Israellycool

Putin channels Borat:

President Vladimir Putin has a penchant for making pithy, acerbic, sometimes coarse comments. On Wednesday a microphone inadvertently left on during a brief appearance with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert of Israel captured his views on the sex scandal involving Israel’s president.

According to published accounts by Agence France-Presse late Wednesday and Kommersant and the Jerusalem Post on Thursday, Putin was heard saying, “Say hello to your president,” to Olmert, referring to President Moshe Katsav, who could face criminal charges that he raped and assaulted two former employees. Putin added, “He really surprised us.” The microphone was quickly turned off as reporters were ushered from the room, but the news organizations reported that Putin went on.

“We did not know he could deal with 10 women,” he said, according to the Post and Agence France-Presse accounts, apparently referring to the complaints by several women that Katsav harassed them or worse.

Kommersant’s version ‚Äî citing the remarks in Russian ‚Äî was cruder. “He turned out to be quite a powerful man,” the paper’s reporter in the official Kremlin pool, Andrei Kolesnikov, quoted Putin as saying. “He raped 10 women. I never expected it from him. He surprised all of us. We all envy him.”

What a knee-slapper. Although I guess it is better than channeling Michael Jackson.

The Jerusalem Post reports on Russia’s denial of Hizbullah being in possession of their weapons:

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Sunday that Israel had provided no proof that Hizbullah used advanced Russian-produced anti-tank missiles during the recent war.

An Israeli delegation that was in Moscow two weeks ago complained that Hizbullah had been in possession of Russian-made ‘Kornet’ guided missiles. Ivanov dismissed Israel’s claims as “total nonsense” and said they reflected “internal problems in Israeli politics.”

But as these pictures show, Israel clearly captured Russian-made anti-tank missiles, including the AT-3 Sagger:

And the AT-4 Spigot:

There’s your proof, Ivanov.

The Russian government is mulling the construction of a security barrier along the border with Chechnya similar to Israel’s West Bank security fence as part of its efforts to combat Muslim terror, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

 

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Internal Security Minister Gideon Ezra met on Monday with Dmitry Kozak, head of counterterrorism in Chechnya and the Kremlin’s envoy to southern Russia, for talks on the effectiveness of the security fence and Israel’s overall success in fighting Palestinian terror.

 

The talks, Israeli officials said, focused primarily on the construction of a security fence. Kozak told the participants he would bring the issue up back in Russia and recommend it as a viable means to fight terror. Just last month, a small army of Chechen fighters launched a massive attack on police and army in the town of Nalchik in Russia’s turbulent Caucasus. Dozens were killed in the attack.

 

“They want to learn more about fighting terror,” former Israel Police chief Shlomo Aharonishky, who is serving as a consultant for the Russians, told the Post. “Kozak has been assigned to prepare a plan on how to fight terror and it will include the construction of a security fence. His visit here is to learn from us how to build the fence and how to do it.”