Monday, January 20, 2014

ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER HINTS AT IRAN STRIKE

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Dep. Defense Min. Hints at Israeli Strike on Iran

MK Danny Danon writes in Politico, refers to previous cases in which Israel struck nuclear sites against the US's will.-By Gil Ronen-First Publish: 1/19/2014, 8:58 PM-Israelnationalnews

Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon
Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon-Flash 90
The Deputy Defense Minister, MK Danny Danon (Likud-Beytenu), has penned an article in the US-based Politico website that appears to be a warning about an Israeli intention to strike Iran's nuclear weapon facilities.The relatively short, 400-word article, refers to two previous cases in which Israel struck Islamic nuclear sites without US approval.In 1981, writes Danon, “when Prime Minister Menachem Begin warned the Reagan administration that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was developing military nuclear capabilities, the Americans failed to act. Faced with the prospect of a nuclear-armed enemy Israel was compelled to take matters into its own hands.”While the bombing of the Osirak reactor was widely condemned, Danon notes that former Vice President Dick Cheney admitted years later that Israel’s actions “had averted a catastrophic situation in which Hussein would have been armed with nuclear weapons.”In 2007, Danon continues, Syria was “caught red-handed” attempting to develop a nuclear weapon. Then-President George W. Bush wrote in his memoir that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert called him to say: “I’m asking you to bomb the compound,” but Bush declined.Danon cites the memoir, in which Bush wrote: “I told him [Olmert] I had decided on the diplomatic option backed by the threat of force. The Prime Minister was disappointed… On September 6, 2007 the facility was destroyed. Prime Minister Olmert hadn’t asked for a green light, and I hadn’t given one. He had done what he believed was necessary to protect Israel.”“Disagreements among friends on serious policy matters are legitimate and even to be expected,” Danon adds. “At the same time, both sides must work hard to ensure that hurtful words and personal attacks do not become regular elements of our ongoing dialogue,” he explains, in a possible reference to recent acrimony around an attack by Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon on US Secretary of State John Kerry, which was leaked by an Israeli newspaper.
“Over the next few months, the negotiations with the Iranians and the Palestinians will reach the crucial stages when difficult decisions will need to be made by all those involved,” Danon explains. “It is safe to assume that areas of contention will arise between us and our American allies. I am confident that both sides will work hard to ensure that whatever differences we may have on specific policy questions, we will not let these distractions impede upon our unwavering alliance.”Against the context of the prior allusions to the attacks on nuclear sites in Iraq and Syria, this appears to be a rather broad hint that Israel may, in the next few months, embark on a similar attack on Iran's nuclear sites. The choice of Politico as the venue for the article may be a way of ensuring that the message reaches all US lawmakers, who will not be able to say afterward that they had not been forewarned of Israel's intentions regarding the Iranian nuclear program.The US and other world powers have been negotiating with Iran over its nuclear weapons program, in an attempt to stop the program by diplomacy and avert war. Israel has strenuously opposed the concessions that the powers recently made in the negotiations, and warned that Iran was being deceitful and would not give up its nuclear weapons program unless it was forced to, either by military force or by crippling sanctions. US lawmakers are poised to pass a bill slapping new sanctions on Iran, but President Barack Obama is adamantly opposed to the initiative. Danon's article appears to be a message to the lawmakers, saying in effect: "If you don't slap more sanctions on Iran, Israel may have to strike on its own."

Obama: Less than 50% chance of Israeli-Palestinian peace

US president tells The New Yorker that Iran, Syria deals also are likely to fail, but that all three issues are interconnected

January 20, 2014, 1:27 am 1-The times of Israel
Chances are that the current round of talks between Israelis and Palestinians will end without a final agreement, said President Barack Obama.He made his remarks in an interview with The New Yorker’s David Remnick, which was published online on Sunday.“‘Obama told me that in all three of his main initiatives in the region—with Iran, with Israel and the Palestinians, with Syria—the odds of completing final treaties are less than fifty-fifty,” wrote Remnick.“‘On the other hand,’ he said, ‘in all three circumstances we may be able to push the boulder partway up the hill and maybe stabilize it so it doesn’t roll back on us. And all three are connected. I do believe that the region is going through rapid change and inexorable change. Some of it is demographics; some of it is technology; some of it is economics. And the old order, the old equilibrium, is no longer tenable. The question then becomes, What’s next?’”Obama also said, while discussing Iran, that “members of Congress are very attentive to what Israel says on its security issues.”
The president promised to veto any Iran sanctions bill that reached his desk.Obama expressed no regrets over his decision to back down from a strike on Bashar Assad’s regime in Syria.“I am haunted by what’s happened,” said the president. “I am not haunted by my decision not to engage in another Middle Eastern war. It is very difficult to imagine a scenario in which our involvement in Syria would have led to a better outcome, short of us being willing to undertake an effort in size and scope similar to what we did in Iraq. And when I hear people suggesting that somehow if we had just financed and armed the opposition earlier, that somehow Assad would be gone by now and we’d have a peaceful transition, it’s magical thinking.”
Obama also emphasized that the interests of Israel and the Sunni Arab states are “very closely aligned.”
“What’s preventing them from entering into even an informal alliance with at least normalized diplomatic relations is not that their interests are profoundly in conflict but the Palestinian issue,” he explained, “as well as a long history of anti-Semitism that’s developed over the course of decades there, and anti-Arab sentiment that’s increased inside of Israel based on seeing buses being blown up. If you can start unwinding some of that, that creates a new equilibrium. And so I think each individual piece of the puzzle is meant to paint a picture in which conflicts and competition still exist in the region but that it is contained, it is expressed in ways that don’t exact such an enormous toll on the countries involved, and that allow us to work with functioning states to prevent extremists from emerging there.”

Israel begins returning bodies of Palestinian terrorists

36 bodies to be handed over, following a High Court order; Israeli official says move unrelated to peace talks

January 19, 2014, 11:53 pm 1-The times of Israel
Israel on Sunday night began to transfer the bodies of 36 Palestinian terrorists killed in the past decade to the Palestinian Authority for burial by their families, the military said.The initiative is the result of an appeal by the families of those killed to the High Court of Justice, in collaboration with Israeli organizations. The High Court ruled in favor of returning the bodies over the course of several weeks, and took DNA samples from family members to identify the remains and ensure the bodies were transferred to the right families.The Israel Defense Forces began the operation by transferring the body of Majdi Khanafer, a resident of a village south of Jenin who was killed in 2002, in a gunfire exchange with the IDF, as he was on his way to perpetrate an attack.An additional two bodies will be returned on Tuesday, Palestinians said. They belong to Fathi Jihad Ameera, killed in 2002, and Ata Ibrahim Samhan Samahna, killed in 2004, according to the Palestinian Ma’an news agency.The bodies were buried in Israeli cemeteries in designated plots for enemy casualties, and will be reburied according to Muslim tradition.Last year, the remains of 91 Palestinians were released to the Palestinian Authority. The transfer of the bodies, in an operation titled “Crossing Jordan,” went ahead despite petitions by families of terror victims to the High Court.However, while that move was meant to serve as a confidence-building gesture, a senior Israeli official told Maariv on Sunday that the current move is unrelated to peace talks and is wholly a legal order.Among the 91 bodies discharged last year were the remains of a suicide bomber who killed seven Israelis at Cafe Hillel in Jerusalem; a terrorist who blew up the Jerusalem No. 2 bus, killing 18 people; and two suicide bombers who killed 16 Israelis in Beersheba.
The bodies of seven Fatah terrorists who took over the Savoy Hotel in Tel Aviv in 1975 and were killed in a Sayeret Matkal rescue operation were also returned last year.Times of Israel staff and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Netanyahu welcomes PM of ‘non-hypocritical’ Canada

Stephen Harper praised upon arrival for his support of Israel and for standing up against anti-Semitism

January 19, 2014, 9:08 pm 9-The times of Israel
Thanking Ottawa for not joining much of the world in hypocrisy, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed Canadian counterpart Stephen Harper to Israel Sunday.Harper, accompanied by his wife Laureen and a substantial delegation of leaders from the Canadian government, including several senior ministers, arrived in Israel on Sunday night for his first official visit since taking office in 2006.“This world is often cynical and hypocritical, and you have shown great moral leadership,” Netanyahu said. “When it comes to fighting terrorism, you know that there cannot be any politically correct double talk, but only unequivocal condemnation and united international action.”Canada under Harper has been seen as one of Israel’s staunchest allies, backing the Jewish state at the United Nations and working to isolate Iran.“I have to say, Stephen, that you are a great friend of Israel and the Jewish people. I’m not just saying that – I mean it deeply from the bottom of my heart and I speak for all the people of Israel,” Netanyahu said. “When it comes to anti-Semitism, you have stood up unabashedly at the side of Israel and the entire Jewish people, I think at the side of decency and fairness to everyone: Jews and non-Jews alike. And when it comes to Iran’s repeated calls for Israel’s annihilation and its unrelenting development of nuclear weapons – you and Canada have stood unflinchingly on the right side of history.”The statement by Netanyahu echoed comments to foreign journalists last week in which he lashed out at Europe for hypocrisy in criticizing Israel while letting Palestinian incitement go unchecked.Harper is scheduled to be in Israel for four days, during which time he will meet with Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres to discuss possibilities for increasing trade and strengthening relations between the two countries. The ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the Iranian nuclear threat and instability in Syria are also on the agenda.On Sunday, a press release issued by his office called for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to negotiate with the “Jewish State of Israel,” seemingly backing Jerusalem’s demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as a Jewish state.“When it comes to peace, you recognize that a genuine peace, a lasting peace, must be based on mutual recognition and sound security arrangements on the ground,” Netanyahu said. “You have shown courage, clarity and conviction. And in standing up for the truth, your voice, Stephen, has been an indispensable one. So the people of Israel and I deeply appreciate your friendship and the friendship of the people of Canada to us.”
Harper said he would respond to Netanyahu’s comments in a speech at the Knesset scheduled for Monday, the first ever such address by a Canadian head of state.He will also travel to the West Bank on Monday to meet with Abbas.On Tuesday, he will attend a joint meeting of the Israeli and Canadian governments before accompanying Netanyahu to Yad Vashem, the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement. On his final day in Israel, he plans to tour Christian sites in Israel’s north before attending a ceremony at Tel Aviv University, where he will receive an honorary doctorate.Harper will embark Wednesday on a three-day visit to Jordan to meet with Hashemite King Abdullah II and Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour.An evangelical Christian and one of Israel’s most unabashedly staunch allies, Harper announced the trip at a Jewish National Fund dinner in December, calling Israel “a light of freedom and democracy in what is otherwise a region of darkness” and pledged that the Jewish state “will always have Canada as a friend.”Since his election in 2006, the Conservative prime minister has been a full-throated, unapologetic supporter of Israel.Harper was the first Western leader to cut aid to the Palestinian Authority following Hamas’s seizure that year of power in Gaza, and the first to withdraw from the second UN World Conference Against Racism, known as Durban II, saying the event would “scapegoat the Jewish people.”In November 2012, Canada opposed Palestine’s elevation to the status of nonmember state in a UN General Assembly vote, one of only nine countries to do so.Canada has sided openly with Israel in every one of its military operations since 2006. Earlier this month Harper appointed Vivian Bercovici, a Toronto lawyer and an outspoken Israel supporter, as Canada’s ambassador to Israel.
JTA contributed to this report.

Ya'alon to Terrorists: No More 'Free Shots' on Southern Israel

With the recent uptick in rocket attacks on Israel, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon has a message for Gaza terrorists: Don't try us.-By David Lev-First Publish: 1/19/2014, 8:06 PM-Israelnationalnews

Kassam rocket
Kassam rocket-Israel news photo: Flash 90
With the recent uptick in rocket attacks on southern Israel, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon has a message for Gaza Arab terrorists: Don't try us.Speaking on Sunday, Ya'alon said that the IDF would hit hard and fast against terror targets each time Israel was attacked. “The IDF on Sunday morning targeted a terror cell that was responsible for firing rockets at Israel last week, when rockets were fired at Ashkelon,” Ya'alon said.
“We will not accept the targeting by terrorists of Israel, and we will act to cause damage to anyone that threatens the security of our citizens,” he added.Ya'alon stressed that the days of terrorists taking “free shots” at Israel were over. “We will not permit a return to the days when rocket attacks were a matter of routine. Anyone who tries this will pay the price. I would not recommend anyone in Gaza to try our determination to defend Israelis,” Ya'alon added.Early Sunday, Israeli Air Force (IAF) aircraft targeted several terrorist sites in Gaza, hours after a rocket attack on southern Israel. A statement from the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said that the aircraft targeted two centers of terrorist activity in southern and central Gaza. Direct hits were identified and all Israeli aircraft returned safely to their bases, said the statement. Several hours before the airstrikes, a rocket exploded in an open area between two communities in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council.Last Wednesday, Gaza Arab terrorists fired a barrage of rockets at Ashkelon. Five of the rockets were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, which shoots down rockets before they hit populated areas. Several other rockets may have exploded in open areas. There were no reports of physical injuries or damages. The “Color Red” rocket siren was sounded prior to the explosions.Wednesday night’s rocket attack follows several attacks on Monday.

MK Hotovely: 'Deal" Would Mean End of the Likud

Likud MK Tzipi Hotovely said that if her party's leader attempted to strongarm concessions, it would be the end of the party.-By David Lev-First Publish: 1/19/2014, 11:01 PM-Israelnationalnews

MK Hotovely
MK Hotovely-Knesset Channel
At a rally protesting a prospective agreement by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to territorial concessions in Judea and Samaria, MK Tzipi Hotovely (Likud Beiteinu) said that if her party's leader attempted to strongarm MKs into agreeing to concessions, it would be the end of the party.“The signs are clear that the Americans intend to force us into a deal that will endanger Israel's security,” said Hotovely. “The adoption of the concept of the 'settlement blocs' is the adoption of the conception of the ideas of Yossi Beilin, and it is not permitted for the right to accept this idea,” she added, in a reference to the academician and Labor politician who played a crucial role in concocting the Oslo Accords.The best way to withdrawals of this kind is to pressure the Likud into preventing them. “The road to preventing withdrawals runs through the Likud and the coalition. Netanyahu must realize that he will not have a coalition if he agrees to such withdrawals,” she said.“I advise my friends on the right not to be too calm about what is going on,” she said. “History has told us that calmness in the face of these situations is dangerous. Just like we were surprised by the idea of the Ddisengagement, we are not allowed to be surprised by similar ideas. We call on our friends in the Likud to prevent this kind of breakup,” she added.

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