Israel's Foreign Ministry released a video to the Arab world, in Arabic, blasting Samir Kuntar, Hizbullah, and the Arab listeners who continue to support terrorism.

The video, which can be viewed on YouTube, is part of an international media campaign targeting the Arabic-speaking world. The video explains who "the real Samir Kuntar" and his supporters are: "Hizbullah is a terrorist organization that sees a cold-blooded child murderer as hero," reveals the narrator of the video, which aims to establish an Israeli moral victory over Hizbullah.

"For Hizbullah, Samir Kuntar is a first-rate hero, while for Israel and the rest of the civilized world he is the most despicable of murderers," the spokesman declares in Arabic. "He is no freedom fighter, but an abominable murderer."

Samir Kuntar crushed the skull of a four-year-old girl and killer her father along with an off-duty policeman in 1979. He has been lionized in the Arab world as a hero for doing so, and respected as a martyr for the nearly three decades he spent in Israeli prisons. The video is an attempt by the Israeli government to combat global Arab propaganda on Israel's terms.

Rather than acquiesce to an Arab media that controls the prerogative of propaganda, the new Foreign Ministry initiative allows government spokesmen to speak directly to the Arab world on the internet.

"The age of waiting for an interview with an Arab station is over," a Foreign Ministry spokeman told Ynet. "The aim is to create a dialogue through the YouTube channel's talkback mechanism. This video is the first, and in it we stressed the cynical way in which Hizbullah has exploited the families' grief and its and Samir Kuntar's boastful manner." 

The spokesman, Ofir Gendelman, is deputy director in the public affairs division of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and is in charge of relations with the Arab press. The YouTube video contrasts Kuntar's murderous nature with the ethical pillars upholding Israel's decision to approve the prisoner exchange.

"This is a child-killer whom Hizbullah is welcoming with praises, cries, and parades. This is a savage murderer, whom you extremists see as a hero," he charges in the clip. "Hizbullah is a radical terror organization that is working under Iranian sponsorship. Hizbullah is proud of cold-blooded murder." 

The video was first launched on the ministry's Arabic website, as well as its YouTube channel.

The video concludes with a warning to the entire Arab audience: "Respected viewers, just one last word. If Hizbullah tries to carry out another kidnapping, the Israeli response will be tougher than it was in July 2006."

Sgt.-Major Ehud Goldwasser, kidnapped by Hizbullah terrorists over two years ago, was laid to rest Thursday moroning at the Nahariya Military Cemetery. The cemetery was thronged with thousands who came to witness the final chapter of his tragic return to his native soil. 

IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi Salutes Goldwasser

Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who was seated in the front row near the soldier's widow Karnit and his mother Miki, eulogized Goldwasser. Speaking to the IDF soldiers present, he said, "If any of you, G-d forbid, should be captured, or should anything worse happen in the fight against the terror organization – the State of Israel, its government, and the IDF will do everything just and possible to bring you home."

Candle-light Vigil for Murdered Soldiers

Barak then turned to the families, saying, "We are burying in Israeli soil the IDF warrior, Udi - your loved one, our loved one. We are adopting you into our hearts. The journey of pain is over; the never-ending journey of memory and grief begins. Our hearts are heavy, but we stand tall before the caskets of our soldiers."

Troops salute coffins on route to funeral

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also participated in the funeral to pay last respects to the fallen soldier. Olmert embraced Ehud's widow Karnit and wiped away tears as he stood above Ehud's casket at the emotional ceremony.

Noam Shalit, the father of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, was also present. Palestinian terrorists associated with Hamas kidnapped Gilad Shalit during a cross-border raid on an IDF base near Gaza on June 25, 2006, and he is still being held there.

Olmert sheds a tear as he comforts Karnit Goldwasser

Olmert embraces Karnit Goldwasser

The soldiers who served with Goldwasser and Eldad Regev in their IDF reserve unit came to the funeral as well. They were released from their current tour of duty in order take part in the funerals.

Hizbullah Cruelty
Rabbi Yisrael Weiss, former Chief Rabbi of the IDF, said that the the identification process of the bodies "was very slow, because, if we thought the enemy was cruel to the living and the dead, we were surprised, when we opened the caskets, to discover just how cruel. And I'll leave it at that."

Regev's Funeral
Eldad Regev's funeral was held at 2 p.m. in the military section of the main cemetery in Haifa.  He is survived by his father and three brothers, who supported each other during the recitation of the Kaddish mourners' prayer and during the ceremony.  Defense Minister Barak eulogized Eldad, praised the Regev family, and blessed the Haran family - three of whose members were brutally murdered in 1979 by Lebanese terrorist Samir Kuntar, who was released to Lebanon in exchange for the bodies of Regev and Goldwasser.

Mourner cries over Regev at vigil

Funeral notice for Eldad Regev

Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah, appearing in public for one of the first times since he went into hiding after the Second Lebanon War, made a three-minute appearance Wednesday night to celebrate Israel's freeing of Lebanese terrorist and child-killer Samir Kuntar and four other Hizbullah terrorists.  The five were released in return for the dead bodies of Hizbullah-kidnapped IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev.

Nasrallah's "era of victories" speech came three years and one month after then-Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Israel Policy Forum, "We are tired of fighting; we are tired of being courageous; we are tired of winning, we are tired of defeating our enemies."
Olmert told the Israel Policy Forum in 2005, 'We are tired of fighting; we are tired of being courageous; we are tired of winning, we are tired of defeating our enemies.'

As world media reported the cheering in Lebanon and the mourning in Israel after the terrorists were freed and the soldiers' bodies returned, Nasrallah told tens of thousands of cheering supporters that the deal achieved the goal that he stated at the end of the 2006 war -- to force Israel to free Kuntar and the Hizbullah guerrillas.

He said Hizbullah achieved another victory by forcing the Lebanese coalition government to give it and its pro-Syrian allies a larger Cabinet representation, giving it veto power over major decisions.

"The age of defeats is gone, and the era of victories has come. This people, this nation gave a great and clear image today to its friends and enemies that it cannot be defeated," Nasrallah said in his brief appearance marked by a large number of bodyguards.

It was the third time he has made a public appearance since the end of the war. Many Israeli government officials have publicly said he should be killed.

Kuntar, who has embraced Hizbullah since his conviction for murdering a child, her father and a policeman in 1979, joined Nasrallah's theme of victory. He vowed to return to terrorism, which he called "Islamic resistance."  He also told the cheering crowd, "I have just returned from Palestine - in order to go back there again in victory!"

The Associated Press reported, "Their return also was a measure of domestic vindication for Nasrallah, who had vowed not to return the two Israeli soldiers until all Lebanese prisoners were freed. Israel did not know the men were dead until their coffins were brought to the southern border town of Naqoura." Exactly a year ago today, Prime Minister Olmert said that indications showed that the two soldiers were alive.

Nasrallah's victory speech and his declared determination to continue fighting Israel were a mirror image of the main points of then-Deputy Prime Minister Olmert's 2005 speech.

Speaking one month before the Disengagement, involving the expulsion of Jews from the Gaza region and turning destroyed Jewish communities over to the Palestinian Authority (PA), Olmert said the policy would bring a new era of peace. "We are confident that this disengagement will be successful and that it will then lead to the beginning of a new pattern of relations between us and the Palestinian Authority," he told an appreciative audience.

"Terror will not disappear overnight, but we know that there is no alternative and we pray that the Palestinians will understand that there is no alternative… And we will spare no effort in order to convince them, not by fighting with them, not by killing them, not by reaching out for their leaders, but by sitting with them, and talking with them, and helping them, and cooperating with them."

Since then, PA and Hizbullah terrorists have attacked Israel with thousands of rocket attacks on the northwestern Negev, have kidnapped three IDF soldiers and launched the 34-day Second Lebanon War that left Hizbullah in a position to strengthen its weapons stockpile far and beyond what it possessed before the war.

Hizbullah has ignored the United Nations ceasefire resolution that called for it to disarm. Its ability to become a stronger force in the Lebanese government was reflected in the victory celebrations Wednesday night in Beirut.

Lebanese President Michael Suleiman welcomed Kuntar and the four other terrorists by saying, "Your return is a new victory."

Prime Minister Olmert said less than one week after the Second Lebanon War began, "Israel will not agree to live in the shadow of rockets and missiles aimed at her citizens." He told the Knesset that the military retaliation for the kidnappings and rocket attacks would continue until the soldiers were released and Hizbullah was distanced from Israel’s northern border.

An examination of the bodies of kidnapped IDF soldiers Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev has determined that the two reservists were killed close to the time of the attack in which they were abducted.

However, it is still not clear as to whether they died in the initial attack, or at the hands of their kidnappers after they were taken captive.

Goldwasser died from a wound to the chest that resulted from the rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) that hit the Hummer he was riding in.  Regev was shot in the head, possibly while trying to escape the burning Hummer.

The identification process took several hours due to the poor condition of the abused bodies. DNA tests were conducted at the Rosh HaNikra border crossing, and a final examination was performed using an advanced imaging system that was brought to the site in order to scan the soldiers’ teeth.
 
Reconstruction of the Attack
The IDF reconstruction and investigation of the kidnapping of fallen IDF soldiers Goldwasser and Regev is still continuing, according to IDF Army Radio.  The principal focus is to determine what happened to the two soldiers after they were taken from their destroyed Hummer into Lebanon.

IDF reports indicate it is likely that Goldwasser was killed in the attack itself, due to his position within the Hummer. Exactly what happened to Regev is less clear.

IDF sources, including former IDF Chief Medical Officer Brig.-Gen. Hezi Levi, note that it is too early to tell if the gunshot wound to the head occurred during the attack itself or if the Hizbullah terrorists “confirmed the kill” later.

The IDF has previously performed several complex reconstructions of the 2006 attack by Hizbullah terrorists.

‘Murder of a POW is a War Crime’
Veteran journalist and Israel Resource News Agency bureau chief David Bedein charged Hizbullah with carrying out a war crime. 

In a statement issued Wednesday, Bedein said, “A few days after Goldwasser and Regev were captured, then-Cabinet Secretary Yisrael Maimon convened a news... in which he told reporters that the two soldiers were captured alive” - rendering them them prisoners of war.

Bedein noted that he personally attended at least 12 more briefings over the next few months, in each of which Maimon said that he relied on Israeli intelligence data saying that Goldwasser and Regev were alive when they were taken prisoner by Hizbullah.

U.S. Rev. Jesse Jackson, acting as an independent envoy, as well as the International Red Cross and the United Nations, all confirmed that Israeli POWs Regev and Goldwasser were alive, he added.

Right up to the end, Hizbullah itself gave every indication that at least one of the soldiers had survived. On Tuesday, just hours before the soldiers’ badly decomposed bodies were returned, the terrorist-linked Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar reported that one of the two reservists was killed during the raid, but that “reliable sources have been unable to ascertain the condition of the second one.”

“Now it is clear that the two died at the hands of Hizbullah while they were held in captivity,” noted Bedein. “The murder of a POW, by definition, constitutes a war crime. The question remains as to which international body will remember that."

“It is the responsibility of every Jew to make sure that the government of Israel holds Hizbullah, Syria, Iran and every international organization accountable,” Bedein added.

The mystery has ended, and the Goldwasser and Regev families are forced to wonder no more. Their sons have at last returned from the battle, but Ehud and Eldad will never again embrace their loved ones.

According to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, that task has now been passed on to the citizens of Israel.

Saluting the caskets.
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Olmert with Eldad Regev's brother.
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In a statement issued Wednesday evening, the Prime Minister said, “The entire nation of Israel embraces the grieving Goldwasser and Regev families. We are tearful and our heart goes out to the relatives, who fought tirelessly and did not lose hope until the last moment.”

Earlier, the bodies of kidnapped IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were delivered to Israel in exchange for the freedom of arch-terrorist Samir Kuntar and four Hizbullah guerrillas, who returned to a hero’s welcome in Lebanon.

Cruelty Up Until the Last Moment
The Lebanese/Hizbullah cruelty to the Jewish soldiers that was revealed to the Israelis who opened their coffins found expression even as the bodies were returned to Israel. The Hizbullah terrorists refused to say whether the two soldiers were alive or dead up to the very last moment, when a representative finally said, in answer to a question, "These two coffins contain the bodies of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev."

In addition to the four Hizbullah terrorists and the murderer who brutally slaughtered two Israeli
“Woe to the nation that at this time celebrates the release of an animal who crushed the skull of a four-year-old child.”
s and caused the death of a third in a 1979 attack on Nahariya, Israel also handed over the remains of 199 others, in new coffins.

In return, Hizbullah sent one coffin containing the remains of other IDF soldiers who died on the battlefield during the 2006 Second Lebanon War.

“This was a day of removing doubts,” declared the Prime Minister in his statement, “certainly in respect to the fate of Udi and Eldad, may they rest in peace, but also with regards to the people of Israel’s moral strength.  Based on this strength, we decided to bring back the boys even at the heavy price of releasing a despicable murderer.

“A foreigner wouldn’t understand what every Israeli understands well: The mutual responsibility and concern for each one of our soldiers is the glue that connects us as a society.”

Barak, Olmert, Karnit
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“The concern for each one of our soldiers," Olmert said, "is what enables us to survive in an environment surrounded by enemies and terror organizations… “

He also had a special warning for Hizbullah, which threw a mammoth party for the murderer and his
"The mutual responsibility and concern for each one of our soldiers is the glue that connects us as a society.”
fellow terrorists to celebrate their return: “Woe to the nation that at this time celebrates the release of an animal who crushed the skull of a four-year-old child.”

Kuntar executed Danny Haran in front of his small daughter Einat before killing her as well, by repeatedly slamming his rifle butt into her head, smashing her skull against a rock. He had also murdered police officer Eliyahu Shachar in that attack.

Olmert concluded the statement with by offering his condolences to the families, whose fight to learn the fate of their sons has now ended: “On this day, my heart goes out to the Goldwasser and Regev families. May the memory of the sons be blessed.”

The Prime Minister tearfully paid his respects to both of the families at the Shraga army base in northern Israel as they sat in separate tents, each keeping company with their son for the last time.

He first entered the tent in which the casket of First Sergeant Major Eldad Regev was placed, and tearfully hugged one of the soldier’s brothers.

He next entered the tent containing the coffin of First Sergeant Major Ehud Goldwasser, and hugged Karnit Goldwasser, now a young widow. The soldier’s aunt read a farewell letter on behalf of the family, in the Prime Minister’s presence.

IDF Chief of Staff: “Every soldier will know…”
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi issued his own statement Wednesday evening as well, noting the significance of the day’s events in terms of its impact on the army’s morale.

Barak, Olmert and Karnit
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Barak, Olmert and Karnit
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“Every soldier sent to battle will know and every mother in Israel will know that her son’s fate, even if they fall captive, will be placed in the hands of commanders who will not give up, day after day, hour after hour on the chance that they may be released."

“My heart is full of hope that we will be successful in returning the rest of the captives and MIAs in the near future,” read the Chief of Staff’s statement.

IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit remains in captivity with the Hamas terrorists who abducted him near Gaza two weeks before the Hizbullah attack in which Goldwasser and Regev were kidnapped. 

IsraelNationalRadio Programming Director Yishai Fleisher, on a speaking tour in the U.S., is making waves with his heart-to-heart calls for Jews to return home on Aliyah.

On Thursday, Fleisher was hosted by Nachum Segal on the "JM in the AM" morning radio show, widely heard throughout the New York area.  The two discussed Fleisher's experiences in Gush Katif before and after the expulsion, and some of the positive lessons the religious-Zionist public learned in its aftermath.

He praised those Jews of the U.S. who recognize the goodness and blessing of the U.S. - and choose to make Aliyah to Israel, the "destiny of the Jewish People," nonetheless.  Fleisher further described G-d's pleasure in "having all His children at home."

Click here to listen.

A week earlier, the Arutz-7 radio host addressed a group in the Ahavas Israel Congregation in Passaic, New Jersey, speaking on, "How is a Jew to Celebrate The 4th of July?"  The speech, which also outlined his and his wife Malka's ideology and activities on behalf of Aliyah in and outside of Israel,  can be seen at
<http://www.kumah.org/2008/07/yishai-speaks-in-passaic-nj.html>
or at
<http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8767048118568537009&hl=en>.

Yishai also spoke at the 1st World Conference of the Noahide Nations in Fort  Lauderdale, Florida, and at the Moses Montefiore Anshe Emunah Congregation in Baltimore, Maryland.  The topic: "Aliyah to Israel: A Modern Haven or Mandated From Heaven?"

Israel Aircraft Industries has unveiled its newest plane. The plane, whose purpose is airborne early-warning, intelligence-gathering, and air combat command and control (AEW&C), is already in service with the Israeli Air Force.

[video:123316]
Can't see the video? Click here 

The aircraft has been modified to include an advanced airborne early warning phased array radar which covers 360 degrees around the plane while in flight. In addition, its command and control systems are heavily automated. The aircraft is based on the GulfStream G550 executive jet, which according the IAI, is extremely fuel efficient for long-range missions. 

IAI is currently the leader in the AEW&C market and will present the plane formally at the world-renowned Farnborough Air Show in the UK shortly.

Former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton has sharply criticized the Bush administration for failing to back an Israeli attack on Iran's developing nuclear facility. In an editorial in the Wall Street Journal, Bolton wrote that although a strike on Iran may not be able to wipe out the underground reactor, it will enable Israel and the Western world "to buy time" before it is too late to act at all.

"The Bush administration's last six months [of] pursuing its limp diplomatic efforts, plus six months of a new president getting his national security team and policies together" will give Tehran another year "to proceed unhindered to 'the point of no return,'" according to Bolton.

He said that more sanctions against Iran will "simply be too little, too late." Bolton admitted that an air strike is "highly risky and deeply unattractive," but might allow enough time for a change in the regime in Iran to alter Iran's plans to become a nuclear power. He warned that "the alternative is Iran with nuclear weapons, the most deeply unattractive alternative of all."

Bolton said that the United States faces a critical decision concerning an Israeli attack on Iran. "Israel sees clearly what the next 12 months will bring, which is why ongoing U.S.-Israeli consultations could be dispositive," he wrote.

"Instead of debating how much longer to continue five years of failed diplomacy, we should be intensively considering what cooperation the U.S. will extend to Israel before, during and after a strike on Iran…. At a minimum, we should place no obstacles in Israel's path, and facilitate its efforts where we can."
 
Bolton, who is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, ridiculed Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama for his calls for direct diplomacy with Iran, "as if stumbling on a new idea." Bolton's only praise was for Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain, who has called for a workable defense missile system.

Professor Shlomo Zand of Tel Aviv University says there is no such thing as a Jewish Nation. Students at the university say that the professor is anti-Semitic.

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Can't see player? Click here for student protest footage.

In his new book, Zand says that Judaism is a religion and is connected to no nation.

The video above features students protesting outside one of the professor's lectures with megaphones and signs declaring that academic freedom does not allow one to distort and slander. The professor responds.

The protest was organized by several student groups including Israel Academia Monitor.