Prophecy and End Time Series. - Israel

[Shammu]

IRAN SEEKS S-300 FROM RUSSIA

MOSCOW [MENL] -- Iran has entered an advanced stage of negotiations for the Russian-origin S-300 anti-aircraft and missile system.

Russian industry sources said Moscow and Teheran have held a series of talks for the Iranian purchase of the S-300 long-range surface-to-air missile system. The sources said the negotiations focused on the Iranian acquisition of an S-300 platform that would have missile interception capabilities.

"The negotiations were expected to be concluded shortly, but there are diplomatic issues that could block a contract," an industry source said.

On Jan. 13, the Kommersant business daily reported that a Russian team had arrived in Teheran to draft an S-300 contract. But Kommersant said the delegation was ordered to return to Moscow amid Teheran's resumption of uranium nuclear enrichment.

IRAN SEEKS S-300 FROM RUSSIA

[Shammu]

Olmert: We won’t accept Iranian threat

Acting Prime Minister Olmert says, ‘I believe there is a way to ensure unconventional weapons are kept away from irresponsible hands that may jeopardize world peace’; pledges to resume talks with PA following elections
Tal Rosner

Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday he hopes to resume peace negotiations with the Palestinians after elections in the Palestinian Authority and Israel are held.

Speaking at a press conference following a meeting with President Moshe Katsav, Olmert took the opportunity to comment on a series of political and diplomatic issues, for the first time since he stepped in to replace ailing Prime Minister Ariel Sharon about two weeks ago.


Olmert (left) with President Katsav (Photo: Gil Yochanan)

When asked whether he intends to carry out further disengagements after the elections, Olmert said, "I am just a temporary replacement for Kadima's chairman, hopefully for a short while. With relation to the government's policy – we are sticking to the Road Map peace plan."

"It would be a mistake not to demand of the other side to hold on the commitments it made in the Road Map plan, and not insist it holds to its obligation to fight terror and disarm terror groups," he added.

Olmert said that the government's policy will continue to move in the same course as it did in the past year. "I hope that following the PA elections and the elections in Israel, I can engage in negotiations with Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, on the condition he keeps to his commitment to disarm the terror organizations. Only then can we reach a settlement," Olmert stated.

Firm hand in Hebron

Remarking on the recent riots in Hebron, Olmert said he has instructed the defense minister and the internal security minister to act with determination against the violent rioters in the West Bank town.

"We will show no hesitation. Anyone who raises a hand at a soldier or a policeman will be severely punished and evacuated from where he is not allowed to be. This is true for Hebron, Amona, and any other place," he said.

Olmert claimed he was operating in accordance with what he knows Ariel Sharon would have done.

'We have an impressive list of experienced candidates'

Turning his attention to the subject of the Iranian threat on Israel, the acting prime minister said the issue was on Israel's and the international community's agenda.

"I believe there is a way to ensure unconventional weapons are kept away from irresponsible hands that may jeopardize world peace," he said, adding he is very familiar with the subject, having dealt with it before.

According to Olmert, Israel is acting in cooperation with Europe and the United States to see that the matter is addressed.

"Under no circumstances will we allow a country with such evil intentions to have destructive weapons. We cannot accept a situation in which such a threat exists, and nor can Europe or the U.S.

Referring to local politics, Olmert said he plans to formulate the Kadima party's list for Knesset in the next few days, on the basis of guarantees given by Sharon, and through consultation with the party's ministers.

"This will be carried out quickly, because we have an impressive list of experienced candidates we want to present to the public," Olmert explained.

Olmert: We won’t accept Iranian threat

[Shammu]

Israel's acting leader wins backing from party
By Matthew Gutman, USA TODAY

JERUSALEM — Ehud Olmert, Israel's acting leader since Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke Jan. 4, got the nod to Monday lead his party's ticket in upcoming elections.

Olmert's decision to stand in as leader of the Kadima Party he co-founded with Sharon gives him a strong chance to become the next prime minister.

Olmert's selection by Kadima came a day after Israel's attorney general ruled that Olmert would remain acting prime minister until elections March 28.

With Sharon, 77, still in critical condition and unconscious at Hadassah Hospital, Olmert has quietly taken charge. The March vote will show whether Israelis support Olmert's view that a Palestinian state will help bring peace and security to the region — a view shared by Sharon and President Bush. (Related story: Family: Sharon opens eyes)

Israeli officials put off most decisions the first few days after Sharon's collapse. Since then, Olmert and his government have been active:

• On Monday, the Israeli army declared a Jewish settlement in Hebron a closed military area. Israeli settlers in Hebron — the only West Bank city divided between Palestinian and Israeli zones — have been rioting over plans to evict Jewish squatters from a shuttered Palestinian market.

Olmert's order last week to evict the squatters was the first since the Israeli government's August eviction of Jewish settlers from Gaza and parts of the West Bank.

• On Sunday, he headed a meeting of the Israeli Cabinet as it approved a move to allow Palestinians in East Jerusalem to vote in Jan. 25 parliamentary elections.

• On Thursday, Olmert fielded a phone call from Bush, who expressed concern for Sharon and urged Olmert to follow in Sharon's path.

"That call may seem trivial to Americans," said Asher Cohen, a political scientist at Tel Aviv's Bar Ilan University. "But in the mind of Israelis, it is crucial. It makes Olmert's position as prime minister that much more official."

Sharon already had entrusted Olmert with a key mission: Olmert broached the Gaza pullout plan to Israelis in December 2003. Five months later, Sharon dispatched Olmert to sell the idea to then-secretary of State Colin Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.

Sharon's popularity soared after the successful pullout. In November, after he quit his Likud Party and picked Olmert as his deputy, Sharon based Kadima's political platform on the U.S.-brokered "road map" — confidence-building measures meant to end the violence that erupted in September 2000. Kadima has consistently polled ahead of rival parties Labor and Likud, even after Sharon fell ill.

Born in the northern town of Binyamina in 1945, Olmert studied law at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

In 1973, he joined the Knesset, Israel's parliament, as part of Likud, a new right wing party co-founded by Ariel Sharon. Since then, Olmert has headed several ministries.

He and his wife, Aliza, an activist for Tel Aviv-based Peace Now organization, have four children.

In 1993, Olmert successfully ran for mayor of Jerusalem. His platform: consolidating Israel's hold on the city, which both Israel and the Palestinians claim as their capital.

Olmert now says more withdrawals from Palestinian territory are the key to peace.

"Israel will continue to progress by carrying out unilateral moves, including the possibility of further withdrawals,"

Israel's acting leader wins backing from party

[Shammu]

Russia Says Imposing Sanctions a Bad Way of Dealing with Iran

Created: 17.01.2006 16:25 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 18:52 MSK, 39 minutes ago

MosNews

Click Here!

Russia’s foreign minister said Tuesday that referring Iran to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions was not the best way to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis, urging all nations involved to keep nonproliferation as their paramount goal.

The permanent members of the Security Council — the United States, Russia, France, Britain and China — agreed during a meeting in London on Monday that Iran must fully suspend its nuclear program, but differed over whether to refer the dispute for action by the council, AP reported.

Russia and China have been under pressure from the United States and the European Union to support a move to refer Iran to the Security Council as a result of its decision earlier this month to restart its nuclear program. The Western allies fear Iran intends to build an atomic bomb, and Iran’s new hard-line president’s sharp anti-Israeli comments recently have only fueled their anxiety.

“Sanctions are not the best or the only way to solve international problems,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference Tuesday. “Our common efforts should be aimed at getting answers to all the questions, without exception, which were posed by experts of the International Atomic Energy Agency.”

Lavrov said that raising the prospect of sanctions was tantamount to “putting the cart before the horse.”

“Our common goal is to ensure the inviolability of the nuclear nonproliferation regime,” he said. “If we all strive for this main goal, we will be able to find a collective approach to solving this issue.”

British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s official spokesman said Tuesday that Britain remains open to a negotiated solution that would avoid referring Iran to the Security Council. The spokesman said Iran would have to abide by its international obligations to make any deal acceptable.

“Our ideal outcome is a diplomatic solution,” the spokesman said on condition of anonymity in line with government policy. “A diplomatic solution has to mean that Iran abides by its international obligations. That is the test. If someone, if Iran, wants to come up with a solution that meets that test, fine. It does have to meet that test.”

Diplomats in London announced plans Monday for an emergency meeting of the IAEA board of directors on Feb. 2-3. The 35-member board of the U.N. nuclear watchdog has the power to refer the issue to the Security Council.

The Interfax news agency reported that the Iranian Embassy in Moscow had circulated an Iranian Foreign Ministry statement saying Tehran invited the EU to return to negotiations but that the emergency IAEA session could lead to a new impasse.

Iran has said it would not bend before the threat of sanctions.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday urged caution in dealing with the Iranian nuclear issue, saying Tehran might still agree to Moscow’s offer to move Iran’s uranium enrichment program to Russia — a step offered as a way to resolve the deadlock over Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.

Iran’s ambassador to Moscow, Gholamreza Ansari, said late Monday that Iran considered the proposal “constructive” and said Tehran was still considering it.

Israel planned to dispatch a top team to Russia on Tuesday in an attempt to get Russia to agree to refer Iran to the Security Council, the Haaretz newspaper reported on its Web site. The team would include National Security Chief Giora Eiland and the director of Israel’s Atomic Energy Commission, Gideon Frank, Haaretz said.

China on Tuesday appealed for a negotiated settlement to the dispute, calling on Tehran to return to talks with Britain, France and Germany.

“We hope Iran can coordinate with the international community so as to resume negotiations through diplomatic means,” said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan. “All parties should keep patience and do all they can to restore the negotiations between Iran and the three European Union countries.”

Kong didn’t respond directly when asked whether Beijing wanted to see the matter referred to the Security Council. China, a major buyer of Iranian oil, said earlier that taking the dispute to the council could worsen tensions.

Russia Says Imposing Sanctions a Bad Way of Dealing with Iran

[Shammu]

Israel's Olmert says hopes to renew peace talks
Tue Jan 17, 2006 6:57 AM ET171

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Tuesday that he hoped to resume peace negotiations with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after Israel's March 28 general election.

But Olmert said that such talks would depend on Israel's long-standing demand for Abbas to disarm militant groups, a process the Palestinians are supposed to start under a U.S.-brokered road map to peace.

"I hope that based on the results of their (January 25 Palestinian) elections, and after that the results of our elections, I will be able to enter negotiations with (Abbas) on condition that he will uphold his commitments ... for a permanent settlement between us and the Palestinians," Olmert told reporters.

But he added: "That depends on whether he (Abbas) will uphold his commitments to disarm the terror groups, and I hope that he will do this."

Israel's Olmert says hopes to renew peace talks

[Shammu]

EU Trade Chief: Partners Unwilling to Make Decisions Needed for Trade Deal
By VOA News
17 January 2006
   

European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson says EU trading partners are not ready to make what he calls the "hard decisions" needed for a world trade deal.

Monday, Mandelson made his first speech to the European Parliament since last month's World Trade Organization meeting ended with little progress. He said Hong Kong and other major European trading partners are not yet prepared to make the concessions needed to bring talks to a successful conclusion in 2006.

Mandelson said he will do what he can to meet a deadline for a deal, but not at Europe's expense. The EU says it has made significant compromises on such issues as farm subsidies to open its market to agricultural imports.

The United States and other countries say the E.U. has not gone far enough.

EU Trade Chief: Partners Unwilling to Make Decisions Needed for Trade Deal

[Shammu]

22:18 17/01/2006            
EU suspends 35 million euros in aid to the Palestinian Authority
By Reuters

The European Union has suspended 35 million euros ($42 million) in aid to the Palestinians, citing their lack of budgetary discipline, the EU's commissioner for external relations said on Tuesday.

The rare sanction underscored intensified foreign donor scrutiny on the Palestinian Authority since Israel quit the Gaza Strip last year after 38 years of occupation. The impoverished territory is widely seen as a testing ground for statehood.

Visiting the region ahead of Palestinian legislative elections on Jan. 25, the EU commissioner, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, said half of 70 million euros ($84 million) donated through the World Bank in November has not been released, and that the issue was under discussion.

"The biggest donor is the European Commission, and we have not paid because the benchmarks have not been fulfilled," she told reporters.

"There has to be a credible finance minister, but there also has to be a budget and the budget should also remain within the limits of what the budget has foreseen," she said.

The Palestinian Authority had no immediate comment. There has been no replacement appointed for Salam Fayyad, who quit as Palestinian finance minister in November to run for parliament.

Before resigning, Fayyad predicted aid from a World Bank trust fund would be cut in response to ballooning Palestinian government wage costs. The trust has paid out at least &230 million to the Palestinians since its founding in 2004.

The Palestinian economy has withered since the start of an uprising against Israel in the occupied West Bank and Gaza in 2000, hampered by violence and by mismanagement and corruption that discourage donors.

The World Bank has said that reviving the Palestinian economy is crucial to peacemaking. But Ferrero-Waldner, who said European aid to the Palestinians had previously been held up in 2002 and 2003, said such donations could not be unconditional.

"We have a long-term commitment with the Palestinian people that we would like to improve their living conditions (but) we are not only pumping money into the Palestinians without asking for very clear benchmarks," she said.

EU suspends 35 million euros in aid to the Palestinian Authority

[Shammu]

Last update - 12:54 19/01/2006

Dichter says Israel should act against Iran if pushed to the wall
By The Associated Press

Former Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter said Thursday that Israel should let the international community act to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons but, if pushed to the wall, should act against Iran.

Avi Dichter told Army Radio that Israel was currently satisfied with the international community's efforts to stop Iran from enriching uranium but must act if it faces the real danger of Iran possessing nuclear weapons.

"I don't think it is correct for Israel to act alone on a matter that really disturbs and engages the enlightened countries of the world, lead by the United States," Dichter said. "If we feel that we are facing an imminent threat, Israel has the real insights and a bit of experience on how to deal with such matters a moment before someone tries to destroy us."

He was apparently referring to an Israeli airstrike in 1981 on Iraqi nuclear reactors.

Germany: UN could be part of solution to Iran nuclear crisis German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier insisted in comments broadcast Thursday that European efforts to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council did not mean abandoning attempts to reach a diplomatic solution.

Steinmeier's comments came after Germany, along with Britain, France and the U.S. rejected Iran's attempts to resume negotiations on its nuclear program, and the UN's Vienna-based nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, confirmed it would hold a special meeting of its 35-nation Board of Governors next month.

"The search for further solutions, such as involving the governing board of the IAEA, does not mean that we are no longer seeking diplomatic solutions," Steinmeier told ZDF television from Egypt.

"We are now looking for them from a different angle and, if possible, supported by the authority of the Security Council."

The foreign minister said the European negotiators' talks with Iran had "reached a point where we would have risked our credibility if we had simply continued," Steinmeier said.

Steinmeier traveled to Cairo on Wednesday to meet with his Egyptian counterpart, Ahmed Aboul Gheit. He was to hold talks Thursday with President Hosni Mubarak and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa.

Dichter says Israel should act against Iran if pushed to the wall

[Shammu]

32 hurt in Tel Aviv bombing

Terror in Tel Aviv: Suicide bomber detonates himself at food stand in southern Tel Aviv, near old central bus station; one person seriously wounded, other victims sustain light to moderate wounds. Police sappers scour area; Islamic Jihad’s al-Quds Brigades claims responsibility for attack
Avi Cohen

The bomber blew himself up around 3:50 p.m. at the corner of Salomon and Neve Sha'anan streets in the south of the city.

Islamic Jihad’s al-Quds Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack. Palestinian sources told Ynet the bomber is Islamic Jihad member Sami Abd al-Hafiz Antar, 22, from Nablus.

According to the Magen David Adom ambulance service, one person sustained serious wounds while the others suffered light to moderate injuries. All wounded were taken to Tel Aviv-area hospitals. Police are examining whether the relatively low number of casualties was a result of a malfunction in the explosive device.

'Blessed operation'

Meanwhile, the Fatah's al-Aqsa Brigades also claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Abu-Udai, a senior al-Aqsa member told Ynet the attack in Tel Aviv "is a blessed operation that comes in response to recent Israeli assassinations, the last of which is the assassination of the Hamas commander in Tul Karem."

Abu-Udai also said the Palestinian people had a right to defend themselves against Israeli violations of the calm.

"The attack shows that the Palestinian resistance, despite all of Israel's security measures, is able to reach any place, any time, time after time," he said.

'We prevent 99 percent of terror attacks'

Extensive devastation was reported at the "Rosh Ha'ir" food stand, where the bomber blew himself up, but almost no damage was reported at nearby stores. Most victims of the blast were at the food stand at the time of the explosion.

Thursday's bombing marks the first attack in Israel following a month of relative quiet.

Large police forces and ambulance teams were dispatched to the area following initial reports of the explosion. Police sappers were scouring the area for search of more explosive devices or potential bombers. Police also set roadblocks at the entrance to Tel Aviv.

Senior police officials also arrived at the scene, as well as Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai. Tel Aviv District Police Commander David Zur said police did not have any concrete warnings ahead of the bombing.

"The forces arrived at the scene very quickly…our working assumption is that there are always terror warnings," he said. "At the end of the day we are able to prevent 99 percent of terror attacks, but once a terrorist arrives at the central bus station it is much easier to blow up."

'Blast shook all the windows'

Referring to the relatively low number of casualties, Zur added: "In this case we were fortunate that he detonated himself in an enclosed area, and therefore the damage in the area is smaller, but we still had a number of wounded."

According to Zur, forces are currently pursuing a vehicle seen fleeing the area.

Meanwhile, police closed off all roads around the central bus station in the wake of the attack. Police also boosted their deployment across the country and are screening suspicious vehicles at the entrances to cities. Police presence at crowed concentrations was also boosted.

Security forces are also looking into the route taken by the bomber. This is the first time in a year that an attacker from Nablus, which is surrounded by the IDF, carries out an attack in Israel. The last suicide bomber from Nablus carried out an attack at the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv 2004.

Ofer, a bank employee who witnessed the attack, said that "we heard a serious blast near the cinema. A large number of ambulances arrived from all directions. The blast literally shook all the windows."

Yigal, an eyewitness from a nearby store, told Ynet: "We heard an explosion, not a particularly loud one. I saw people with blood. At first we didn't understand what was going on. But after we saw what's happening we ran away."

Meanwhile, hospital emergency lines were opened to provide information about casualties in the attack:

Ichilov hospital: 1255-133

Wolfson hospital: 1255-135

The Tel Aviv central bus station has been the scene of several terror attacks over the years. In January 2003, 23 people were murdered at the station in a double suicide bombing.

The last suicide blast in Israel occurred in Netanya, north of Tel Aviv, on December 5, 2005.

32 hurt in Tel Aviv bombing

[Shammu]

Last update - 22:59 20/01/2006            
Russia rejects Israeli proposal to impose sanctions on Iran
By Yossi Melman, Haaretz Correspondent, and Reuters

Russia rejected Israel's suggestion to impose immediate sanctions on Iran in reaction to its nuclear program, it emerged Friday.

Israeli and Russian delegates met as part of Israel's attempts to garner the support of Western and other countries for a "sanctions basket" against Iran.

In the wake of growing international debate over possible sanctions Iran on Friday began moving its foreign reserves out of Europe to an undisclosed destination.

Diplomatic sources in Moscow said after the meetings with Israeli officials that "Russia listened very intently" to the proposals, but did not commit to taking any measures - a tactful way of saying that Russia has rejected Israel's proposal.

The Israeli delegation, headed by National Security Council director Gen. (res.) Giora Eiland and Atomic Energy Commission director Gideon Frank, paid a visit planned long in advance as part of the strategic dialogue between Moscow and Jerusalem.

Eiland and Frank met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Levarov; the head of Russia's National Security Council, Igor Ivanov; and the Russian atomic energy minister, Sergei Kiryenko.

Iran begins transferring foreign assets
Iran, threatened with referral to the Security Council for possible punitive measures, has announced Friday it began moving its foreign assets.

"We transfer foreign reserves to wherever we see as expedient. On this issue, we have started transferring. We are doing that," Ebrahim Sheibani told the ISNA students' news agency when asked about the need to shift Iran's holdings.

There was no immediate confirmation of the Iranian action, but Sheibani's remarks indicated how seriously the Islamic republic is taking the threat of UN sanctions.

The United States and the European Union want the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to refer Iran to the Security Council when the UN nuclear watchdog's governing board holds an emergency meeting on February.

Russia and China, which both have major commercial interests at stake in Iran, have urged caution.

China's state-run press on Friday urged Iran to halt nuclear work and return to talks with Britain, France and Germany, but argued against taking Tehran to the Security Council.

The State Department said Friday Iran is isolating itself further from the world by withdrawing its foreign currency deposits.

"I don't know what it is that they hope to accomplish by doing this," spokesman Sean McCormack said.

Asked whether the Iranian action would result in lost leverage for Europe in its dealings with Iran, McCormack said the EU-3 tried to use the available levers that it had with Iran to promote serious negotiations. That effort, he said, "didn't work."

He was referring to an abortive negotiating effort by the EU-3 to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapons capability.

Stuart Eizenstat, who helped negotiate sanctions against Iran after the 1979 hostage crisis, said the Iranian currency action could weaken European resolve to ensure that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons.

"It's one less instrument of leverage," Eizenstat told AP.

Russia rejects Israeli proposal to impose sanctions on Iran

[Shammu]

Last update - 05:04 21/01/2006            
Iran's leader challenges Europe to take back Jews in Israel
By The Associated Press

DAMASCUS - In a new attack on the existence of Israel, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has challenged Europe to take back the Jews who emigrated to Israel, adding that no Jews would remain in Israel if Europe were to open its doors.

Ahmadinejad delivered the challenge after arriving in Syria for a two-day visit on Thursday. Addressing Europe, he asked: "Would you open the doors of your own countries to these (Jewish) immigrants so that they could travel to any part of Europe they chose?"

"Would you offer the necessary guarantees that you would provide for their security when they came to your countries and not allow another anti-Semitic wave in Europe?" he added in an apparent reference to recent attacks on Jewish cemeteries and properties in European states.

Ahmadinejad provoked an international outcries last year when he said Israel should be "wiped out" and that the Nazi Holocaust against Jews in World War II was a "myth."

In his comments in the Syrian capital, which Iran's official Islamic Republic News Agency reported Friday, Ahmadinejad forecast that the West would not answer the questions he had posed but would instead accuse him of "talking against global peace."

He said Europe should welcome Jewish people to prove its sincerity in supporting people's freedoms.

He added he was confident that no Jews would remain in Israel if European countries allowed them to immigrate.

Ahmadinejad left Syria late Friday to return to Iran.

Iran's leader challenges Europe to take back Jews in Israel

[Shammu]

Iran and Syria behind Tel Aviv bomb: Israel's Mofaz
Fri Jan 20, 2006 7:22 AM ET11

By Ori Lewis

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's defense minister accused Iran and Syria of being directly responsible for Thursday's suicide bombing in Tel Aviv which wounded 30 people, newspaper reports said on Friday.

The Haaretz daily reported that Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said Israeli authorities had "decisive proof that that the attack in Tel Aviv was a direct result of the Axis of Terror that operates between Iran and Syria".

Mofaz was also quoted as saying that Iran had funded the attack while the operational orders to the suicide bomber, who came from the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, were issued at the Islamic Jihad headquarters in Damascus.

Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth quoted Mofaz as saying that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, who is on a two-day visit to Syria, was holding a "terrorism summit" with his host, President Bashar al-Assad.

Army Radio reported that Israel had already shared the evidence of Iran's and Syria's involvement with officials in the United States, Europe and Egypt.

Islamic Jihad, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, claimed responsibility for the Tel Aviv bombing, the first in the Jewish state since an 11-month truce expired at the end of last year.

The bombing raised tensions five days before a Palestinian election and confronted interim Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert with a major test.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the attack was aimed at sabotaging the January 25 parliamentary election. Violence could complicate the poll, in which the militant group Hamas is expected to make a strong showing against his Fatah movement.

Hours after the attack, Israeli troops killed a Palestinian on the side of a road near the West Bank city of Hebron, the army and Palestinian security sources said.

An army spokesman said soldiers fired at two Palestinians who had lit a petrol bomb, killing one man. They arrested the other.

Abbas, who engineered the truce to help smooth the way for Israel's Gaza withdrawal in September, said the bombing was a "flagrant violation" of the truce and was aimed to try to derail the Palestinian vote.

"Whoever stands behind this operation will be pursued," he told reporters in Ramallah.

Authorities said the bomber was the only fatality but one person was in serious condition. The other injuries were mostly light to moderate, medics said.

Iran and Syria behind Tel Aviv bomb: Israel's Mofaz

[Shammu]

CHRONOLOGY-Suicide bombings in Israel
Fri Jan 20, 2006 6:35 AM ET15


This is for the past year. DW
         

(Reuters) - A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in Tel Aviv on Thursday, wounding 30 people, Israeli officials said.

Here is a short chronology of major suicide bombings in Israel in the last year. Death tolls do not include the bombers.

2005:

Feb 25 - A suicide bomber kills five Israelis and wounds about 50 people outside the Stage nightclub in Tel Aviv. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility.

July 12 - A Palestinian blows himself up at an Israeli shopping mall in Netanya, killing five and wounding at least 30. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility.

Aug 28 - A suicide bomber blows himself up at the entrance to Beersheba's central bus station, wounding at least 20. There is no immediate claim of responsibility.

Oct 26 - A Palestinian blows himself up in the main market at Hadera. Six people die and more than 30 are wounded.

Dec 5 - A suicide bomber blows himself up at the entrance to the Sharon shopping mall in Netanya, killing five and wounding at least 40. Lebanon's Hizbollah television says Islamic Jihad's Jerusalem Brigades claimed responsibility.

Dec 29 - An Israeli soldier and two Palestinian bystanders are killed in a suicide bombing in Tulkarm in the occupied West Bank. Islamic Jihad claims responsibility.

2006:

Jan 19 - Palestinian suicide bomber blows himself up at a sandwich stand near Tel Aviv's old central bus station, wounding 30 people. Islamic Jihad claim the bombing.

CHRONOLOGY-Suicide bombings in Israel

[Shammu]

State Dept. blasts Iran for backing Jihad, Hamas
By ASSOCIATED PRESS

The State Department, reacting negatively to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's meeting in Damascus with leaders of two militant Palestinian groups, said Friday neither Iran nor Syria can proclaim themselves champions of the Palestinian people.

The claims are "clearly bankrupt and hollow," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, citing Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas as calling for foreign governments to stop their support for Palestinian rejectionist groups.

In fact, McCormack said, Abbas has called for Damascus to close down the headquarters of these groups, including Islamic Jihad.

"This is one more example of the Iranian regime being out of step with the trends in the region," McCormack said.

"The very words of the Palestinian leader prove that the stated claims of the Iranians and Syrians as championing the Palestinian people are clearly bankrupt and hollow." McCormack said.

State Dept. blasts Iran for backing Jihad, Hamas

[Shammu]

 Updated Jan. 20, 2006 23:14
Report: Iran building spy satellite
By ASSOCIATED PRESS

Iran announced Friday it has begun pulling its foreign currency accounts out of European banks, an amount analysts said could reach $50 billion, to protect its assets from possible UN sanctions over its nuclear program.

Iran also called for a reduction in OPEC oil production, raising the possibility that the country's oil prowess would be deployed in the standoff with the West.

The move also deprives Europe of an important lever to influence Iran and could weaken its resolve to push Iran to give up key parts of its nuclear program, analysts said.

The US State Department responded Friday, saying Iran is isolating itself further from the world by withdrawing its foreign currency deposits from European banks.

"I don't know what it is that they hope to accomplish by doing this," spokesman Sean McCormack said.

Asked whether the Iranian action would result in lost leverage for Europe in its dealings with Iran, McCormack said the EU-3 tried to use the available levers that it had with Iran to promote serious negotiations. That effort, he said, "didn't work."

Stuart Eizenstat, who helped negotiate sanctions against Iran after the 1979 hostage crisis, said the Iranian currency action could weaken European resolve to ensure that Iran does not acquire nuclear weapons.

Also, according to a Channel 2 report Friday, Iran is working with an Italian company to build a spy satellite, showing documents outlining the deal and still photos of meetings between Italian company officials and Iranians.

The documents, with the title "The Mesbah Project," explain what the satellite's abilities would be and what it would look like.

The Iranians are working with the Italian company Carlo Gavazzi Space, the report said. An Israeli satellite expert said Mesbah would be a simple satellite, but that the Iranians are gathering important research and development data that will allow them to independently build their own satellite in the future.

In related news, an Iranian exile group claimed Friday that Tehran had acquired banned machinery to further the country's nuclear weapons ambitions.

The group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran, also claimed that the machinery, which they identified as a "hot press" and a "hot iso-static press," was being kept at a secret site 40 kilometers (25 miles) west of Tehran

Report: Iran building spy satellite