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Mid-East Briefs

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By JTA News Service

Various Mid-East news briefs from our 11/24/06 issue.

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Human shields stop Israeli airstrike


Israel called off an air raid against the house of a senior Palestinian terrorist after it was surrounded by civilians. Hundreds of Palestinians flocked to the Gaza Strip home of a Popular Resistance Committee commander Sunday after Israel warned his family to get out ahead of a planned airstrike. The operation was called off, with military officials citing concern the human shields could be hurt. Israel’s air force bombed the Gaza homes of five terrorists last week after a Palestinian rocket salvo killed a woman in Sderot. The military said those buildings were used to store weapons or plan attacks.


Livni: Lebanese assassination indicative


Israel’s foreign minister called the assassination of an anti-Syrian Lebanese Cabinet minister "another example of the kind of neighborhood we live in." The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday quoted Tzipi Livni shortly after the assassination of Christian politician Pierre Gemayel, who was shot to death while driving in his car in Jdeideh, a Beirut suburb. The Phalange Party politician belonged to a prominent family of anti-Syrian politicians, including his father - former President Amin Gemayel - and his uncle Bashir, a president-elect who was assassinated in 1982 before he took office. The killing comes amid an already tense situation in Lebanese politics, with Hezbollah vying for increased government control since its summer war with Israel. Gemayel is the fifth prominent anti-Syrian figure in Lebanon to be assassinated since Rafik Hariri was killed in a 2005 car bombing. The Post further quoted Livni as hinting of Syrian involvement in Gemayel’s death. "The negative role of Syria is nothing new," she said. "Clearly, Syrian forces are trying to be involved now, but it’s too early to say anything concrete."


IDF reports record motivation


Israel’s military reported record levels of motivation among recent conscripts. According to Israel Defense Forces data published by the media Tuesday, 70.8 percent of winter draftees who have eligible health profiles volunteered for elite combat units, an unprecedentedly high figure. The regular infantry brigades reported more applicants than places in their units. The data appeared to offset speculation that Israel’s military morale would suffer in the wake of the inconclusive summer war against Hezbollah in Lebanon.


Amar: Change law on immigrant converts


Israel’s Sephardi chief rabbi proposed denying automatic citizenship to Jewish converts. Rabbi Shlomo Amar said Tuesday that the Law of Return, which currently grants immigrant converts the right to become naturalized Israeli citizens, should be amended. "Jewish law is very clear on this: There is only one form of conversion," Amar told Israel Radio, referring to Orthodox ritual, rather than Conservative or Reform. "My proposal, by applying to all types of conversion, would prevent infighting." It was not immediately clear how far Amar has gone in trying to legislate the change. Israeli media quoted the Prime Minister’s Office and Interior Ministry as saying they had not been approached on the matter. Under Amar’s proposal, rather than being naturalized immediately, immigrant converts would come to Israel and seek citizenship according to "objective criteria." These were not specified.


Livni: Bolster Abbas


Israel must bolster the Palestinian Authority president, Tzipi Livni said. The Israeli foreign minister told a London audience Monday that the key to sidelining Hamas and restarting peace talks with the Palestinians is to empower Mahmoud Abbas, who leads the rival and more moderate Fatah faction. "I believe we should find a way to promote a process in stages, to work with" Abbas "as a moderate leader and to find a way to strengthen him," Livni said without elaborating. Israel’s defense minister, Amir Peretz, drew fire from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for conducting direct talks with Abbas on Sunday.


A Lost Tribe returns?


A group of 51 immigrants from India who claim descent from one of the biblical lost tribes immigrated to Israel. The Bnei Menashe group arrived Tuesday. Another 167 will be arriving in coming days and weeks. The group was the first to immigrate to Israel as recognized Jews after undergoing Orthodox conversions in the remote northeastern corner of India where they have lived for generations. The aliyah of members from the Bnei Menashe community was praised by Michael Freund, head of Shavei Israel, which assists "lost Jews" seeking to return to the Jewish people. "It’s a terrific feeling after so many years of obstacles and headaches along the way. To finally see it all pay off and to see the Bnei Menashe be reunited with their loved ones here in Israel made it all worth it," said Freund, who spearheaded the effort to bring the group to Israel. He said he hopes the 7,000 members of the community who remain in India will also make aliyah one day. About 1,000 Bnei Menashe live in Israel already. The Jewish Agency for Israel - assisted by the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, which donated $1.5 million for the group’s arrival and resettlement in Israel - is facilitating absorption in Israel.


Israeli censors nix ‘Borat’ posters


Posters advertising "Borat" in Israel reportedly were rejected as too racy. Ha’aretz reported Tuesday that film censors nixed images showing Jewish comedian Sacha Baron Cohen’s Kazakh alter-ego wearing only a G-string. The distribution company is producing new posters with Borat in a suit. The film, which has been a success in the United States and Europe despite debate over its satirically racist and sexist content, opens Thursday in Israel.


2 Hamas members killed in strike


Israel killed two Hamas members in an airstrike on Gaza City. Four Palestinians were wounded in the strike, including a 1-year-old girl. Earlier Monday, a Palestinian was shot to death while approaching a West Bank checkpoint. He was carrying a gun and ignored orders to stop; on searching his body, it was discovered that the gun was fake. Palestinians continued to fire rockets at southern Israel, with one rocket causing damage in Sderot. Also Monday, Palestinians surrounded the home of a Hamas operative, acting as human shields to prevent an Israeli strike after the army warned occupants to vacate the house.


Germany probes 6 in El Al plot


Germany is investigating an alleged plot to blow up an El Al plane. German prosecutors announced the weekend arrests Monday, saying the alleged plot was uncovered when suspects tried to persuade an airport worker to load a bomb onto a passenger plane. The suspects made contact with the person but were unable to agree on a price for planting the explosives. German authorities arrested six suspects last Friday, releasing five Saturday. The sixth suspect was held on an unrelated matter. El Al officials had no comment on the report.


Defense lawmakers demand Peretz quit


Israeli lawmakers demanded the defense minister’s resignation. Members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee called Monday for Amir Peretz to step down. This followed Peretz’s telephone conversation Sunday with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Political sources said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has held off on meeting Abbas, was angry at the disclosure. Appearing before the Defense Committee, Peretz said he spoke with Abbas only to make clear that Israel was firm in its demand that unless Palestinian rocket salvoes from Gaza cease immediately, Israel could mount a massive military operation. Peretz heads the center-left Labor Party and has long been seen as more dovish than Olmert, who heads the centrist Kadima. Leading lawmakers from the right and left criticized Peretz, including Yossi Beilin of Meretz, Danny Naveh of Likud and Effi Eitam of the National Union-National Religious Party.


Arab families reject compensation


The families of eight Israeli Arabs shot dead by police during pro-Palestinian riots in 2000 rejected state compensation. The relatives of the slain protesters announced Monday that they would not accept the damages offered by the state, saying they want police officers prosecuted over the October 2000 shootings. Ten Israeli Arabs, a Palestinian living in Israel and an Israeli Jew were killed during riots in solidarity with the nascent intifada. Israel decided not to press charges against policemen involved in putting down the riots, citing lack of evidence.


Sharansky exits


Natan Sharansky officially quit the Israeli Parliament. The Soviet refusenik-turned- Likud lawmaker, who announced his intentions last month, tendered his resignation and was given a farewell ceremony in the Knesset on Monday. He is expected to take up a full-time position at the Shalem Center, a conservative Jerusalem think tank. Sharansky was one of the best-known Jewish dissidents in the former Soviet Union. Having spent many years in KGB custody, he was released in 1986 and moved to Israel. He entered politics in 1996 with the new immigrant party Yisrael Ba’Aliyah, eventually serving as a Cabinet minister. He resigned from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s government last year to protest the looming Gaza Strip withdrawal. That move coincided with the publication of his book "The Case for Democracy," which was co-authored by Israeli diplomat Ron Dermer and drew praise from President Bush. Sharansky is widely expected to write a new book on geopolitics.


Peretz, Abbas in talks


Israel’s defense minister drew fire for holding talks with the Palestinian Authority president. Yediot Achronot reported Monday that Amir Peretz spoke by telephone this week with Mahmoud Abbas about the escalating violence in the Gaza Strip, at the behest of an Israeli Arab lawmaker. Political sources said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has held off on meeting Abbas, was angry at the disclosure. Appearing before the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Peretz said he spoke with Abbas only to make clear that Israel was firm in its demand that unless Palestinian rocket salvoes from Gaza cease immediately, Israel could mount a massive military operation. Peretz heads the center-left Labor Party and has long been seen as more dovish than Olmert, who heads the centrist Kadima.


Olmert rejects U.N. resolution


Israel rejected a United Nations resolution deploring Palestinian deaths in a recent artillery barrage on the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that it is Palestinian terrorists, not Israel, that deserve the General Assembly’s censure. He was responding to an Arab-drafted resolution condemning Israel’s Nov. 8 shelling of Beit Hanoun, which killed 19 civilians, and calling for a probe and an immediate Israeli troop withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. "We have no doubt that it is the State of Israel which must respond to attacks on civilians," Olmert told his Cabinet. "But those who preach morality and roll their eyes have yet to see fit to initiate a resolution in condemnation of those who are shooting with the goal of hitting civilians as a long-range, systematic policy." It was not immediately clear whether Israel would cooperate with any U.N. probe of the Beit Hanoun deaths.


P.A. unity talks suspended


Talks on forming a unity government in the Palestinian Authority were suspended. An aide to P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas, who heads the formerly dominant Fatah faction, said Monday that negotiations on joining a coalition with the governing Hamas had been suspended given irreconcilable differences. Palestinians had hoped that by bringing the more moderate Fatah into government, a Western aid embargo imposed when Hamas came to power in March could be removed. But the Islamist terrorist group has rejected donor nations’ conditions that it recognize Israel and renounce terrorism. According to one Palestinian media report, the dispute between Fatah and Hamas centered on the distribution of Cabinet portfolios.


Bush, Indonesia commit to Palestinian state


President Bush reaffirmed his commitment to Palestinian statehood in a meeting with Indonesia’s president. "Both presidents stressed their support for the establishment of a viable, independent, democratic and sovereign Palestinian state that would live side-by-side in peace with Israel," said a joint statement released Monday after Bush met with Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono during Bush’s Asian tour. Israel and the United States hope to draw Indonesia, the most populous Muslim nation in the world, into Middle East peacemaking.


Ahmadinejad dismisses threats


Iran’s president shrugged off Israeli threats to attack his country’s nuclear facilities as psychological warfare. "This is a media campaign, because the Zionist regime is weak. We have faced stronger countries in the past," an official Iranian news agency quoted Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying Monday. Israeli officials recently have stepped up hints that a pre-emptive strike on Iran’s nuclear sites could be launched if diplomatic pressure on Tehran fails to curb its atomic ambitions. Some independent analysts, however, believe Israel does not have the military capability to take on Iran.


Cluster bombs under scrutiny


Israel’s military chief suggested cluster bombs were used improperly during the Lebanon war. Israel used thousands of the air force and artillery munitions against Hezbollah targets during the 34-day campaign, but leftover bomblets have caused civilian casualties since the war ended and drawn international censure. Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, Israel’s military chief of staff, said Monday that an investigation is under way. "There is no doubt that one of the things we wanted to check was how orders were given and carried out," he told Army Radio. "I think we must check whether the instructions were clear. I believe they were." An Israeli newspaper recently reported that, for budgetary reasons, Israel chose to use U.S.-made cluster bombs rather than a locally produced version, even though the former had a higher "dud" rate and therefore posed more of a threat to civilians.


Lieberman: Kill Hamas leaders


An Israeli Cabinet minister called for Hamas political leaders to be killed. Avigdor Lieberman, a rightist who was recently made Israel’s strategic affairs minister, said in an interview Saturday that the leadership of Hamas, which runs the Palestinian Authority government, should be "cleared out, sent to heaven" in response to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip. Speaking on Israel Radio, Lieberman also said P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas, seen as comparatively moderate, is "irrelevant." He said Israel should shun the elected Palestinian Authority leadership and instead build ties with pragmatic local politicians in the West Bank and Gaza. Yossi Beilin, a left-wing lawmaker, denounced Lieberman’s comments as inflammatory and said he should be fired from the government.


Iran has bomb component?


Israel reportedly informed the U.S. that Iran has acquired a detonator for nuclear bombs. Israel gave the information, gleaned from agents in Iran, to U.S. officials in recent talks, according to the latest edition of The New Yorker.



Posted by JTA News Service on 11/22 at 04:41 PM • Hits: 463



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