The CIA - the US Central Intelligence Agency - is set to confirm that the Syrian installation destroyed by Israel on September 6, 2007 was a nuclear reactor.  CIA representatives will brief members of a Congressional intelligence subcommittee.

The Los Angeles Times reported on Wednesday that the installation was meant to produce plutonium, and was partially funded by North Korea. Israel bombed the reactor before it attained its planned capacity to manufacture plutonium for nuclear weapons, the CIA says.

The Congressional subcommittee session is to deal with Syrian-North Korean relations, amidst reports that a possible deal is in the works to remove North Korea from the American list of of state sponsors of terrorism.

At the presentation at Congress, which will be repeated afterwards to reporters, the intelligence officials will show video images showing Korean faces among the workers at the Syrian plant.  Other pictures show what appears to be the construction of a reactor vessel inside the building.

Shortly after the Israel attack, Syria bulldozed the area and constructed a new building there, which it has not allowed foreign visitors to enter.

Israel, the U.S. and Syria have never divulged details about the attack, and today's presentation is a major departure from this policy. Israel is reportedly not happy with the change, fearing that it will revive the tensions between Syria and Israel. 

Syrian media reported on Wednesday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has agreed in principle to hand over the entire Golan Heights to Syria.  Syrian Immigration Minister Boutina Sha'ban confirmed the reports, while Olmert's office was silent. 

Two years ago, Olmert said, "As long as I serve as prime minister, the Golan Heights will remain in our hands because it is an integral part of the State of Israel." He was quoted in Israeli newspapers as reported by the French news agency AFP.

Nationalist Knesset Members said Olmert was recklessly endangering Israel with his consent to give away the strategic heights.

Knesset House Committee Chairman David Tal has vowed to fight his own chairman, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, on his decision to put the Golan Heights on the negotiating table in exchange for a promise of peace with Syria.

The Kadima Knesset Member said Wednesday he will convene the committee next week immediately upon the lawmakers' return from Passover recess. On the agenda will be a bill that would require a national referendum before any concessions are made in connection with the Golan Heights.

Tal made the announcement in response to reports in the Syrian media that Olmert – head of the Kadima party – had sent Syrian President Bashar Assad a message via Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan that he is willing to cede the Golan Heights.

The bill, originally sponsored by former Kadima MK Avigdor Yitzchaki, has already passed its first reading in the Knesset plenum.

"We have to prevent the political thievery that would result in abandoning the Golan," said Tal. "A withdrawal from the Golan would result in Hizbullah terrorists' entering the area and embittering the lives of the residents of northern Israel."

Syria Confirms Veracity of the Report
Syrian Minister for Expatriate Affairs, Buthania Sha'aban confirmed the reports, telling the Aljazeera news network, "Olmert is ready for peace with Syria in accordance with international conditions and in return for a full withdrawal from the Golan.

Sha'aban, who also confirmed that the message from Olmert was conveyed by Erdogan, is considered to be one of the spokespersons of the Syrian government. She was previously in charge of foreign media relations for the Syrian Foreign Ministry.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Mualem responded coyly to a question from a reporter about the report, however.

"If Israel is committed to a retreat to the June 4 (1967) lines and it is serious and has a will to make peace, there is nothing preventing a renewal of talks," he said during a joint news conference with Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Motaki.

Middle East expert Dr. Guy Bechor recently speculated, however, that Assad would never make peace with Israel even if presented with the entire Golan Heights. Bechor said Assad would strive to avoid such a deal because it might destabilize the delicate balance of power in Syria and eventually lead to his downfall.

Two IDF air strikes struck terrorist cells in Gaza Wednesday night.

The first strike hit a Hamas cell in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya, though it is not clear if any of those targeted were wounded in the blast.

A short while later another strike targeted a group of terrorists in Beit Hanoun, killing one and wounding three, according to Palestinian Authority reports.

On Monday, IDF strikes killed three armed terrorists in two air strikes – one of which was followed by the pursuit of the terror cell by IDF Givati Brigade infantry forces. An air strike on Sunday killed two terrorists driving in southern Gaza’s Rafiah region.

IDF Defuses Gaza Rocket Launcher
IDF forces operating on the Gazan side of the security fence located a ready-to-launch short range rocket and defused it Wednesday. No one was hurt.

A single mortar shell was fired at the force but hit no one. Two other mortar shells were fired at Israel Wednesday but hurt no one.

In Judea and Samaria, IDF counter-terror operations led to the arrest of 12 wanted terrorists Wednesday night. A revolver and several cartridges of bullets were also confiscated.

Fire Bombs Thrown at Jewish Motorist
Arabs threw two fire bombs which hit an Israeli car Wednesday night near Azun, east of Kalkilya in Samaria.  The car was damaged but no casualties were reported.

Checkpoints Work
The number of stoning and firebomb attacks on Israeli vehicles dropped drastically during the Passover holiday, following an increased presence of security forces on the highways in Judea and Samaria.

In the period prior to Passover, terrorists daily targeted Jewish motorists with numerous attacks, causing injuries and widespread damage on a regular basis. The Olmert administration had previously ordered a reduced presence of soldiers in order to ease restrictions on Arabs as a way of gaining favor with the Palestinian Authority.

Several diplomats walked out of a United Nations Security Council session after Libya’s Ambassador compared Gazan Arabs to victims of the Holocaust.

Diplomats reported from the closed session that Libya's deputy permanent UN representative, Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi, "compared the situation in Gaza to the Nazi Holocaust," according to Reuters news agency.

A “Western diplomat” quoted in the report said that "afterwards, the Western envoys stood up and left the room in protest."

The diplomats who left the Security Council hall were America, French, British, Belgian and Costa Rican. The meeting concluded after the walkout, with South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo telling reporters that an agreement had failed to be reached.

The Libyan statement was made during a discussion of a draft statement, proposed by Libya itself, expressing “serious concern about the humanitarian situation in Gaza.”

"A number of Council members were dismayed by the approach taken by Libya and do not believe that such language helps advance the peace process,” British official Karen Pierce said.

Syria stepped in to defend Libya, with Syrian UN Ambassador Bashar Jaafari telling reporters, "Unfortunately, those who complain of being victims of genocide are repeating the same kind of genocide against the Palestinians," according to the Los Angeles Times.

The Islamist Hamas terrorist group swept student elections at a Hevron university and says it will do so in the next Palestinian Authority (PA) elections in Judea and Samaria as well.

Hamas won by a landslide at the Al-Khalil Polytechnic University on Wednesday. “The United Islamic Bloc, a union of the  academic wings of Hamas and the Islamic Jihad at the University, won the student elections despite attempts of Fatah's Shabiba to spoil the victory,” a Hamas statement declared in one of its media sites.

"This is clear evidence to all that Hamas was strong enough, and that all the attempts made to marginalize it in the Palestinian arena, particularly in the West Bank, totally failed," the statement continued.

Hamas runs on a platform openly calling for terrorist attacks on Jewish civilians and the complete destruction of all of Israel. It also encourages Israeli-Arabs to rise up and join the struggle. Click here for an Arutz-7 article on Hamas election ads.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said that the results of the election proved that efforts by Fatah, Israel and the US to convince PA Arabs to align themselves with Fatah have failed. “Those people [PA chief Mahmoud Abbas and his security forces] will certainly fail in doing what the Israeli occupation forces had failed to do against the Movement," Barhoum said. “The victory of Hamas in the election was a big blow to Abbas's futile negotiations with the Israelis.”

In 2006, Hamas won PA legislative elections, taking 74 seats while the US and Israeli-backed Fatah netted only 45. Hamas defeated Fatah in the popular vote by a much smaller margin, 44 to 42 percent. The Islamist group is now gearing up for an election of a new PA chairman, which could completely dissolve Fatah and unseat terror-chief Yasser Arafat’s successor Mahmoud Abbas.

The campaign to free Jewish "nationalist" prisoners is heating up. The Honenu civil rights organization has organized 11 mayors - so far - to ask Pres. Peres to pardon them.

Eleven mayors of towns and local councils in Judea and Samaria have signed a letter to President Shimon Peres asking him to pardon some 20 Jewish prisoners convicted of nationalist crimes. 

The letter states, "We are nearing the 60th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel," the letter states.  "These are days of unity and appeasement... We know that various requests have reached your table to pardon prisoners to mark the 60th anniversary milestone, and we assume that your honor is likely to respond positively to at least some of them."

"It is no secret that for years, Jewish nationalist prisoners have been held in jail for various crimes they committed during periods of security crises, out of deep personal and communal distress.  We are of the opinion that in the framework of the atmosphere of national reconciliation of this 60th year, and given that they have expressed regret for their actions, these prisoners should be pardoned, permitted to return to their homes, families, and small children, and to thus rehabilitate themselves."

The letter has thus far been signed by:

Dubi Tal, Jordan Valley Regional Council
Avi Roeh, Binyamin Regional Council
Tzviki Bar-Chai, Mount Hevron Regional Council
Gershon Masika, Shomron Regional Council
Sha'ul Goldstein, Gush Etzion Regional Council

Rabbi Meir Rubinstein, Beitar Illit Municipality
Moshe Rosenbaum, Beit El Local Council
Eli Mizrachi, Efrat Local Council
Herzl Ben-Ari, Karnei Shomron Local Council
Tzvi Katzover Kiryat Arba Local Council
Chananel Durani, Kedumim Local Council

We oppose the release of Arab terrorists, but now that they have been freed, we ask that the Jewish prisoners be released as well, in order to correct the discriminatory policy against them."

The letter also alludes to the imbalance between Arab and Jewish prisoners, in that thousands of the former have been freed early over the years: "It is no secret that even in the past year, hundreds of terrorists have been freed.  We oppose the release of terrorists from prison, but now that they have been freed, we ask that the Jewish prisoners be released as well, in order to correct the discriminatory policy against them."

Last week, six of the prisoners submitted a request to be pardoned.  One of them, Shlomi Dvir, told Arutz-7 of the difficult conditions in which they are being held, including not being allowed the customary periodic vacations that other prisoners are given.

Earlier this week, two women - the wife of one of the prisoners (a mother of seven) and the fiancée of another - met with Public Security Minister Avi Dichter and asked him to support their request for a pardon.  They reported afterwards that Dichter told them straight out, "We have a political interest in releasing the Arabs, but we have no such interest in making similar gestures towards the Jewish prisoners."  The women said they left the meeting feeling "humiliated."

Shmuel Medad, head of the Honenu civil rights organization that has made it one of its priorities to attain the Jewish prisoners' release this year, told Arutz-7, "This is the very face of corruption.  They have released so many terrorists who caused so much harm to Jewish families, yet they refuse to come towards the Jewish families themselves - and then they say openly that they have no 'interest' - that is, because the Jewish families don't kidnap Israeli soldiers and hold them hostage, the Israeli government has no 'interest' in helping them."

Honenu was established several years ago to help citizens whose spontaneous acts of self-defense in life-threatening situations had embroiled them in legal trouble.  In addition, Honenu hired lawyers, at group-discounted rates, to represent the hundreds of youths who were charged with crimes related to their protests of the Disengagement/expulsion.

Medad explained in a letter that this governmental attitude is much more harmful and corrupt than stealing money or the like: "It is an attitude of abandonment - an attitude that produces the abandonment of Pollard, the release of terrorists, the removal of others from the list of wanted terrorists, the giving of weapons and uniforms to [Fatah], the abandonment of the MIA's Katz, Feldman and Baumol from the [1982] battle of Sultan Yaaqub, the forsaking of Ron Arad, Madhat Yusuf, Shalit, Goldwasser, and Regev, and many more in the past and - if there is no change - in the future as well.  Not only that, but the government is now continuing this approach by negotiating the expulsion of Jews on a scale of 12 times larger than what happened in Gush Katif.  And all because there is no 'interest...'"

Among the prisoners are two brothers who planned an anti-Disengagement road blocking in 2005 using a burning car; three who were convicted of conspiring to attack an Arab girls' school, though the bomb never went off and they claimed that they had only intended for it to be a scare; Haggai Amir, who had four years tacked onto his Rabin-assassination related sentence for planning partisan attacks against Arabs in defense of Yesha towns; David Emouyal of Rishon LeTzion, who is serving an 18-year prison sentence for having shot and wounded two Arabs in response to the murder of 8-month-old Shalhevet Pass in Hevron; Ami Popper, who killed 7 Arab workers in response to a series of Arab terrorist attacks (he was originally sentenced to life, but the late President Ezer Weizman reduced this to 40 years; Popper's wife and son were recently killed in a car accident, and his two remaining sons, with no parents to look after them, have been given over to the foster care of a generous Jerusalem family); and others.

• Heat Wave Continues
• Olmert in 2006: 'I Never Will Give Golan to Syria'
• Fire Crews Fight Dozens of Blazes, None Hurt