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Israel intends to pay more attention to South America, especially in light of a secret Foreign Ministry document published yesterday (oops!), which said, amongst other things, that Iran and Hizbullah are making deep inroads into South America, and Venezuela not only helped Iran bypass UN Security Council economic sanctions, but also, along with Bolivia, provided Iran with uranium.
Meanwhile on the subject of Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said yesterday that if Israel does not eliminate the Iranian threat, no one will.
Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)
8:58PM: Jordan is pissed off that members of the Knesset had the temerity to suggest that Israel annex parts of the West Bank, and turn over palestinian population centers to Jordanian jurisdiction.
Wow, Jordan as a palestinian state. Who would come up with such an idea?!
Not that I don’t understand why modern-day Jordanians would be averse to it.
6:10PM: Tzipi, Tzipi, quite contrary.
5:52PM: A crime involving infant inside: Not to be confused with infanticide.
4:28PM: Interesting comments from the brother of the alleged murderer of Dana Bennett (see 4:10PM update).
Ziyad Farhan, the brother of Yihye Farhan, who police suspect is behind the serial murders of Israeli-American teenager Dana Bennet and three others, condemned on Tuesday the acts allegedly committed by his brother.
Yihye, the youngest of 13 children, never met his father, who had served in the IDF and fought for Israel’s independence in 1948, Ziyad said on Army Radio.
“I know that he’s suspected in the girl’s disappearance, but not about the murders,” Ziyad told Army Radio. “I know from the media that he has been remanded in custody and is suspected, to my great dismay, in the murder of the girl for Tiberias.”
Farhan said that he felt a “deep connection” to Israel. “My father was an IDF soldier who fought for the country, also during the War of Independence,” he said. “I have followed in his footsteps in my love of the Jewish people.”
Meanwhile, he adopts a different tone in this Ha’aretz report.
Disheartened and perplexed, the Farhan family gathered at their home Friday. Adwan’s two brothers refused in the name of the family to answer any questions.
“We don’t know anything, it’s all rumors,” the defendant’s elder brother Zayd said angrily. “This story has been blown out of proportion by the press.”
One of Zayd’s sons, a former police officer, said that during his service he helped search for Bennett’s body.
“We feel that they’re trying to lay the blame on my uncle for every murder case, as well as other offenses, in the area,” he said.
Wadi Hamam, a village of 1500 inhabitants, is north of Tiberias and relies heavily on the city’s services.
“We don’t know what implications this story will have for us,” Zayd Farhan said.
“All our life is in Tiberias – whether it’s banks, shops or leisure. Our family is hardworking and leads a quiet life. All this talk about our Islamic radicalization is rubbish. Our father was a soldier in the mandate years and worked with the Palmach [pre-state Jewish militia]. It’s just stupid to stigmatize us.”
What is not clear is which response came first. In any event, the contradictory responses certainly makes the first response condemning his brother and expressing his love for the Jewish people seem less sincere.
4:12PM: A Lebanese army colonel is the latest person to be detained on suspicion of spying for Israel.
4:10PM: Details regarding the murder of Israel-American teenager Dana Bennet have been revealed in the press. Her alleged murderer? An Israeli-Arab with a lust for killing.
The details are here. I cannot stomach to repeat them on this blog.
6:08AM: Hizbullah arch terrorist Hassan Nasrallah has responded to the Der Spiegel report claiming the investigative tribunal probing the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri placed the blame with Hizbullah, in predictable style.
“We see the Der Spiegel report as an Israeli accusation… this claim is very very dangerous,” Nasrallah said in a celebratory speech marking nine years since Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon.
“Der Spiegel belongs to the Zionist lobby, which funds its operations,” the Hizbullah leader added
