 |
||
 |
        |
 |
|
||
| MP3 Radio | Website News Briefs: | |||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
 |
 |
1. All of Israel within Rocket Range under Hamas-Fatah State
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
A new illustrated map presented by the pro-Israel Americans for a Safe Israel (ASFI) shows that a Hamas-Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority state, with or without all the borders the PA demands, would leave all of what would remain of Israel within Katyusha missile range.
The map was created by Mark Langfan, a New York attorney and expert on military and strategic issues who has frequently appeared at Congressional committees on Capitol Hill.
A Hamas-Fatah PA state would allow the Hamas terrorist organization, whose stated aim is the destruction of Israel, to deploy Iranian and Syrian-supplied Katyusha missiles near all Israel urban centers.
Seventy percent of the population of Israel, and 80 percent of the country’s industrial base is located in the coastal region that includes Netanya and metropolitan Tel Aviv, AFSI pointed out. One large PA city is Tulkarm, located only a few miles east of Netanya and overlooking the high-speed north-south Highway 6 (Kvish 6).
Jerusalem would be within easy range of Jericho, where the PA army is trained on a United States-funded base by American military officers.
Be'er Sheva already has been attacked by Grad Katyusha missiles from Gaza, as have been Haifa and the Galilee from Hizbullah terrorists in Lebanon.
“Mahmoud Abbas, our supposed ’peace’ partner, has now joined forces with Hamas, the acknowledged [Hamas] terrorist group", AFSI wrote. "This is actually a declaration of war against the State of Israel since Hamas has never disguised its intentions of destroying Israel.
“The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has used the diplomatic track, hoping to delude Israelis and the world with its words of peace, while pursuing its terrorist ideology. The truth is now out.”
It added that the creation of a new Arab state controlled by Hamas and Fatah would be “suicidal” for Israel.
Israel has been almost totally unified in its horror of the idea of Hamas being part of the Palestinian Authority. Even before the "unity" of the two organizations, there was the fear of a Hamas takeover in the PA's Judea and Samaria areas, as happened in Gaza.
The Obama administration has only stated that it is “studying” the new agreement between Fatah and Hamas while former U.S. President Jimmy Carter stated he thinks it is a great idea.
The Carter Center, founded in 1982 by Carter and his wife Rosalynn, commended members of Hamas and Fatah for "having the vision to begin the process of reunifying the Palestinian people.”
Carter added, “Based on my years of contacts with Fatah and Hamas, I am confident that, if handled creatively and flexibly by the international community, Hamas’ return to unified Palestinian governance can increase the likelihood of a two-state solution and a peaceful outcome.”
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
A new illustrated map presented by the pro-Israel Americans for a Safe Israel (ASFI) shows that a Hamas-Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority state, with or without all the borders the PA demands, would leave all of what would remain of Israel within Katyusha missile range.
The map was created by Mark Langfan, a New York attorney and expert on military and strategic issues who has frequently appeared at Congressional committees on Capitol Hill.
A Hamas-Fatah PA state would allow the Hamas terrorist organization, whose stated aim is the destruction of Israel, to deploy Iranian and Syrian-supplied Katyusha missiles near all Israel urban centers.
Seventy percent of the population of Israel, and 80 percent of the country’s industrial base is located in the coastal region that includes Netanya and metropolitan Tel Aviv, AFSI pointed out. One large PA city is Tulkarm, located only a few miles east of Netanya and overlooking the high-speed north-south Highway 6 (Kvish 6).
Jerusalem would be within easy range of Jericho, where the PA army is trained on a United States-funded base by American military officers.
Be'er Sheva already has been attacked by Grad Katyusha missiles from Gaza, as have been Haifa and the Galilee from Hizbullah terrorists in Lebanon.
“Mahmoud Abbas, our supposed ’peace’ partner, has now joined forces with Hamas, the acknowledged [Hamas] terrorist group", AFSI wrote. "This is actually a declaration of war against the State of Israel since Hamas has never disguised its intentions of destroying Israel.
“The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) has used the diplomatic track, hoping to delude Israelis and the world with its words of peace, while pursuing its terrorist ideology. The truth is now out.”
It added that the creation of a new Arab state controlled by Hamas and Fatah would be “suicidal” for Israel.
Israel has been almost totally unified in its horror of the idea of Hamas being part of the Palestinian Authority. Even before the "unity" of the two organizations, there was the fear of a Hamas takeover in the PA's Judea and Samaria areas, as happened in Gaza.
The Obama administration has only stated that it is “studying” the new agreement between Fatah and Hamas while former U.S. President Jimmy Carter stated he thinks it is a great idea.
The Carter Center, founded in 1982 by Carter and his wife Rosalynn, commended members of Hamas and Fatah for "having the vision to begin the process of reunifying the Palestinian people.”
Carter added, “Based on my years of contacts with Fatah and Hamas, I am confident that, if handled creatively and flexibly by the international community, Hamas’ return to unified Palestinian governance can increase the likelihood of a two-state solution and a peaceful outcome.”
Comment on this story
2. Hamas Leader Khaled Mashaal Reportedly Quits Syria
by Chana Ya'ar
The Damascus-based Hamas leadership has left Syria, according to a report this weekend in the London-based Al Hayat newspaper.
The newspaper reported Saturday the Syrian government had asked the Hamas leaders to leave.
According to that report and one in Gulf News, the government of Qatar agreed to “permanently host” the terrorist group's political leadership – but not its "military" (terrorist) leaders. Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal has visited Doha numerous times in the past year.
Journalist Naser Najjar quoted political analyst Shaker Shabat, who explained the terrorist leaders were asked to endorse the Syrian regime or leave.
“Since Hamas considers itself a liberation movement, it found itself in a compromising situation since they wouldn't be able to support the protesters in their will for freedom and liberation,” Shaker told Gulf News.
He added unrest in Syria had contributed to the reconciliation between Hamas and the Ramallah-based Fatah faction, which leads the Palestinian Authority government based in Judea and Samaria. Hamas wrested control of Gaza from the PA in June 2007.
With the end of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's regime, and the current threat to Syrian President Bashar Assad, Najjar explained, “the Palestinian parties no longer felt secure, as these regimes threw financial and political support behind Fatah and Hamas.”
Egypt to Host Hamas Office?
PA sources told Al Hayat that Hamas military leaders were slated to return to Gaza, but the information could not be independently confirmed.
In addition, although Jordan rejected a request to host Hamas, the sources said that Egypt had agreed to allow Hamas to open an office in Cairo.
The office would allegedly be headed by deputy politburo chief Mousa Abu Marzouk.
US Diplomat in Doha with Hamas Spokesman
On February 23, U.S. Foreign Service Officer Rachel Schneller, an international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, appeared in Doha on the same panel with Hamas politburo member and spokesman Osama Hamdan.
The panel was presented as part of a forum hosted by the Al Jazeera Center for Strategic Studies in the Qatari capital.
The fact that a semi-active U.S. diplomat was sitting together on a public platform with a Hamas official, and later admitted that she “shared a cup of tea” with him with the blessing of her State Department supervisors, made headlines at the Al Jazeera pan-Arab satellite news network.
Hamas is named on the U.S. State Department list of outlawed terrorist organizations with whom Americans are told not to do business nor to have any contact.
Wholesale Denials by Hamas
All of the above reports regarding moves from Damascus were denied Saturday by Hamas officials.
A spokesman for the terrorist group told Voice of Israel government radio that Hamas has “no intention” of leaving Damascus.
He also denied the report that Egypt had agreed to allow Hamas to open an office in Cairo.
A post on the Los Angeles Times' Babylon & Beyond blog also quoted a Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan, as saying, “As far as I know, we were not told to move to any other country.”
The Hamas political leadership has been based in Syria for the past decade.
Comment on this story
by Chana Ya'ar
The Damascus-based Hamas leadership has left Syria, according to a report this weekend in the London-based Al Hayat newspaper.
The newspaper reported Saturday the Syrian government had asked the Hamas leaders to leave.
According to that report and one in Gulf News, the government of Qatar agreed to “permanently host” the terrorist group's political leadership – but not its "military" (terrorist) leaders. Hamas politburo chief Khaled Mashaal has visited Doha numerous times in the past year.
Journalist Naser Najjar quoted political analyst Shaker Shabat, who explained the terrorist leaders were asked to endorse the Syrian regime or leave.
“Since Hamas considers itself a liberation movement, it found itself in a compromising situation since they wouldn't be able to support the protesters in their will for freedom and liberation,” Shaker told Gulf News.
He added unrest in Syria had contributed to the reconciliation between Hamas and the Ramallah-based Fatah faction, which leads the Palestinian Authority government based in Judea and Samaria. Hamas wrested control of Gaza from the PA in June 2007.
With the end of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's regime, and the current threat to Syrian President Bashar Assad, Najjar explained, “the Palestinian parties no longer felt secure, as these regimes threw financial and political support behind Fatah and Hamas.”
Egypt to Host Hamas Office?
PA sources told Al Hayat that Hamas military leaders were slated to return to Gaza, but the information could not be independently confirmed.
In addition, although Jordan rejected a request to host Hamas, the sources said that Egypt had agreed to allow Hamas to open an office in Cairo.
The office would allegedly be headed by deputy politburo chief Mousa Abu Marzouk.
US Diplomat in Doha with Hamas Spokesman
On February 23, U.S. Foreign Service Officer Rachel Schneller, an international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, appeared in Doha on the same panel with Hamas politburo member and spokesman Osama Hamdan.
The panel was presented as part of a forum hosted by the Al Jazeera Center for Strategic Studies in the Qatari capital.
The fact that a semi-active U.S. diplomat was sitting together on a public platform with a Hamas official, and later admitted that she “shared a cup of tea” with him with the blessing of her State Department supervisors, made headlines at the Al Jazeera pan-Arab satellite news network.
Hamas is named on the U.S. State Department list of outlawed terrorist organizations with whom Americans are told not to do business nor to have any contact.
Wholesale Denials by Hamas
All of the above reports regarding moves from Damascus were denied Saturday by Hamas officials.
A spokesman for the terrorist group told Voice of Israel government radio that Hamas has “no intention” of leaving Damascus.
He also denied the report that Egypt had agreed to allow Hamas to open an office in Cairo.
A post on the Los Angeles Times' Babylon & Beyond blog also quoted a Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan, as saying, “As far as I know, we were not told to move to any other country.”
The Hamas political leadership has been based in Syria for the past decade.
Comment on this story
3. Court May Order New Expulsions while Saving Peretz Home
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The High Court is expected to order on Sunday a new round of expulsion of Jews from outposts while allowing the home of fallen IDF officer Major Eliraz Peretz to remain. The Golani officer was killed last year in Gaza.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu vowed that his home, located in a community in Samaria on land claimed by leftists to be owned by Arabs, will not be destroyed. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has reversed his position after originally wanting to demolish the Peretz home in the community of Eli.
The court is expected to exempt it for humanitarian reasons, sparing Peretz’s widow and children the fate of expulsion and then seeing their home demolished by the government. However, many of their neighbors probably will not be granted a “humanitarian” exemption.
The government has tried to distinguish between Jewish homes built on government land and those built on land allegedly owned by Arabs.
Danny Danon, chairman of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria, sharply criticized the Defense Ministry’s view, that was related to the High Court.
“Given the total violations of the 'rules of the game'' by the Palestinian Authority, the ministry’s suggested decree against Jews in Judea and Samaria the past several years are irrelevant,” Danon said. He added that recent events have made it imperative that Defense Minister Barak approve new building for Jews in Judea and Samaria instead of destroying homes.
“Just as Arabs unite in their hatred of Israel, we must be unified for building Zionism on the ground instead of dividing the people and destroying Jewish homes,” Danon said.
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
The High Court is expected to order on Sunday a new round of expulsion of Jews from outposts while allowing the home of fallen IDF officer Major Eliraz Peretz to remain. The Golani officer was killed last year in Gaza.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu vowed that his home, located in a community in Samaria on land claimed by leftists to be owned by Arabs, will not be destroyed. Defense Minister Ehud Barak has reversed his position after originally wanting to demolish the Peretz home in the community of Eli.
The court is expected to exempt it for humanitarian reasons, sparing Peretz’s widow and children the fate of expulsion and then seeing their home demolished by the government. However, many of their neighbors probably will not be granted a “humanitarian” exemption.
The government has tried to distinguish between Jewish homes built on government land and those built on land allegedly owned by Arabs.
Danny Danon, chairman of the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria, sharply criticized the Defense Ministry’s view, that was related to the High Court.
“Given the total violations of the 'rules of the game'' by the Palestinian Authority, the ministry’s suggested decree against Jews in Judea and Samaria the past several years are irrelevant,” Danon said. He added that recent events have made it imperative that Defense Minister Barak approve new building for Jews in Judea and Samaria instead of destroying homes.
“Just as Arabs unite in their hatred of Israel, we must be unified for building Zionism on the ground instead of dividing the people and destroying Jewish homes,” Danon said.
Comment on this story
4. Hackers Place PA Flag on Yisrael Beiteinu Website
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Hackers on Saturday hit the website of Yisrael Beiteinu, headed by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, for the second time in a year, this time with a PA flag and a pyramid
The site has been repaired after computer vandal hacked the site because, in their terms, Lieberman is an “extremist.”
"To the great outrage of all Zionists, an agreement shall be signed between Fatah and Hamas, which equal Palestine," was the message that greeted viewers of the site. The hackers also described Yisrael Beiteinu as “the party of the criminal Avigdor Lieberman, foreign minister of the Zionist entity.”
Last June, the site also was hacked following the clash between IHH terrorists and Israeli commandos on the terror-backed flotilla that was headed from Turkey to Gaza.
A party official stated that the vandals support Arab terrorism and are trying to terrorize the Internet.
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Hackers on Saturday hit the website of Yisrael Beiteinu, headed by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, for the second time in a year, this time with a PA flag and a pyramid
The site has been repaired after computer vandal hacked the site because, in their terms, Lieberman is an “extremist.”
"To the great outrage of all Zionists, an agreement shall be signed between Fatah and Hamas, which equal Palestine," was the message that greeted viewers of the site. The hackers also described Yisrael Beiteinu as “the party of the criminal Avigdor Lieberman, foreign minister of the Zionist entity.”
Last June, the site also was hacked following the clash between IHH terrorists and Israeli commandos on the terror-backed flotilla that was headed from Turkey to Gaza.
A party official stated that the vandals support Arab terrorism and are trying to terrorize the Internet.
Comment on this story
5. John Batchelor to Broadcast Live from Death Camps
by Chana Ya'ar
American listeners will have an opportunity to hear special radio programming Sunday night and Monday with unique coverage on Israel's Holocaust Memorial and Remembrance Day.
WABC 77 and Citadel Media's John Batchelor will broadcast live for four hours on the annual March of the Living at the Auschwitz and Birkenau Nazi death camps.
Each year for the past 25 years, tens of thousands of Jews and Christians have gathered at the site under the notorious “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign.
Together they have marched the two miles from Auschwitz to Birkenau, the largest concentration camp complex built by the Nazis during World War II. The march is completed with a memorial service on site.
Branko Lustig, Academy Award-winning producer of Schindler's List, was incarcerated in Auschwitz as a youth. Now, 66 years later, he will have his Bar Mitzvah there, to be celebrated with a former Chief Rabbi of Israel.
The March of the Living is an annual educational program which brings students from around the world to Poland, where they youth explore the issues of the Holocaust. Established in 1988, the program begins immediately following Passover. Participants come from Israel and the United States, as well as from other European nations, and countries from as diverse and as far away as Panama, Turkey, Estonia and New Zealand.
Comment on this story
by Chana Ya'ar
American listeners will have an opportunity to hear special radio programming Sunday night and Monday with unique coverage on Israel's Holocaust Memorial and Remembrance Day.
WABC 77 and Citadel Media's John Batchelor will broadcast live for four hours on the annual March of the Living at the Auschwitz and Birkenau Nazi death camps.
Each year for the past 25 years, tens of thousands of Jews and Christians have gathered at the site under the notorious “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign.
Together they have marched the two miles from Auschwitz to Birkenau, the largest concentration camp complex built by the Nazis during World War II. The march is completed with a memorial service on site.
Branko Lustig, Academy Award-winning producer of Schindler's List, was incarcerated in Auschwitz as a youth. Now, 66 years later, he will have his Bar Mitzvah there, to be celebrated with a former Chief Rabbi of Israel.
The March of the Living is an annual educational program which brings students from around the world to Poland, where they youth explore the issues of the Holocaust. Established in 1988, the program begins immediately following Passover. Participants come from Israel and the United States, as well as from other European nations, and countries from as diverse and as far away as Panama, Turkey, Estonia and New Zealand.
Comment on this story
6. Al-Dura Sham: French Court Backs Libel Suit against Israeli MD
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
A French court has backed a libel suit against an Israeli doctor by the father of Mohammed al-Dura, whose murder by Gaza terrorists was falsely blamed on the IDF.
The al-Dura murder, for which the IDF originally apologized, was filmed by French journalists, whose claim the boy was killed by IDF fire later was disproven.
The father, Jamal al-Dura, said he was injured while trying to protect his child, but Israeli Dr. Yehuda David told a French newspaper that he had operated on Jamal in 1994 after a surgical operation in Gaza failed. He revealed that the injuries that were claimed to be caused by IDF fire actually were due to an injury which left scars as a result of the surgery.
Jamal al-Dura sued the doctor for slander, and the court approved the suit on Friday, ordering Dr. David to pay him NIS 30,000 (nearly $9,000). Dr. David said he will appeal the decision in favor of the suit, which he called “a terrible scam.”
He told reporters, “They are twisting the truth…This is disgusting," and he warned that the decision could spur further terrorist attacks and an escalation in anti-Israel hate from Europe.
The Israeli government has funded Dr. David’s defense and will continue to help him in his appeal, two ministers said after the conviction. Arab MK Ahmed Tibi demanded that the doctor be prosecuted for violating doctor-patient confidentiality by publishing the information on the operation.
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
A French court has backed a libel suit against an Israeli doctor by the father of Mohammed al-Dura, whose murder by Gaza terrorists was falsely blamed on the IDF.
The al-Dura murder, for which the IDF originally apologized, was filmed by French journalists, whose claim the boy was killed by IDF fire later was disproven.
The father, Jamal al-Dura, said he was injured while trying to protect his child, but Israeli Dr. Yehuda David told a French newspaper that he had operated on Jamal in 1994 after a surgical operation in Gaza failed. He revealed that the injuries that were claimed to be caused by IDF fire actually were due to an injury which left scars as a result of the surgery.
Jamal al-Dura sued the doctor for slander, and the court approved the suit on Friday, ordering Dr. David to pay him NIS 30,000 (nearly $9,000). Dr. David said he will appeal the decision in favor of the suit, which he called “a terrible scam.”
He told reporters, “They are twisting the truth…This is disgusting," and he warned that the decision could spur further terrorist attacks and an escalation in anti-Israel hate from Europe.
The Israeli government has funded Dr. David’s defense and will continue to help him in his appeal, two ministers said after the conviction. Arab MK Ahmed Tibi demanded that the doctor be prosecuted for violating doctor-patient confidentiality by publishing the information on the operation.
Comment on this story
7. Generation of Holocaust Survivors Disappearing
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Holocaust survivors, who are first-person testimony to the Nazi death machine, are disappearing. On the eve of Holocaust Memorial and Remembrance Day, statistics show that their death rate in Israel is 35 a day – 13,000 a year.
The Welfare of Holocaust Survivors Foundation reported that 208,000 Holocaust survivors remain in Israel, a decline of 26,000 from 2009. The decline of the number of living survivors coincides with increasing anti-Semitic campaigns that deny, belittle and even mock the Holocaust. The Palestinian Authority teaches the Holocaust denial doctoral dissertation of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas throughout its educational curriculum.
Only three percent of Holocaust survivors in Israel are under the age of 70, while half of them are over the age of 80. Projected figures indicate that only 145,000 survivors will still be alive in 2015.
Their most common health problems are hypertension, heart disease, chronic neck and back pain and arthritis. A study has shown that 92 percent of Holocaust survivors live in their home community, while the others are in institutional housing.
The Holocaust Welfare fund assists approximately 60,000 survivors, nearly three times the number of those who required financial help in 2005.
Chairman of the Foundation for Holocaust Victims Elazar Stern said, "Our data show that in the coming years due to aging, the needs of needy Holocaust survivors still will continue to grow…. The younger generation will not forgive us if we do not deal respectfully with the older generation."
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Holocaust survivors, who are first-person testimony to the Nazi death machine, are disappearing. On the eve of Holocaust Memorial and Remembrance Day, statistics show that their death rate in Israel is 35 a day – 13,000 a year.
The Welfare of Holocaust Survivors Foundation reported that 208,000 Holocaust survivors remain in Israel, a decline of 26,000 from 2009. The decline of the number of living survivors coincides with increasing anti-Semitic campaigns that deny, belittle and even mock the Holocaust. The Palestinian Authority teaches the Holocaust denial doctoral dissertation of PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas throughout its educational curriculum.
Only three percent of Holocaust survivors in Israel are under the age of 70, while half of them are over the age of 80. Projected figures indicate that only 145,000 survivors will still be alive in 2015.
Their most common health problems are hypertension, heart disease, chronic neck and back pain and arthritis. A study has shown that 92 percent of Holocaust survivors live in their home community, while the others are in institutional housing.
The Holocaust Welfare fund assists approximately 60,000 survivors, nearly three times the number of those who required financial help in 2005.
Chairman of the Foundation for Holocaust Victims Elazar Stern said, "Our data show that in the coming years due to aging, the needs of needy Holocaust survivors still will continue to grow…. The younger generation will not forgive us if we do not deal respectfully with the older generation."
Comment on this story
8. Mubarak May Face Execution
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak may be executed if the provisional government carries out its vow to prosecute him for corruption and murder.
The new Justice Minister, Abdel al-Guindi, told the Al-Ahram Egyptian newspaper Saturday that Mubarak, his wife and two sons will be charged for the deaths of more than 800 protesters during the uprising earlier this year that led to his ouster. The elderly former leader was placed under house arrest and last month was hospitalized for a heart attack while being questioned.
"Certainly, if convicted for the crime of killing protesters, it could result in the death sentence," said el-Guindi. "The only one capable of pardoning Mubarak ... would be the new president. If I were the president, I will not pardon him for killing 800 martyrs."
Mubarak and his family allegedly have amassed a fortune of tens of billions of dollars that would rank him as the world’s wealthiest man.
Some of the money reportedly was pocketed through a deal to export Egyptian natural gas to Israel, an agreement that most Egyptians say they want cancelled along with the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty.
Israel is highly concerned over the new government, which facilitated last week’s Hamas-Fatah agreement and has decided to open up the Rafiah crossing at Gaza.
"These developments can affect Israel's national security at a strategic level,” a senior Israeli official told The Wall Street Journal last week.
Opening the Rafiah border would allow a free flow of weapons into Gaza and an outflow of terrorists into the Sinai, from where they often stage attacks on tourists and try to infiltrate into Israel to kill Israelis.
Egypt also has made diplomatic overtures to Iran, raising the possibility of Israel facing a widening Iranian axis with Hizbullah, the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas that already threatens Israel from Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.
Comment on this story
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak may be executed if the provisional government carries out its vow to prosecute him for corruption and murder.
The new Justice Minister, Abdel al-Guindi, told the Al-Ahram Egyptian newspaper Saturday that Mubarak, his wife and two sons will be charged for the deaths of more than 800 protesters during the uprising earlier this year that led to his ouster. The elderly former leader was placed under house arrest and last month was hospitalized for a heart attack while being questioned.
"Certainly, if convicted for the crime of killing protesters, it could result in the death sentence," said el-Guindi. "The only one capable of pardoning Mubarak ... would be the new president. If I were the president, I will not pardon him for killing 800 martyrs."
Mubarak and his family allegedly have amassed a fortune of tens of billions of dollars that would rank him as the world’s wealthiest man.
Some of the money reportedly was pocketed through a deal to export Egyptian natural gas to Israel, an agreement that most Egyptians say they want cancelled along with the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty.
Israel is highly concerned over the new government, which facilitated last week’s Hamas-Fatah agreement and has decided to open up the Rafiah crossing at Gaza.
"These developments can affect Israel's national security at a strategic level,” a senior Israeli official told The Wall Street Journal last week.
Opening the Rafiah border would allow a free flow of weapons into Gaza and an outflow of terrorists into the Sinai, from where they often stage attacks on tourists and try to infiltrate into Israel to kill Israelis.
Egypt also has made diplomatic overtures to Iran, raising the possibility of Israel facing a widening Iranian axis with Hizbullah, the Muslim Brotherhood and Hamas that already threatens Israel from Gaza, Lebanon and Syria.
Comment on this story
More Website News:
 |
Livni Blames Netanyahu for Hamas-Fatah Pact  |
|
Muslim Brotherhood Hoping for Half of Egyptian Parliament |
|
Obama Excludes Assad from Symbolic Sanctions against Syria  |
|
Turkey’s Ties with Syria Boomerang, Flood of Refugees Feared |
|
NATO Kills Qaddafi’s Son, Three Grandsons |
