Ahead of the United States’s planned withdrawal from Iraq, American military teams have visited Israel to consider the possibility of storing some of the equipment and ammunition that is pulled out in special storage centers at various locations here, according to senior defense officials.

According to the officials, the Americans plan to leave a significant amount of equipment in Iraq to assist local security forces. Additional equipment, though, would be transferred to Afghanistan as well as possibly to Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

A security agreement between the United States and Iraq calls for withdrawal of all US forces by the end of 2011. The equipment that Israel might receive, one official said, is ammunition, vehicles, and a specially designed rapid cannon – called C-RAM – that can intercept small projectiles such as mortars.

“There is talk that some of the equipment will be stored in Israel,” the official said. “If that is the case, in the event of an emergency we may be able to use it.”

Last month, Defense News reported that the Pentagon had decided to double the value of emergency military stockpiles it stores in Israel to the value of $800 million. Defense officials said that this was a separate move, not connected to the withdrawal from Iraq.

The US already maintains several stockpiles in Israel that include missiles, armored vehicles, aerial munitions and artillery ordnance. The US began stockpiling equipment in Israel in the early 1990s.

The new deal, according to Defense News, was signed by Brig.-Gen. Ofer Wolf, head of the IDF’s Logistics and Technology Branch and Rear-Adm. Andy Brown, logistics director for the US Military’s European Command (EUCOM).

“Officially, all of this equipment belongs to the US military,” the official said. “If however, there is a conflict, the IDF can ask for permission to use some of the equipment.”

The last time this happened was during the Second Lebanon War in 2006 when the IDF received access to US stockpiles and also received shipments of weaponry, particularly smart bombs from the United States.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

11:40PM: Do you remember the moron who claimed Israel went to Haiti, not to help but to harvest organs?

As ludicrous and unsubstantiated as his claims are, there are those who think Israel needs to investigate.

You know, just to be sure.

Baroness Tonge, the Liberal peer, said this week that Israel should set up an inquiry to disprove allegations that its medical teams in Haiti “harvested” organs of earthquake victims for use in transplants.

Her call has been sharply criticised by fellow LibDems, but party leader Nick Clegg has refused to act against her.

The organ theft claims were published last week in the Palestine Telegraph, an online journal based in Gaza of which Baroness Tonge is a patron.

In a statement to the JC, she said the Israel Defence Forces were “to be commended for their fantastic response to the Haitian earthquake”.

But she added: “To prevent allegations such as these — which have already been posted on YouTube — going any further, the IDF and the Israeli Medical Association should establish an independent inquiry immediately to clear the names of the team in Haiti.”

Ed Fordham, the Lib Dem candidate for Hampstead and Kilburn, said: “It’s abhorrent that anyone should suggest that something as perverse and sick as this should be investigated.”

Monroe Palmer, chairman of Liberal Democrat Friends of Israel, added: “Whilst I welcome Tonge’s approval of Israeli actions in Haiti, she is misguided to call for any investigation. On this basis, there could be calls for an investigation to discover the ‘truth’ in the The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”

Matthew Harris, Lib Dem parliamentary candidate for Hendon, called it “perverse in the extreme to suggest that there needs to be an investigation of allegations to which she gives no credence”.

Baroness Tonge’s position on Israel has in the past caused embarrassment to the Liberal Democrats, but leader Nick Clegg has consistently refused to discipline her.

A spokesman for Mr Clegg said neither Baroness Tonge nor the Lib Dem leader gave the allegations “any credence whatsoever. We do not believe there is a need for an investigation and we understand why the idea would be offensive to the Jewish community”.

An Israeli Embassy spokesman dismissed the allegations as “not fit to grace even the sickest of publications”.

The allegations came in an article titled Focus on Israel: Harvesting Haitian Organs by an American researcher, Stephen Lendman, who accused Israel of a “crime against humanity”.

Mr Lendman referred to a “damning” YouTube video cited by Al Manar, the pro-Hizbollah Lebanese TV station. The video offers no evidence to support the claims against Israel. It has a warning from ‘T West’, a member of an American group, AfriSynergy Productions, that Haitians should be careful because the “IDF has participated in the past in stealing organ transplants [sic] from Palestinians and others”.

Sameh Habeeb, the Palestine Telegraph’s founding chairman, said that Mr Lendman’s article represents “him and his views. Some people believe in this and some don’t”.

But this should come as no surprise. Jenny Tonge is a known Israel hater anti-Semite, having featured on Israellycool on numerous occasions for things like stating she would consider becoming a suicide bomber if she were a palestinian.

8:18PM: Scene from the “world’s largest concentration camp”.

A Palestinian man takes his horse into the water of the Mediterranean Sea, in Gaza City, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)

Interestingly enough, I don’t recall ever seeing in those countless black and white pictures Jewish concentration camp inmates with their horses.

Meanwhile I can’t resist posting this again, as I did last time we saw Gazans horsing around.

5:20PM: It has been cleared for publication that the Shin Bet thwarted a Hamashole attempt to kidnap a soldier in order to use him as a bargaining chip

As part of a joint IDF-Shin Bet operation, carried out during the negotiations for the return of captive soldier Gilad Shalit, two Hamas members were arrested on the Israel-Gaza border while trying to smuggle explosives, counterfeit money, a pistol and a silencer into Israel.

One of the terrorists planned to kidnap an Israeli soldier while the other was caught in possession of two explosive devices, which he planned to plant in crowded locations inside Israel.

Salman Abu Atik was apprehended by an IDF force on December 12, 2009 while he was trying to infiltrate Israel along with four other Palestinians. The 43-year-old Hamas man was in possession of $15,000 in counterfeit bills when he was nabbed. A day later, soldiers found a silencer that Abu Atik also tried to smuggle into Israel, and he later turned in a gun he had tried to smuggle as well.

During his interrogation, Abu Atik admitted that he wanted to kidnap and then murder an Israeli soldier in order to use him as a bargaining chip during negotiations on a prisoner swap. He said another Hamas member, Ibrahim Zuara, was supposed to infiltrate Israel with two explosives devices and assist him in the operation.

Zuara was arrested on December 31 while in possession of the explosives. He told investigators that he had planned to plant the devices in crowded locations in Israel within 10 days of his entry to Israel. He also admitted that he was supposed to help Abu Atik kidnap and murder an Israeli soldier on Hamas’ behalf.

Abu Atik was recently indicted for attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, infiltration, illegal military training, weapons violations and contacting a foreign agent. Zuara was charged with attempted murder, attempted kidnapping with the intent to murder and extort, weapons violations and other offenses.

Here’s a photo of the two Hamasholes. As you can see, modelling was never going to be a viable career choice for them.

3:28PM: It’s reaper time!

The Israel Air Force on Thursday attacked a terror cell planning an attack near the Karni humanitarian aid crossing in the northern Gaza Strip, the IDF said.

Fares Ahmed Jaber, a “Global Jihad operative”, was killed in the air raid, an IDF spokesman said.

Jaber, a 26-year-old Gaza City resident, was involved in firing rockets at Israeli communities in the southwestern Negev desert over the past few months, the army said.

11:30AM: When Gorilla Boy speaks to the Dorktator on the phone, they don’t exactly talk about the weather.

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told his Syrian counterpart that Israel should be resisted and finished off if it launched military action in the region, state broadcaster IRIB reported on Thursday.

“We have reliable information … that the Zionist regime is after finding a way to compensate for its ridiculous defeats from the people of Gaza and Lebanon’s Hezbollah,” he told Syria’s Bashar al-Assad.

“If the Zionist regime should repeat its mistakes and initiate a military operation, then it must be resisted with full force to put an end to it once and for all,” Ahmadinejad said in the telephone conversation on Wednesday evening.

6:00AM: Photo of the day:

A Lebanese police officer, left rear, stands guard as protesters from a leftist group hold hands to block the entrance of Starbucks coffee shop during a protest in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2010. Demonstrators tried to block the entrance of the shop, shouting anti-Israel slogans and causing customers inside to flee. The protesters said they targeted the store because they claim that Howard Schultz, the company’s CEO, chairman and president, donates money to the Israeli military. (AP Photo/Grace Kassab)

It looks like the AP caption writer missed a small detail in describing the events captured in the photo.

But what’s a little trampling on the Star of David between friends.

More on the protest here.

In other news, there is an airport named after Yasser Arafat, the father of airline hijackings.

Just saying.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

10:46PM: If it wasn’t already evident to you that the Goldstone Report is seriously flawed, it should be after reading about Desmond Travers, the senior figure responsible for the military analysis in the report.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010
New Revelations About the UN Goldstone Report that Seriously Undermine its Credibility

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs

Col. (ret.) Desmond Travers was one of the four members of the UN Fact Finding Mission that produced what is widely called the Goldstone Report. The Mission investigated Operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip between December 27, 2008 and January 18, 2009. Travers joined the Irish Defense Forces in 1961 and retired after forty years. As the only former officer who belonged to Justice Richard Goldstone’s team, he was the senior figure responsible for the military analysis that provided the basis for condemning Israel for war crimes.

After following his repeated public appearances with the other mission members in July 2009, and especially in light of his most recent interviews, serious flaws have now become evident in the methodology he followed, in his collection and processing of data, and in the conclusions he draws. In the past, the flaws in the Goldstone report, and especially its lack of balance, have been criticized by the London Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and the Economist, but the fundamental problems of its military analysis have not been fully addressed. In the material presented here, this becomes evident in four specific ways:

1. A Fundamental Bias against the Israel Defense Forces

During the Mission’s collection of testimonies from Palestinian psychologists in the Gaza Strip, Travers asked them straight out to explain how Israeli soldiers could kill Palestinian children in front of their parents. In an interview with Middle East Monitor, on February 2, 2010, he asserted that in the past Israeli soldiers had “taken out and deliberately shot” Irish peacekeeping forces in Southern Lebanon. Both of these statements by Travers are completely false. It should be stressed that one of the most vicious and unsubstantiated conclusions in the Goldstone Report is the suggestion that Israel deliberately killed Palestinian civilians.

While Travers assumes the worst of intentions on the part of the Israel Defense Forces, he praises Hamas for their cooperation with the Mission. When he was asked about Hamas intimidation that affected the Mission’s inquiries, he replied that that there was “none whatsoever.” Yet the Goldstone Report itself noted in Paragraph 440 that those interviewed in Gaza appeared reluctant to speak about the presence of Palestinian armed groups because of a “fear of reprisals.” He rejects the notion that Hamas shielded its forces in the civilian population and does not accept the idea that Israel faced asymmetric warfare.

2. False Information Reported About Weapons Systems

Travers comes up with a story that the IDF had unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV’s) that could obtain a “thermal signature” on a Gaza house and detect that there were large numbers of people inside. Incredibly, he then suggests that with this information that certain houses were “packed with people,” the Israeli military would then deliberately order a missile strike on these populated homes. The primary technical problem with his theory is that Israel does not have UAV’s that can see though houses and pick up a thermal
signature. More importantly, Israel used UAV’s to monitor that Palestinian civilians left houses that had received multiple warnings, precisely because Israel sought to minimize civilian casualties, a fact that Travers could not fathom, because of his own clear biases.

3. Completely Inaccurate Data

Travers rejects that Israel began military operations against the Gaza Strip on December 27, 2008 as an act of self-defense in response to Hamas rockets. He bases this idea on a “fact” that he presents that in the month prior to start of the war, there were only “something like two” rockets that fell on Israel. Israeli military sources found that there were in fact 32 rockets fired from Gaza at Israel over three days alone–between December 16 and 18, 2008. He adds to his analysis that at this time Hamas sought to extend the tahdiya, or lull arrangement–which he called a cease-fire. Yet the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades of Hamas announced on December 17 that the lull would come to an end two days later and would not be renewed. The head of the Hamas political bureau in Damascus, Khaled Mashaal, announced the end of the lull on December 14. To say that Hamas wanted to continue the lull is a
complete distortion of events.

In his Middle East Monitor interview, Travers states that he “only came across two incidents of where there was an actual combat situation” – the exchange of fire between Israel and Hamas. Because he minimizes the possibility that Israel was engaged in real combat in the Gaza Strip, it follows that he naturally conclude that Israel was essentially attacking non-combatants during Operation Cast Lead.

4. Lack of Professionalism in Conducting Thorough Investigations

Travers relies on his own prejudices when he looks into the question of whether Gazan Mosques had been militarized by Hamas and turned into weapons depots. In an interview with Harpers, published on October 29, 2009, Travers makes a sweeping generalization: “We found no evidence that mosques were used to store munitions.” He then dismissed those who suggested that was the case by saying: “Those charges reflect Western perceptions in some quarters that Islam is a violent religion.” How many mosques did Travers investigate? He admits that the Mission only checked two mosques.

Of course, Israel produced photographic proof that large amounts of weapons were stored in mosques, like the Zaytun Mosque. In a subsequent interview, Travers rejected the Israeli proof: “I do not believe the photographs.” He described the photographs as “spurious.” Travers appears to be bothered by proof that contradicts the conclusions he reaches on the basis of a very limited investigation. In early 2010, Colonel Tim Collins, a British veteran of the Iraq War, visited Gaza for BBC Newsnight (
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/8470100.stm , 20 January 2010) and inspected the ruins of a mosque that Israel had destroyed because it had been a weapons depot. He found that there was evidence of secondary explosions cause by explosives stored in the mosque cellar. Travers clearly did not make the effort that Collins made.

In his questioning of Palestinian witnesses in the Gaza Strip, Travers does not ask the questions that a military advisor should raise. He did not ask those giving testimony if they were member of the Izz al-Din al-Qassam units of Hamas and were combatants. He also failed to ask them straight out if their homes had been used to store munitions, like Grad rockets. Instead, his questions reflected his ideological bias.

Travers most recent interview also had a disturbing additional element. When addressing the role of British officers in defending Israel’s claims, Travers suddenly adds: “Britain’s foreign policy interests in the Middle East seem to be influenced strongly by Jewish lobbyists.” Travers implies that British Jews have interests that differ from Britain’s own national interests and that Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government is influenced by these considerations. This statement, unless corrected, places Travers is a position in which his views are suspect of being motivated by anti-Semitic prejudices. Even without this last statement, he clearly emerges as an individual who is not qualified to take part in any serious fact-finding mission and the U.N. should not seek his services in the future. Given his statements, Justice Richard Goldstone should repudiate Col. Travers and completely reject the conclusions that he reached as a result of his work.

10:20PM: Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad has condemned today’s “stabbing incident.”

Which was not as much an “incident” as a terrorist attack committed by a senior officer of his own security forces.

“Such an incident,” the Palestinian prime minister said, “undermines national Palestinian objectives, and the Palestinian Authority’s commitments.”

And is MURDER, Fayyad.

Meanwhile, the family of the murdered Druze Arab IDF soldier, 28-year-old Ihab Khatib, has pledged to continue enlisting in the army and contributing to the state of Israel.

Many residents arrived at the Khatib family home to comfort the parents.

“Our village has sadly ‘contributed’ many soldiers to the security of the State of Israel,” one of the visitors said.

“Even if there are disagreements among us, and despite the instances of discrimination and oppression, we will all continue to enlist and contribute to the country in which we live, and for whose continued existence we pray.”

6:20PM: An Israeli is set to replace Simon Cowell on American Idol.

Which would mean we retain some Zionist control on the panel.

6:15PM: The IDF officer murdered earlier today was an Arab – Ihab Khatib from Kfar Maghar.

The terrorist was PA officer Mahmoud al-Khatib.

A SENIOR officer in the PA security forces, that is.

6:10PM: Shame on Reuters who are even worse than the AP when it comes to media bias.

Case in point: the captions for these photos capturing yesterday’s riots at the Shuafat refugee camp.

An undercover Israeli police officer (R) scuffles with a Palestinian youth suspected of throwing stones while trying to detain him during clashes in the Shuafat refugee camp in the West Bank near Jerusalem February 9, 2010. Clashes erupted between Palestinian stone-throwers and Israeli police that entered the refugee camp, a Reuters witness said on Tuesday.
REUTERS/Ammar Awad (WEST BANK – Tags: POLITICS CIVIL UNREST)

Looks like the Israeli police officer initiated the rough stuff with a palestinian “youth,” who does not look too youthful to me. That is, until you read the AP caption from the same incident.

A Palestinian rioter tries to grab a weapon from a plain-clothes Israeli police officer, right, during clashes in Shuafat refugee camp in east Jerusalem, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2010. Palestinians scuffled with Israeli security forces, after an arrest operation triggered clashes in the camp the day before. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Here it becomes clearer that this was not a case of Israeli aggression against a palestinian, but a matter of life of death for the police officer, who would surely have been killed with his own weapon had the palestinian succeeded in grabbing it. Furthermore, the palestinian is not described as a youth, which seems to be accurate.

5:55PM: The Israeli murdered earlier this afternoon was an IDF soldier.

3:52PM: TERROR ATTACK: Almost two hours ago, an Israeli was killed after being stabbed by a palestinian while sitting in his jeep near the Tapuach Junction.

Judea and Samaria District Police officers apprehended the terrorist. The knife used in the attack was found at the scene. Israeli security officials said the terrorist acted alone.

The incident occurred at around 1:50 pm, when the Israeli vehicle was stuck in a traffic jam. The Palestinian terrorist stabbed the Israeli twice in the chest through the open car window.

The Israeli tried to flee the scene, but his jeep overturned into a ditch.

A security officer from the nearby Jewish settlement Rachelim, who happened to be at the scene, ran the terrorist over with his car. The Palestinian sustained very mild injuries.

“I was in my car when I saw a man approach another vehicle and stab the person inside. I realized I was witnessing a terror attack. The terrorist began running away, but I kept my cool, drove after him and managed to hit him with my car,” the security officer, Yossi Margalit, told Ynet.

“I stepped out of my car, apprehended the terrorist and turned him over to the security forces,” he recounted.

Prediction: we will not hear any condemnation of this attack by the palestinians and their supporters, but we will hear complaints about the palestinian being run over.

Meanwhile, the Ha’aretz report includes this interesting fact.

Yossi Margalit, a security officer from a nearby settlement who arrived the scene ran over the attacker, lightly wounding him. He was then arrested, and given medical attention on the spot.

Wow, we are so bad at genocide and ethnic cleansing that we ensure even their terrorists are alive.

2:16PM: Lebanese Prime Minister Saad “Stark” Hariri has confirmed that Lebanon=Hizbullah.

Hariri added that Lebanon was united, and that his government would stand by Hezbollah – the Lebanese terror group which fought Israel in 2006.

“I think they’re (Israel) betting that there might be some division in Lebanon, if there is a war against us,” he said, “Well, there won’t be a division in Lebanon. We will stand against Israel. We will stand with our own people.”

Which means that Israel’s agreement to UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which demands, inter alia, that Hizbullah be disarmed and full control of Lebanon by the government of Lebanon, was a really rotten idea.

But we already knew that.

1:05PM: PA sex and corruption scandal? Naaaa, just an Israeli conspiracy of course!

The Palestinian Authority expressed their outrage on Wednesday at Israel’s Channel 10 report of a video found depicting one of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ senior advisors in compromising positions with a woman candidate applying to work in his office. According to a PA official, the report was merely an Israeli smear campaign meant to embarrass Abbas.

The report also aired claims made by former General Intelligence chief Fahmi Shabana that officials close to Abbas and his predecessor Yasser Arafat were entangled in corruption scandals amounting to millions of shekels stolen from public coffers.

Shabana, who was in charge of the PA’s anti-corruption campaign, claimed in interviews with the media that he placed before Abbas evidence of widespread economic corruption around him, but that the president declined doing anything about it. According to him, senior Fatah officials during Arafat’s rule stole millions of shekels from PA coffers, a large amount of which originated from Arab states, Europe, and the US as donations.

The Fatah officials allegedly requested inflated sums for purchasing land, which was valued far lower than the numbers they presented, and the proceeded to pocket the difference. Shabana hinted that even Abbas’ family members were involved in the corruption, but has yet to prove so.

Shabana also revealed an embarrassing video from 2008 depicting the head of Abbas’ office, Rafik al-Husseini, rubbing his body against his secretary and apparently trying to convince a woman seeking employment in the office to have sexual relations with him.

Shabana was suspended from his position. When Abbas sought to reinstate him, he was arrested by Israel for holding membership in a foreign security body in light of the fact that he is a resident of east Jerusalem and holds an Israeli identity card. Shabana claims, however, that he was arrested at the behest of the Palestinian Authority.

A high-ranking PA official said Wednesday to Ynet that the video revealed by Shabana is a personal issue known for quite some time and that his staff are not rattled by the corruption claims. According to the official, the PA maintains transparency with donor countries and operates a strict oversight mechanism on their payments.

The source said that publishing such a report along with the video is nothing but an Israeli conspiracy aimed at tarnishing the credibility and status of Abbas in light of his refusal to return to the negotiation table under the conditions stipulated by Israel.

Here’s the report (see from 1:15 onwards). Those of you who do not understand Hebrew can skip to 4:47 onwards, which features some shots from the aforementioned “embarrassing video.”

The video must have been doctored by crafty Zionists, since PA officials never act corruptly.

6:00AM: Ashkelon Municipality and the city’s Parents’ Association yesterday filed a petition with the High Court of Justice demanding the court order the government to finish fortifying its schools, in accordance with the Homefront Command’s recommendations.

The petition says that after nine kindergartens were fortified in March of last year the Defense Ministry halted all work, and that 13 kindergartens and 10 elementary schools still remain vulnerable to rocket threats.

The children studying in these facilities are currently instructed to hide underneath their desks in case of a Color Red alert.

The petition says the parents of these children are “incredibly worried and anxious”, and asks the court to remedy the situation.

I wonder if Richard Goldstone or others who have come out against Operation Cast Lead ever had a child who had to experience something like this.

Israel is pushing the Middle East toward a new war, Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Wednesday.

“Israel is not serious about achieving peace since all facts point out that Israel is pushing the region towards war, not peace,” the official Syrian news agency SANA quoted Assad as saying during a meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.

Earlier Wednesday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem warned Israel that if war were to break out between Syria and Israel, it would be fought “inside your cities.”

“Israel must stop being the neighborhood bully. Don’t test our determination,” Moallem said during a press conference in Damascus where Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos was also present. “One day you threaten Gaza, the next day you threaten Lebanon, then Iran and now Syria.”

Moallem warned that if a war between Syria and Israel breaks out, it would be “total and take place inside your cities.”

His words were a reaction to a statement by Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who said at the Herzliya Conference on Tuesday that if an agreement with Syria was not reached, the two countries might be dragged into a “forceful confrontation that may deteriorate into all-out war.”

“In the reality of the Middle East, we will conclude such a war and then sit and negotiate, talking about the exact issues we have been debating with the Syrians for the past 15 years,” said Barak.

Moallem said Syria “assesses that such a war will break out, we must not rule out such a possibility. I would say it would be a total and expansive war, whether it begins in South Lebanon or in Syria.”

Meanwhile, I may have to bring out the flying pig, because the leftist Ha’aretz has reported the Syrian statements as a threat and Barak’s statements as they were – a call for renewed peace talks.

The defense establishment is pushing for a peace deal with Syria, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is cool to the idea – and Syrian leaders responded Wednesday to Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s call for renewed peace talks by threatening total war.

Two days ago, addressing a group of senior Israeli officers, Barak said it was vital to resume peace talks with Syria because otherwise war was likely to break out. Then, “immediately after such a war, we’ll sit down to negotiate and discuss exactly the same things we’ve been discussing with the Syrians for 15 years already.”

Barak’s statement was not meant to threaten Syria, but to persuade Israelis of the urgency of resuming peace talks. However, based on their response, it is not clear that Syrian leaders interpreted it that way.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

11:18PM: Jon Stewart takes on Hamas’ anti-Semitic cartoons (hat tip: Michael)

11:05PM: An explosive device was detonated near a Red Cross convoy in the Gaza Strip earlier today.

Hamas’ response is entirely predictable.

A spokesman for the Hamas group which runs the Gaza Strip suggested the blast was caused by an unexploded Israeli shell.

8:10PM: Dork of the day:

8:06PM: Dubai has threatened to issue a warrant for the arrest of the Israeli Prime Minister if it turns out that the Mossad bumped off terrorist Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, will be the first to be wanted for justice as he would have been the one who signed the decision to assassinate [Mahmoud] al Mabhouh in Dubai. We will issue an arrest warrant against him,” Halfan told the U.A.E. site The Natioanl.

The Dubai police chief also said that the method used to kill al Mabhouh, was a ?Mossad method,? but did not elaborate further.

On Wednesday, Dubai’s police chief warned international intelligence agencies from working “behind our back,” saying anyone who did so “should be wary of his own back.

Halfan added that that threat was also applicable “to any intelligence organization around the world, whether Mossad, Hamas or any other agency.”

Meanwhile, it looks like Ha’aretz borrowed someone from the Jerusalem Post to edit this report.

5:56PM: Ice hockey on the Israeli-Lebanon border?

Yeah, why not.

1:12PM: The war of words has continued with Syria, with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman entering the fray.

(Syrian President Bashar) Assad must realize that if he “provokes” Israel  his regime will collapse, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman  said Thursday.

Speaking during a business conference at Bar-Ilan University, Lieberman said, “Whoever thinks (Israeli) territorial concessions will separate Syria from the axis of evil is mistaken. Syria must be made to understand that it has to relinquish its demand (that Israel cede) the Golan Heights.”

On Wednesday Assad accused Israel of “pushing the region towards war”. During a meeting with Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos in Damascus, Assad said that the Jewish state “is not serious about achieving peace”.

Assad spoke just hours after his foreign minister, Walid Moallem, said that “Israel knows that if it declares war on Syria, such a war will reach its cities as well.”

The Syrian minister was responding to remarks made by Defense Minister Ehud Barak earlier this week. Speaking at a forum of senior IDF commanders, Barak said a full-blown war with Syria was possible in case a peace agreement is not reached.

Lieberman said Moallem’s remarks constitute a “blatant threat against Israel,” adding, “(Syria) has crossed a red line; and we cannot ignore this.”

6:05AM: Israeli President Shimon Peres watches Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi embrace Israeli singer Rita.

Peres: I can’t wait to show him how it’s done.

The original plan was for the IDF to first send a Home Front Command rescue team, followed by medical teams, but after speaking with Haitian authorities, the army and Foreign Ministry decided that Haiti’s most pressing need was extra medical staff, given that nearly every hospital in Haiti was destroyed in Tuesday’s earthquake.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

1:40PM: According to the London-based newspaper Asharq Alawsat, Israel has assured Lebanon that increased IDF troops and army exercises along the Lebanese border are intended as preparation for military maneuvers, and not as preparation for any intended butt-kicking.

Nevertheless, Ayalon has apologized.

Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon issued a special statement of apology Tuesday night for his treatment of Turkish ambassador to Israel Ahmet Oguz Celikkol on Monday. Ayalon had delivered a rebuke to Celikkol regarding an anti-Israeli television show in Turkey.

“My protest of the attacks against Israel in Turkey still stands,” Ayalon said. “However, it is not my way to insult foreign ambassadors and in the future I will clarify my position by more acceptable diplomatic means.”

At the beginning of the conversation with the Turkish envoy on Monday, Ayalon told cameramen in Hebrew: “Pay attention that he is sitting in a lower chair … that there is only an Israeli flag on the table and that we are not smiling.”

The Turkish ambassador and the Turkish government were furious at the humiliation of the envoy. In a sharply worded ultimatum to Israel earlier Tuesday, Ankara demanded an apology for what it described as Ayalon’s demeaning treatment of its ambassador on Monday.

—-

Earlier Tuesday, Ayalon had not expressed any regret for his behavior. “I do not think I went too far,” he said. “Others will respect us only when we protect our honor.”

Yeah, how’s that going?

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

11:15PM: From the Palestine Media website:

Nothing anti-Semitic here. Move along.

11:00PM: Ok, so now he’s really apologized.

7:46PM: Islamic Jihad and a clan affiliated with Fatah have been fighting over the Furqan Mosque.

No, that is not a spelling error.

7:38PM: According to the Turkish media, Ankara has recalled its ambassador to Israel after Jerusalem said it would not issue a second, formal apology for Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon’s treatment of the Turkish envoy.

6:15PM: Here is more on the IDF Search and Rescue Unit being sent to help with the rescue efforts in Haiti.

The IDF National Search and Rescue Unit, under the Home Front Command, is a highly skilled force trained to execute special search and rescue missions, both in Israel and abroad. The unit was founded in 1983, and its’ expertise is in rescuing people trapped under ruins.

The unit is comprised primarily of reservists who are always on call, with prepared kits to enable immediate departure, and a small core of soldiers in mandatory service. In addition to the rescue teams, the unit employs doctors, engineers, mechanical engineering equipment operators and rescue dog handlers.

In November 2003 the first Search and Rescue Company, the Shavit Company, was founded in response to the need for a large operational S&R force that would be available at all times. Subsequently, two additional companies, Hetz and Rotem, were established. The soldiers are all graduates of the Search and Rescue course, and are trained in first aid, Krav Maga, infantry, ABC (atomic, biological, chemical) warfare, and more.

The unit is on-call 24 hours a day and are deployed whenever there is a disaster – earthquakes, tsunamis, conventional or unconventional terrorist attacks. The S&R companies also assist IDF infantry forces during routine operations.

For photos on previous IDF Search and Rescue efforts in India and Kenya, see here.

5:55PM: Former supermodel Kathy Ireland, recently here in Israel, proves she is also beautiful on the inside.

You can hear more on Kathy’s views on Israel in the below video (from 4:00 onwards)

And then there’s, of course, her Twitter stream, containing comments like this:

…honoring brave warriors here in Israel.

5:35PM: Shower time just got that much more dangerous for Sheikh Raed Salah.

A Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court judge sentenced Northern Branch Islamic Movement leader Sheikh Raed Salah on Wednesday to nine months in prison and six months on parole on condition that he does not repeat the offense.

Salah was convicted of assaulting a police officer with intention to disrupt him from doing his job and for unlawful rioting. He will begin his prison term in February.

“Stay away, Bubbaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

5:15PM: Ma’an reports:

One Palestinian was killed following an ice cream factory explosion in the Al-Amal neighborhood of Khan Younis, southern Gaza, medical sources said on Tuesday.

Let me guess..Neapolitan Dynamite?

4:32PM: You may recall a news item I posted on here a few weeks ago, regarding possible Israeli plans to withdraw from the northern part of the village of Ghajar on the border with Lebanon.

Well, not everyone is happy with such plans, especially the residents of Ghajar.

A number of Ghajar residents met Tuesday with Foreign Ministry director-general Yossi Gal and expressed fierce opposition to Israel pulling back from the northern part of Ghajar.

The residents said that such a move would make life insufferable, and they would have to go through security checks every time they needed to work their fields, go to the store or the supermarket. They also warned of violence from Hizbullah if Israel pulled back from the northern part of the town.

Gal is leading the Israeli team negotiating with UNIFIL over a possible withdrawal from the town, which straddles the Lebanese border. Gal presented UNIFIL commander Maj.-Gen Claudio Graziano on Thursday with Israel’s vision of arrangements in and around the town following a possible IDF pullback.

One ministry official said Tuesday’s meeting in Ghajar with the residents should not be interpreted as an indication that a withdrawal from the northern part of the Alawite town was imminent. Discussions with UNIFIL have centered on how UNIFIL forces would be deployed in and around Ghajar to prevent Hizbullah from smuggling men or arms into Israel through it.

The government has reportedly approved a plan to turn over control of the northern half of the village to UNIFIL. No physical barrier would be built between the northern and southern parts of the village, but rather UNIFIL would patrol both the northern half and the perimeter.

The details, however, are still being worked out between Israel and UNIFIL. All the residents of the town are Israeli citizens, and no one is remarking publicly about what their legal status would be, were the northern part of the village turned over to UNIFIL control.

Ghajar has about 2,000 residents, with around 70 percent living in its northern half. When the IDF pulled out of Lebanon in 2000, the UN determined that the international border between Israel and Lebanon ran through the middle.

Since that time Israel has placed a checkpoint at the southern part of the town, and the residents told Gal this prevented people from entering and leaving freely. This situation, they said, would only be exacerbated if the IDF were to leave the area.

The residents Tuesday presented Gal, who was accompanied by officials from the IDF and the foreign, defense and justice ministries, with maps they said proved that the town was never split in half by the international border.

Since the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Israel has maintained a military presence in the northern part of the town and built a security fence around it.

2:28PM: An Al Qaeda affiliated palestinian terror group has claimed responsibility for firing a Qassam into Israel earlier today.

2:12PM: Make that three Israelis feared missing in Haiti.

Meanwhile, we’ve already dispatched a rescue team, with Prime Minister Netanyahu ordering the Defense Ministry, Foreign Ministry and Public Security Ministry to act quickly to render humanitarian assistance.

11:33AM: In the wake of the earthquake that hit Haiti, it is a no-brainer that Israel is doing what it can to assist.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry announced on Wednesday that an initial inspection team of eight experts was sent to Haiti. The team includes Foreign Ministry and Central Command experts.

The team will examine whether there is a need to send larger rescue teams or aid crews to the Caribbean nation.

Chief Medical Officer Brigadier-General Dr. Nachman Esh said the medical corps was preparing to send medical aid to Haiti. “We have yet to receive a request from the Foreign Ministry, but we are making internal arrangements in order to be able to leave as quickly as possible,” he said.

“I believe that within 24 hours from being contacted, we will be able to send teams and medical equipment,” he added.

In 2003 the IDF sent a filed hospital to aid the victims of an earthquake in India.

Meanwhile, at least one Israeli in Haiti is feared missing: Sharona Elsaieh, daughter of the late peace activists Abie Nathan.

9:20AM: Assassinated Iranian nuclear physicist Massoud Mohammadi was reportedly acquainted with Israeli scientists.

Professor Massoud Mohammadi, 50, the Iranian physicist who was murdered in a mysterious assassination in Tehran, participated in an unique project alongside Israeli scientists, among others, the Washington Post reported Tuesday.

SESAME, a project on synchrotron-light for sxperimental science and applications in the Middle East, joins together researchers from many Middle Eastern nations including Iran, Pakistan,Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

The project is based in Jordan and in 2002 it launched a synchrotron – a form of an advanced particle accelerator. The project enables scientists to learn about the structure and behavior of molecules, atoms and crystals for studies in protein research, drug development as well as bio-technology.

SESAME operates under United Nations auspices and is in the forefront of world scientific research.

Mohammadi, who is considered an expert on particle and theoretical physics became acquainted with the Israeli delegation as part of SESAME conferences, however the extent of the contacts between the parties is unclear.

The Iranian and Israeli participation in the project is unusual because the two countries have had no ties since the 1979 Islamic revolution. The last SESAME conference was held in Jordan last November.

The Israeli representative Eliezer Rabinovich, director of the Institute for Advanced Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem told the Washington Post that he had spoken to the Iranian physicist during an informal meeting.

“We did not discuss politics or nuclear issues, as our project is not connected to nuclear physics,” Rabinovich said. He asked Mohammadi whether Iran was interested in building its own particle accelerator but received no clear answer.

Rabinovich noted he barely knew Mohammadi and has “no idea whatsoever” why he was killed.

Moshe Paz-Pasternak, a scientist from the Tel Aviv University who also attended the Joran conference described the Iranian professor as a friendly and humorous person.

Meanwhile, the plot thickens once more.

Iranian authorities have placed the blame for the murder on Israel and the US and described Mohammadi as “a firm believer in the Islamic system,” while local opposition elements claimed that Mohammadi was a reformist and was taken out by the government, which had discovered he intended to seek asylum in Sweden.

6:15AM: Gaza smuggling tunnels, you’ve been fatwa’d!

At the request of the Palestinian Authority, an Islamic scholar published a fatwa on Tuesday banning Muslims from digging or working in tunnels under the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

The fatwa is the first of its kind and is seen in the context of the PA’s efforts to undermine Hamas’s rule in the Gaza Strip. It’s seen by Palestinians as yet another sign of mounting tensions between the PA and Hamas despite attempts by Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Qatar to resolve the power struggle between the two parties.

The fatwa also comes in response to the death of dozens of Palestinian smugglers involved in the tunnel industry over the past three years.

Sheikh Muhammad bin Salman Abu Jamea, the scholar who issued the fatwa, cited a number of reasons for his decision.

He said that the main reason was that about 300 Palestinians have been killed while working in the tunnels.

“The owners of the tunnels exploit the poor workers and employ them as slaves under the worst conditions,” he said.

Abu Jamea condemned another fatwa issued by a Muslim scholar in the Gaza Strip that permitted tunnel owners to employ laborers under harsh conditions. That fatwa ruled that tunnel owners would pay only $9,000 in compensation to each family whose unmarried son is killed while digging or smuggling, while the family of a married laborer would receive $11,000.

Abu Jamea condemned the tunnel owners as “merchants and princes of war who have no value or respect for the blood of Muslims.”

Addressing the tunnel owners and the scholar who okayed their business, the new fatwa asked: “Have you forgotten how many homes have been destroyed because of the death of their sons? Do you know how many mothers have lost their beloved ones and how many wives have been widowed and children orphaned?”

—-

He also pointed out that the tunnels were being used to smuggle into Gaza alcohol and drugs and other merchandise that was being exploited by manipulative merchants to make illegal profits.

Sounds like the Sheik has somewhat of a moral compass. But what about the fact the tunnels are used to smuggle weapons which are ultimately used to kill innocent Jews, which is also something to which our “peace partners” in the PA should be opposed?

Abu Jamea also cited the smuggling of weapons as a reason behind his decision to ban work in the tunnels.

“Don’t the arms dealers know that trading in weapons during the period of civil strife [between Hamas and Fatah] is haram [religiously forbidden]?” he asked, adding that the weapons were being used by “rebels” to continue “sowing dissension among Palestinians.”

In other words, weapons to be used against fellow palestinians = bad; weapons to be used against Jews = good.

By the way, I can think of at least one other reason the Sheik may have wanted to ban the tunnels.

6:00AM: Still on the subject of the whole Ayalon-Turkish Ambassador brouhaha, a Turkish source has said Celikkol had no idea what was going on at the time, including why he was given a lower sofa

“He thought he was sitting on the more comfortable chair,” the source said.

‘Wow, this is comfortable. Is it IKEA?”

The purpose of such an operation would be to prevent Hamas from rearming following the larger conflict, which is something they seem to have done following Operation Cast Lead, significantly boosting their military capabilities with long-range rockets.

Such an operation would require troops to go house-to-house in Rafah to search for tunnels and to destroy them, increasing the risk of IDF casualties. It would also necessitate the  IDF retaining a presence in southern Rafah to prevent the re-digging of the tunnels.

On Sunday, Maj.-Gen. (res.) Yom-Tov Samia, the former head of the Southern Command who continues to function as the current head’s deputy in the reserves, hinted at the possibility that the IDF will conquer the Philadelphi Corridor in the future.

In an interview with Army Radio, Samia said that in a future conflict, Israel would take over “specific territory” in Gaza that would help reduce Hamas’s “oxygen supply.” Contacted later in the day, Samia refused to specify which territory he had referred to.

“We are facing another round in Gaza,” said Samia, who during Cast Lead functioned as the deputy to OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant. “I am very skeptical about the chance that Hamas will suddenly surrender or change its way without first suffering a far more serious blow than it did during Cast Lead.”

The blow, he said, would be “more focused with long-range results including the conquering of territory that Hamas will understand it lost as a result of its provocations. We need to create a situation which reduces its oxygen supply.”

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

11:00PM: Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, has called US special Mideast envoy George Mitchell’s timetable of reaching peace within two years “unrealistic and might prove counterproductive.”

10:55PM:Israel’s Foreign Ministry has responded to more Turkey Jerkey:

The Foreign Ministry earlier Monday hit back at Erdogan over his remarks, saying: “Israel is careful to respect Turkey and seeks continued proper ties between the countries, but we expect reciprocity,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement, calling Erdogan’s remarks an “unbridled tongue-lashing”.

“The State of Israel has the full right to protect its citizens from the missiles and terror of Hamas and Hezbollah, and the Turks are the last who can preach morality to the State of Israel and the Israel Defense Forces.”

Tell us what you really Armenian mean.

8:14PM: Here in Israel yesterday, US senator Joe Lieberman reacted to US Special Middle East envoy George Mitchell’s comments that the US would withhold aid money from Israel if it was not forthcoming with the palestinians.

7:34PM: Palestinian terrorists today fired yet another Qassam into Israel.

They are either so desperate to kill Jews they’ll risk the inevitable consequences, or are actually wanting Israel to respond.

5:40PM: The award for UNIFIL Soldier Most Likely to Have Accidentally Gotten His Bayonet Lodged Where the Sun Don’t Shine goes to..

4:40PM: Chutzpah of the day:

MK Said Naffaa asked the Knesset on Monday to enforce his immunity as to protect him from a recently submitted indictment accusing him of contacting enemy agents.

Last December, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz said he intended to indict Naffaa over an alleged 2007 Syria meeting with Talal Naji, deputy chief of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and visiting the offices of Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshal, although he was not present at the time.

The prosecution accused Naffaa at the time of having “knowingly contacted a foreign agent without a reasonable explanation for doing so.”

The Balad MK sent a letter to Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin on Monday in which he rejected the accusations leveled against him, arguing that the meetings he held in Syria fall under his duties as a member of Knesset.

In his letter, Naffaa indicated the reasons for which his immunity as a MK protects him from the current indictment.

“The offences attributed to me in the indictment are considered actions done for and during my line of duty,” he wrote.

Apparently, his line of duty as a member of the Knesset involves assisting those who are trying to destroy the State.

Now I knew our political system was dysfunctional, but I had no idea it was this bad.

‘Naff(aa) said.

12:26PM: In a poll of 500 Israeli Jews:

• 43% opposed a Swiss-style ban on mosque minarets in the country, with 28% supporting it and 29% undecided.
• 72% of “national-religious” respondents opposed such a ban (55% “strongly opposed”) with 16% in favor
• 53% of “ultra-Orthodox” respondents opposed such a ban with 21% in favor
• 36% of “traditional” respondents opposed such a ban with 31%  in favor
• 42% of “secular” respondents opposed such a ban with 29%  in favor
• 92% of “far-right” National Union party opposed such a ban (65% “strongly opposed”) with 8% in favor
• 64% of “right-wing” Israel Beiteinu party opposed such a ban with 36% in favor
• 54% of “right-wing” Habayit Hayehudi party opposed such a ban with 20% in favor
• 68% of “ultra-Orthodox” United Torah Judaism party opposed such a ban with 22% in favor
• 55% of “ultra-Orthodox” Shas party opposed such a ban with 20% in favor
• 66% of “left-wing” Meretz party opposed such a ban
• 43% of Labor party opposed such a ban with 27% in favor
• 42% of Kadima party opposed such a ban with 31% in favor
• 41% of Likud party opposed such a ban with 41% in favor

And what does this show?

The survey demonstrated that “when it comes to freedom of religion, Israelis are apparently much more tolerant than their Swiss counterparts,” according to Rabbi Marc Schneier, president of the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding.

“There is a definite correlation between religious observance and tolerance towards Islam… The fact that less than one-third of all Israelis support banning minarets indicates that from the Israeli point of view, there is room for respectful coexistence between Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs when it is based on religion and not politics.”

I’d add that the highest opposition to such a ban comes from the national-religious community, the very community maligned as “settlers” and demonized by all, including the very Muslims who would be affected by the ban.

Just saying.

6:08AM: Rumors of his death are greatly exaggerated.

An erroneous report in a popular news site from Portugal this week started a false rumor that former prime minister Ariel Sharon was dead.

Though comatose for the fourth year straight, Sharon is indeed still alive.

The error appeared in IOL Portugal Diario for more than 24 hours, prompting reporters from all over the world – and especially Brazil – to try to corroborate the report.

The article, which has since been taken offline, did not say how Sharon died, reviewing instead highlights from his political and military career.

It wouldn’t be the first time.

The Iron Dome is supposed to be capable of intercepting all of the short-range rockets in fired by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hizbullah in Southern Lebanon, by using an advanced radar that locates and tracks the rocket that is then intercepted by a kinetic missile interceptor.

During the test, the radar succeeded in detecting which rockets were headed towards coordinates that were designated as open fields and therefore did not launch an interceptor to destroy them.

The IDF has already established a new battalion that will be part of the IAF’s Air Defense Division and will operate the Iron Dome. Prototypes of the Iron Dome have already been supplied to the new battalion which has commenced training with the systems.

The IDF has also located positions along the Gaza border that will be used as bases for the system, which includes a launcher and radar system. After it completes the deployment of the system along the Gaza border, the IDF will begin deploying the system along the northern border with Lebanon.

MOD Dir.-Gen. Pinhas Buchris said that the system would eventually “transform” security for residents of southern and northern Israel.

“The defense establishment continues to be committed to do everything it can to provide all residents of Israel a multi-layered defense against missiles and rockets,” he said.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

11:36PM: How I wish for a Hizbullah vs Hamas clash.

Hizbullah communicated “deep disappointment” to Hamas leadership over the discovery that the party was conducting military drills in a residential building in Lebanon without the party’s knowledge, the country’s An-Nahar newspaper reported Wednesday.

Information around the training was uncovered during the course of an investigation into an explosion in Haret Treik that killed two Hamas members last week, the paper said. Lebanese Defense Minister Elias Al-Murr said the blast targeted Hamas Representative in Lebanon Osama Hamdan.

According to the London-based Arabic daily Ash-Sharq al-Awsat, the attack was carried out as Hamas members received live ammunition training in the basement of the building under Hamas control.

The daily said Hezbollah told Hamas it would not intervene, and that Hamas “would have to resolve the problem on its own.”

Ash-Sharq al-Awsat also reported that Hamas decided to close its office in Haret Hreik until the situation was resolved.

Note Hamas were conducting their drills in a residential building, and Hizbullah was not disappointed about that, but rather that Hamas did so without their knowledge.

And please remember these details next time Israel responds to terrorist fire, and civilians are hurt or killed (especially you, Mr Goldstone).

10:28PM: The Jerusalem Post has reported it was a Katushya rocket that landed near Ashkelon, and not a Qassam as reported by the likes of Ha’aretz and Ynet.

Why can’t we get some reliable reporting?

8:50PM: And for their next trick – a Qassam.

And Ynet, get your facts right. It has been 10 mortar shells today, not 7.

8:02PM: Someone please tell me this is a joke.

Israel will pay US $10m in compensation for damage caused to United Nations buildings in Gaza during the assault a year ago, officials have said.

This will be the first compensation paid by Israel for damage caused during the Gaza offensive.

UN storehouses, school buildings, offices and vehicles were damaged or destroyed during the conflict.

Israel insists UN sites were not targeted during the offensive and says the payout is for collateral damage.

Israel also says that Hamas fighters operated in or near UN-protected buildings during the offensive.

The payout is a result of several months negotiation. A UN inquiry in May last year found that Israeli forces had, on seven occasions, “breached the inviolability of United Nations premises” and were responsible for deaths and injuries.

At the time UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said he would seek more than $11m compensation from Israel for damage to UN property.

Israeli officials say that the settlement should be viewed as a good-will gesture and says it has a good working relationship with the UN.

The UN is beyond being openly hostile towards Israel; it also employs terrorists (admitting doing so) including one of the schools hit during Operation Cast Lead and for which Israel is now paying compensation. Not only that, but the terrorists were actually using UN buildings to launch their terrorist attacks.

So as far as I’m concerned, the UN should be paying us.

6:14PM: Meet the anti-Semitic..err anti-Zionist palestinian sheikh who states the Jews are a cancer. And like AIDS.

And that’s some of his more mild claims.

Notice how he says Islam will one day rule the world again. And that belief, my friends, is the root cause of Islamic terrorism.

6:08PM: Not content with firing 10 mortar shells at Israel, Gaza-based terrorists fired an anti-tank missile at IDF troops earlier this afternoon.

5:50PM: Zionist Muslim Sheikh Abdul Palazzi on his recent visit to Jerusalem.

4:32PM:  Honest Reporting looks at 10 significant articles, blog posts, cartoons and videos from the past decade.

1:12PM:When it comes to palestinian/pro-palestinian protesters, there seems to be no shortage of potential future Darwin Award winners.

This tool protesting against Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer during a New Zealand tennis tournament (because Peer shows disproportionate force against her opponents?) is the latest in this long line of those who might just improve humanity’s gene pool by removing themselves from it.

1:00PM: Palestinian terrorists have already fired 7 at least 10 mortar shells from the Gaza Strip today. There have been no reports of injuries or damage, so once again I expect the world to collectively yawn.

It should be noted that the terrorists are also causing their people to suffer.

In the wake of the mortar fire, the Defense Ministry closed the Kerem Shalom crossing until further notice. Dozens of aid trucks that were prepared to deliver humanitarian supplies to Gaza were waiting at the crossing Thursday morning, Israel Radio reported.

Now compare the terrorists utter disregard for the lives of civilians with Israel’s.

Palestinians said the Israel Air Force dropped thousands of fliers in Gaza morning, warning residents there to stay away from the border with Israel and to avoid involvement in smuggling, Ma’an reported.

One of the fliers featured a map, and warns Gazans that anyone within 300 meters of the security fence is endangering himself.

Another flier urges Gazans not to sit idly by as smugglers put them and their communities in harm’s way. It includes a phone number and E-mail address for anyone willing to provide information about the smuggling tunnels.

When it comes to genocide, we are huge failures.

12:54PM: The White House has denied Rahm Emanuel said he is fed up with Israel and the palestinians.

White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel denied reports that said he is fed up with Israel and the Palestinians, a White House aide told Haaretz on Wednesday.

The White House aide emphasized that Emanuel’s statements were distorted. “He expressed frustration with the lack of progress with the peace process, but he certainly didn’t threaten to walk away from it. The allegations are completely ridiculous,” the aide said.

The White House doth protest too much, methinks.

10:25AM: Interesting article on the plight of palestinian Christians.

6:12AM: Still on the subject of Hizbullah,it is the Lebanese government’s refusal to reach any understanding with Israel over security arrangements in the north, apparently under pressure from Hizbullah, which is holding up an Israeli withdrawal from the northern part of Ghajar.

The Lebanese government, apparently under pressure from Hizbullah, is not willing to provide any kind of commitments that would allow this plan to be put into practice, The Post has learned, “fearful” that this would be seen as giving Israel legitimacy.

Needless to say, I’m not optimistic about the Lebanese government ever arriving at a peace agreement with Israel.

6:06AM: It has been reported that UNIFIL forces last week discovered a large number of buried explosive devices in southern Lebanon about a kilometer from the border with Israel, apparently planted by Hizbullah.

The well-made bombs, approximately 10 in number, believed to be made either in Iran or Syria, contained a total of about 300 kilograms of explosives. According to sources in Israel, it is believed the devices were placed at the site by Hezbollah to strike at an Israel Defense Forces patrol that might try to enter Lebanon at the site, near the northern Israel town of Metula.

—-

The UNIFIL statement said placing the explosives was a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which prohibits possession or use of weapons south of the Litani River by unauthorized persons, meaning other than the Lebanese army or UNIFIL forces.

Senior government officials in Jerusalem said that following the incident Israel approached UNIFIL officials as well as UN Headquarters in New York to make clear that it believes that Hezbollah is behind the incident, rather than World Jihad, which had fired rockets into Israel in recent months.

In other news, there is a group who fired rockets into Israel called World Jihad. I suppose the root cause of their terrorism is Israeli “occupation”?

12:10AM: Hamas is blaming Israel for yesterday’s Galloway “aid convoy” inspired riot.

Clashes on Egypt’s border that left at least one Egyptian soldier dead and dozens of Palestinians hurt are related to the construction of an Egyptian underground barrier, Hamas admitted Wednesday.

Ehab Ghussein, the spokesman for Gaza’s Interior Minister, linked the day’s events to Egypt’s construction of the underground barrier along its border with Gaza. He called the protest “a natural reaction to the iron wall and against the policy of cutting the veins of life that is taking place there.”

Ghussein said 35 Palestinians were injured, including five who are brain dead. His tally could not be reconciled with that of local doctors.

Cry of the hungry

Meanwhile, Hamas parliamentarian Mushir al Masri said that the “iron fence would not be able to defeat the Palestinian people, just like Operation Cast Lead did not defeat us.” He also stressed that Hamas will continue to view Israel as its main enemy, noting that “the occupation is dangerous for Egyptian security just like for Palestinian and Arab security.

Another Hamas member, Fauzi Barhoum, said that Wednesday’s protests marked “the cry of the hungry.”

Cry of the hungry, eh?

You mean, like this?

“Hey waiter, pleasssssse bring some more desert to our table?”

Good.

Meanwhile, Hamas has rejected suggestions that they have rejected Israel’s latest offer. But they haven’t denied threatening to kidnap more soldiers.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

11:10PM: Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon gets right to the facts.

The recent statements by the European Union’s new foreign relations chief Catherine Ashton criticizing Israel have once again brought international attention to Jerusalem and the settlements. However, little appears to be truly understood about Israel’s rights to what are generally called the “occupied territories” but what really are “disputed territories.”

That’s because the land now known as the West Bank cannot be considered “occupied” in the legal sense of the word as it had not attained recognized sovereignty before Israel’s conquest. Contrary to some beliefs there has never been a Palestinian state, and no other nation has ever established Jerusalem as its capital despite it being under Islamic control for hundreds of years.

The name “West Bank” was first used in 1950 by the Jordanians when they annexed the land to differentiate it from the rest of the country, which is on the east bank of the river Jordan. The boundaries of this territory were set only one year before during the armistice agreement between Israel and Jordan that ended the war that began in 1948 when five Arab armies invaded the nascent Jewish State. It was at Jordan’s insistence that the 1949 armistice line became not a recognized international border but only a line separating armies. The Armistice Agreement specifically stated: “No provision of this Agreement shall in any way prejudice the rights, claims, and positions of either Party hereto in the peaceful settlement of the Palestine questions, the provisions of this Agreement being dictated exclusively by military considerations.” (Italics added.) This boundary became the famous “Green Line,” so named because the military officials during the armistice talks used a green pen to draw the line on the map.

After the Six Day War, when once again Arab armies sought to destroy Israel and the Jewish state subsequently captured the West Bank and other territory, the United Nations sought to create an enduring solution to the conflict. U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 is probably one of the most misunderstood documents in the international arena. While many, especially the Palestinians, push the idea that the document demands that Israel return everything captured over the Green Line, nothing could be further from the truth. The resolution calls for “peace within secure and recognized boundaries,” but nowhere does it mention where those boundaries should be.

It is best to understand the intentions of the drafters of the resolution before considering other interpretations. Eugene V. Rostow, U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs in 1967 and a drafter of the resolution, stated in 1990: “Security Council Resolution 242 and (subsequent U.N. Security Council Resolution) 338… rest on two principles, Israel may administer the territory until its Arab neighbors make peace; and when peace is made, Israel should withdraw to “secure and recognized borders,” which need not be the same as the Armistice Demarcation Lines of 194.”

Lord Caradon, the British U.N. Ambassador at the time and the resolution’s main drafter who introduced it to the Council, said in 1974 unequivocally that, “It would have been wrong to demand that Israel return to its positions of June 4, 1967, because those positions were undesirable and artificial.”

The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. at the time, former Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, made the issue even clearer when he stated in 1973 that, “the resolution speaks of withdrawal from occupied territories without defining the extent of withdrawal.” This would encompass “less than a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from occupied territory, inasmuch as Israel’s prior frontiers had proven to be notably insecure.”

Even the Soviet delegate to the U.N., Vasily Kuznetsov, who fought against the final text, conceded that the resolution gave Israel the right to “withdraw its forces only to those lines it considers appropriate.”

After the war in 1967, when Jews started returning to their historic heartland in the West Bank, or Judea and Samaria, as the territory had been known around the world for 2,000 years until the Jordanians renamed it, the issue of settlements arose. However, Rostow found no legal impediment to Jewish settlement in these territories. He maintained that the original British Mandate of Palestine still applies to the West Bank. He said “the Jewish right of settlement in Palestine west of the Jordan River, that is, in Israel, the West Bank, Jerusalem, was made unassailable. That right has never been terminated and cannot be terminated except by a recognized peace between Israel and its neighbors.” There is no internationally binding document pertaining to this territory that has nullified this right of Jewish settlement since.

And yet, there is this perception that Israel is occupying stolen land and that the Palestinians are the only party with national, legal and historic rights to it. Not only is this morally and factually incorrect, but the more this narrative is being accepted, the less likely the Palestinians feel the need to come to the negotiating table. Statements like those of Lady Ashton’s are not only incorrect; they push a negotiated solution further away.

10:18PM: Hamas has claimed it uncovered a plot by Israel to gather information about the location of Gilad Shalit, imvolving former security officers belonging to Fatah.

A senior Hamas official said that Israel had recruited a number of officers who used to serve in the Fatah-dominated security forces before the Islamist movement seized control of the entire Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007.

Abu Abdullah, who serves with Hamas’s Internal Security Service, said that the officers had been entrusted with the mission of locating the place where Schalit was being held by his captors.

“The Shabak is very interested in obtaining any information about the whereabouts of Schalit through various methods,” Abu Abdullah said, referring to Israel’s Security Agency (Shin Bet). “One of these methods was the last war [Operation Cast Lead], whose goal was to break Hamas and obtain information about the location of Schalit to rescue him.”

The Hamas security official revealed that his men arrested “a number of collaborators” who had rented an apartment and vehicles in the eastern area of the Gaza Strip.

He claimed that the “collaborators” were planning to kidnap a senior member of Hamas’s armed wing, Izaddin al-Kassam, and hand him over to Israel for interrogation about the location of Schalit.

Abu Abdullah did not name the top operative who was supposed to be abducted. However, he told a Hamas-affiliated Web site that his men managed to foil the alleged scheme in the last minute.

He said that the alleged Israeli operation was similar to an earlier incident where undercover IDF soldiers are said to have detained another senior Hamas operative, Muhawesh al-Qadi, from the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip more than a year ago.

Abu Abdullah reiterated Hamas charges that former security officers belonging to Fatah were working with the IDF and other Israeli security branches to undermine the movement and free Schalit. He also claimed that these “collaborators” had also provided the Israelis with information about Hamas men who fired rockets into Israel.

4:52PM: Ma’an News reports:

The UN relief agency UNRWA said on Tuesday that Gaza had been “bombed back, not to the Stone Age, but to the mud age,” because the agency was reduced to building houses out of mud due to Israel’s ban on construction materials entering the Strip.

Little known historical fact: During the Mud Age, man was apparently able to produce and fire rockets.

6:55AM: Israeli magician Hezi Dayan is attempting to break David Blaine’s 58-hour world record for remaining inside an ice cell, by remaining inside for 64 hours.

6:05AM: Fatah Central Committee member Sultan Abul Enein stated the blast in Beirut that killed two Hamas members was an accident.

He said in an interview with Voice of Palestine radio that the explosion resulted from a “misuse of arms,” and had no security or political significance.

He did not say on what basis he made these assertions. Abul Enein served as one of Fatah’s senior leaders in Lebanon for years before moving to the West Bank in August.

The two Hamas members were buried on Tuesday. Hamas has not publicly accused anyone of carrying out the apparent bombing.

Speaking at the funeral on Monday, Hamas’ top leader in Lebanon, Osama Hamdan declined to speculate on who was responsible.

Also on Monday Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported that the blast had been caused by 15 kilograms of TNT.

My money’s still on premature explodation, although I’m now beginning to think Fatah may have had a hand in it.

6:00AM: Hassan Nasrallah speaks of his respect for the US and desire for peace once Israel withdraws from the northern part of the village of Ghajar.

5:55AM: Lebanese Druze leader Walid “Mr Burns” Jumblatt yesterday urged Israeli Druze not to serve in the IDF.

Speaking to Nazareth-based Radio A-Shams, Jumblatt said that all Druze are Arabs who follow the Druze religion, and thus ties between Druze in different countries and between Druze and other Arabs were only natural.

The Druze leader, who was visiting Cyprus, met recently with a delegation of Israeli Druze dignitaries led by MK Said Naffaa (Balad) and clergymen from Mount Carmel and the Galilee. He said his ties with Israeli Druze began in Amman in 2001 and have been developing ever since.

Jumblatt noted that there was an increasing awareness of such ties among young Druze in Israel and said that many of them were already refusing to join the military. “The fact that the number of Druze avoiding military service has risen from 5 percent to almost 60 percent is proof enough of the importance of this connection,” he said.

The percentage of Druze that join the military has long been contested by both sides of the ideological debate. At a conference in the Druze village of Julis attended by then-prime minister Ehud Olmert, Dr. Yussuf Hassan of Tel Aviv University presented a survey stating that 94 percent of Israeli Druze see Israeliness as an important part of their identity. IDF Col. Ramez a-Din told the conference that 83 percent of young Druze join the military, compared to only 72 percent of Jewish youths.

Jumblatt rejected criticism that he was intervening in another community’s internal affairs. “There were voices that I can only describe as primitive who attacked our initiative, but we’ve proven that maintaining this relationship strengthens the Arab Palestinian identity of community members in Israel, and especially the young,” he said. “The rising numbers of conscientious objectors show the Druze will no longer be border guards for the State of Israel.”

Wow, the last time a Leonardo made it’s way to Israel, it was accompanied by a pretty girl. I wonder if that will be the case this time.

Meanwhile, Berlusconi is taking the visit seriously, especially his speech to the Knesset.

A few days ago, the Knesset received a telegram from one of Berlusconi’s advisers stating that the prime minster did not intend to miss his visit to the Israeli parliament. The adviser wrote that the visit is one of the highlights of his career,” and he sees the speech he is to give to the Knesset plenum as the most important speech in his life along with the speech he gave to the U.S. Congress.

As is Israel.

The Knesset House Committee is expected today to vote to permit Berlusconi to address the Knesset in Italian.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

10:55PM: The former head of El Al explains to Fox News why the underwear bomber would never had made it on to an El Al flight.

8:15PM: From nuclear to nookie? Nuclear “whistleblower” (I hate that term) Mordechai Vanunu claims he was arrested for meeting his Norwegian girlfriend.

Vanunu was released after claiming during a court hearing that the relationship between him and the Norwegian woman he met with is of a romantic nature, Channel 10 news reported.

“He is not accused of divulging any information,” said Vanunu’s lawyer Avigdor Feldman, according to Channel 10. “She is not interested in nuclear matters. She is interested in Mordechai Vanunu, who seems to be interested in her.”

Assuming he is telling the truth (a huge assumption to in itself), I wonder what pick-up line he used. My bet is:

“There’s a whistle in my pocket with your name on it.”

7:56PM: It’s time for another round of “Blame the Zionists.”

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday opposition rallies were a foreign-backed “nauseating masquerade”, the official IRNA news agency reported.

“This is a nauseating masquerade that the Zionists and Americans organized and bought a ticket for, and for which they are the only spectators. The Iranian nation has seen a lot of such masquerades,” Ahmadinejad added.

It was the first public speech the president had given since the eruption of reformist protests in his country a few days ago, which have so far claimed the lives of at least 15 people. At least 20 have been arrested.

The nephew of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi was one of the victims of the protests, and the conservative Kayhan paper ran an editorial blaming Mousavi for his death. The editor, Hossein Shariat Madari, also claimed that the opposition leader had ties with “Zionists” and received orders from the Israeli Mossad.

“Since the beginning of the riots all evidence shows that there is a connection between the leaders of the struggle to the Zionists and that they have received orders directly from the Mossad and the CIA,” wrote Madari, who is known as an associate of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

“The barbaric and bloodthirsty enemies and the agents who accept orders from Israel did not even refuse to plan the murder of their own nephew,” he added.

I wonder if they actually believe this rubbish.

5:50PM: Yet another example of the word “women” being used loosely.

Mrs Doubtfire called. She wants her look back.

4:50PM: George Galloway once again voices his support for terrorism.

4:28PM: A 50-year-old Israeli man has been granted a divorce for an Israeli-record 11th time.

He apparently has no grey hair.

Go figure.

1:06PM: Sderot, one year after Operation Cast Lead.

1:04PM: Nu nu Vanunu: Israeli traitor Mordechai Vanunu – previously incarcerated for 18-years for revealing details of Israel’s nuclear weapons program – has been arrested on suspicion he met with foreigners in direct violation of his parole orders.

Perhaps he missed those long summer nights in prison..

11:32PM: Lebanese paper Al-Nahar has reported that the UN is holding talks with Israel and Lebanon, concerning an Israel withdrawal from the northern part of the village of Ghajar* by the end of January.

According to the report, the UN and the United States hope that Israel’s withdrawal from the northern part of Ghajar will lead to an ease in tensions between Israel and Lebanon.

Not very likely, considering Hizbullah has made it clear they won’t rest until Israel is destroyed.

* Not to be confused with this

9:00AM: From the Karma’s-a-Bitch Department: Norwegian doctor Erik Fosse, who along with the appropriately named Mads Gilbert, collaborated with Hamas in helping to disseminate anti-Israel propaganda during Operation Cast Lead, was recently stabbed in Gaza.

Per an unauthorized translation from Aftenposten:

I take it as a sign of how desperate people are. They have cause to be dissatisfied with the west, he says.

Why do you think precisely you were attacked?

Because I was the only blond western present. I understand that people are frustrated with the west. It is an expression of desperation. But of course one cannot stab people for this reason. The man who attacked me was a disturbed person, says Fosse.

He says there was only a small wound, since the knife-blade broke.

Notice how Fosse is so willing to exonerate the attacker and blame it all on the West. It is inconceivable that palestinians would murder, maim or wound anyone without valid justification. It must be because they are oppressed or disturbed.

As this blogger states:

Another interpretation might be that Fosse’s attacker was frustrated with Hamas, the genocidal movement Fosse and Gilbert insist the west acknowledge as a legitimate organization and pressures Israel to negotiate with.

When Hamas went to war against Israel through a sustained rocket-barrage which lasted for years, the NORWAC doctors looked the other way. When Israel struck back and Hamas hid behind the unfortunate civilian population, the doctors published a book filled with photographs of maimed children. And now that Fosse is stabbed, it is the west’s fault.

(hat tip: Brian of London)

6:20AM: PA politician Mustafa Barghouti claims that Jesus was the first palestinian.

Well, if you invent an entire nation, what’s the big deal with reinventing the history of one individual?

The series of attacks on Israeli targets in Turkey planned by Hezbollah, as reported in the Turkish media, which was foiled by Turkish security forces two months ago, is likely to have caused the tension between Israel and Hezbollah along the Lebanon border this past summer and fall.

Yep. That would do it.

Meanwhile, Lebanese Prime Minister Sa’ad Hariri met with Syrian Dorktator Bashar Assad to improve the relations between their countries to better defend Lebanon against Israel, even though the Syrians almost certainly killed his father.

Damn. I was hoping he was going to reveal himself as Iron Man and exact vengeance upon the Dorktator’s sorry ass.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

8:05PM: Sorry for the relative lack of blogging today but real life has a habit of getting in the way sometimes.

9:30AM: Majed El Shafie, founder and president of Canadian-based human rights group One Free World International, speaks about the Muslim palestinian persecution of Christians.