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1. Hamas Shells Prompt Resolute Israeli Response
by Hillel Fendel
The Israel Air Force's attack on seven Gaza targets last night was the
strongest in the past two years, ever since Israel's counterterrorist
Cast Lead campaign. So say top IDF sources, adding that the objective
was to "send a clear message to the terrorists of Hamas that the
situation cannot continue as is."
The Israeli response followed the firing from Gaza of at least a dozen
mortar shells and rockets at Israel over the past two days, as well as
other attacks in the past two weeks. Tuesday morning, following the IAF
strike, Hamas terrorists fired a Kassam rocket at Israel, lightly
wounding a 15-year-old girl and damaging several buildings.
The Hamas terrorist organization has run Gaza ever since it overthrew
Fatah in 2007, just two years after the Disengagement - Israel's
unilateral withdrawal from Gaza – that was supposed to have improved
Israeli security.
IDF: Hamas Unleashes Terror
Military correspondent Kobi Finkler reports that the IDF evaluation is
that Hamas has allowed the various terrorist organizations in the area,
such as Islamic Jihad, the Popular Resistance Committees and others to
freely attack Israel in commemoration of the second anniversary of Cast
Lead. Israel launched that offensive following the firing of thousands
of rockets since 2005 at Israeli areas, such as Be'er Sheva and other
areas in the Negev and the cities of Ashkelon and Ashdod.
Security sources say that Hamas feels it has tremendous amounts of
weapons and ammunition, such as Kassam rockets, light-weapons, and
explosives, and that Israel is limited in how strongly it can respond
when attacked.
At the same time, IDF sources say, Hamas is not interested in a
full-scale conflict with Israel at this time. Neither is Israel, for
that matter – "but the picture could easily change," they say. "If, for
instance, today's rocket had exploded inside a kindergarten, instead of
nearby, and children would have been hurt, it is very likely that this
afternoon would not have been peaceful as it is."
The IAF strikes Monday night targeted, among others, new tunnels dug by
terrorists for the purpose of dispatching terror squads into Israel,
ostensibly for the purpose of attacking or kidnapping civilians or
soldiers.
IDF officials say that their latest offensive is not the end of the
story, and they will not hesitate to act again if indicated.
2. Report Ready on Israeli Sovereignty on the Temple Mount
by Hillel Fendel
State Comptroller Michal Lindenstrauss has prepared a report on
Israel’s approach to Waqf excavations on the Temple Mount and on Israeli
sovereignty there in general. Only a small portion will be made public,
at a date of the Comptroller's choosing.
A subcommittee of the Knesset Control Committee, named the Audit
Committee of the Security Establishment re: Foreign Affairs, has
reviewed the report and determined which sections can be published.
Subcommittee chairman MK Otniel Shneller (Kadima), a religious Jew who
lives in Samaria, discussed the issue on Arutz Sheva’s newsmagazine.
The facts are straightforward, Shneller said: “As of a few months ago,
the Islamic Waqf [the religious Islamic body that oversees the Temple
Mount – ed.] conducted a dig at the Solomon’s Stables area of the Temple
Mount, in the south-eastern part of the Mount. It removed truckloads of
dirt in order to build a large mosque there, causing mortal harm to
historic remnants of the Jewish People. This mosque now functions
today.”
The Temple Mount, the location of the two Holy Temples, is Judaism's
holiest site, and is considered Islam's third-holiest site.
Shneller: Situation Has Totally Changed for the Better
“A week ago,” Shneller said, “our committee approved a very few parts
of the report for publication. It is a very sensitive issue, so I will
just review here what will be made public: A report on the large digs at
Solomon’s Stables, and maintenance work under the Al-Aqsa mosque, and
the like. The report mainly deals with how we, Israel, actualize our
sovereignty on the Temple Mount. It notes the problems, what can be
done, and what has been done. And the conclusion is as follows: Many
improvements have been made over the past few months, and everything is
now done there in full coordination with the police, the Israel Israel
Antiquities Authority, the Attorney-General’s office, the relevant
ministerial committee, and the Jerusalem municipality. The situation
has totally changed.”
Arutz Sheva’s Shimon Cohen said, “What you’re saying is that the public
will never learn what all the problems were, but we should rest assured
that everything is now OK.”
Shneller did not deny this, but said, “The issue is tremendously
sensitive. Other countries such as Jordan and Morocco are also involved;
we want to make sure that we don’t lose our hold on the Temple Mount.
We don’t want to make grand declarations and then lose on the ground.”
Cohen said, “For instance, the new mosque at Solomon’s Stables- what
about the very fact that there is another mosque on the Temple Mount,
and Muslims come to pray there regularly in massive numbers? Is that
something that should be allowed to continue?”
Shneller responded, “The report does not deal with prayer arrangements
on the Temple Mount. I can just say that there are currently no digs
taking place at all there, but rather only very defined and approved
maintenance works.”
%InAd1%
3. Netanyahu Wants 24 Hours to Decide on Public Pollard Plea
by Gil Ronen
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met Monday with Esther Pollard, wife
of Jonathan Pollard, and representatives of the lobby for his release,
and told them he would continue to act for Pollard's freedom.
The group asked Netanyahu to make a public appeal to U.S. President
Barack Obama to pardon and release Pollard, and delivered a letter from
the famous prisoner containing a similar request. The prime minister
asked for 24 hours to consider the idea. If he comes to the conclusion
that a public plea would help free Pollard, he promised, he will make
it.
Netanyahu canceled his participation in a conference that was held by
the Pollard lobby, opting for a post-conference meeting with the top
activists instead. The group included - besides Esther Pollard - former
Assistant U.S. Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb, MK Ronit Tirosh
(Kadima) and retired Judge Tzvi Tal.
"I took action, in the time of my first term as prime minister, for his
release and we indeed were close to this," Netanyahu said, "but
unfortunately it did not materialize. As a private citizen, I visited
him. Pollard was sent [on his mission] by Israel. I am acting and will
continue to work for his release in my present term of office as well."
"I brought this subject up six times over the past few months with the
president and the secretary of state and I promise to make an effort for
his release in the future as well," he added.
Jonathan Pollard was arrested in the US 25 years ago and convicted of
spying for Israel. He has been held in extremely harsh and humiliating
conditions in various US jails since then. The length of his
imprisonment and its conditions are much harsher than those in similar
cases of spying for a friendly country.
In her address at the conference, Esther Pollard said that the next
ten days are the time at which US presidents traditionally sign pardons.
She said that time was running out for her husband, whose health is
failing.
4. Analysis: A New Kind of Intifada
by Chana Ya'ar
On Sunday, a group of Arab youths attacked a group of Jewish tourists
walking along the Ramparts on the Old City Walls, about 15 minutes past
the Lion’s Gate. The attackers hurled melon-sized rocks at the tourists,
who fled in panic. No one was reported physically injured in the
attack.
There has been an upswing in Arab terrorist attacks on Jews over the
past month, according to the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet).
According to the latest statistics, there were a total of 52 attacks
last month, compared to 44 in October. This included 10 attacks in the
Jerusalem area, as opposed to six attacks a month earlier, in October.
There were 20 attacks in Judea and Samaria last month and the same
number in October.
Of the 30 attacks in November, only one was due to a rock attack; the
rest were firebombs that were hurled at their victims. In the Gaza Belt
area, there were 22 attacks, compared with 18 in October. Four of the
attacks were rocket launchings, 12 were mortar shellings, four were
small arms shootings and two were anti-tank missile launchings. One
Israeli citizen was wounded on November 18, when a rock was hurled at
him in Judea. An Israeli officer was likewise injured in October when he
was targeted in a firebomb attack in Jerusalem.
In addition to the above, throughout November, five rockets and 28
mortar shells were fired at Israel in 16 different attacks, compared
with three rockets and 20 mortar shells fired in 13 attacks in the month
prior. Moreover, for the first time since the end of Operation Cast
Lead, Israel’s counter terrorist war against the Hamas rulers of Gaza, a
long-range Grad Katyusha rocket was fired from the region at Ofakim.
PFLP Announces Intent to Start Third Intifada
A senior official with the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine (PFLP) meanwhile announced Sunday that terrorists groups based
in the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority have formally decided to launch a
third intifada - an Arab word for "uprising."
Khalida Jarrar, a senior member of the Palestinian Legislative Council
did not, however, specify which terrorist organizations had agreed to
participate. She also noted there is still much that the groups disagree
on.
“The decision to return to the popular intifada has been taken and at
present the problem is the method of practice,” Jarrar commented to the
Iranian Fars News Agency. “Ending all internal differences and reviving
unity and integrity in Palestine is the solution to all problems of the
Palestinians,” she added. It was not clear why Jarrar, who is based in
Ramallah, was speaking with FNA.
On Friday, Jarrar was quoted by the Ma’an news agency as saying that
all PA factions should “formulate a unified stance against” Israel.
The PFLP leader also criticized Arab foreign ministers at last week’s
meeting in Cairo of the Arab League for directing the United States to
make firm recommendations to Israel and the PA on borders for its
hoped-for new Arab state.
Jarrar accused the Arab ministers of engaging in an “attempt to evade
their responsibility towards the issue of Palestine,” according to
Ma’an. “Arab countries must stop counting on the U.S. administration,”
she said.
Arson, Ecological Damage are New Weapons
Although the raging inferno that swept through the northern Carmel area
earlier this month was started by accident, at least 25 other fires
followed in other forests that were not. Arsonists targeted the “Peace
Forest” outside Jerusalem 18 times in the past month, but few of the
fires were reported in the Israeli media.
The Hebrew-language daily Ma’ariv quoted police who said the attacks
were deliberately hushed up “so as not to inspire action by more
potential terrorists.” The newspaper referred to the situation as “a
true intifada” and warned that leftist Israel media are soft-pedaling
attacks by Arab terrorists.
In addition, a newly released report by Israel’s Environment Ministry
has noted that streams in Judea and Samaria are being fouled with raw
sewage discharged by PA Arabs. The report cites the lack of sewage
treatment facilities in the Palestinian Authority, combined with the
deliberate lack of cooperation between the PA government and Israel as
causes for the pollution.
Itche Meir, chairman of the Municipal Environmental Associated of
Samaria, told Arutz Sheva’s Hebrew news service last week that he
believes there is also some damage being inflicted by the Arabs
deliberately. “This is a type of ecological Intifada,” he said. “They found out that this hurts us so they exploit it.”
%InAd2%
5. Bat Yam: Hundreds Protest 'Arab Takeover'
by Gil Ronen
Hundreds of people demonstrated in Bat Yam's Yoseftal Street on Monday
evening. The demonstration, entitled "We Want a Jewish Bat Yam", was
initiated by the city's residents and the Lehava organization. They were
backed by activists from all over Israel who came out to protest what
was termed "the Arab takeover of mixed cities."
Posters that accompanied the protest called to "keep Bat Yam Jewish,"
proclaimed "Jewish girls are for the Jewish people" and stated "Jews -
let's win!". According to the posters, Arabs have been buying and
renting apartments from Jews in Bat Yam, and taking Jewish girlfriends.
In recent years, tens of Jewish girls have married Arab men who take
them to their villages where they are then usually abused, activists
claimed.
One demonstrator said that when Jews organized and acted, they recently
succeeded in stopping a similar trend in the Jerusalem neighborhood of
Givat Ze'ev.
The demonstration included residents of Bat Yam and participants from
all over Israel, including MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) and
ubiquitous nationalist activists Itamar Ben-Gvir and Baruch Marzel.
Leftists and Arabs held a counter-demonstration opposite the nationalists. They held signs accusing the nationalists of racism.
6. Girl Hurt as Gaza Rocket Explodes Near Kibbutz Kindergarten
by Gil Ronen
Gaza terror squads fired a short-range Kassam-type rocket at an Israeli
kibbutz Tuesday morning, lightly injuring a 15-year-old girl. Shrapnel
from the explosion struck the girl's leg. A Magen David Adom emergency
crew evacuated her to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.
Two people suffered emotional shock from the event. Several buildings in the kibbutz were damaged.
The head of the Hof Ashkelon local authority, Yair Farjun, said
following the attack that "the continued fire endangers our lives and
disrupts life's routine. I believe in the ability of the IDF to carry
out the necessary actions in order to stop the fire. On our part, we
will continue to take security precautions to the extent this is
possible."
The IDF and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) cooperated overnight in
attacks by IAF aircraft on several targets in Gaza. Among the targets
attacked were three terror tunnels in northern Gaza. In the southern
part of the border, the IAF attacks struck a terror tunnel, a smuggling
tunnel and a third site of unspecified terror activity.
The IDF said that the tunnels attacked were meant to enable terrorists to cross into Israel
and carry out terror attacks against Israeli soldiers and civilians. A
similar tunnel served the terrorists who killed two soldiers at Kerem
Shalom in 2006 and kidnapped a third - Gilad Shalit.
%InAd3%
7. IDF Beefs Up Tanks in Gaza as Terrorists Improve Weapons
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The IDF is deploying the Trophy
“Windbreaking” defense system on its tanks in the Gaza Belt in the wake
of the use of more advanced and precise anti-tank missiles by
terrorists in Hamas-controlled Gaza.
The IDF revealed the change in defenses shortly before terrorists lightly wounded a young woman Tuesday morning in a missile attack near a kindergarten on a kibbutz farm.
Terrorists have escalated Kassam rocket and mortar shell strikes on
civilians and soldiers over the past week, but IDF Chief of Staff
Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi says he does not think Hamas is trying to draw
Israel into a repeat of the Operation Cast Lead counterterrorist
campaign that began two years ago this month.
He revealed on Tuesday that Gaza terrorists for the first have fired
the relatively long-range Coronet missile that was used against
Hizbullah in the Second Lebanon War in 2006. The missile hit an IDF tank
last week, causing damage but no injuries to the tank crew inside.
Lt. Gen. Ashkenazi told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Security
Committee that beefed-up defenses will help deter terrorists from
drawing Israel into a sharp escalation of violence.
The Trophy system is designed to protect IDF tanks from anti-tank
missiles and has been used in a training exercise, with soldiers
remaining in their tanks for extended periods of time. The system
enables soldiers to neutralize anti-tank missiles at different ranges
and can operate in all weather conditions.
It was developed after the Second Lebanon War, in which Hizbullah
surprised the IDF with the use of advanced Russian anti-tank missiles
smuggled into Lebanon from Syria.
"The system will significantly reduce the effects of the anti-tank
missiles during the next conflict," explained Brig.-Gen. Haggai
Yehezkel, a tank division commander. "By the end of the year, the system
will be widely disseminated." Another system has also been introduced,
delivering to soldiers “a real-time image of the force in battle.” The
commander explained, “Now we can see when the enemy hits us and we hit
them. It is a real-time simulation.”
The IDF had planned to hold a live test of the Trophy Windbreaking
system on Wednesday, with a live missile fired at a tank manned by
officers. However, the test will be conducted without explosives. It
will employ a dummy round that cannot injure the soldiers or even
seriously damage a tank.
Parents of fallen soldiers have protested the exercise and asked Chief of Staff Ashkenazi to cancel the demonstration.
8. Strong Objections to Fischer’s ’Political’ Currency
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Menachem Begin’s son Benny - a Minister Without Portfolio in Israel's
government - is fighting an attempt by Bank of Israel Governor Stanley
Fischer to place his father’s picture on Israeli currency notes. Fischer
also wants former Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin's portrait on a
currency note.
Fischer announced Sunday that
he thinks the shekel bills should note what he called the historical
importance of two political leaders who signed peace agreements.
Menachem Begin signed a peace treaty with Egypt in 1979, and Rabin
signed the Oslo Accords with Yasser Arafat, head of the Palestine
Liberation Organization (PLO), in 1995 at a White House ceremony hosted
by then-President Bill Clinton.
However, the Begin family repeated on Monday its previous opposition to
the idea. Minister Benny Begin explained to Globes that he did not warn
Fischer because “nobody has spoken to me.”
Fischer also wants shekel bills to portray two people from the literary
field: Nobel Prize winner Shai Agnon, who already is pictured on a
bill, and the poet known by her first name Rachel.
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz also opposes Fischer's political
agenda, but Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu apparently has approved
the proposal, which must pass a Cabinet vote before being implemented.
The new pictures are to become a part of the public’s wallets in 2012.
Fischer’s recommendations came after a “currency design” committee,
headed by retired High Court Justice Yaakov Turkel, recommended that
story writer Leah Goldberg be one of the personalities to be portrayed
on the denominations of 20, 50, 100 and 200 shekels.
Last year, Kadima Knesset Member Dalia Itzik introduced a legislative
bill stating that currencies must depict “women and men that contributed
significantly to society and the state, including intellectuals, Nobel
Prize winners and leaders.”
Fischer ran into trouble last year
when he proposed that the currency notes be replaced with pictures of
Rabin, Begin, David Ben Gurion, Israel’s first Prime Minister, and
Zionist leader Theodore Herzl.
Fischer was enticed by Netanyahu to move to Israel and become a citizen
in order to be eligible to take over the job as governor of the Central
Bank. Netanyahu has been widely credited for having creating the
conditions in the beginning of the decade for Israel’s unprecedented
economic growth and stability when he was Finance Minister in the Sharon
government.
Fischer took the helm and has brought universal respect for the Bank,
whose policies helped Israel weather the global financial disaster two
years ago and retain stability and growth.
However, his politics are far from those of Prime Minister Netanyahu.
He has indicated that Israel should do whatever it can to establish the
Palestinian Authority as a new Arab country. Fischer also was once the
boss of Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, who worked as
an economist at the International Monetary Fund, where Fischer was the
chief economist.
Among previous statements, Fischer has said, “I generally prefer to
stand by the agreements we have signed with them [the Palestinian
Authority]. So that is at least one rationale for transferring the money
[of taxes collected by Israel for the PA]. There are all kinds of other
rationales, but that is my starting point.”
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