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1. Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz Officially Installed as IDF Chief of Staff
by David Lev
Newly-installed IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Benny Gantz began his tenure at the Western Wall (Kotel) in an investiture ceremony
on Monday afternoon. He, along with outgoing Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen.
(ret.) Gabi Ashkenazi, conducted prayers for the welfare of Israel and
the Jewish people, and placed notes in the Kotel.
Gantz's wife and four children, as well as Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who raised Gantz's rank to
that of Lt.-General, the highest rank in the IDF.
In his speech at the ceremony, Gantz thanked Netanyahu and Barak for
their faith in his leadership abilities, and mentioned that this week
was an appropriate one for him to take on the job, as the Torah portion
that was read last Sabbath, Tetzaveh, discusses the investiture of Aaron
as High Priest.
Gantz, the IDF's 20th Chief of Staff, was born in 1959 in Kfar Ahim,
and has been serving in the IDF since 1977. During his career, Gantz has
served as Commander of the Air Force's Shaldag Unit, Commander of the
Paratrooper Brigade, Commander of the Reserves Division in the Northern
Command, Commander of the Lebanon Liaison Unit, Judea and Samaria
Commander, and later Northern Commander, as well as Israel's military
attaché in the United States and Deputy Chief of the General Staff.
Pictured is Gantz's official photo, which will now be hung in
government buildings and schools, along with the photos of the Prime
Minister and President, and, in religious schools, the Chief Rabbis. As
Gantz is tall, the IDF is said to be searching for tall individuals to
be a part of his security team – the better to shield him from danger in
public venues.
2. Op-ed: Thomas Friedman, Court Jew
by MK Yaakov Katz, National Union
In his New York Times columns, Thomas Friedman the Jewish columnist, carries on an ongoing feud with the Jewish state. His articles on the current Egyptian crisis are no exception.
It doesn’t take much intellectual prowess or professional psychological
training to realize that Mr. Friedman is actually attacking and denying
his very own Judaism. Playing the role of the negative exemplars of the
stereotypical Diaspora court Jew, he is filled with self-loathing,
ashamed of his origins - and aims to ensure that this is common
knowledge.
From his position, this is understandable. The steady Jewish population
growth of 6% in eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, presently nearing
650,000, actively threatens his hopes to shrink the Jewish state to
narrow ghetto proportions. Those borders were aptly described by
Israel’s eloquent foreign minister and UN ambassador, the late Abba
Eban, who said that the pre-1967 state in its narrow borders “has for us
something of a memory of Auschwitz."
Facts, such as the recent political developments in the Middle East,
including the overthrow of regimes and the obvious fragility of Arab
leaders, do not confuse Thomas Friedman. Had we hearkened to this
prophet’s exhortations over the years, we would have put our futures in
the hands of these same Arab rulers. That may be what Mr. Friedman is
hoping for, a continuation of the Diaspora life led by our forebears for
thousands of years.
Friedman attempts to call on the world to force the Jewish people and
its state to return to the atmosphere of the days of submission and
oppression in the ghetto. After all, he makes his home in the ghetto of a
foreign land, lives as a Diaspora Jew, and perhaps would like to get us
to join him.
The Jewish people, however, have healthy instincts, an inherited
survival wish. A people who knew how to go from the valley of the
shadow of death into light, from exile to redemption, and succeeded in
building an independent, democratic state after 2,000 years of Gentile
persecution, is wise enough to ignore the deleterious advice of Thomas
Friedman, court Jew.
However, when the day comes that Mr. Friedman joins us in our mutual
homeland—and if he doesn’t, perhaps his children will—I promise to
welcome him with open arms, and to help him make his home in our
ancestral land, near Hevron, Shechem, or Ramallah.
(For in-depth analysis of Friedman's, George Soros' and other articles on the crisis, click here and here.)
3. Al-Zahar: Bring Egyptian Army Back to Sinai
by Elad Benari
Hamas chief Mahmoud al-Zahar said on Monday that while no one will ask
Egypt to annul any agreements that were signed prior to the recent
uprising and are “in the interest of the nation,” he believes that there
are issues that should be looked at again right now, including Egypt’s
military presence in the Sinai Peninsula as well as the sale of natural
gas to Israel.
In an interview he gave to the Asharq Alawsat newspaper, al-Zahar said
that Egypt can help Gaza with electricity and oil and should also
position its forces in Sinai, despite it being against the agreements
signed with Israel.
Al-Zahar said that the biggest loser in the recent events in Egypt is
Israel, citing as proof comments made by opposition leader Tzipi Livni
at the Herzliya Conference last week, where she said that the Israelis
are now worrying about what will happen next in Egypt.
Al-Zahar also expressed his hope that Egypt’s new military leadership
will open the Rafah crossing as soon as possible, as the passage has
been closed for about two weeks. He noted that opening the crossing
would be a way to renew the ties between Egypt and Gaza and added that
from the viewpoint of the residents of Gaza, the closure of the Rafah
border is a type of siege.
Al-Zahar’s comments come following reports on Sunday
that the uprising in Egypt has had adverse effects on Gaza’s residents,
including on patients living in Gaza who are slated for medical
treatment in Egypt, and are unable to receive this treatment because the
Rafah crossing is closed.
In response to the resignation of the PA cabinet
and the decision by President Mahmoud Abbasto hold elections in the
Palestinian Authority before the month of September, al-Zahar said that
it is impossible to hold elections in the wake of the “siege” imposed on
Hamas in Judea and Samaria and when there is no reconciliation
agreement between Hamas and Fatah. He made it clear that elections that
take place under these conditions will be considered fraudulent by
Hamas.
On Sunday, al-Zahar spoke to reporter Aaron Klein
on New York’s WABC radio, and said that the U.S. empire is in decline
and will fall, to be replaced by China and India as new world
superpowers.
During the interview, he also called the Muslim Brotherhood the “most
moderate organization, the most democratic organization, even more than
the Western people.”
4. Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi Faces an April Trial
by Amiel Ungar
Silvio Berlusconi's 9 political lives may have run out. Coming on the
heels of Sunday's demonstration by thousands of women against
Berlusconi's improprieties, a Milan magistrate has ruled that he must
face a quick trial starting April 6, for moral turpitude and abuse of
his position.
Berlusconi's supporters made a brave face, claiming that this was an
attempt to subvert the will of the people by judges whose sympathies
were with the left. Senator Cosimo Izzo, vice president of Berlusconi's
Liberty Party in the Italian Senate, claimed that the judge's call for a
short trial was a mockery: " Against Berlusconi an infinite trial
lasting 17 years has taken place…Lords of the left, do not sing victory
paeans; you are unable to beat Berlusconi at the polls."
Justice Minister Angelino Alfano claims the decision on the trial
violates "the autonomy, the sovereignty and the independence of
Parliament." Berlusconi has been granted immunity while in office by an
act of parliament but the court has now overruled parliament.
The girl involved in Berlusconi's Rubygate as the Italian Press has
called it was a Moroccan girl, who when apprehended by the police was
freed after their superior, the Minister of the Interior, got a call
from Berlusconi. Berlusconi claimed that she was none other than the
granddaughter of the then Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak. This is
where the misuse of authority charge originates.
Berlusconi's lawyers are insisting that this is what Berlusconi
honestly believed to be the case and he wanted to avoid a diplomatic
incident.
The opposition is calling for Berlusconi's immediate resignation so he
can spare Italy the humiliation of the trial. The timing is bad for
Italy because it can easily impact on her credit situation that is
already precarious in the financial markets.
Berlusconi has been considered a PM friendly to Israel, although he has
been careful to adhere to the general EU position against building in
Judea and Samaria and supportive of a Palestinian state. Italy's foreign
minister Franco Frattini, who is visiting Syria, yesterday called upon
Israel to cease building and "return" the Golan to Syria. Italian
journalist Giulio Menotti has charged that Italy remains a major trading
partner of Iran.
Yet the climate in Italy is definitely warmer to Israel thanks also to
more balanced coverage in Berlusconi's Mediaset empire that controls
major newspapers and broadcasting outlets in Italy. Mediaset shares
declined when Berlusconi's indictment became public.
5. Days of Arab Rage Spread to Bahrain
by David Lev
With Egypt's “Days of Wrath” having such a successful outcome, the
spirit of revolt is spreading ever more quickly around the Middle East.
This week, demonstrators in Algeria and Yemen,
inspired by the departure of Hosni Mubarak, turned up the pressure, as
did protestors in Iran, who faced off against Iranian police on Monday,
with at least one person killed by police. And now, protests have
reached the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain, where long-standing tension between
between Shi'ites and Sunnis and demands for more freedom came to the
fore.
On Tuesday morning, Bahraini security forces shot and killed a
protestor at the funeral procession of another person killed in protests
the day before. As a result, Bahraini groups issued a Facebook call for
a mass march at the upcoming funeral of Tuesday's victim, Fadhel Ali
Almatrook.
On Monday, protestors marched in several villages outside Bahrain's
capital, Manama, demanding that the regime be removed, as it was in
Egypt. Among the demands of protesters, said the Bahrain Center for
Human Rights, was “the start of serious dialogue with civil society and
opposition groups” by Bahraini King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa on a
laundry list of complaints. These include more access to jobs and
benefits, and especially to equal rights for Bahrain's majority Shi'ite
population, which has complained for years of being discriminated
against by the country's Sunni ruling family. The group has also urged
the government to release Shi'ites who have been imprisoned in previous
protests.
Although it is a Gulf state, Bahrain does not have the resources of oil
rich neighbors like Kuwait – and Bahrainis have been suffering from
inflation and the world recession. As a result, Bahrain has one of the
largest deficits of any Middle Eastern country, economists say. At the
beginning of February, the king ordered an increase in food subsidies
and social welfare funding, as well as payment of 1,000 Bahraini dinars
($2,653) to each family in the kingdom.
In an interview, Theodore Karasik, director of research at the
Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, said
that “Bahrain, of any Gulf state, is the most susceptible because of the
deep grievances of the majority Shiite population. The Shiite
population is excluded from many types of government employment and
municipal services in Shiite villages are below standards in other Sunni
neighborhoods.”
Bahrain is a key U.S. ally; the Fifth U.S. Naval Fleet, responsible for
American naval forces in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and
coastal East Africa, is headquartered in Bahrain.
6. Jewish-Arab Demolitions: Civil Administration’s 2:1 Ratio
by Hillel Fendel
Statistics are finally released, showing that 25% of official Jewish
demolition orders are carried out – compared to half that much in Arab
sector.
In 2010, 167 demolition orders of illegal structures were enforced
among Jewish outposts and the like in Judea and Samaria, out of a total
of 668. This rate, 25%, is nearly twice as much as that for the Arabs
of the same areas; only 172 out of 1,265 demolition orders were carried
out, a rate of 13.6%.
The numbers were reported by the Civil Administration, said MK Aryeh
Eldad, “only after a lengthy, year-and-a-half long struggle against
Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who tried with all his might to hide them.
The Supreme Court has ruled more than once that selective enforcement is
a crime.”
Attorney Yehuda Shimon of the Gilad Farm told Israel National News,
“These numbers are just a trap. They issued 1,265 demolition orders
against illegal Arab structures? I can tell you for a fact that there
are at least 30,000 illegal Arab structures here! There are more illegal
Arab houses in Judea and Samaria than there are legal Jewish homes!
Every single hour, another illegal Arab building is begun.”
MK Eldad, of the National Union party, told correspondent Haggai
Huberman that the Defense Ministry tried to avoid publicizing the
numbers “even to a secret subcommittee of the Knesset Foreign Affairs
and Defense Committee, using the lying excuse that the information was
‘sensitive.’”
MK Eldad said he would not let up on Minister Barak: “I will force him
to divulge all the information he has on this topic, and to reveal who
is responsible for giving the order for selective law enforcement
against the Jewish residents of Judeaand Samaria.”
At the Gilad Farm near Kedumim yesterday (Monday), police forces
confiscated a truck bringing concrete for the floor of a new home. The
police learned of the truck from soldiers at the site, who had been
instructed to report on the entry of any truck bringing building
materials to the farm, which is located on private Jewish property in
the Shomron (Samaria).
Itai Zar, “mayor” of the village, called on the army to stop trying to
strangle it: “We have young couples here who need homes, and we want to
build. The Arabs build illegally on every single hilltop and no one
stops them; but we are driven crazy for every truck… We do not accept
the use of IDF soldiers as ‘informers’ against other Jews; soldiers
should not be used as tattle-tales or policemen.”
7. Hamas Sees Need to Ban Israeli Clothing in Gaza
by Hillel Fendel
A new set of restrictions on importing Israeli-manufactured goods into
Gaza was announced on Sunday by Gaza's Ministry of the National Economy.
Israeli-made clothing may no longer be brought into Gaza, and other
items will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The measures will be
in effect "until further notice."
The Hamas government’s ban on Israeli clothing is apparently the result
of high demand among Gazan consumers; when a luxury mall in Gaza City
held its grand opening last July, prominent among the featured goods on
sale was made-in-Israel men's clothing.
Among the items whose import into Gaza now require approval are home
and office furniture, plastic products, tissues and toilet paper, juices
and soft drinks, chemical products, canned beans, biscuits and candies,
and packaging materials.
Gaza Happily Takes Israeli Goods
Israel’s Foreign Ministry prepared a detailed account last year,
listing the aid that Israel provides Gaza. “Despite attacks by Hamas,"
the report begins, "Israel maintains an ongoing humanitarian corridor
for the transfer of food and humanitarian supplies to Gaza, used by
internationally recognized organizations including the United Nations
and the Red Cross.”
The items transferred into Gaza via the Israeli crossings include large
quantities of essential food items like baby formula, wheat, meat,
dairy products and other perishables; fertilizers that cannot be used to
make explosives, eggs for reproduction, potato seeds, bees, flower
industry equipment, and more.
The report noted that no PA Arab is denied medical care in Israel –
despite the fact that since 2005, Palestinian terrorists have exploited
medical care arrangements more than 20 times to carry out terror
attacks.
It further noted that about 20% of the population in Gaza owns a
personal computer - more than in Portugal, Brazil, Saudi Arabia and
Russia.
A United Nations report of May 2010 states that while 10% of Gaza’s
electricity comes from Egypt and 18% is home-produced, nearly 3/4 of
Gaza’s electricity needs – 72% - is supplied by Israel. Hamas has
announced no plans to boycott Israeli electricity.
8. 'Bishara Law' Passes in the Knesset
by David Lev
The Knesset on Tuesday night approved the "Bishara Law" on its second
and third reading. The law was approved by with a vote of 36 in favor
and 11 against.
According to the bill, Mks who refuse to appear for interrogation in
cases where they are suspected for felonies will lose salary and other
benefits. The bill was initiated by MK Yisrael Hasson (Kadima), who is
also former deputy head of Shin Bet, and MK Yariv Levin (Likud),
chairman of the Knesset House Committee.
The law was dubbed the “Bishara bill” for former Arab MK Azmi Bishara,
who is still wanted for questioning on suspicion that he revealed
sensitive security details to Hizbullah terrorists in advance of the
Second Lebanon War. Until a special act by the Knesset, Bishara
collected his full pension after he fled the country in 2007. Since
then, Bishara has collected over NIS 500,000 in pension money and
benefits.
In a letter attached to the bill, its sponsors wrote that “the
situation today is one of extreme unfairness. Therefore we must set a
public norm by which representatives of the public fulfill their
obligations under the law. Sanctions must be taken against anyone, no
matter their religion or background, who is suspected of a crime and who
does not present himself for questioning. This is a reasonable action
for democracy to take to defend itself,” the letter said.
The bill was passed despite strident opposition by leftist and Arab groups.
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