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1. John Bolton: One Week Left to Attack Iran
by Eli Stutz
Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton, said there is only a week left for Israel to attack Iran if it wants to stop the Islamic Republic from creating a nuclear armament.
On Friday, Russia announced that on August 21st, it will start loading nuclear fuel into the Bushehr reactor. Bushehr is Iran's first atomic power station. Bolton said that once the reactor, also built by Russia, becomes operational next week, it will be too late to attack, because the attacking it would result in the spreading of radioactive material and hurt Iranian civilians.
"If Israel wants to do something against the reactor in Bushehr, it must do so in the following eight days," said Bolton. He said that in the absence of an Israeli attack, Iran would complete its goal of the establishment of a functioning nuclear reactor.
Bolton was skeptical of the possibility that Israel would attack Iran in the coming days. "I do not think so, I fear that Israel has lost this opportunity," he said.
Already during his tenure in the Bush administration, Bolton stood out with his approach of advocating an attack on the regime in Tehran. He reiterated the danger for Israel and the world, and called on his government to deal with it firmly. Bolton has repeatedly stated that everything must be done to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, including a military attack.
2. F-35s Might Not Reach Israel in Time to Stop Iran
by INN Staff
Israel's announced approval for the purchase of 20 U.S. F-35 fighter planes has raised questions this week among the country's defense analysts, who wonder if the plane is the best solution for defending Israel against Iran.
On Sunday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak approved the deal for the new plane, which is supposed to significantly upgrade Israel's military capability, especially needed in a time when the Iranian nuclear threat looms high. Barak confidently declared that the F-35s "will give the Air Force the best capability in the short and long range and allow Israel to maintain aerial superiority.”
But a report in the Chinese news agency Xinhua raises doubts regarding the price tag, delivery date and effectiveness of the estimated $2.75 billion deal.
Defense commentator Yossi Melman told Xinhua that the planes, which could take more than four years to be delivered and made operational in Israel, may arrive too late to defend Israel against an Iranian attack. "When those planes will arrive, they will have no use," said Melman.
Yiftah Shapir, director of the Military Balance Project at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv University told the news agency that the $100 million price tag per jet might rise over the next years to $150 million. He also opined that the F-35 was not as maneuverable as the F-16.
The F-35 is also reported to have a limited pay-load capability, but it is known for it's top-level computer systems and its ability to reach an enemy target undetected. That aspect would clearly be necessary in a strike on Iran.
"But does that mean this is the plane to stand up to the threats that Israel faces? It's a difficult question that right now has no answers," said Shapir.
3. Mortar Fire Wounds 2 Soldiers; IDF Has Not Yet Retaliated
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Two Israeli soldiers were lightly wounded in a mortar attack on the western Negev Tuesday morning, barely 12 hours after mortar shells and rockets were fired Gaza and exploded in an open field of a kibbutz in the same area. The soldiers were carrying out engineering tasks along the security fence when they were attacked.
The Salah al-Din Brigades, a military wing of the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) terrorist organization, subsequently claimed responsibility for firing the two mortars.
IDF helicopters evacuated the victims to nearby Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva. Israeli media generally ignore the attacks when no one is wounded, but this time reported on the latest explosions following the news that soldiers were wounded.
The government and military adopted a policy in the past year to retaliate after every terrorist attack from Hamas-controlled Gaza, and a response is likely in the next 24 hours.
Monday night, one Islamic Jihad terrorist was killed in an exchange of gunfire with the IDF after soldiers discovered a cell trying to plant bombs along the Gaza security fence, where IDF jeeps conduct regular patrols. One soldier was lightly wounded in the skirmish.
More than 115 rockets and mortars have been fired at Israelis since the beginning of 2010, and more than 400 rockets were fired from Gaza since the end of Operation Cast Lead early last year.
Hamas has alternately increased and reduced the number of Kassam rocket attacks. The latest escalation may be timed to interfere with the apparent likelihood that the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority will agree to direct talks with Israel over a proposed new Arab country within Israel’s borders.
The PA is headed by the Fatah faction, which lost control of Gaza in a bloody militia war with Hamas three years ago.
4. Central Israel Oil Discovery: 1.5 Billion Barrels
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Estimates of the amount of oil in the Rosh HaAyin discovery have rises to 1.5 billion barrels, and there is more oil off-shore, but it is not yet known how much of the “black gold” can be extracted for commercial use.
The new estimate, along with the gas and oil finds off the Mediterranean Coast, raise the likelihood that Israel will be self-sufficient for energy for the next three decades and even become an exporter of gas. The amount of oil at Rosh HaAyin represents a tiny percentage of Israel's oil consumption, but development is continuing in the area as well as in the Dead Sea.
Economists have noted that the discoveries will have a huge impact on society, creating more jobs and strengthening the shekel against word currencies.
Investors in the project at Rosh HaAyin, located on the edge of Samaria and several miles east of Tel Aviv, have been waiting anxiously for months for news about the amounts oil underground at the Megged 5 oil well. The full engineering report will not be available until mid-September, but the company has decided to adopt the recommendation in the initial report.
Oil samples were found as having high quality with very little sulfur, and the amount of water in the samples was less than 10 percent.
It added, “A reasonable estimate of the amount of oil...is 1.525 billion barrels of oil” but warned that the final estimates may be lower, with a chance that they could even be higher. The report does not include estimate of other sections in the field.
Previous reports estimated that daily production could reach 382 barrels a day. The latest company statement said it is will not be known before next month the new estimated production rate, but it should reach at least 450 barrels a day.
5. PA Readies for Talks but Keeps Up 'Israel Poisoned Arafat' Libel
by Eli Stutz courtesy of Palestinian Media Watch
As the PA gears up for talks with Israel, a Palestinian Media Watch report reveals that it continues to promote the libel that Israel poisoned Yasser Arafat, in an attempt to establish him as a national martyr and create an environment of hate. PMW says the libel includes charges that the United States encouraged Israel to poison Arafat.
PMW Director Itamar Marcus told Israel National News, "We hear children in Palestinian-controlled regions referring to this libel regularly. It appears everywhere, and the idea is to make Arafat into a martyr. All this hate material is not just isolated name calling. It's being built into a basic part of Palestinian identity. It is being blended together into a comprehensive attempt at delegitimizing Israel."
Marcus had insights into the nature of the libel itself. "We believe that poisoning specifically was chosen as the charge because in the Hadith [writings on Mohammed], Mohammed is said to have been killed by poisoning, and we think that there is an attempt to raise Arafat to that tremendous status level [of Mohammed]," he said.
The PMW Report:
The PLO claims Arafat was killed with the "approval and help of the United States." Palestinian Media Watch has for years documented this recurring libel, which is spread by PA and Fatah leaders, academics and clerics. It is even disseminated through cultural events and media messages for children.
The following accusation that Israel killed Arafat, written by a Fatah member of the PLO's Palestinian National Council, appeared this week in the official PA daily newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, as translated by PMW:
Khaled Mismar, member of the PLO's Palestinian National Council:
"[In 2003] Israel, with the support of the new American administration of President Bush, laid oppressive siege to our late symbol, Yasser Arafat, until they got him with poison, since they weren't able to kill him using their tanks, which besieged his home in Ramallah. The details of the story are known to everyone, young and old, among our Palestinian people and throughout the world."
[Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Aug. 10, 2010]
Nashat Al-Aqatsh, a lecturer at Bir-Zeit University, said in July while discussing the peace process:
"In the past [Israel claimed] no Palestinian partner existed, and they [Israel] killed the late Palestinian President, Yasser Arafat."
[PA TV (Fatah), July 27, 2010]
Earlier this summer, in a dramatic performance at a PLO cultural festival, two young Palestinian boys lamented Arafat's death, and compared his death at the hands of the Jews to the death of Jesus:
Boy 1 [addressing Arafat]: "Father, father the Elder [Arafat]. Why did it happen this way? Why did it happen this way? Death chose you, and you did not complete the path."
Boy 2: "Do not ask why it happened this way. Yesterday they crucified Jesus; today they poisoned the father, the Elder [Arafat]."
[PA TV (Fatah), June 4, 2010]
The PA Minister of Culture was present at this performance.
Click to see PMW web site with more examples documenting the ongoing PA libel that Israel killed Arafat.
6. Arabs Angered by Western Wall Plaza Elevator
by Chana Ya'ar
Arabs are fighting plans for an elevator to allow disabled Jews to reach the Western Wall, claiming the project is a threat to the Al Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount.
The 56-meter elevator would be located in the Jewish Quarter next to the Aish HaTorah Yeshiva, according to the media watchdog Independent Media Review Analysis (IMRA).
The Al Aqsa Foundation, however, claimed Monday the $10 million structure is to be located adjacent to the Al Aqsa mosque on the Temple Mount, and is whipping up a frenzied protest against the project.
The location of the elevator, to be named after Baruch Klein, the American businessman funding the project – and the yeshiva – is actually far from the mosque, on the other side of the Western Wall plaza.
But the project is being seen by the Al Aqsa Foundation as a threat to the Al Aqsa Mosque, according to the Palestinian Authority-linked Ma'an news agency.
The Al Aqsa Foundation also claimed in a statement that the area in front of the wall could be used as a base from which to attack the mosque compound. Moreover, it said the project was intended to prevent Muslim worshipers from reaching the mosque, while increasing the presence of Jews in the area.
The mosque, which sits atop the Temple Mount and adjacent to the Western Wall, is considered Islam's third holiest site. The Temple Mount on which it is built, however, is the holiest site in the Jewish faith, and is where the Holy of Holies in both the First and Second Temples was located.
Previous Arab and Muslim incitement over building projects in the Jewish quarter of the Old City has led to riots and attacks on Jewish civilians. In June 2007 the construction of a pedestrian pathway near the Western Wall was met with Arab riots in Jerusalem and terrorist rocket attacks from Gaza, in September 2009 several people were wounded in a Muslim riot that began when a group of Jews attempted to tour the Temple Mount, and in early 2010 riots broke out across Jerusalem over the restoration of the Hurva synagogue in the Jewish quarter.
7. PA Gov't Supports Violence Against Israel - in Arabic
by Chana Ya'ar
The Palestinian Authority is continuing to express its support for violence against Israeli citizens in Arabic-language media, despite English-language propaganda insisting the PA wants peace. The interview, broadcast August 6 on PA TV (Fatah), was translated by the media watchdog Palestinian Media Watch (PMW).
Senior Fatah Central Committee member Jibril Rajoub, a leading PA government official, reiterated the faction's support for “armed struggle” in the interview. “At the [sixth Fatah] Conference, we affirmed the struggle in all its forms, including resistance and the armed struggle... We agreed on it unanimously, about both the movement's aims and its principles, including the resistance and the armed struggle,” he said.
“The [armed] struggle, as we see it, is not an aim; it is not a hike or a pleasure cruise. [Armed] resistance has circumstances, considerations, and factors – whether national, regional or international. It must cause pain to the Occupation; it must be connected to a political platform,” Rajoub explained.
Former PA Prime Minister Ahmad Qureia (Abu Ala), who currently serves as the PA's chief negotiator, said in an interview published one day earlier in the London-based Arabic daily newspaper Al Sharq Al-Awsat that “all options are open,” including armed resistance.
“Negotiators, political activity, popular activity, and [armed] resistance... we must continue with it,” Qureia said, adding that all of the options were viable. “And if [resistance] gives me [benefit] without costing me, yes,” that option is also a good one, he said.
Both men echoed sentiments expressed earlier in the summer by Nabil Shaath, a member of the PA Parliament, a Fatah “Commissioner of Foreign Relations” and a member of the Fatah Central Committee.
In two separate interviews with Arabic-language media in June (Al-Dustur daily newspaper in Jordan, and Al-Hayat Al-Jadida in the PA), Shaath underscored the PA's commitment to violence against Israel.
“The Palestinian people has the right to defend itself, and it has the right to act in the way of the armed struggle. We have acted in this way for 100 years,” he said in the interview with Al-Hayat Al-Jadida. “Fatah led [the armed struggle] for 23 years, and Hamas adopted it for 15 years. We are proud of all of our Shahids (martyrs) and it is our right to return to the armed conflict whenever we view that as being in our people's interest.”
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