Prophecy and End Time Series. - Israel

[Soldier4Christ]

Pro-Israel Group Lobbies Washington
By David Brody
Capitol Hill Correspondent


 Lawmakers on Capitol Hill got an earful from thousands of pro-Israel lobbyists Tuesday.

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC for short, is one of the most influential groups in the country.

No, it was not a school field trip to the Capitol -- far from it: the buses that rolled up to the Capitol Tuesday were loaded with 5,000 lobbyists from AIPAC. They came with a sense of purpose.

"The United States is the most important ally Israel has, and the security and the freedom of Israel is vital to our own security as a nation," said AIPAC lobbyist Philip Friedman.

And that purpose is not just shared by American Jews. Thousands of Christians are here too, standing side by side with their Jewish friends, including Pastor Victor Styrsky -- who has a message of his own for lawmakers.

"The ideology of Hamas and radical Islam is not a political ideology. It is a spiritual ideology," Styrsky said.

And that is something that most AIPAC members agree on. Their lobbying priorities are straight- forward. They are concerned about Iran's nuclear weapons program and want Congress to tighten sanctions against the country.

They are pushing for a bill that would ban money to Palestinians. AIPAC wants to make sure that no direct financial aid goes to the Palestinian Authority until Hamas renounces terrorism and recognizes Israel's right to exist.

AIPAC is extremely good at what they do. They raised a record $45 million this year, and they are the number two most powerful lobbying group. Israel has benefited financially from their work.

The U.S. government's foreign aid breakdown looks like this:

Number one is Iraq. They get $18 billion, but that is because of the war. After that, Israel receives $3 billion annually, followed by Egypt at $2 billion, Colombia at $540 million, and Jordan at $450 million.

While AIPAC is a powerful force on Capitol Hill, they have some tough work ahead of them this week. The White House is fighting AIPAC on the details of the bill to cut off aid to the Palestinians.

The Bush administration sees it as a little too harsh and restrictive. The administration does not want its hands tied when it comes to how and when they spend that money.

[Soldier4Christ]

Olmert's Election Promise: Most of West Bank Will Go


JERUSALEM, Israel - A bold statement comes from Israel's acting prime minister.
   
Ehud Olmert, who took over when Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke, says his party will give up most of the West Bank to the Palestinians if his party wins next month's elections.
   
That means thousands of more Jews could be evicted from the West Bank, the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria.
   
In his first broadcast interview as head of the government, Olmert told Israel's Channel Two that he plans to move his country toward separation from the Palestinians.

Last month, the Palestinians chose Hamas, a group dedicated to Israel’s destruction, to run their government. That dimmed the chances for any agreement with Israel.

Under Olmert's plan, Israel would leave most of Judea and Samaria to the Palestinians, except for the city of Jerusalem and three major settlement blocks: Ma'ale Adumim, east of Jerusalem; Gush Etzion, south of the capitol; and Ariel in Samaria.

Israel would also control the strategic Jordan River Valley.

Nearly 250, 000 Jews now live in Judea and Samaria. Olmert's plan would keep three-quarters of them in Israel. But that leaves nearly 60, 000 Jews who would be forced from their West Bank homes.

Last week, Israelis watched a painful preview of what a West Bank evacuation might look like, when thousands of Israeli security forces clashed with Jewish residents in the tiny settlement of Amona. Three members of Israel’s parliament were among the injured.

Despite the agonizing scenes of Jews fighting Jews, Olmert’s Kadima Party is riding high in the polls, making it likely that he will pursue his plan to redefine Israel’s borders.

[Shammu]

Israel Border to Follow Barrier Route

By MARK LAVIE, Associated Press Writer 34 minutes ago

JERUSALEM - Israel will impose a West Bank border largely along the route of its current separation barrier and move all Jewish settlers to the Israeli side, acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in interviews Friday.

The plan presented by the front-runner in March 28 elections — the clearest blueprint yet for ending the conflict with the Palestinians — would involve uprooting some Jewish areas but beefing up major settlements in parts of the West Bank that Israel would retain.

In the past, candidates for prime minister have been vague about the fate of the West Bank, for fear of losing voter support.

The Palestinians said they oppose unilateral steps and called for an immediate resumption of peace talks, an unlikely event since the Islamic militant group Hamas is poised to form the next Palestinian government. Hamas opposes peace talks with Israel and Olmert said he would have no dealings with a Hamas-led
Palestinian Authority.

Olmert said he would retain control over Jerusalem, including areas of the city claimed by the Palestinians for a future capital, and build another large West Bank settlement near the city. However, he also indicated he was ready to give up some Arab neighborhoods.

In interviews earlier this week, Olmert said he would keep Gush Etzion and Maaleh Adumim, near Jerusalem, and Ariel, deep in the West Bank, as well as maintaining control over the Jordan River Valley, the line between Jordan and the West Bank.

However, it is unclear whether he could retain these areas, especially Ariel.

Also Friday, the European Union threatened to cut off aid to a Hamas-led Palestinian government "unless it seeks peace by peaceful means" — its strongest signal yet to the new leadership. The EU foreign ministers reviewed financial aid to Palestinians but announced no immediate halt to funds.

Olmert said he still hopes to reach a settlement, but the chances of a deal have dimmed with Hamas' victory in Palestinian legislative elections. Hamas rejects Israeli demands to renounces violence and its calls for destruction of the Jewish state.

Olmert threatened to assassinate the incoming Palestinian prime minister, Hamas lawmaker Ismail Haniyeh, if he is involved in terrorism.

"Anyone who is involved in planning terror attacks will be a legitimate target for liquidation," Olmert told the Yediot Ahronot daily, echoing threats made by his defense minister several days earlier.

Olmert told Yediot that if the Palestinians "prefer to be dragged into the axis of evil of Iran," then Israel will draw its own border in the West Bank based on its security needs.

"At the end of the process we will reach a complete separation from the vast majority of the Palestinian population," he told the Maariv daily.

Olmert said Israel would set its border by largely following the separation barrier it is building in the West Bank, but adjusting the route.

He told Yediot that he would try to work with Jewish settler leaders to try to get them to agree to the new line, moving settlers into settlements he plans to incorporate into Israel.

"We will definitely change the route either east or west in accordance to internal Israeli agreement," Olmert told the paper. "The fence that will be built ... will be the border line that will separate Israel and the Palestinians. Israelis will not live beyond the fence," he said.

In the absence of peace talks, Olmert's unilateral approach is meant to solve Israel's main security problems and preserve the country's status as a democracy with a Jewish majority. It follows Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's unilateral pullout from the Gaza Strip last summer.

Olmert seems ready, though, to go further than Sharon, who ruled out any further unilateral action after the Gaza pullout. Olmert, a close Sharon confidant, took over as acting prime minister after Sharon's stroke Jan. 4. Sharon, 78, remains in a coma.

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat urged Israel to return to the bargaining table.

"Israel cannot determine my borders by dictating them to me. That only prolongs the conflict, rather than solving it," he said.

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who favors a resumption of peace talks, remains in office and has been trying to work out a power-sharing agreement with Hamas.

In Gaza, Hamas lawmaker Mahmoud Zahar rejected Olmert's plan.

"We cannot recognize any sort of these borders, especially the borders created by the wall," he said.

Olmert told Yediot he will consult with world leaders to win recognition for the border.

"First of all, I will talk to President Bush," he said.

Bush has backed Israel's claims to retaining some settlement blocs, but American officials have reacted coolly to Israeli claims on Ariel. Washington has also expressed displeasure over Israeli plans to link Maaleh Adumim to Jerusalem, despite Olmert's assertion in Yediot that the U.S. "has no doubt" that this will happen.

Officials at the U.S. Embassy did not return a message seeking comment.

Even with the settlement blocs under Israeli control, the plan would mean a pullout from most of the West Bank and removal of dozens of settlements.

Settler leader Bentzi Lieberman said the Gaza pullout was a surrender to Palestinian violence, and further unilateral action would threaten towns inside Israel.

"Now the Palestinians know that terrorism pays off," he said. "I think his plan is a serious danger to Israel. He is bringing Hamastan to our doorsteps."

Olmert's political rivals also attacked his latest plan.

"The only problem is who does Ehud Olmert intend to negotiate with," Amir Peretz, leader of the centrist Labor Party, told Israel Radio.

Uzi Landau, a candidate with the hard-line Likud, said Olmert would threaten the nation's security, likening Olmert to "letting a little boy play with matches."

"Olmert will relinquish territory in exchange for absolutely nothing in return," Landau told Israel Radio. "Before our eyes ... a terror state is being built on the Samarian hills," he added, using a biblical term for the West Bank.

Olmert joined Sharon in November in bolting the Likud and forming the centrist Kadima Party.

Kadima continues to hold a wide lead in opinion polls, but support has been dropping. A new poll published in the Jerusalem Post on Friday showed support for Kadima falling to its lowest levels since Sharon's stroke.

The poll, conducted by the Smith Institute, said Kadima would win about 35 seats in the 120-seat parliament, down two seats from a week-earlier poll. The Institute poll surveyed 501 people and had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points. The paper said it was the fifth consecutive week of decline for Kadima.

Israel Border to Follow Barrier Route

[Shammu]

Last update - 18:44 10/03/2006            
Hamas: Olmert's border plan is declaration of war
By Aluf Benn and Yossi Verter, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service

Khaled Meshal, the head of Hamas' political bureau, views Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan to shape Israel's permanent borders as a declaration of war on the Palestinian people, the French news agency AFP reported Friday.

A short time later on Friday an EU official said that aid to a Hamas-led Palestinian government may have to be cut off "unless it seeks peace by peaceful means."

Meshal said Olmert's plan is not a peace plan, but constitutes "unilateral moves that will allow Israel to remain in most of the West Bank through construction of the fence, leaving in its hands the settlements and Jerusalem and rejecting the right of return," according to the report. Meshal was quoted as saying that "Olmert is repeating Sharon's mistakes."

Olmert's plan slammed Israeli politicians from both the right and left also criticized Olmert on Friday and spurned unilateral action.

Olmert told Haaretz on Thursday that if he is elected prime minister, Israel will set down permanent borders within four years, separating itself from the "decisive majority" of the Palestinian population of the West Bank. He also said he will build up the disputed E-1 zone between Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim, despite American opposition.

To read the full interview, click here.

"Olmert's withdrawal plan is the most extreme leftist plan that has ever been presented to the Israeli public," MK Gideon Sa'ar said Friday. "What [Ehud] Barak offered at Camp David, in exchange for a permanent agrement and the end of the conflict, Olmert is planning to give without getting anything in exchange and with no agrement."

MK Uzi Landau, who ran against Benjamin Netanyahu for the Likud chairmanship after leading the campaign against the disengagement plan, said Olmert's proposed borders would not create enough distance from Hamas and told Israel Radio that voting for Olmert "is like letting a small child play with matches."

"This plan explains why Abu Mazen wants Olmert to win the elections," said Landau. He was referring to Landau was referring to an interview Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas gave to an Italian newspaper. He was quoted as endorsing Olmert, but later disavowed the comments.

Labor Party chairman Amir Peretz said Olmert had not stated who he planned to hold negotiations with, and warned that unilateral action would be "a very serious mistake." He called for talks with Abbas.

Olmert said he plans to offer the settlers a deal in in an effort to reach an agreement about Israel's withdrawal line in the West Bank: convergence into the large settlement blocs and the expansion of those blocs in exchange for evacuation of settlements beyond whatever border is set.

"I believe that in four years' time Israel will be disengaged from the vast majority of the Palestinian population, within new borders, with the route of the fence - which until now has been a security fence - adjusted to the new line of the permanent borders," he said.

"It could be that there will be cases in which we move the fence eastward, and it could be that there will be cases in which we move it westward, in accordance with a line that we will agree upon. We will take a crucial step forward in the shaping of Israel as a Jewish state, in which there is a solid and stable Jewish majority that is not at risk."

Olmert will attempt to garner domestic and international support for shaping Israel's permanent border with the Palestinians. He wants to make sure Israel holds on to Ariel, Ma'aleh Adumim, the Jerusalem envelope and Gush Etzion; establish the Jordan Valley as a security border and provide the Israel Defense Forces with freedom of action in the West Bank, similar to the post-disengagement situation in the Gaza Strip.

Olmert also promises to build up the E-1 area linking Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim. The plan was frozen last year due to American opposition, but according to Olmert, Israelis agree there should be contiguity, while the Palestinians and Americans recognize there will be.

"It is completely clear that the contiguity between Jerusalem and Ma'aleh Adumim will be built up," said Olmert. "This is clear both to the Palestinians and to the U.S. In my opinion, on this matter there is a full consensus in Israel."

Meretz-Yachad chairman Yossi Beilin said Friday that while he does support continued Israeli sovereignty over Ma'aleh Adumim - a point Olmert raised in the interview - he completely opposes building up E-1.

"Whoever proposes building up E-1 is essentially preventing a permanent Israeli-Palestinian agreement," Beilin told Israel Radio. "Whoever builds up E-1 is preventing a contiguous Palestinian state."

Olmert said there is now a "window of opportunity" for reaching an international agreement on setting the border, in the wake of Hamas' rise to power and domestic support following the Gaza pullout.

If the Hamas-led Palestinian government accepts the prerequisites of disarmament, recognition of Israel and acceptance of previous agreements, Olmert is prepared to negotiate with Hamas based on the roadmap. But his comments indicate he doesn't think this option has much of a chance.

Hamas: Olmert's border plan is declaration of war

[nChrist]

Dreamweaver,

Brother, I think that you know I would never make a good politician, and I certainly wouldn't be one that would have any interest at all in making terrorists happy. I, for one, think it is outrageous for Israel to make any concessions at all while terrorists are still trying to kill them. It doesn't make any sense at all to reward violence and negotiate with terrorists.

So, I think it's insane for the U.S. to ask Israel to give anything to folks who simply want to exterminate Jews. It's even more insane for Israel to make these concessions without a hint of peace. THEN, we have Bible prophecy that tells us what even a temporary peace might mean for Israel. No government or power on earth will be able to slow or hasten God's timing for Bible Prophecy to be fulfilled.

So, am I an insane old FUNDY or just a regular old FUNDY? 

Love In Christ,
Tom

Hebrews 7:18-19 NASB  For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

[Soldier4Christ]

So, am I an insane old FUNDY or just a regular old FUNDY?[/b] 

I would say that depends on whose viewpoint. 

[Shammu]

Dreamweaver,

So, am I an insane old FUNDY or just a regular old FUNDY?[/b] 

Love In Christ,
Tom

I would say that depends on whose viewpoint. 

I agree with your statement PR!

Brother Tom, that is like me asking ........  Which am I, am I an crazy old FUNDY or just a regular old FUNDY?

[nChrist]

Brothers,

   If all of the stuff being done by the U.N. today is considered to be sane, please label me as insane. SO, I guess that I'll just be a proud and self-proclaimed INSANE FUNDY.

[Shammu]

Qaida-linked cell in Lebanon fired rockets at Israel
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service

The Lebanese army has arrested a terror cell linked to Al Qaida, suspected of firing Katyusha rockets from Lebanon at Israel, Israel Radio quoted Lebanese newspapers as saying Saturday.

According to the reports, the cell is made up of four Lebanese and four Palestinians, and is led by a Palestinian man with links to Al Qaida leaders.

The cell stored weapons in different areas of Lebanon in order to carry out attacks and for weapons trade purposes, the report said. Lebanese security forces found explosives, missiles, rockets and rifles in the possession of the cell members. The cell members are to stand trial before a military court in Beirut, the report said.

Al Aqsa Brigades vow to fire 200 mortar shells at Israel

A group belonging to the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades declared on Friday it intended to barrage Israel with mortar shells in reaction to what it termed "the massacre of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank by the occupation forces."

In a written statement, the group said it would fire 200 "Shihab" mortar shells carrying the names of 200 Palestinians killed since the start of the 2000 uprising.

The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades is a violent offshoot of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement, and is responsible for dozens of attacks against Israeli targets in recent years.

Earlier, Palestinians in the northern Gaza Strip fired five Qassam rockets toward Israel on Friday, causing no injuries or damage. In a separate incident, gunmen fired an anti-tank missile at an Israel Defense Forces jeep along the Gaza security fence.

The IDF will impose a full closure on the West Bank and Gaza from Saturday night until Wednesday, due to fears of terror attacks during the Purim holiday and ahead of the March 28 elections, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz decided Friday morning.

Purim is a Jewish holiday during which many people wear costumes and send gift baskets to celebrate victory over an attempt to annihilate Persian Jews in the 4th century BCE, according to the Book of Esther. It takes place Monday night and Tuesday in most of the country, and Tuesday night and Wednesday in Jerusalem.

"We must make every effort to thwart terror attempts in the coming weeks in light of the sensitive period," Mofaz said at a meeting with security officials Friday.

The defense minister said vacations planned by security forces personnel and training sessions they are slated to undergo should be canceled if necessary.

Mofaz also called for increased security in crowded areas, Israel Radio reported.

Qaida-linked cell in Lebanon fired rockets at Israel

[Shammu]

Olmert: Israel would not act alone against Iran
By Shmuel Rosner, Haaretz Correspondent, Haaretz Service and News Agencies

Israel remains part of an international coalition against a nuclear Iran, Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in comments broadcast Saturday on Israel Radio, suggesting Israel would not act alone against Tehran.

Olmert spoke after former Israel Defense Forces chief Moshe Ya'alon said Israel and the West have the ability to launch a military strike that could set back Iran's nuclear program for years.

Ya'alon was widely criticized for the remarks, with some saying he was drawing unnecessary attention to Israel's capabilities.

Olmert said that Israel is part of an international alliance against Iran. "In the end, we want to cause the international community to prevent the Iranians from developing non-conventional capabilities," he said.

In an appearance before a Washington think tank, Ya'alon said Thursday that Israel definitely has a military option to counter the Iranian nuclear threat, and that this fact must be taken into consideration.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told reporters Friday that Ya'alon's comments were "unnecessary" and said that officials who have occupied high-profile posts within the defense establishment carry with them extensive information that obligates them to take caution in their words and actions.

"I don't understand all the fuss [the statements triggered] in Israel," Ya'alon said Friday and added that his intention was to refute the claim that the West has no military option at its disposal in its efforts to deter Tehran.

"I spoke about the West's military option, which includes the armies of the United States, NATO, and even the IDF in this context," Ya'alon said. "I didn't reveal a military secret, and none of what I said is meant to harm the security of the state of Israel nor did I accentuate Israel within the framework [of a military option]."

"To me, it is mind boggling that so many responses have been issued without anyone talking to me or asking me what I said exactly," Ya'alon said.

A former commander of the Israel Air Force, Major General (Res.) Eitan Ben-Eliyahu, warned Friday that speaking publicly about Israel's capacity to orchestrate a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities could make it easier for other countries to stop pressuring Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions.

"If we emphasize too much, express ourselves too much, it frees the international community [of responsibility]," Ben-Eliyahu told Israel Radio. "Our major achievement, from a military perspective and from a political perspective, is that an international coalition has been created that understands and comprehends that Iran's nuclear development must be stopped."

Ya'alon, speaking at a seminar on the Iranian nuclear program at the Hudson Institute, said Thursday that a strike on Iran could delay its nuclear program by several years. The intervening years until Tehran got its program back on track could see a regime change in Iran, Ya'alon said.

He said that such a strike would be difficult to carry out from a military perspective as Iran's nuclear facilities are spread out, but he believed that was nonetheless feasible.

Ya'alon said that striking Iran would require more than one attack, as a single assault would not be sufficient, but that Israel could launch an attack on Iran in several different ways, not just from the air.

But Ya'alon also warned that Iran would clearly hit back hard in the event of such an attack, and cited Tehran's long-range Shihab missiles, Katyusha rockets that Hezbollah has in its possession, and Qassam rockets that Palestinian militants habitually fire into southern Israel from the Gaza Strip. He added that a rise in oil prices could be further fallout from such an assault.

The former military chief said, however, that Israel's Arrow anti-ballistic missile system could deal with any Shihab and Scud missiles fired from Iran.

A source in Jerusalem said on Thursday he was bewildered by Ya'alon's remarks. The source added that the U.S. also has options against Iran that it does not talk about, Israel Radio reported.

In recent months, IDF officers - both past and present - have visited Washington to offer their support for a military strike should the diplomatic channels fail to bring Iran to heel.

Ya'alon also reportedly estimated that Iran would have the knowledge to build a nuclear bomb within six to 18 months, and would actually have the bomb within three to five years.

Olmert: Israel would not act alone against Iran

[Shammu]

 Iranian University Holds "Holocaust Myth" Conference
13:18 Mar 10, '06 / 10 Adar 5766
By Michael Freund, International Affairs Correspondent


At the initiative of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a state-run Iranian university held a Holocaust-denial conference this week.

The conference, reported by Iran's official IRIB radio, was held at Isfahan University. It was entitled Holocaust: myth or reality, and was attended by students and faculty. According to the report, it was organized by Khamenei's Isfahan office.

Alireza Soltanshahi, a representative of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who heads the Presidential Office for the Study of the Palestinian Issue, addressed the gathering, telling participants that, the Holocaust myth has turned into an industry for the Zionists to gain money.

Ahmadinejad, who came to power in a surprise election victory last June, has provoked international outrage in recent months by labeling the Holocaust a myth and calling for Israel to be wiped off the map.

At the Isfahan conference, Soltanshahi further asserted that Germany was being compelled to pay reparations to Israel for the Holocaust even though there are no documents to substantiate the claim.

Soltanshahi also blasted the Zionist regime for what he termed its attempts to show that the Holocaust is real through various methods, such as establishing institutions to propagate its memory and offering literary prizes to people who write about the subject.

Iranian University Holds "Holocaust Myth" Conference

[Shammu]

Netanyahu rules out govt pact with Olmert
Sun Mar 12, 2006 4:27 AM ET

By Dan Williams

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's right-wing Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out joining interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in a future government on Sunday, in protest at Olmert's planned unilateral West Bank withdrawals.

The pledge bolstered speculation that Olmert's centrist Kadima Party, predicted to win March 28 elections, would team up with center-left Labour for a coalition robust enough to quit occupied land in the face of Jewish ultranationalist opposition.

Netanyahu quit Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's cabinet in protest at last year's Gaza Strip withdrawal, calling it a capitulation to Palestinian violence. Olmert, who assumed Sharon's powers after his January 4 stroke, has promised similar moves in the West Bank should peace talks remain stalled.

"Certainly we will not be able to sit in a government predicated along these lines," Netanyahu, a former prime minister, told Israel's Maariv newspaper.

Palestinians want all of the West Bank and Gaza, captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, for a state. Many Israeli rightists consider the land a Jewish biblical birthright.

Olmert said in interviews published last week he planned to impose permanent Israeli borders by 2010 unless Hamas, an Islamic militant group that swept Palestinian elections on January 25, renounced violence and recognized the Jewish state.

Hamas has so far refused to do so.

Even under a peace accord, Olmert has said, Israel will keep major Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank. Such future de facto annexations have been endorsed by both Labour and Likud, but condemned by Palestinians as imperiling peace efforts.

Citing Israeli government sources, Haaretz daily said Olmert briefed the United States before going public with his plans. A U.S. blessing is crucial to any major Israeli-Palestinian moves.

"Olmert outlined his next coalition: The Netanyahu-led Likud will not be able to be part of it. With such a plan, Olmert's natural partner is Labour," Haaretz political commentator Yossi Verter wrote.

Buttressed by smaller factions, Verter added, Olmert would be assured of a "stable coalition" until the next scheduled election in 2010.

A survey commissioned by Israel's Army Radio projected Kadima winning 37 of parliament's 120 seats in the upcoming poll, with Labour a distant second at 18. Likud trailed at 16 seats, but political analysts say its prospects could be boosted by any resurgence of a Palestinian revolt that erupted in 2000.

Spokespeople for Kadima and Labour said the parties would be open to the idea forming a coalition government.

Netanyahu rules out govt pact with Olmert

[Shammu]

The Sunday Times    March 12, 2006

Israel’s new iron man plans ‘axis of hope’ in Middle East
Uzi Mahnaimi
THE man likely to become Israel’s next defence minister does not shy away from talking about his past.

“I killed many Arabs, probably more than Hamas fighters killed Jews, and more than anybody else, but all in order to secure Israeli lives,” said Admiral Ami Ayalon, the Labour party’s candidate for the most difficult portfolio in Israeli politics.

There are two weeks before the general election, and victory for either Labour or the Kadima party is expected to ensure that the former commando and head of Shin Bet, the internal security service, will take over from Shaul Mofaz, the incumbent, in a coalition.

Ayalon is considered a dove despite his 32 years of military service and his near five-year stint at the helm of the intelligence agency. He is a straight talker, and wants a comprehensive peace settlement with the Palestinians even under a Hamas leadership.

“I’d be willing to negotiate with Hamas if the organisation accepts the idea of a two-state solution,” he said in an interview last week.

Ayalon, 61, is regarded as a fresh thinker: he believes Israel should establish an “axis of pragmatism” with the regional countries that have full diplomatic relations with Israel — Morocco, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey.

“This is the whole idea — to create this pragmatic axis which will be supported by the European Union and the international community,” he said. It is part of his strategy to woo the Palestinians from the more extremist policies of Hamas. “Seventy per cent of those who voted for Hamas were not Hamas believers but voted against the corruption in the Palestinian authority,” he said. “If we establish this axis it will break Hamas and we will see the pragmatist forces among the Palestinians.”

Ayalon is also open-minded on the controversy over the division of Jerusalem, which he envisages as an “open city” and capital of two states. Jerusalem should be shared between Arabs and Jews. “Arab neighbourhoods will come under Palestinian sovereignty, Jewish ones under Israeli sovereignty,” he said. He has even suggested that if a common solution could be agreed with Hamas on the future of the West Bank, the hated security wall currently under construction could be taken down.

The latest poll predicts that the centrist Kadima will win 37 seats in the 120-member parliament, with Labour on 19 and the right-wing Likud 15.

The figures mean that Kadima — headed by Ehud Olmert — would have to form a coalition. Olmert would become prime minister and Ayalon frontrunner for the defence job.

The wiry former frogman commando has spent most of his adult life defending Jews.

Born in 1945, he grew up in a kibbutz on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, the only son of European parents. He joined the Israeli navy’s commandos in 1963.

Twice injured in commando operations, he rose to head the navy and founded the country’s nuclear submarine fleet before directing Shin Bet between 1996 and 2000.

Ayalon’s doveish credentials became clear three years ago, when he and Sari Nusseibeh, a Palestinian professor, proposed a solution to the Palestinian conflict based on two independent states and a declaration of an end to hostility.

Since then he has been disappointed by Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president. “I like the music of Abbas, his words, but not his actions. I think he is a weak leader,” he said. “He’s unable to disarm Hamas and Islamic Jihad.”

When it comes to his best advice on the Palestine question, however, he admitted it was a family affair. “If I learnt something about the conflict with the Palestinians, it is what my wife understood 30 years ago and tried in vain to teach me: Jews will only be safe when Palestinians have hope.”

Israel’s new iron man plans ‘axis of hope’ in Middle East

[Shammu]

Hamas fury at Israeli plans to carve up West Bank
By Times Online and agencies

The leader of Hamas has reacted with fury to the plans outlined by Israel's acting prime minister to unilaterally redraw Israel's borders on the West Bank by 2010.

Khaled Mashal described the ideas for an imposed solution in the occupied territories with no negotiation with the Palestinians as tantamount to a "declaration of war".

Mr Olmert says, in interviews published in several major Israeli newspapers today, that he wants to impose a border in the West Bank, build a wall and move many Jewish settlers to the Israeli side - all with backing from the international community.

While the plan would involve uprooting some Jewish settlements, it also would retain portions of the West Bank and strengthen the main settlements in those areas. Israel also would retain control over Jerusalem and link a large settlement to the city.

The plan falls well short of the Palestinians' claims - supported by the United Nations - to be restored to all of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, from which they were driven after the 1967 Middle East war.

"This is not a peace plan, but a war declaration, which will permit Israel to stay in the largest section of the West Bank, to maintain their wall and settlements, to refuse all concessions on Jerusalem and to reject the Palestinians’ right of return," said Mr Mashal. His party is in the process of forming a government of the Palestinian Authority after winning parliamentary elections in January.

"It is a unilateral disengagement by Israel in the interest of its security needs and not the demands of peace," said Mashal. "Olmert is in the process of committing the same errors toward the Palestinians that (Ariel) Sharon did."

For his part, Mr Olmert says today that he still hopes to reach a settlement with the Palestinians, but the chances of a deal have dimmed with Hamas’s victory.

Israel says that it will deal with the militant group only if it renounces violence and its calls for destruction of the Jewish state. Hamas has repeatedly rejected such demands.

Mr Olmert has also threatened to assassinate the incoming Palestinian Prime Minister, Ismail Haniya, if he is involved in terrorism. "Anyone who is involved in planning terror attacks will be a legitimate target for liquidation," he told the Yediot Ahronot daily.

If the Palestinians "prefer to be dragged into the axis of evil of Iran", then Israel will draw its own border in the West Bank based on its security needs, he added.

"At the end of the process we will reach a complete separation from the vast majority of the Palestinian population," he told the Maariv daily.

Mr Mashal, a former physics teacher whose family lived near the West Bank town of Ramallah until the 1967 war, has previously broached the idea of a long-term truce with Israel, but has offered little in way of detail.

"When Israel commits to pulling back to 1967 borders, including East Jerusalem, destroying the wall, dismantling the settlements, recognising refugees and displaced Palestinians’ right to return, and frees all the prisoners, then Hamas will take serious measures toward peace," he told the AFP news agency.

Mr Olmert said the new border would not follow the exact route of the separation barrier Israel is building in the West Bank. He told Yediot that he would try to work with Jewish settler leaders to try to get them to agree to the new line, moving settlers into settlements he plans to incorporate into Israel.

"We will definitely change the route either east or west in accordance to internal Israeli agreement," he told the paper. "The fence that will be built ... will be the border line that will separate Israel and the Palestinians. Israelis will not live beyond the fence."

In the absence of peace talks, Mr Olmert’s unilateral approach is meant to solve Israel’s main security problems. It follows unilateral pullout from the Gaza Strip last summer under the premiership of Ariel Sharon.

Mr Olmert, a close Sharon confidant who took over as acting prime minister after Mr Sharon’s stroke on January 4, now seems ready to go further than his mentor, who ruled out any further unilateral action after the Gaza pullout. Sharon, 78, remains in a coma.

Saeb Erekat, a Palestinian negotiator, urged Israel to return to the bargaining table. "Israel cannot determine my borders by dictating them to me. That only prolongs the conflict, rather than solving it," he said.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, who favours a resumption of peace talks, remains in office and has been trying to work out a power-sharing agreement with Hamas.

President Bush has backed Israel’s claims to retaining some settlement blocs, but American officials have reacted coolly to Israeli claims on Ariel.

Washington has also expressed displeasure over Israeli plans to link Maaleh Adumim to Jerusalem, despite Mr Olmert’s assertion in Yediot that the US "has no doubt" that this will happen.

Mr Olmert’s political rivals also attacked his latest plan. Amir Peretz, leader of the Labour Party, said that Mr Olmert had "meticulously" copied his party’s own plan. "The only problem is who does Ehud Olmert intend to negotiate with," Mr Peretz told Israel Radio.

Mr Olmert joined Mr Sharon last November in leaving Likud and forming the centrist Kadima Party. Kadima continues to hold a wide lead in opinion polls, but support has been dropping. A poll published in the Jerusalem Post today showed support for Kadima falling to its lowest levels since Mr Sharon’s stroke.

The poll, conducted by the Smith Institute, said Kadima would win about 35 seats in the 120-seat parliament, down two seats from a week-earlier poll. The Institute poll surveyed 501 people and had a margin of error of 4.5 percentage points. The paper said it was the fifth consecutive week of decline for Kadima.

Hamas fury at Israeli plans to carve up West Bank

[Shammu]

J'lem mum on Straw's pledge to tackle Israel's nukes next
Herb Keinon, THE JERUSALEM POST    Mar. 13, 2006

Israel will not make an issue over British Foreign Minister Jack Straw's statement last week that after the world deals with Iran's nuclear "threat," it will deal with Israel's.

Straw gave a lengthy television interview in Britain Thursday, following the decision to send Iran's nuclear dossier to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions. When asked about a "double standard" regarding Iran, Straw replied: "I want a nuclear-free Middle East. It's the policy of her majesty's government. We've been working to achieve that. We have ensured over the last few years that two of the four countries [in the Middle East] which posed a nuclear threat, Libya and Iraq, have had their nuclear weapons removed," he said.

He then added, "If you want to see a nuclear-free Middle East, you've got to remove that threat from Iran, including the rhetorical threat to wipe Israel off the face of the map... and once you've done that, then we can get on to work at, in respect of Israel."

Straw's remarks were analyzed carefully in Jerusalem, but it was decided not to make an issue of them because Straw made clear that Britain remained "on board" on the Iranian nuclear issue.

"That is the most important thing," one government official said, saying that Israel did not want to deflect from the Iranian issue by drawing attention to itself and creating a diplomatic issue over Straw's comments.

"This isn't the time to discuss this," he said. Besides, he added, Israel has also made it clear that it was in favor of a nuclear-free Middle East, but that discussions about this could only take place in the distant future, after Israel has concluded peace agreements with all the countries in the region.

That the Iranian nuclear issue would ultimately spotlight Israel was not something that has been unexpected, and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said that US President George Bush's famous letter of April 2004 included a line pledging US commitment to Israel's deterrence capacity.

That letter reads, "The United States reiterates its steadfast commitment to Israel's security, including secure, defensible borders, and to preserve and strengthen Israel's capability to deter and defend itself, by itself, against any threat or possible combination of threats."

Sharon interpreted this as a US promise to back Israel when there were attempts - which he believed would follow the international community's handling of the Iranian nuclear issue - to dismantle what he referred to as "Israel's deterrence ability."

Ironically, Straw's interview appeared the same night that a BBC Newsnight report appeared claiming that the UK supplied Israel with quantities of plutonium while Harold Wilson was prime minister in the 1960s.

According to the report, the sale took place despite a warning from British intelligence that it might "make a material contribution to an Israeli weapons program." The report also claimed that when Harold Macmillan was prime minister from 1957 to 1963, Britain supplied uranium 235 and the heavy water that allowed Israel to start up its nuclear weapons production plant in Dimona.

J'lem mum on Straw's pledge to tackle Israel's nukes next