Australia has warned Israel it would regard any involvement in the forging or abuse of Australian passports for the killing of a Hamas militant as “not the act of a friend”.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told parliament this morning that three Australians suspected in the assassination of  Hamas militant Mahmud al-Mabuh in Dubai last month appear to have been the victims of passport fraud.

The assassination has been linked in the media by Dubai police to the Israeli security agency Mossad.

Mr Smith said ASIO and the Australian Federal Police were investigating the probable identity fraud involving  Australians Nicole Sandra Mccabe, Adam Marcus Korman and Joshua Daniel Bruce.

Mr Korman, who like the other two Australians lives in Israel, has denied any involvement, while Ms McCabe’s mother says her daughter is heavily pregnant.

“Preliminary analysis by the Australian Federal Police together with the Australian Passport Office shows that the three Australian passports appear to have been duplicated or altered,” Mr Smith said.

“At this stage Australian officials have no information, no information to suggest the three Australian passport holders were involved in any way other than as victims as passport or identity fraud”.

In his strongest comments on the matter, Mr Smith said Australia made “no conclusions” about the investigation into the killings but said it would appear a serious abuse of Australian passports had occurred.

Mr Smith called in Israeli ambassador Yuval Rotem this morning, urging Israel to “fully co-operate” with the Australian investigation.

“If the results of that investigation cause us to come to the conclusion that the abuse of Australian passports was in any way sponsored or condoned by Israeli officials, then Australia would not regard that as the act of a friend,” Mr Smith said.

“Australia, of course, is a longstanding friend of Israel”.

Mr Smith said the passports were all issued in 2003, and since then there had been major improvements in passport security.

“The Australian government condemns in the strongest possible terms the misuse and the abuse of Australian passports,” he said.

The three Australians involved have been offered consular assistance.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

8:05PM: Wow, that Mossad is REAL GOOD!

6:54PM: FU, EU.

5:46PM: Curious caption of the day:

Palestinian children run to take cover during clashes between Palestinian and Israeli soldiers, not seen, in the West Bank city of Hebron, Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010. Palestinians in Hebron continued to protest Thursday over the Israeli decision to recognize a disputed West Bank shrine as one of its national heritage sites. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned earlier this week that the region could plunge into a “religious war” over the decision. (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

Doesn’t look like running to me.

Also, the girl on the left looks suitably distressed (I guess she didn’t hear the photographer’s request to turn on the tears).

1:00PM: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continues to froth at the mouth against Israel, further displaying the peaceful motivation behind his country’s nuclear program.

Arab nations will usher in a new Middle East “without Zionists and without colonialists,” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday.

But with midgets, I assume.

Naqba Dwarf adds: What’s wrong with that?

Ahmadinejad was speaking during a trip to Syria, which follows a string of US efforts to break up Syria’s 30-year alliance with Teheran.

He said that “if the Zionist regime wants to repeat its past mistakes, this will constitute its demise and annihilation.”

12:22PM: It is not often that I will reproduce a Ha’aretz editorial and laud it as making sense, so enjoy this rare moment.

The story just gets more and more complicated, which on its face at least leads us into territory that is more than amazing – wild even – which is hard to judge by rational and professional means.

Twenty-six agents, perhaps even 30, sent to assassinate one person? Granted if they could flee the scene by sea, how could one think that Mossad agents would take cover in Iran? I ask myself. Even if they have unprecedented self confidence the likes of which are unknown?

Without disparaging the skill of Dubai’s chief of police, he took pride that his investigators are much more professional than the Mossad people (whom he accuses of carrying out the operation). One must take into account that he might have gotten carried away in the success of what he had uncovered.

There is no doubt that more than a little of the information that he is disclosing or leaking to the media is part of an ploy in which bits of disinformation are planted. He’s throwing out a lure in the hope that someone in Israel will swallow the bait and respond by incriminating himself or disclosing confidential information.

It began with a leak that on Mabhouh’s body there were signs of brute force that were evident that he was tortured before he was killed. There was even a report that his assassins tied him up with wire. In fact it turned out that for 10 days the Dubai police thought he had died of natural causes, so clearly had he not been tortured.

Now the world is being fed new, allegedly even more dramatic, information about 15 additional suspects, which was released by the Dubai Information Ministry and not the police.

The police chief, who attracted international coverage, apparently isn’t itching to advance the investigation. Last week he was out of the office for personal reasons and now it has been announced that he is on a pilgrimage to Mecca.

It is hard to believe that, if the Mossad intelligence agency carried out the operation, the planners were so irresponsible as to dispatch nearly 30 agents and to expose an entire select operational unit on one assassination operation. This is true even if we assume the planner thought the target should be hit no matter what, and even if hypothetically Mabhouh was on his way to Iran to arrange an arms deal that Israel had seen as changing the balance of power.

Either the new revelations are another salvo in Dubai’s psychological warfare or the police investigators are groping in the dark. It is doubtful we will ever know the truth. The evidence linking Israel to the affair is still weak, certainly for courtroom purposes but also in the diplomatic sphere. But the saga also sends a message of deterrence to Hamas that the long arm of whoever carried out the operation can hit another senior Hamas official.

6:08AM: Heh. (click to enlarge)

(hat tip: Martin)

“Following discussions with the leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, Lord McNally, I have decided that Jenny Tonge will stand down as Liberal Democrat health spokesperson in the Lords following her unacceptable comments suggesting an inquiry into highly offensive allegations against the IDF humanitarian operation in Haiti,” Clegg said in a statement on Friday afternoon.

“The comments were wrong, distasteful and provocative and I recognize the deep and understandable distress they have caused to the Jewish community,” he added.

“While I do not believe that Jenny Tonge is anti-Semitic or racist, I regard her comments as wholly unacceptable,” he said.

“Jenny Tonge apologizes unreservedly for the offense she has caused.”

Well, not quite.

In an e-mail to an anti-Israel activist that was posted on an activist message board on Saturday, the Liberal Democrat peer blamed Jewish Chronicle editor Stephen Pollard for spreading the “silly allegation” and thus damaging Israel’s work in Haiti.

“This is total rubbish, as usual! Palestine Telegraph last week had a long piece by a Jewish American on the subject of organ donation – not an editorial piece,” Tonge said in the e-mail. “It said there were postings on YouTube about organ harvesting in Haiti by the large team sent out by Israel to help! The JC asked for a comment, as I am a patron of the Palestine Telegraph. I actually congratulated Israel for their prompt response to the disaster and said that if allegations were being made they should conduct an inquiry to dispel any rumors. OK? It is quite ludicrous – organs would be useless in that situation anyway and it is a nonsense suggestion.

“Trouble is he [Stephen Pollard] has now SPREAD a silly allegation and done untold damage to a really great effort by the Israelis,” Tonge said.

I wonder if her unemployment checks will be made out to “Baroness.”

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

8:00PM: Sorry, I can’t resist posting this.

Dude looks like a reject from Pee Wee’s Playhouse, yet he idolizes one of the Twentieth century’s most vile murderers.

What’s the bet he’s broadcasting from his mother’s basement?

4:58PM: Despite the PA previously calling it an Israeli conspiracy, Mahmoud Abbas has now reacted to the broadcast of a steamy sex tape involving his office manager by suspending the latter’s sorry (and exposed) ass.

9:35AM: Tell us how you really feel, Rabbi.

Shas’  spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, slammed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in his weekly sermon Saturday evening, referring to the Iranian president as “Haman of our generation” and saying that he “can go to hell”.

The rabbi, who dedicated his address to Jewish laws related to the holiday of Purim, spoke about the followers of Haman, the grand vizier of Persia. “In every generation we have Hamans,” he said. “Now we have a new Haman in Persia, threatening us with his nukes.”

He went on to curse the Iranian leader, using verses from the Bible.

I’m all for equating Ahmadinejad with Haman, and seeing parallels with the story of Purim.

I just don’t know where the Neturei Karta would fit in.

6:00AM: Ma’an news reports:

Palestinian Authority Preventative Security Services in Hebron confiscated 1 million pills advertised as sexual stimulants, worth an estimated 20 million Shekels, from a warehouse in the city. According to the Ministry of Health, the pills originated from China and entered the West Bank without a required permit from the ministry.

The warehouse raid followed a tip-off (no pun intended – ed.) and was carried out in the presence of prosecutor Ashraf Al-Qawasmi, the general manager of tax and customs, Fawzi Abu Dayyah, and representatives of the Ministry of Health.

Khaled Seder, Ministry of Health manager in Hebron, said the pills confiscated were unusual, a variety he has not encountered before during his 28-year career as a doctor, he said.

I wonder if they were ordered by this man.

Meanwhile..

“These are not sexual stimulants; they are poisons. Samples will be sent to the laboratory for examination, to discover the chemical composition of these pill and to ascertain if they comply with Palestinian health standards.”

“We estimate the real value of these stimulants, of which 15 varieties were discovered, if sold on the black market could obtain about 20 million shekels” he added.

Seder added that the Palestinian market would not be able to absorb the large quantity of pills discovered, and speculated that they were intended for export to neighboring countries like Jordan.

Right. That’s why he made this call to the palestinians.

Seder called on Palestinians to consult with their doctor before purchasing pills claiming to assist in sexual-related problems and to obtain a prescription. “Do not let shame kill you; a doctor can help you more than any tonic.”

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.

Twenty-five Muslim countries showed only mediocre support for Israel’s archenemies Hamas and Hezbollah, according to a Pew Research Center survey. The Muslim organizations received more support in Israel’s neighboring countries, while only 37% of respondents in the Gaza Strip said they supported Hamas.

According to the survey, which was conducted between May 18 and June 16 of 2009, only 37% of Gaza residents, who are under direct control of Hamas, said they were in favor of the group, while 47% of West Bank residents vowed their support for the Fatah rival.

Across the border, support ratings for the Palestinian political faction varied greatly; 52% of Egyptian respondents said they backed the group, 56% expressed their support in Jordan, only 30% were in favor of Hamas in Lebanon and a mere 5% in Turkey.

Hezbollah, on the other hand received the support of 61% of Palestinians and 51% of Jordanians, while in Egypt only 43% backed the Shiite party – higher than what the Egyptian leadership was expecting following its recent public clash with Lebanese faction, after Egypt revealed a Hezbollah terror network in its territory.

An interesting finding revealed that within Lebanon only 35% supported Hezbollah – among them 98% were Shiite, while only 18% were Christians and 2% Sunni Muslims. The finding reaffirms the social cleavage between the Sunnis and the Shiites in the country.

The survey also analyzed support ratings for the regional leaders. Saudi King Abdullah ranked first with 92% support in Jordan, 83% in Egypt and 55% in Lebanon. However, despite his popularity in the Arab world, only 38% of Palestinians said they supported the Saudi Arabia Monarch.

Palestinians did however vocalize their support for Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, who received the nod of approval from 65% of residents in the Gaza Strip and 71% in the West Bank. Even in Jordan Nasrallah got a majority approval of 56%, while in Egypt the figure was slightly more modest at 34% — which still represented a substantial pool of proponents.

At home, Nasrallah faced a harsher reality – with only 37% of respondents who said they backed the Shiite leader – among them 97% were Shiite and only 2% were Sunni.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas showed a decline in popularity compared with a similar survey conducted in 2007; only 33% of Egyptian respondents expressed support for the Palestinian leader, compared with 67% in 2007.

Among Palestinians, the decline was not as sharp, with 52% support rating compared with 56% in 2007.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad might be the most hated and ridiculed figure in Israel and the West, but among Palestinians he retained his popularity, with 45% expressing their support.

Second on his list of fans was Indonesia – the largest Muslim country in the world, where 43% declared their fondness to the Persian leader. Other countries in the region were not as forgiving; only 32% of Lebanese and Jordanians said they supported the controversial president, while only 26% of Egyptians and 17% of Turkish said he had their back.

Leader of Al-Qaeda global terror group Osama bin Laden also showed declining popularity, while his strongest supporters could be found in Nigeria (54%) and among of Palestinians (51%), which according to the survey, identify with his worldview.

In the rest of the Muslim countries, Osama bin Laden is not as loved; only 28% support rating in Jordan, 23% in Egypt, 18% in Pakistan, 4% in Turkey and a mere 2% in Lebanon.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

5:00PM: Photo of the day:

You can read more about this individual here.

1:22PM: This woman is worth listening to.

6:00AM: Last week, ex-Governor of Arkansas and former presidential contender Mike Huckabee was honored at a special Knesset event hosted by Deputy Speaker of the Knesset Danny Danon (Likud), after which Huckabee addressed the Knesset.

Comes with an obvious bad language warning

Update: If that doesn’t get me on this list, I don’t know what will.

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?

In other words,  3 of the most evil and deranged leaders in the world today….and Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

You think The New Yorker is trying to tell us something?

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

11:15PM: Here is footahe from last week of a palestinian female terrorist stabbing a civilian security guard at the Kalandiya checkpoint.

An investigation has been launched to find the source that leaked the video to Youtube.

10:25PM: Last week, as I reported, a palestinian terrorist stabbed a man and woman at a Kiryat Arba gas station.

It has now emerged that the husband of the injured woman tried to turn the terrorist into a pancake

The husband of a woman who was stabbed at a Kiryat Arba gas station last week is suspected of attempted murder, after video footage of the incident showed him repeatedly running over the terrorist with his Mercedes.

The woman and another man sustained mild wounds in the attack, while the terrorist was evacuated to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital with critical injuries.

The footage showed the husband, Dudi Mizrahi, driving his car into the gas station and running over the terrorist. He then backed up and ran over the terrorist, who remained motionless after being shot by an off-duty soldier, once again.

The husband repeated the act a number of times. In the video, people can be heard in the background yelling, “No! No! David, stop!”

The car finally came to a complete stop on top of the terrorist, and security personnel proceeded to pull him out from under it.

Police said Tuesday that he is suspected of attempted murder and is currently being held under house arrest in Kiryat Arba.

The terrorist remains hospitalized at Hadassah in serious but stable condition. The Israelis who were injured in the attack have already been released from the hospital.

8:32PM: Jailed Israeli spy Jonathan Pollard is dead against releasing terrorists for Gilad Shalit.

Instead of talking about freeing Palestinian prisoners, Pollard said, “Netanyahu should take the list of prisoners Hamas requested and kill one of them every day until they release Gilad from prison.”

I’m all for it, not to mention taking away the visitation rights of the living ones every day that Gilad is not returned.

5:00PM: Reuters reports:

Ahmadinejad also said Israel  could not do a “damn thing” to stop the Islamic state’s nuclear program, which the West suspects is a front to build bombs.

Is it just me, or Ahmadinejad sounding more and more like a cartoon villain?

A cartoon villain with very real nuclear ambitions.

6:05AM: Baghdad’s Sheik Abd Al-Khalil Al-Fadhawi gets all metaphorical about Israel with such classics as “that dagger planted in the heart of the (Islamic) nation”, “that cancerous growth” and “The West vomited all over the East, and that vomit is Israel.”

I think he needs to align with the Muslim Iman in Sweden who thinks spit will drown us. Because everyone knows that vomit beats spit in the bodily fluid version of rock-scissors-paper.

Here’s what Peres actually said:

“They [Chavez and Ahmadinejad] won’t hold, not because any of us is going to kill them; their own people are getting tired of them. So if you want good relations with them, consider that they are passing passengers. It’s a short-term relationship. So don’t waste too much on them.”

Sure, he isn’t running over to kiss them, but it is hardly a threat.

If anything, it’s giving them the bird.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

10:55PM: Hamas has decided to suspend negotiations over the release of Gilad Shalit until after the Muslim feast of Id al-Adha, claiming Israel is hindering a prisoner exchange agreement between the two sides because of its refusal to release all prisoners demanded by Hamas.

“Israel still hasn’t accepted the demands of Schalit’s captors,” al-Haya said. “We hold Israel responsible for the delay in reaching a prisoner exchange agreement.”

6:48PM: It’s Dersh vs J Street’s Jeremy Ben-Ami, moderated by Eliot Spitzer, with nary a prostitute in sight.

4:30PM: If you are not following me on Twitter, you are a bloody idiot missing out on the whole Israellycool experience, including my Barghouti pop song titles.

4:00PM: Old and busted: Viagra or Cialis

New hotness: Zionist Death Shock ^TM to the privates.

3:48PM: Israeli actress Gal Gadot is set to appear with Tom Cruise in a new film.

Whatever you do, Gal, don’t accept his invitation to see his book collection.

3:00PM: Israel is set to announce a 10-month settlement freeze.

6:16AM: Major Nidal Hasan’s first cousin expresses his shock that cuz perpetrated the evil terror attack at Fort Hood.

Note how he proclaims he’s shocked “especially since the history of this family is non-violence,” while pictures of arch terrorist Yasser Arafat adorn the wall behind him.

6:10AM: Head Hamashole Ismail Haniyeh has reportedly canceled his pilgrimage trip to Mecca as hopes rise for a Gilad Shalit-for-terrorists exchange deal.

Which means we won’t be seeing him like this.

Meanwhile, Israeli is reportedly waiting for the response of Syrian-based chief Hamashole Khaled Meshaal.

6:02AM: Heil Hassan?

Hezbollah fighters parade during a ceremony organized by the militant Shiite Muslim group on the occasion of Martyr’s Day in the southern suburbs of Beirut on November 11. US prosecutors on Tuesday accused 10 people of having supported the Shiite militant group Hezbollah with weapons, fake passports, counterfeit money, stolen laptops and game consoles. (AFP/File/Ramzi Haidar)

A photograph of the Iranian president holding up his identity card during elections in March 2008 clearly shows his family has Jewish roots.

A close-up of the document reveals he was previously known as Sabourjian – a Jewish name meaning cloth weaver.

The short note scrawled on the card suggests his family changed its name to Ahmadinejad when they converted to embrace Islam after his birth.

The Sabourjians traditionally hail from Aradan, Mr Ahmadinejad’s birthplace, and the name derives from “weaver of the Sabour”, the name for the Jewish Tallit shawl in Persia. The name is even on the list of reserved names for Iranian Jews compiled by Iran’s Ministry of the Interior.

Experts last night suggested Mr Ahmadinejad’s track record for hate-filled attacks on Jews could be an overcompensation to hide his past.

Ali Nourizadeh, of the Centre for Arab and Iranian Studies, said: “This aspect of Mr Ahmadinejad’s background explains a lot about him.

“Every family that converts into a different religion takes a new identity by condemning their old faith.

“By making anti-Israeli statements he is trying to shed any suspicions about his Jewish connections. He feels vulnerable in a radical Shia society.”

A London-based expert on Iranian Jewry said that “jian” ending to the name specifically showed the family had been practising Jews.

“He has changed his name for religious reasons, or at least his parents had,” said the Iranian-born Jew living in London. “Sabourjian is well known Jewish name in Iran.”

A spokesman for the Israeli embassy in London said it would not be drawn on Mr Ahmadinejad’s background. “It’s not something we’d talk about,” said Ron Gidor, a spokesman.

The Iranian leader has not denied his name was changed when his family moved to Tehran in the 1950s. But he has never revealed what it was change from or directly addressed the reason for the switch.

Relatives have previously said a mixture of religious reasons and economic pressures forced his blacksmith father Ahmad to change when Mr Ahmadinejad was aged four.

Oy to the vey.