy. Green Wind Energy Ltd., which has operated wind turbines on the Golan Heights for 18 years, announced on Sunday that it has obtained a permit from the Ministry of Interior, the Public Utilities Authority, and Israel Electric Corporation for its plans to build a 14-megawatt wind farm in the Golan Heights, this according to a report in Globes.
The groundwork for the wind farm, currently being prepared, will be based on seven 80-meter turbines, each with a propeller diameter of 95 meters. Each turbine will generate two megawatts of electricity. The current turbines on the site produce 4.8 megawatts of electricity and will be replaced by the new ones.
The new wind farm is expected to take two months to build once the infrastructure is laid down. Construction is currently scheduled to take place during the second quarter of 2011.
A Reuters report in April said that after the construction of the first seven wind turbines, additional turbines are planned as well, up to a total of 160. They will be erected over a period of two years and in total will generate about 450 megawatts of electricity. The expected cost for the additional turbines is about $800 million, with the eventual expected revenue from the farm being $150 million per year.
While Israel has traditionally focused on solar power, recently it has begun to put more resources into developing its wind energy industry. The Golan Heights is a good site to invest in this field since it is a windswept plateau.
In fact, said the Reuters report, Israel plans to more than triple its use of wind energy over the next decade, while increasing solar energy production by only 40 percent.
Israeli Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau explained at the time that this was a cost saving decision, since wind farms need minimal government subsidies and take up less land. In addition to the Golan Heights, Israel is exploring options for additional wind farms across the country, including in the Negev desert and along the border in cooperation with Jordan.
7. Ramadan: Soldiers Told Not to Eat or Smoke in Front of Arabs
by Gil Ronen
Instructions issued by the IDF for the Muslim month of Ramadan forbid soldiers from eating, drinking or smoking in front of the Arabs of Judea and Samaria. A statement issued by the IDF Spokesman said that as the Muslim holiday approaches, representatives of the Civilian Administration "briefed the forces operating in the field about the holidays and customs of Ramadan.”
"The soldiers were instructed to show greater consideration toward the residents, and to refrain as much as possible from eating, drinking and smoking in public in front of the population, especially at the crossing points, and to be alert and accommodating.”
Devout Muslims refrain from eating, drinking or smoking during the daytime hours of Ramadan.
Several checkpoints will operate until later hours because of Ramadan. In addition, first-degree relatives of Arabs living in pre-1967 Israel will be allowed to visit them for a one-week period during the month of Ramadan.
Two hundred entry permits for foreigners from Arab countries will be issued for “humanitarian cases.”
The grassroots Samaria Residents' Council was not happy with the instructions issued to the soldiers. “It is sad to see how the Minister of Defense shows such grand consideration for the Muslim faith, and at the same time sends IDF soldiers and Border Police to tear down synagogues, beat up rabbis of communities, issue demolition orders for yeshivas and drag Jewish youths by their earlocks.”
The Council asks: “Is he Ehud Barak or Ahmed Barak?”
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