An earthquake shook Israel at 12:37 PM Friday. The only damage reported in Israel was on the Temple Mount and near Shechem (Nablus).

The earthquake measured 5.3 on the Richter scale; its epicenter was located in northeastern Lebanon. Earlier last week an earthquake measuring 4.1 was felt in northern Israel, also originating from Lebanon, near its northern city of Tyre.

A large hole opened up on the Temple Mount during Friday's earthquake (click here for pictures), which was soon covered by officials from the Wakf Islamic Authority that administers the mosques built atop Judaism’s holiest site.

The only other reported damage in the Holy Land was incurred between Palestinian Authority-controlled Shechem (Nablus) and Jenin, where an old home collapsed, blocking the main road to the village of Khufin. The village is not far from the site of the Biblical Joseph’s Tomb, which was set ablaze by Muslim vandals last week.

At least five people were injured and two homes were destroyed in southern Lebanon as a result of Friday’s quake.

Wakf Officials Blame Israel
Wakf officials tried to blame Israel for the 6-foot by 5-foot hole, which is about three feet deep, claiming it was caused by Israel, which it accuses of tunneling beneath the Temple Mount. They demanded an end to all Israeli excavations in the area.

Though several excavation projects are taking place around the Western Wall Plaza, none of them entail tunneling past the wall itself and beneath the mount. The Wakf’s official position is that there was never a Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount and has gone to great efforts to erase archaeological evidence of Judaism’s historical ties to the site.

Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz issued a statement rejecting the Muslim claims. "These are mendacious reports without a grain of truth," he said, adding that work in the Temple Mount compound would be contrary to Jewish law. “Such claims are a desecration and cause hatred and incitement for no reason whatsoever,” Rabbi Rabinowitz said. He stressed that work on the Rambam (Mughrabi) Gate ramp to the Temple Mount is vital for the safety of those who visit the Western Wall and called on the authorities to finish the work speedily.

The shekel’s strength has resulted in it becoming one of 17 currencies traded in the global currency market, joining the 15 currencies currently traded, along with the Mexican peso.

Shekels will, in the next three months, become available in commercial banks in more than 80 countries around the world. Currently traded are the Australian dollar, Canadian dollar, Danish krone, Euro, British pound, Hong Kong dollar, Japanese yen, Korean won, New Zealand dollar, Norwegian krone, Singapore dollar, South African rand, Swedish krona, Swiss franc and the US dollar.

The development is expected to reduce exchange-rate risks faced by Israel’s finance sector and improves Israel’s standing with credit rating agencies.

The decision to make the shekel internationally convertible originated with the CLS Bank, which is based in New York City and under the supervision of the US Federal Reserve.

The head of the CLS Bank visited Israel in 2006 to gauge the strength of the economy and currency of the State of Israel at the invitation of Bank of Israel Chief Stanley Fischer, an American Jewish immigrant.

IMF: Israel’s 2007 Economic Performance Exceptional
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) published its Executive Board’s conclusions last week, in which it determined that Israel's economic performance in 2007 was “exceptional” and attributed it to the Jewish State’s “responsible fiscal and budgetary policies, as well as the Bank of Israel's appropriate interest rate policy.”

According to Globes business news service, the report is the best any major international institution has ever written about Israel’s economy.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said in a news conference on Saturday that the PA and Israel have begun to negotiate the status of Jerusalem, bluntly contradicting assurances by Prime Minister Olmert that Abbas agreed to postpone all talks on Jerusalem until all outstanding issues are resolved.

"The negotiating process has begun and it involved all of the ‘core issues'," Abbas told reporters, including "the issue of borders, the issue of refugees and the issue of Jerusalem."

The press conference was held jointly with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner following a meeting Saturday with Abbas at his headquarters in Ramallah. Kouchner called on Israel to "open [PA] institutions in [eastern] Jerusalem."

Kouchner also strongly criticized Israeli settlements in Judea, Samaria and the eastern section of Jerusalem. “Israel must completely freeze construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem,” he said.

Official Palestinian Authority institutions in the eastern section of Jerusalem will remain closed for another year, according to a report published Saturday in the PA newspaper al-Ayyam.

The extension of the closure by the Israeli government comes in the wake of incessant attacks by PA terrorists on Israeli citizens from Samaria in the north to the separation barrier with Gaza in the south.

The PA's Jerusalem offices, which include Orient House, the PA Chamber of Commerce, an Arabic studies center and a prisoners’ association were closed in 2001 in response to the outbreak of the Oslo War a year earlier.

The Xinhua news agency quoted attorney Jawwad Polis as saying the decision flies in the face of agreements made by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert with PA Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas to gradually reopen PA institutions in the capital.

Polis also complained that the extension is a violation of the first phase of the US-sponsored Roadmap plan.

Abbas and Olmert both agreed to skip the first phase and move straight to final status talks. Phase One calls for the PA to halt all violence and terrorist attacks on Israeli citizens, a goal it has not yet achieved.

Hundreds of Israelis living under the threat of rockets rallied outside the government complex in Jerusalem, demanding rocket shelters in every home.  At the same time, Israel was attacked with five Kassam rockets. The rockets landed in the western Negev city of Sderot, sending three people to the hospital to be treated for shock.

One rocket landed in the yard of a private home, adjacent to a children's nursery which was empty at the time.

Olmert Backtracks
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who said just two months ago that Israel would not "reinforce ourselves to death," now says that within a week, "all the plans to provide reinforcement protection to the residents living under rocket threats will be approved."

An hour later, hundreds of residents from Sderot and other Western Negev areas given to 24-hour-a-day Kassam rocket threats descended upon the government complex and demanded more reinforcement. Contrary to last week's anti-Kassam protests, the message emanating from the rallies was, "We want more protection!"

Different Messages with Common Denominator
At last week's protests in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, in which some protestors briefly blocked main highways, the demand was to remove the threat of Kassam rockets.  Even Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal, considered among the moderate voices in the city, said at the time that if he were Defense Minister, "I would kidnap [Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh], I would kidnap or kill the other leaders, I would bomb neighborhoods, etc."  He added that if even then the Kassams continue, Israel should do what it did in Lebanon in 2006:

"We wiped out a whole neighborhood, the Dachya, including tall buildings, sometimes with people in it, and - what can you do? It worked! We have had nearly two years of quiet from Lebanon since then."

Two months ago, Olmert explained, "We have no intention, ability or justification to reinforce [the entire area].  It would mean all of the resources would be designated for reinforcement.  We must prepare in advance for extreme situations in which our ability to provide reinforcement will be limited... When Jerusalem neighborhoods were bombarded, I [then the Mayor of Jerusalem - ed.] felt that we need not go overboard in reinforcing - and some of those places now regret that they received this protection."

On Sunday, Olmert said, "We have done much and invested hundreds of millions of shekels for the protection of schools and public buildings. Today, we will discuss the reinforcement of homes as well. This is a joint initiative of the Defense Ministry and the Prime Minister's Bureau... We have to determine priorities in allocating the resources, in accordance with the proximity of the homes to the areas of shooting and danger."

"A war is being waged in the south," Olmert said, "almost every day.  The terror leaders are definitely part of the war, and we will not slacken in this area, and we will continue to fight until the disappearance of the threat to stop life in the south.  There are various means that we are employing, including sanctions and a stop to the supply of materials that serve the terror organizations."

The IDF killed a senior Popular Resistance Committee (PRC) terrorist and two other terrorists in Rafiah early Sunday morning.

Undercover IDF Special Forces took control of several buildings on the outskirts of Gaza’s airport after midnight Sunday. Tanks and aircraft took part in the ensuing battle with local terrorists. Dozens of wanted terrorists were arrested and IDF bulldozers cleared areas that Arab terrorists had used for rocket-fire.

No IDF injuries were reported during the operation. Later Sunday morning, however, a soldier was shot by a sniper in the shoulder. He was transported to Be’er Sheva's Soroka hospital and is in serious condition.

The senior terrorist killed was part of the PRC, a terrorist umbrella group operating in Gaza that receives funding and direction from Hizbullah and coordinates various attacks sanctioned by the ruling Hamas. The other terrorists were members of Hamas. Local reports said fifteen terrorists were wounded in the clashes.

Also Sunday morning, a Hamas terrorist wounded in clashes with IDF soldiers last week, died of his wounds.

Arrests in Judea and Samaria
IDF soldiers arrested 16 wanted terrorists overnight Sunday in Shechem (Nablus), Jericho, Hevron and Ramallah.  The detainees were taken to security services for questioning.

Soldiers found a weapons cache and ammunition in the home of one of the Shechem terrorists. The materials were confiscated.

Olmert: War Going on in Southern Israel
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said at the start of the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday that a war is raging in the south of the country. A number of politicians have recently said as much.

“A war is going on in the south almost daily,” Olmert stated. “Terrorist leaders are part of the war and we will not ease up on them, and we won’t stop the war until life for southern residents returns to normal.”

Olmert and a ministerial committee decided Sunday to fortify homes within 4.5 kilometers of Gaza. It is known that Gaza terrorists already have missiles with a range beyond that distance, however.

Two Attempted Attacks Foiled Over Sabbath
Two attempts to kill Jews in Judea and Samaria failed on Saturday.  In one case, border police guards arrested an Arab man in Hevron as he attempted to enter the Tomb of the Patriarchs while armed with a knife.

In the second incident, Arabs threw Molotov cocktails at an Israeli vehicle near the village of Na’alin, in Samaria.  No injuries were reported.

Arab Woman Sentenced in Terrorist Plot
The Samaria military court sentenced female terrorist Fatna Abu-Ayash to 15 years in prison Friday morning for her role in a plot to kidnap and murder an Israeli Jew.  Ayash was sentenced to five years of probation as well.

Ayash had planned to drug and kidnap an Israeli acquaintance and to take him to Shechem, where she planned to turn him over to fellow terrorists, who would kill him. Ayash had arranged a meeting with the intended victim in Tel Aviv and was on her way to the meeting carrying sleeping pills when she was arrested by security forces acting on intelligence information.

The assassination last week of the Hizbullah terrorist group’s chief operations officer prompted Israel to declare high alert status at its embassies and elsewhere. This weekend, the terrorist group also went on high alert in fear of action by the Jewish State.

Hizbullah, Iran, Syria and every Arab terrorist group accused Israeli agents of killing Imad Mughniyeh, the terrorist who planned every attack carried out by Hizbullah terrorists around the world. Jerusalem denied the charge.

According to a report published Saturday in the Lebanese newspaper A-Safir, 50,000 Hizbullah terrorists have been stationed along the border with Israel, and a high alert was declared in southern Lebanon.

Hizbullah also evacuated most of its offices and buildings used for civilian purposes, reported A-Safir, fearing “Israeli aggression” in the wake of the assassination.

Various Palestinian Authority terrorist organizations have also gone on high alert status, reported the Hizbullah-linked newspaper Al-Akhbar.

Israel issued a worldwide high alert warning to its embassies and elsewhere around the world after Mughniyeh’s boss, chief terrorist Hassan Nasrallah, threatened while eulogizing his top deputy that Israel could now expect “an open war.” However, Nasrallah made his threat through a video hookup; he himself has been in hiding since the end of the Second Lebanon War.

Intelligence officials said it was unlikely that Hizbullah would strike directly at Israel, noting that it was not in the organization’s best interest to risk another war with the Jewish State while Lebanese politics are still unstable. Presidential elections have been put off repeatedly as the Syrian-backed Hizbullah ministers struggle with the Western-backed government for control of the country.

Nonetheless, the IDF is on alert to spot any attempts by terrorists to infiltrate through Israel’s northern border.

In addition, the US embassy in Lebanon has placed its personal on high alert as well, warning staff members not to use their cellular phones and to exercise extreme caution.  American citizens were told to maintain constant contact with the embassy.

“Hizbullah has repeatedly blamed Israel for the death of Imad Mughniyeh, thus increasing the danger of its terrorist threats against Israeli targets abroad,” warned the Israeli National Security Council Counter-terrorism Bureau.

Israelis abroad were instructed to avoid their usual gathering places and the bureau reiterated its warnings that terrorists are hoping to kidnap Israelis abroad, including business people, “mainly those with ties with Arab or Muslim counterparts.”

Other high-profile potential Jewish targets, not necessarily Israeli, were also placed on alert including synagogues, Jewish community centers and offices of Jewish organizations.

Egyptian Researcher: Assassination was Staged
Egyptian researcher Majdi Kamal, who recently published a book on senior Hizbullah terrorist Imad Mughniyeh, has announced that he believes Mughniyeh’s death was staged.  Mughniyeh evaded 42 security services in nations worldwide, Kamal pointed out and expressed the belief that it was not logical that Mughniyeh would be killed by something as simple as a car bomb.

“Mughniyeh either died a natural death a while ago, or is still alive,” Kamal told Al-Arabiya television.  He pointed out that Mughniyeh was reported dead just one day before the three-year anniversary of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, an outspoken opponent of Syrian intervention in Lebanon. 

Whether Hizbullah faked the death in order to throw intelligence agencies off of Mughniyeh’s trail or Mughniyeh actually died, Hizbullah chose the timing of the “assassination” in order to ruin Hariri’s memorial ceremonies, Kamal contended.

Syrian Arrests Suspects in Killing
According to a report published Friday in al-Akhbar, several Arabs living in Syria were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the assassination.

Investigators from Iran as well as Hizbullah were working together with Syrian security forces in the probe, said the report.

There was no information on how many people had been arrested.

Maayana Miskin contributed to this report.

A report Saturday by the German Der Spiegel magazine that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is preparing to announce that kidnapped IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev are dead may be premature.

A senior political source in Jerusalem quoted by Ynet said “as long as there is no unequivocal information regarding their condition, Israel will continue to engage in negotiations based on the assumption they are alive.”
 
News of the Der Spiegel report was splayed across Israeli news outlets by Saturday night, with headlines trumpeting the probability of an imminent announcement by the prime minister that Israeli intelligence has concluded the two reservists are dead.

Olmert was in Germany for talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel last week to discuss the matter. Germany has been deeply involved in mediating talks with Hizbullah about Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, who were kidnapped in July 2006 by the group’s operatives in a cross-border attack that touched off the Second Lebanon War.

Goldwasser’s wife Karnit, who often comments on reports in the news about her husband and his fellow reservist, said she had not received any notification from the Prime Minister’s Office.

“Usually, when there are serious developments, the Prime Minister calls me or the family,” said Goldwasser. “I have not received any new notification from the [PMO] and so I have no intention of commenting on the various reports by foreign media outlets.”
 
Second Report by German Newspaper that Goldwasser and Regev are Dead
Der Spiegel reported last October in a feature article about the unnamed German official mediating talks between Israel and Hizbullah for the soldiers’ release that both soldiers were dead. The report added that Israeli officials also believe they were killed.
 
Goldwasser’s wife and Regev’s brother Benny spoke about her husband and his fellow reservist last month in a video hookup with Jewish communities in London, Singapore and Hong.

Goldwasser acknowledged that she is preparing for the possibility that Ehud is no longer alive. While not saying he won’t return home at all, she commented that “in the meantime, a year and a half later, I am getting along without Udi.”

Arabs blocked a road and then threw rocks at Jews who came to clear it. Three Jews were lightly wounded, and seven were arrested. No Arab rock-throwers were apprehended.

A clash broke out on Saturday night between Arabs and Jews near Givat HaOr, a young Jewish neighborhood outside Beit El.  Large army and police forces arrived, and, acting on Arab claims of a Jewish violence, arrested 11 Jews.  Seven of them were held overnight and were released only on Sunday morning.  No Arabs were arrested.

Three Jewish youth in a Magen David Adom ambulance suffering from rock injuries. Feb 16, 2008, Givat HaOr

In addition, three Jews who had been injured by Arab-thrown rocks were removed from a civilian ambulance so that they could be arrested.  The IDF officer in charge turned off the ambulance engine and took out the keys. The three victims were reportedly later treated by an army medic.

Jewish eyewitnesses said the incident was provoked and begun by the Arabs, who blocked a road and then attacked the Jews who came to open it. In response, the Jewish youth threw stones back at the Arabs breaking some windows in an adjacent Arab house.

The incident occurred just outside Givat HaOr, a Jewish civilian site that was begun by Beit El youth several months ago.  The place is accessible by an uphill foot path adjacent to the gate to the Beit El army base, as well as a road which winds through the nearby Arab town of Bittin.  On Friday afternoon, the young Jews preparing to spend the Sabbath there found that Arabs had blocked the road with large boulders.  It was too close to the Sabbath for them to do anything about it, however, and they were thus prevented from bringing supplies for the Sabbath.

On Saturday night, they began to clear away the rocks from the road, when Arabs began hurling stones at them.

Arutz-7 asked an IDF spokesman why no Arabs had been arrested, given the fact that three Jews were injured by stones in the incident.  No response has yet been provided.

Beit El Mayor Moshe Rosenbaum told Arutz-7 that whether the outpost is authorized or not, "Jews anywhere in the Land of Israel have the basic right to be protected by the IDF."  He similarly expressed surprise that the security forces had not detained any Arabs.