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1. Iran to Sue Israel over ‘Crimes’ against Nuke Scientists
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Iran plans to sue Israel in international bodies for “crimes” against its nuclear scientists as it claims the arrest of a Zionist spy ring but reveals scant details.
“The issue that we will actively pursue is the condemnation of this
illegal regime (Israel) and its punishment as the perpetrator of crimes
against humanity and our scientists,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman
Ramin Mehmanparast said at his weekly press briefing on Tuesday, as
reported by the semi-official Iranian PRESS TV.
“We will definitely utilize all our means and capabilities to follow up the case in international legal bodies,” he said.
Iranian officials prominently boasted that intelligence agents rounded
up a 10-man spy ring, one day after it showed the picture of a man
accused of being a spy. The announcement came on the eve of the
assassination of nuclear science lecturer Massoud Ali-Mohammadi last
January 12, and official rhetoric but scant details raise questions
concerning the veracity of the claim.
Last month, Iran boasted that it had downed U.S. drones,
but American officials disputed the claims, saying that if any of its
drones were missing, they might have crashed on Iranian soil after a
technical failure.
Besides warning Israel that it night be sued, Islamic Republic
officials also cautioned Western nations if they “had a hand in such
terror efforts is indicative of an ongoing state terrorism.”
"Our neighbors and the regional countries that have ties with the
Zionist regime should know that any assistance given to this regime
would be viewed as a threat to Iran," Intelligence Minister Heidar
Moslehi told a rare news conference Tuesday
Iran’s Intelligence Ministry charged that Israel's Mossad intelligence
agency trained Iranian “spies and terrorists” and that a ring was
arrested. It also claimed that the alleged ring use bases in European
and non-European countries.
The alleged spies “have confessed to being trained by the Mossad and
receiving all of their equipment from that agency," Ismael Kowsari, a
member of the National Security Commission of parliament, told
Iran's Fars News Agency.
One arrested man regularly traveled to Jerusalem, according to
government statements, but they incorrectly described a non-existent
location as Israel’s military headquarters where he supposedly met with
Mossad agents.
One day before the announcement of the arrest, Iran revealed that a human rights lawyer was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
2. Former Secretary of State Shultz Joins ‘Free Pollard’ Bandwagon
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Former Secretary of State George Shultz wrote a letter to U.S.
President Barack Obama, urging him to free Jonathan Pollard, the
Washington Post has revealed. Earlier this month, Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu wrote a letter to the president, appealing for Pollard's release.
Calling the letter a “remarkable development” because of Shultz’s
strong defense of American national security, the newspaper published
the letter in full:
Dear Mr. President,
I am writing to join with many others in
urging you to consider that Jonathan Pollard has now paid a huge price
for his espionage on behalf of Israel and should be released from
prison.
I am impressed that the people who are
best informed about the classified material he passed to Israel, former
CIA Director James Woolsey and former Chairman of the Senate
Intelligence Committee Dennis DeConcini, favor his release.
I find the letter you received from former Attorney General Michael Mukasey of the Bush administration particularly compelling.
With my respect,
Sincerely yours,
George P. Shultz
Shultz is the first Cabinet secretary to support freeing Pollard. He
served as Secretary of State for seven years in the Reagan
administration, which included Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger,
whose letter to the courts was critical in the decision to sentence
Pollard to life in prison for an offense that usually results in two to
four years in jail. Pollard was convicted of passing on to Israel
classified secrets.
He was not charged with being a spy, a term that American media still use when referring to him.
%InAd1%
3. US Aid to Israel Not Worth the ’Real Cost,’ Researcher Says
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Israel is paying through the nose for US aid and would better off
without it, says a researcher for the Jerusalem Institute for Market
Studies (JIMS).
American aid to Israel to the tune of $3 billion a year has been
maligned by many U.S. conservatives and by the Arab world, but Israel
actually loses more than it receives, according to JIMS analyst Yarden
Gazit.
“U.S. aid is a net loss for Israel and Israel would be better off
without it,” he concluded in his report, released on Wednesday.
Gazit explained that the conditions for the military assistance are
designed to help the American military-industrial complex at the expense
of the Israeli defense industry.
One condition of the American aid to Israel is that three-quarters of
the grant be spent in the United States. “The 'buy US' requirement
causes Israel to buy defense products at a high price, sometimes even
products Israel may not need," Gazit wrote. He calculated the loss to
the Israeli defense industry at $600-750 million per year.
The use of American materials instead of those from Israel also hurts
competitiveness in Israel and on the world market, according to JIMS.
Not using domestic materials for the IDF “hurts Israeli industry’s
reputation on the international market and may cause a loss of sales,”
the report added.
JIMS forecasts that if Israel does not forfeit the American aid, it
risks losing out on the growing Chinese and Indian market for Israeli
products. Those countries will be under pressure to shop in the United
States in light of American economic problems and its bloated federal
budget.
Gazit also pointed out that Israel is forced spend more than $3 billion
a year to retain a qualitative edge over Saudi Arabia, Egypt and
Jordan, which also receives massive aid from the United States.
Every dollar granted to Egypt requires Israel to spend between $1.60
and $2.10 to maintain the balance of power, according to JIMS.
4. Hizbullah May Resign, Topple Lebanon Unity Gov't
by Chana Ya'ar
Hizbullah is planning to announce the resignation of 11 allied
ministers from the Lebanese national unity Cabinet Wednesday, thereby
toppling the country's government and setting the stage for the
possibiltiy of renewed civil violence north of Israel's border.
The group is demanding an urgent Cabinet meeting to discuss the looming
crisis over an impending announcement of indictments by the United
Nations Special Tribunal in Lebanon (STL).
The Tribunal is expected to indict a number of Hizbullah terrorists in
connection with the murder of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the
father of the country's current leader. The terrorist organization,
backed by its benefactors Iran and Syria, announced months ago that it
would not accept such an outcome.
The move comes as Lebanese Prime Minister Sa'ad Hariri is scheduled to
meet with U.S. President Barack Obama at the White House at 5:00 p.m.
EST.
Numerous Arabic and international media are reporting the decision came
following a declaration by the “March 8 Coalition” that the
Saudi-Syrian initiative aimed at resolving the country's long-standing
political crisis is “dead.”
Michel Aoun, a key Christian ally of Hizbullah, told reporters Tuesday
at a Beirut news conference, “The Saudi-Syrian initiative has ended with
no results. Prime Minister Sa'ad Hariri has not responded to these
efforts and we have now reached an impasse.”
According to Hariri's political adviser Mohammed Shatah, the initiative
was aimed at achieving stability by restoring contacts between Lebanese
factions, ensuring that state institutions return to serving the public
and following up on the issue of Lebanese-Syrian ties.
However, Hariri said during an interview with the Al-Hayat newspaper
published Friday that although the Saudi-Syrian agreement was finalized
some time ago, Hizbullah and its March 8 allies had not lived up to
their end of the deal.
“I have kept silent (about the initiative) for months,” Hariri said.
“Now, I have broken silence just because I am responsible and concerned
with protecting this process in the interest of the country and its
stability.”
Also related to the deal were efforts by Saudi King Abdullah to
persuade the Lebanese prime minister during talks in New York to
denounce the United Nations' Special Tribunal in Lebanon (STL). Also
included in the talks were international players such as U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton,
and French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Hariri said in a statement released by his Beirut office that he will
continue consultations with Lebanese President Michel Sleiman and other
leaders when he returns to the country. The prime minister, who is in
Washington D.C. to meet Wednesday afternoon with President Barack Obama,
spoke with Sleiman by telephone.
“Hope is pinned on all brothers and friends to help Lebanon pull
through this difficult phase,” he said in the statement. “Hope is also
pinned in the first place on the wisdom of the Lebanese and their
leaders. We have all sought to avoid being dragged to reactions...
because the primary beneficiary from divisions among the Lebanese is the
Israeli enemy.”
%InAd2%
5. Deputy Bank of Israel Governor: I Agree with Sheshinski
by Elad Benari
The Deputy Governor of the Bank of Israel, Professor Zvi Eckstein,
addressed on Tuesday the conference on “Forecast for 2011 and the
Sheshinski Committee Report” of the Rothschild Caesarea Center for
Capital Markets and Risk Management. The conference was held in the
Herzliya Multidisciplinary Center.
During his remarks, Prof. Eckstein stated that the debt crisis in Europe is
still in full swing, and it constitutes a risk to the whole global
financial system and to the forecast growth in economies worldwide. At
the same time, Eckstein noted that Israel is experiencing relatively
rapid growth and added that the Bank of Israel expects that despite the
slowdown in the growth of exports, the GDP will grow by 3.8 percent in
2011 and that the unemployment rate will decline to about 6 percent.
Eckstein explained Israel’s monetary policy, which is aimed at a return
to a normal level of interest while maintaining price stability as the
Bank of Israel's main objective. He said that inflation expectations for
long-term periods of 5-10 years are within the target inflation range,
indicating that the Bank’s policy and its commitment to act to achieve
the target are perceived as credible. Nevertheless,
Eckstein emphasized the fact that one of the lessons learned from the
recent financial crisis was that during a time of crisis the central
bank can adopt a non-conventional policy. The Bank of Israel's policy of
intervention in the foreign exchange market can be viewed as a
non-conventional policy aimed at stabilizing the market and preventing
excessive strengthening of the shekel, according to Eckstein.
The Deputy Governor also spoke of the recently published conclusions of
the Sheshinski Committee which had looked at the issue of royalties
from Israel’s natural gas finds. The commission had been appointed by
Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz following the discovery of huge natural
gas reserves in Israel.
One of the huge gas fields, off Israel's Mediterranean shore, is the Leviathan field,
where it was confirmed last week that the amount of natural gas is
estimated at 450 billion cubic meters. A second natural gas field, called Tamar, is said to have 237 billion cubic meters of natural gas, nearly 60 times larger in volume than the Kinneret .
Yet as Israel discovers natural gas which will be able to solve many of
its financial problems for years to come, the big question is how the
royalties should be handled and creating a formula that allows the
Israeli consumber to benefit from them, as other countries do from
their natural resources, without harming investors' incentive to
develop the fields. The fields are owned by Noble Energy Inc. and two
companies controlled by Yitzchak Teshuva's Delek Group.
The Sheshinski Commission was given the task of making recommendations
on the royalties from the natural gas profits, and had said that there
is a need to increase the share of oil and gas profits from which the
Israeli public benefits. While the committee rejected calls to increase
government royalties on the finds, it said taxes should be increased
from about 20 to 60%.
During his talk, Eckstein said he agrees with the commission’s
recommendations that the tax rate will depend on the size of the
profits. He explained that the recommendations were aimed at preserving
the balance between a significant return for the entrepreneurs, far in
excess of the capital cost, and protecting the state’s and the public’s
share of the resource. Eckstein added that the recommendations ensure
that taxation will be such that it will leave high profits for the
investors, which will contribute to the development of the industry and
the whole economy.
6. Huckabee Leads in First GOP State Nominations for President
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Solidly pro-Israel Mike Huckabee leads the polls for the Iowa caucus
nomination of a Republican candidate for the 2012 presidential
election.
A survey by Public Policy Polling (PPP), which has connections with
national Democrats, released a poll Tuesday that shows the former
Arkansas governor, now living in Florida, a clear favorite in the Iowa
caucus, which he also won in 2008.
However, Huckabee has not stated if he will give up his popular and financially rewarding Fox News show to run for president.
The second most popular candidate in the Iowa caucus is former
Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, followed by former Alaska Governor
Sarah Palin. She is on the defense following what she calls a “blood
libel” for alleged incitement that some liberal leaders argue might have
been a factor in alleged assassin Jared Lee Loughner’s shooting spree
last Saturday. He allegedly killed six people and seriously wounded
Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who so far has successfully
beaten the odds against her surviving and recovering, at least
partially, from a gunshot to her head.
The next test after Iowa for Huckabee will be the New Hampshire state
primary, scheduled for February 6. Huckabee has several advantages over
Palin, one of them being his understanding of world affairs, especially
in the Middle East, while Palin has shown a general lack of knowledge on
foreign issues.
Romney is trying to improve his foreign policy credentials with a
current trip to the Middle East, including Afghanistan, Israel, Jordan,
and the United Arab Emirates, according to senior adviser Eric
Fehrnstrom. He plans to meet with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu when
he arrives in Israel.
Fehrnstrom stated, "The purpose of the trip is not to conduct private
diplomacy but to give Governor Romney a first-hand look at what is
happening in an important region of the world."
Huckabee has visited Israel several times and launched his campaign for
the 2008 nomination with a tour of Israel, focusing on Jewish
neighborhoods in parts of Jerusalem where the Palestinian Authority
demands sovereignty.
He frequently has said that all of the Land of Israel belongs to Jews
and has pointed out that the Arabs have so many countries, they do not
need another one.
Huckabee spoke last month
at the annual Beit El Dinner dinner in New York. Beit El is an Orthodox
Jewish town in northeastern Samaria and is the home of the Beit El
Yeshiva, headed by Rabbi Zalman Melamed.
%InAd3%
7. Hamas Blames PA for Gaza Shortages
by Maayana Miskin
The Palestinian Authority often blames Israel for various problems, from constant budget shortfalls to the presence of wild boars
in Samaria, while Israel argues that it is not to blame and has even
tried to help. Now the tables are turned as Hamas blames the PA for its
problems in Gaza.
Hamas leaders claimed last week that the PA was to blame for an alleged
shortage of medicine in Gaza hospitals. Ministers warned of a “health
catastrophe” and said they were missing 162 types of medicine and 165
medical devices – a shortage they said was caused by the PA's failure to
transfer most of the necessary equipment.
They called to “pressure the government in Ramallah to provide the Gaza
Strip with the appropriate share of medication and medical equipment.”
Hamas suggested that the Fatah-led PA was withholding medicine
deliberately, due to its years-old dispute with Hamas.
The Islamist terrorist group also blamed Israel, which it claimed was not allowing medication into Gaza.
The PA denied the claims, and said that any delays in the delivery of
medicine to Gaza were due to bureaucracy, not malice. Supplies were sent
in November, they added, and will be sent again soon.
Israeli officials also disputed Hamas' claims. Human rights
organizations in Gaza have not claimed a shortage of supplies, they
noted. Israel and Egypt both allow medicine and medical equipment to
enter Gaza.
8. Snow Buries El Al Flights in New York
by Chana Ya'ar
Blizzard conditions in the American northeast have managed to do what war zones and European volcanic ash did not.
Several El Al Airlines flights have been canceled and/or delayed due to
the severe weather conditions in New York, where up to a foot of snow
was predicted by Wednesday afternoon. Both Continental and Delta
Airlines also canceled overnight flights from Tel Aviv to New York as
well Tuesday night. (Israel news photos: Dena Wimpfheimer and Ed Sobuta)
Snow began falling late Tuesday, with limited visibility and gusts of
wind up to 35 mph. The U.S. National Weather Service also forecast up to
a foot of the white stuff across most of Connecticut and into the
Boston area, farther north. 
In the wee hours of Wednesday morning, the small Connecticut town of
Bristol had already seen drifts as high as 12 inches, with more to come.
By 8:30 a.m. EST, skies were slate-grey and the snow had reached 15
inches and showed no sign of stopping. Residents reported that driving
was treacherous; most elected to stay home rather than brave the
elements and the risks of the roads.
The third snowfall to hit the area in as many weeks comes on the heels
of a December 26 blizzard that dumped more than two feet of snow in some
parts of the Big Apple.
New Jersey, to the south, was also expecting between four to 12 inches, depending on where in the state the storm hits.
El Al's flight #027 set to depart Ben Gurion International Airport
Tuesday night canceled its flight to New York. In New York, and flight
#028 to Tel Aviv, scheduled to depart at midnight and arrive Wednesday
morning, was also canceled.
Flight #001 scheduled to take off from Tel Aviv at 1:00 a.m. Wednesday
morning was rescheduled for 11:30 a.m., but there was no guarantee that
the departure time would not be rescheduled again, pending weather
updates.
Another Wednesday flight headed for the U.S. from Tel Aviv, El Al's
flight #007, was also delayed. Thus far rescheduled for 3:00 p.m.,
airline officials nevertheless are advising passengers on flight #007 to
check for updates on the company's website or by calling a special
hotline at 03-977-1111.
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