Thursday, September 12, 2013
Hinting at dismay with Obama, PM says Israel can rely only on itself
In remarks whose content and timing implied criticism of President Barack Obama’s handling of the Syrian chemical weapons crisis, and a concern that Israel could not depend on the US to thwart Iran’s nuclear drive, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday declared that nations that use weapons of mass destruction must pay a price, and said that his own actions as leader of the Jewish state revolved around the conviction that ultimately Israel had no one to rely on but itself when facing enemy threats.Khaled Abu Toameh: Analysis: PA campaigns against Jews at Temple Mount
Speaking at an Israeli Navy graduation ceremony, Netanyahu cited a 2,000-year-old saying by the Jewish sage Rabbi Hillel, “If I am not for myself, who will be for me?” And he said this rule “is more relevant than ever these days in guiding me, in my key actions as prime minister.” Its practical application, he said, “is that Israel will always be able to protect itself, and will protect itself, with its own forces, against all threats.”
What is the PA trying to achieve through this campaign? First, the PA leadership is trying to show Palestinians and all Muslims that it is keen on defending Islamic holy sites against Israeli “conspiracies” at a time when the Arab and Islamic countries are doing nothing.Arab Rioters Open Fire on Jewish Worshippers at Joseph's Tomb
Second, the PA is probably trying to divert attention from its controversial decision to resume the peace talks with Israel. The PA has come under heavy criticism for dropping its preconditions for returning to the negotiations, including a full cessation of settlement construction.
Third, the campaign is designed to depict Israel as a country that has no respect for other people’s religion and holy sites. This would make it easier for the PA to demand control not only over the Temple Mount, but also over east Jerusalem, under the pretext that Israel is violating international laws and conventions in the city.
A large contingent of worshipers who visited the Tomb of Joseph (Kever Yosef) in Shechem Wednesday night were attacked by gangs of Arabs, who threw rocks and bricks at them.Joseph Tomb Attacks Spark Renewed Calls for Israeli Sovereignty
The worshipers were accompanied by a large number of IDF soldiers. The Arabs attacked the soldiers with rocks as well. Troops used anti-riot techniques to quell the mob.
At one point, one of the attackers opened fire at soldiers with an automatic weapon. Troops and civilians took cover, and soldiers fired back in the direction of the gunfire, hitting the terrorist who had opened fire on them and injuring him seriously. He was taken to a hospital in an Israeli city for treatment.
Ben-Dahan’s plea was echoed by other MKs and local leaders at the site. “It’s outrageous that Jews who come to pray at the tomb of the righteous Joseph have to sneak in like thieves in the night, just because the Israeli government is afraid to exercise its sovereignty under the Oslo Accords,” said Gershon Mesika, head of the Samaria Regional Council.IDF Blog: Terror Attacks & Attempts You Never Heard About: Jan-Sept 2013
The Israel Defense Forces deals with terror on a daily basis. This year, an Israeli civilian was murdered as a result of terror, and many more were injured in attacks ranging from stabbings to rockets. There were over 20 attempts to hit Israeli civilians with rocket fire alone. These attacks seem small, and don’t normally make it to the news headlines. But they effect Israeli civilians every day. The IDF will continue to do everything in our power to prevent them.Hevron Hills: Arab Gang Caught with Firebombs in Hand
Soldiers caught four young terrorists on Wednesday night, just moments before they could attack Israelis on a nearby highway.Terrorism Disguised as Charity
The dramatic capture took place in the Hevron Hills in the Judea region, south of Jerusalem.
Soldiers with the Kfir Brigade noticed four suspicious figures hiding near a heavily used junction. They approached the four, who attempted to escape into the nearby Arab town of Kfar Awa. The soldiers were faster, and managed to apprehend them.
The Jerusalem District Court convicted three men today (Wednesday) for running a Hamas terrorist network in Israel's capital city, under the guise of charity work.Fatah Activists Demonstrate Against Al Jazeera Over Arafat Slur
The men, Yaaqub Abu Asab, Kifah Sarhan and Ahmed Ali'an, are accused of managing Hamas' "Advisory Council" in Jerusalem, and were tasked with a diverse range of activities aimed at boosting Hamas' presence in the Jerusalem area and expanding its membership base, including propaganda, social welfare and religious services.
The protesters had to be physically prevented from storming the building by Palestinian Authority (PA) police, and were forced to make do with hurling epithets including allegations that the Qatari-based network was pursuing a "Zionist" agenda.IDF Discovers Bomb, Rifles at Gaza Checkpoint
The activists were incensed by remarks made by a certain Ibrahim Hamami during a heated debate broadcast by the network, in which he branded former Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat a "traitor," due to having signed the Oslo Agreements in 1994, and thus implicitly agreed to a compromise with Israel.
The Israel Defense Force’s “Taoz” Battalion on Tuesday uncovered a bomb and a cache of rifles and cartridges in separate inspections at a Gaza border control checkpoint, Israel’s Channel 2 reported, citing the battalion commander Lt. Col. Amir Zuber.US is ‘floundering’ over Syria, says ex-Mossad chief
In the morning, the battalion uncovered a bomb placed on an agricultural gate, and, in the evening, two “Carl Gustav” rifles and cartridges in a vehicle at the checkpoint.
Shabtai Shavit, who served at the helm of Israel’s overseas intelligence service from 1989 to 1996, accused the administration of President Barack Obama of “floundering” over Syria. He noted witheringly that the US had “balked” at firing “half a dozen Tomahawk missiles” at the Syrian regime in the wake of the August 21 alleged chemical weapons attack by Assad, that the US says killed 1,429 Syrians.Israeli President Peres: ‘Assad Cannot be Trusted’ to Honor Agreement on Chemical Weapons
Replacing the Assad regime was a clear Israeli interest, he said, as it would significantly weaken Hezbollah, leaving Israel to confront Iran without its regional proxy.
Israel’s biggest gain in any action involving Syria would be to break the “axis of evil” between Iran, Syria, and Hezbollah, Shavit added in the rare interview Wednesday, on the sidelines of the World Summit on Counter Terrorism at Herzliya’s International Institute for Counter Terrorism (ICT) which he chairs.
Speaking at the Israeli Navy graduation ceremony Wednesday, Peres said, “Assad cannot be trusted to honor the agreement” but expressed optimism that Washington and Moscow could impose conditions on the Syrian president that would force him to give up his chemical weapons.Leaked UN Inspectors' Report: Attack Looks Like Assad's Work
“I know both President Obama and President Putin and I am convinced that if an agreement is reached it will be reliable, explicit and significant. The agreement must ensure that Assad has no chemical weapons,” he said.
Excerpts of a report by international inspectors on Syria's chemical weapons use was leaked Thursday, and claims that the government of Bashar al-Assad was almost certainly responsible for the deaths of some 1,400 people in an August 21 chemical attack on a Syrian suburb.UN Watch Slams UN ‘Apathy, Banality’ on Syria
The UN inspectors were sent to the country to assess the Syrian chemical weapons program, and were not expected to lay blame on any specific party for the attack. Western observers said that if the leak was accurate, it showed how overwhelmingly involved Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was in the attack.
The UN Watch watchdog group has slammed the United Nations for its “apathy” in the face of chemical weapons attacks in Syria.UN Watch: UN Rights Council Ignores Syria Poison Gas Attack, Slams Israel
UN watch executive-director Hillel Neuer slammed the Human Rights Council in a meeting this week.
“Three weeks have passed since Syria gassed to death hundreds of its own men, women, and children — and still the council closes its eyes, refusing our call for an emergency session,” he accused.
“Madam President, why is this monstrous crime being treated here with such apathy, banality and triteness? Where is this council’s moral outrage? Where is its sense of urgency?” he demanded.
Iran is Using Syria as a Testing Ground
To be sure, the security problem posed by jihadis is no laughing matter. As they continue to raid weapons storehouses once owned by the Syrian army, Israel must think ahead about a scenario involving a raid by al-Qaeda on a chemical weapons facility controlled by the Assad regime.Khaled Abu Toameh: Egypt's War On Hamas
A reality in which al-Qaeda is armed with chemical weapons can never be accepted.
But right now, Iran is just a few months away from a working nuclear weapon, should it decide to obtain one. Its ally in Damascus massacred more than 1,400 civilians with sarin gas, and its ally in Lebanon stockpiles more rockets and missiles than any arsenal in the hands of most modern militaries.
For all of these reasons, a failure to deter the Iran-Syria-Hezballoh axis now could result in a future security deterioration, the outcome of which would be more extensive than any immediate threat posed by jihadis in Syria.
Until recently, Hamas leaders were careful not to engage in a direct confrontation with the new rulers of Egypt. But in recent days several Hamas officials are beginning to regard Egypt's security measures as an act of war against the Gaza Strip.Hamas seeks to lower tension with Egypt
For now, the Egyptians do not want to admit that they are at war with Hamas, preferring instead to describe their measures as part of a campaign against terror. Hamas, for its part, has internalized the fact that it is at war with Egypt.
Hamas, as it is being pushed to the wall and increasingly isolated, faces two options: either to initiate a new confrontation with Israel to create Arab and Islamic pressure on Egypt to halt its war, or to confront the Egyptian army in a direct military engagement by joining forces with the jihadis in Sinai.
The Hamas Islamist group ruling Gaza sought to ease tensions with Cairo on Wednesday by ordering Muslim preachers to mute their criticism of the Egyptian government over what some of the clerics have called its war on Islam.Eye on Sinai
"Preachers should avoid speaking of the internal affairs of Egypt and focus on our Palestinian national issues and our struggle for the liberation of our land and the freedom of our prisoners (held by Israel)," said Ismail Rudwan, the Hamas-appointed religious affairs minister in Gaza.
The sad fact of Egyptian reality is that Sinai is only nominally Egyptian and Cairo’s rule barely extends to it.86 hotels closed in the Red Sea due to tourism recession
It was always nearly extraterritorial, an anarchic expanse whose Beduin tribes feel exempt from the jurisdiction of any central government. Their insubordination went chronically unchecked, under all Egyptian regimes. Any attempt to control them was met by violence.
Sinai’s disorderly domains irresistibly beckon jihadist militias including al-Qaida and its allies, to say nothing of Hamas across the line in Gaza. Egypt’s internal strife had opened new vistas for the forces of obdurate Islam and enhanced existing ones. Foreign firebrands, whose strings are pulled from Gazan control centers, flock in.
Five hotels were shut down in Hurghada, and four others in Marsa Alam and Safaga on Tuesday, bringing the total number of hotels that have been closed in the Red Sea Governorate, due to the tourism recession, to 86 hotels out of 248 hotels.
As for the hotels that managed to stay open, the occupancy level has declined to 24 percent, making use of the domestic tourism, as well as the Czech Republic, whose administration decided to end its travel ban to Egypt.
Some Russian tourists have also been keen on visiting Egypt, via Ukraine, despite the official ban imposed by their country.
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