Arutz-7/IsraelNationalRadio's Yishai Fleisher interviewed Arcadi Gaydamak in light of his announcement this week his plan to personally fund the construction of safe rooms in 600 Sderot homes, to the tune of 90 million shekels ($22.9 million).  Gaydamak also plans to run for Mayor of Jerusalem, and feels strongly that religious Jewish education and culture must be supported.

Click here to hear the full interview.

Fleisher asked the controversial Russian-born billionaire philanthropist about his latest act of generosity: "You have already built 40 shelters in Sderot, you took the residents there on vacation last year, and now you want to build safe rooms.  Isn't this the job of the government?"

Gaydamak responded modestly, "It's our government, we all chose it, and I'm just doing what I can do; the government is a somewhat 'heavy' organization, and perhaps it's doing what it can do, and cannot react as promptly as a private figure or organization... I'm just trying to do a necessary thing; the people in Sderot need security."

He had strong words against those, especially government members, who criticize his actions: "That's the problem! The people in the government have forgotten their mission, have forgotten that they are supposed to serve the people.  Instead, they speak only out of their own personal interests.  Mr. Olmert and Mr. Barak can do better things than I can do; why should they compare themselves with me? Why don't they just do their work?"

Gaydamak said that Prime Minister Olmert entered the Second Lebanon War for the wrong reasons and caused Israel great harm: "I think the Second Lebanon War was something that Israel should not have done, and it was done primarily to show that [Olmert] has leadership qualities.  For many years, it was not Israel's army that protected us, but the image of invincibility that we had for the Arabs - yet here we showed that we had a great difficulty fighting against Hizbullah.
The non-religious have nothing to offer the religious; what, they can teach them how to sit on the sofa and watch TV?


"Secular Couch-Potatoes Have Nothing to Give Religious"
Gaydamak is emphatic that the religious have an important role in teaching others about Judaism and thus keeping the nation's traditions alive:

"We are a people, because we have this knowledge that we are Jews.  We should transmit this knowledge to future generations.  We must maintain and provide support for those who are transmitting this knowledge, i.e., the religious people.  They do not have to come closer to the non-religious, because they [the non-religious] have nothing to offer the religious; what, they can teach them how to sit on the sofa and watch TV? Or how to make a barbecue?  But the non-religious people should try to be closer to the religious so that they can learn at least a little about our history and tradition, and then to transmit it to the next generation.  If not, we will disappear...  I try to help the religious by giving them support. "

Saved Hospital from Bankruptcy
Asked about his purchase of the Bikur Cholim Hospital in Jerusalem, thus saving it from going under, Gaydamak explained, "This is a hospital that the citizens of Jerusalem need.  It's in the center of the city, and provides medical services to the religious community, both Jews and Moslems.  It was in bankruptcy, and if I was not there, the hospital could have been closed. So I saw that it was necessary to maintain this hospital for the people of Jerusalem."

Fleisher: "You seem to be finding niches of need and trying to fill them --"

Gaydamak: "I'm not looking for them; this was the situation. I heard someone speak about how necessary this hospital was, and that's it.  The same with Sderot; the need is there, and we don't have the time to see if it's better or whatever; it has to be done immediately, this very hour."

Fleisher: "What else do you see as a major problem here in Israel that needs to be addressed?"

Gaydamak: "Security.  We will start in Jerusalem." 

Gaydamak explained that he has announced his plans to run for Mayor of Jerusalem - "and I will win, no doubt" - and that he will develop the city's Arab neighborhoods and "prepare an economic situation that will help everyone.  This will prove that we can live together in peace, and that it is possible to come to a negotiated peace at this time."

Fleisher: "But it appears that our Arab neighbors are preparing themselves for war against Israel, not peace."

Gaydamak: "Yes, because they don't have a feeling that Israel is their partner. But in truth, the real enemy of the Arabs is not Israel, but Arab extremists." 

"Your Children May Need Israel"
Gaydamak explained the importance of the State of Israel: "Israel is a country that was created by Jews and for the Jews to maintain and protect Jewish tradition and values, as well as the physical survival of Jews. All Jews around the world have a responsibility for Israel, even those who were never here; maybe their children or grandchildren will need it one day for protection, and that's why we must all work for it."

Asked what he feels is special for him about Jerusalem, Mr. Gaydamak said, "Jerusalem is unique. It is the spiritual symbol for all monotheistic religions, a symbol of peace.  It is a city of the spirit, of morality."

Gaydamak in the Knesset
Fleisher: MK Ran Cohen of Meretz and several other Knesset Members want to tailor a law that would ban you from the Knesset.  And you responded, 'It appears that anyone may enter the Knesset - whether he be from Yemen, or Morocco, or Russia, or whether he be blond , brunette, redhead or bald - unless he's a rich Jew who wants to share his wealth with others.'"

Gaydamak : "Ah, yes, I remember now; so many things happen with me that-- yes, I remember this now.  It was a so-called representative of the Left who said this; it's not normal.  But a few months ago I was in the Knesset and when I started to speak, MK Shelly Yechimovitch said I must not be allowed to speak in the Knesset. But I said, 'I'm a citizen, like anyone else; I may say something wrong, but I should be allowed to speak.' but they said, 'No, no'...  I said that all over the world generosity is a virtue, but here in Israel it seems to be prohibited.  I told Yechimovitch that I don't speak Hebrew as well as her, but that she always talks about trumot [donations], and I told her, 'With all your Hebrew, you don't understand the difference between terumah and tzedakah [charity], and that is the problem.' So she said, 'Yes I don’t understand, what is the difference?' So I said that a donation is a donation to an organization or whatever, but tzedakah is the basis of our Jewish society - sharing not only wealth, but support and solidarity; without tzedakah, Jewish society would disappear.'"

Aliyah From Russia?
Asked what could be done to encourage Aliyah [immigration to Israel] from Russia, Gaydamak was not optimistic: "Most of those who came, did so for security or economic reasons. Today, however, those two aspects are not better in Israel than in the former Soviet Union or in France. This explains why immigration is down, and why former immigrants from Russia are returning to their former homes." He did not offer a solution to this problem, other than improving Israel's economy in general.

Gaydamak said he was born in 1952 in Moscow to a family that was "no different" than others around him.

Fleisher: "How did you become so successful? Did you feel the hand of G-d was with you?"

Gaydamak: "Everything around us is a miracle, and we can't explain, so I will not tell you that I had a particular feeling; it's true, I always ask myself what it means to be a Jew and why I am different." He said that his grandfather was religiously observant, and that "even in our home we had a minyan [prayer quorum] every morning; it was not secret, nor was it something that we especially publicized..."

Mayor Moyal's Resignation
Fleisher: "Yesterday, 20 Kassam rockets fell in Sderot, and Mayor Moyal quit in protest.  Immediately, terrorists said this was a victory for them, and that soon the Ashkelon mayor would resign as well."

Gaydamak: "Giving this interpretation of the resignation is just a media trick by the Arabs.  I believe Moyal was merely trying to show the government how serious the situation is... That's my interpretation of the resignation."

In Conclusion
Mr. Gaydamak clearly feels strong ties with Israel and the Jewish People; when asked to specify, he could not put his finger on exactly what it was that draws him to such feelings.  The possible future Mayor of Jerusalem concluded by emphasizing that a strong Jewish identity among Israelis and good ties with our Arab neighbors will produce the yearned-for peace. 

The Palestinian Authority's Al-Aksa TV broadcasts, produced by Hamas, include children's programming that calls for the genocide of the "people of Zion."
The only way to "rescue" the Al-Aksa Mosque... is "by means of force."

On December 3, 2007, a Hamas children's show broadcast on PA TV featured an impassioned speech by a young boy of approximately nine years old. Speaking in the style of many Islamist preachers, and with an image of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem as a background, the boy declared that the only way to "rescue" the Al-Aksa mosque from Israel, America and their allies is "by means of force."

According to a transcript provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), the boy told his presumably child viewers that "the Al-Aksa Mosque has fallen into oppressing and malicious hands, the hands of those who know nothing but injustice." Describing the Jerusalem mosque as in "the shackles of the occupation," despite the fact that it is under Muslim Wakf control, the boy went on to say:

"But let me tell you how the Al-Aksa Mosque will be returned, how we shall rescue it from the shackles of the occupation, from the shackles of the Zionist entity. Will it be through conferences? No, not through conferences, but by means of force, because the Zionist entity, your enemy, the enemy of Allah, the enemy of Islam, knows nothing but injustice and the killing of Palestinians, the persevering people on the frontline. Indeed, the [mosque] will be returned only by means of force."

After an unclear reference to the 1917 Balfour Declaration, which affirmed the United Kingdom's support for a Jewish state in the Land of Israel, the boy-preacher continued:
 
"But look what the Zionist enemy has done, look what Israel and America have done. Look what the allies of Israel and America have done. They have dug tunnels underneath the Al-Aksa Mosque, but the sheikhs and mujahideen of the Al-Aksa Mosque have exposed these tunnels and called upon the Palestinian people: 'Look what has happened, look what has happened.'

"These calls have gone unheeded, my beloved brothers. But is it too late? No, it is not too late. If we all unite, the Al-Aksa Mosque will not remain in the hands of the Zionist enemy, it will not remain in the hands of your enemy, despite all their conspiracies against the Palestinian people."

Later in the programming, a similarly young girl recited a poem that included the lines: "To Al-Aksa, to Al-Aksa - we shall unite our ranks. We will wipe out the people of Zion, and will not leave a single one of them."

Renewed Campaign to Promote Death Among PA Children
According to a recent MEMRI report, the Al-Aksa television network - best known for its "jihad Mickey Mouse" - has renewed its encouragement of children to attack Israel and its praise of their self-destruction while
"Our death is happiness." - from PA children's programming
doing so.

During a Friday broadcast in October, PA TV inaugurated a new program in which a girl sang in the background, "My little brothers, how long will we continue to let the occupier [rule] us by hunger and siege?" A chorus answered, "By killing and destruction."

Later in the program, a child was shown entering a cave, where he was told, "This is not just any cave. These are children who were martyred during the blessed Al-Aksa Intifada. I and a group of friends have cleaned this cave to make it fitting for the Intifada's child martyrs."

During that scene, a chorus of girls sang in the background, "We long for martyrdom. Our country is free and our death is happiness."

Palestinian Authority terrorists launched six rockets at Jewish communities in the western Negev on Thursday. One rocket slammed into a home in the city of
At least a dozen people suffered the effects of shock.
Sderot, moderately wounding a woman. Israel Air Force jets struck back at enemy forces in Gaza.

In addition to the injured woman, at least a dozen people suffered the effects of shock as a result of the late afternoon rocket attack. Most were treated at the site of the attack, which was near a local synagogue. The rocket caused extensive damage and almost hit nearby gas canisters. Israel Electric Company workers were dispatched to repair power lines that were exposed as a result of the bombing.

PA rockets fired from Gaza damaged several other buildings and cars during the day.

In an IDF airstrike on Thursday night, three terrorists involved in rocket attacks on Jewish communities were killed. The successful strike took place in the Zeitun neighborhood of Gaza City. Several other terrorists were reportedly wounded critically as well.

Knesset Member Gideon Saar (Likud) responded to the terror attacks by calling on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to stop his talks with the Palestinian Authority. Before working on a final agreement, Saar said, Olmert should provide basic security to residents of Sderot and other western Negev towns.

Gaza Explosion Kills 3
On Friday morning, three Arabs were killed and close to 20 were injured in an explosion during a funeral in Gaza.  The incident was apparently the result of the accidental detonation of a grenade held by a funeral participant.

In the past week, PA terror cells fired more than 20 mortar shells and approximately 37 Kassam rockets at the communities of the western Negev and at IDF forces. Al-Quds Brigades terrorists claimed that they fired 14 rockets at Sderot on Wednesday and Thursday, calling it "the start of a series" in reaction to IDF counter-terrorism activities.

"I have no intention of giving in to scum like [Hamas head] Ismail Haniyeh." -- Ashkelon Mayor Mehatzri

IDF Retaliation
In the past week, IDF forces operating in the Gaza region targeted at least 20 enemy gunmen, ten of whom were killed. On Wednesday, IDF forces discovered and destroyed three Kassam rocket launchers in Gaza.

Ashkelon Mayor Roni Mehatzri, whose city has been increasingly targeted by PA terrorists, said Thursday that he would not step down despite the terrorist rocket attacks on his city. Gaza terrorists had called on Mehatzri to quit just as Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal did, briefly, on Wednesday. Moyal said on live radio that he could no longer serve as mayor due to the government's failure to protect residents of Sderot from attack. On Thursday night, Moyal later rescinded his very public resignation, explaining that Defense Minister Ehud Barak had asked him to stay on.

"I have no intention of giving in to scum like [Hamas head] Ismail Haniyeh," Mehatzri said. "I call on the Prime Minister to silence Haniyeh and his people, and not in the figurative sense of the word."

The National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that downplayed the danger from Iran's nuclear program was "fundamentally dishonest," former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich said in an exclusive interview with Israel National Radio's Tovia Singer.

"If you simply change about three words you change the whole report," Gingrich said, adding that the report seems to have been "deliberately written to maximize the pain to the Bush administration." It was written by three former State Department officials who were "deeply opposed to what President Bush is doing," he said, and who wrote the report "to maximize confusion."

Gingrich characterized the NIE as "very misleading, very destructive and very unfortunate… almost a bureaucratic coup d'etat."


The NIE was "very misleading, very destructive and very unfortunate…"

Military attack? Only as last resort
If read without the opening paragraph, Gingrich said, the report actually shows Iran poses a great danger: "Iran has 3,000 centrifuges. They could build one bomb a year with 3,000 centrifuges… you go down this list and you realize nothing has changed," he said. "All that happened is that there was one specific weaponization process which may have been suspended but not closed… and meanwhile everything else in their program is moving forward."

Gingrich played down the importance of the report, predicting that "in a few weeks the report will almost be as if it never existed."

Gingrich said that a military attack on Iran should only be the last resort. In the 1980s, he reminded the listeners, President Ronald Reagan, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and the Pope helped bring down the unpopular regime in Poland by creating an alternative to it.  

Click here to listen now to the interview with Newt Gingrich (starts at 24:40 minute mark).

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Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is expected to slam Israel next week at the conference of donor nations to be held in Paris.

According to a draft of his speech obtained by Haaretz, Abbas will demand that Israel stop all building in parts of Jerusalem liberated during the Six-Day War in the 1967, insisting the area belongs to the PA, along with Judea, Samaria and Gaza.

Quartet envoy Tony Blair said Wednesday he will make an appeal at the conference to raise $5.6 billion from the international community for a three-year program to cover the PA's massive deficit and begin economic and other development programs.

The PA has been campaigning for Israel to hand over half of Jerusalem so it can transform the city's eastern neighborhoods into the capital of a future PA state.

Currently at issue is the decision by Israel's Housing Ministry to issue a long-standing competitive bid for construction of a 307-unit housing project in the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa. The plan was approved by the government ten years ago and, as with many other housing projects, finally made it through the rest of the bureaucratic red tape two weeks ago.

The international furor over the project was set off unintentionally by two low-level bureaucrats who signed the tender for the project last week. Little did the two Housing Ministry workers, Dubi Gal and Sarah Zimmerman, know that their signatures on a decade-long pending tender would cause such a ruckus, said a senior government official. Zimmerman has even been accused of delaying issuing of construction permits, Haaretz reported.

The United States joined the European Union and United Nations in condemning Israel for completing the red tape needed to get the project underway. PA official Ahmed Qureia, who led the PA negotiating team in the first post-Annapolis meeting this week with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and the team of Israeli negotiators, threatened to stall further talks if the housing project was not scrapped.

"This affair has sabotaged negotiations and cast a shadow on the international donor states meeting next week," lamented a government official.

Americans' support for Israel in the conflict with the Arabs of Judea, Samaria and Gaza remains extremely high, with 62 percent of Americans considering themselves supporters of Israel and only 9 percent as "supporters of the Palestinians."  These are some of the findings of a new bipartisan poll commissioned by The Israel Project (TIP).

By a similar margin (61 to 10), Americans believe the U.S. should support Israel in the conflict with the Arabs of Judea, Samaria and Gaza. TIP says this is in stark contrast to a 2002 poll, when fully 68 percent of Americans thought the U.S. should take neither side in the conflict.

The poll also shows Americans do not believe the National Intelligence Estimate on Iran's nuclear projects and worry the NIE report will make the U.S. less safe. The survey shows that while 75 percent of likely voters had heard about the NIE report, only 27 percent believed its assessment that Iran’s nuclear program ended in 2003, while 69 percent believe that the nuclear weapons program is still underway.
85% of those polled consider Iran a serious threat, including 44% who consider it an immediate threat.

'NIE makes us less safe'
Additionally, 64 percent fear America “will be less safe” based on this intelligence estimate “because it might lead to reduced pressure on Iran to stop its nuclear capacity for good.” Only 27 percent thought “we are more safe” after the estimate “because it shows the threat from Iran is not as imminent as had been believed.”

There is a clear sense that despite the NIE report, Americans remain very concerned about Iran and want to expand sanctions and other peaceful efforts to curtail the threat. Fully 85 percent of those polled consider Iran a serious threat, including 44 percent who consider it an immediate threat to the United States.

“The public views Iran as a threat and even after the NIE, they strongly support intensifying sanctions and diplomatic measures,” said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, founder and president of The Israel Project. "This is good news as there is still time to use the power of the purse for peace," said Mizrahi, whose organization has provided information on economic ways to help prevent war.

More than three fourths of likely voters approve of “expanded United Nations economic and diplomatic actions” to deal with Iran and 85 percent approve of “support of opposition groups in Iran that are working for dem
Most believed British intelligence findings that Iran’s “nuclear weapons program continues."
ocracy and human rights.”

'Stop civilian nukes as well"
Americans are uncomfortable even with Iran's supposed civilian nuclear research program. When asked, “Do you think Iran should be allowed to continue its civilian nuclear research program or should the international community try to prevent Iran from further nuclear research,” 69 percent agreed with the latter.

Asked about the motivation of the earlier NIE reports that concluded that Iran was developing nuclear weapons, a majority (61 percent) did not believe they had been “deliberate misrepresentations.” Still, they do not trust the current NIE, instead preferring to believe British intelligence findings (67 percent) that Iran’s “nuclear weapons program continues."

Most Americans want a peaceful, two-state solution to the conflict. Although just 39 percent had heard a “great deal” or “some” about the Annapolis peace talks, a wide majority of 81 percent believe that “the goal of peace talks in the Middle East should be both a Palestinian state and peace and security in recognized borders for Israel and the Palestinians.” This is in contrast to only 12 percent who believe "the goal of peace talks in the Middle East should solely be the creation of a Palestinian state."

63 percent agreed 'Israel’s actions toward the Palestinians are understandable.'
Photo: Flash 90

'Israel's reaction understandable'
A big obstacle, however, remains PA terrorism. Fully 70 percent of respondents agree that “Palestinian acts of terrorism are unacceptable, no matter the conditions in which they live.” Even though 60 percent were "largely unaware of the 2,000 rockets that have been shot into Israel from Gaza," 63 percent agreed that “Israel’s actions toward the Palestinians are understandable given the security threat they face,” while only 29 percent believe them to be an overreaction.

Nevertheless, most do not see a direct tie between the Israeli-PA conflict and international terrorism. By a 55 to 43 margin, a majority of Americans believe “a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians would not have much of an impact on terrorism around the world.”

The poll of 800 U.S. likely voters was conducted for The Israel Project by Public Opinion Strategies and Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research. The margin of error is +/- 3.5 percent.

The anxiety felt by some Israelis about the tarnishing of the country's tough image in recent years may be premature. Israel is still the go-to state for all things defense-related, according to recent statistics and reports.

Israel became the world's fourth largest arms exporter in 2007, after signing contracts worth $4.3 billion, according to the Defense Ministry. According to Ministry Director Pinchas Buchris, only the U.S.A., Russia and France export more arms than the tiny Middle Eastern country.

Israel's main exports in the defense field are radar systems, anti-tank missiles and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and its major clients are India, Turkey, the U.S.A. and other western countries.

New Law to Regulate Exports
A new law which will go into effect in January will regulate arms exports, and it will be enforced by a new agency – the Defense Export Department. The maximum punishments for violations of the rules governing defense exports will be 5 years in jail, and fines could reach NIS 10 million.

The Defense Ministry handles 30,000 applications for brokering permits a year, 5,000 applications for export licenses, and a further 70,000 applications for license renewals.

Elbit Skylark UAV
Photo: Elbit

IAI Searcher Mk. II UAV
Photo: Israel Aircraft Industries

The law is intended to place Israel's arms exports under the kind of limitations that other exporting countries have placed on themselves. It will make it illegal for an Israeli abroad to sell weapons from one foreign country to another in violation of an embargo. The law will also define which weapons are forbidden for export, and will make it more difficult to qualify for an export license.

Israel is no newcomer to the club of top defense exporters, and was actually listed in third place by Jane's Defense Weekly as recently as 2003. The U.S.'s Popeye air-to-surface missiles — dubbed AGM-142 by the U.S. Air Force — were designed by Rafael, a semi-governmental weapons-development authority, which also designed the Litening brand targeting pods used to fire precision weapons from the Marines' AV-8B Harrier jet. Israeli-designed Hunter unmanned aerial vehicles are in the service of the U.S. Army, and another UAV made by the Israel Aerospace Industry, the Pioneer, has been used by U.S. Marines.
 
Israel's high ability in the security and technology sphere is recognized – and envied – in the Arab world surrounding it, as this frank sermon from Qatar TV shows:

The American entertainment industry, too, has become a client of Israel's security industry. The new trend in Hollywood, it turns out, is Israeli bodyguards. Among the stars employing Israeli brawn are Eva Longoria, Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt (before their divorce), and Lindsey Lohan.

Israel21c reports: "Kevin Federline's lawyer hired IDF-trained Aaron Cohen, founder of the Beverly Hills-based IMS Security, to serve Britney Spears' camp with subpoenas for their custody battle. Even that dubious friend to the Jews, Mel Gibson, has relied on [an Israeli] to part the waters for him. For more than a decade, Avi Korein was Gibson's personal bodyguard before he opened his own Beverly Hills security firm, Screen International Security Services."

'They Never Switch Off'
The report says that security firm CEOs also seek out ex-Israeli military members: "Elijah Shaw, CEO of Icon Services Corporation in St. Paul, Minnesota, once hired an ex-Israeli commando to guard a famous actress who was being stalked on an international tour.

"Stalking is a form of terror," counter-terrorism expert Cohen told The Forward in October. "The formula is a lot like counter-terrorism, because you need to see who you're dealing with before you freak out." Cohen is a Beverly Hills native who served in the elite Israeli Duvdevan combat unit, which specialized in tracking terrorists.

"'I've used members of the Israel Special Forces - its equivalent of the Navy Seals - when I've had a specific, high-level threat,' says Shaw, whose clients include Naomi Campbell, Michael Bolton and 50 Cent. They operate at such a heightened sense of awareness. Because of the constant conflicts there, they're always on alert; they never switch off.'

The Israeli Save a Child's Heart (SACH) organization welcomed its first group of Kenyan children with heart conditions to be operated upon in Israel Wednesday.

The organization locates children in developing countries with life-threatening heart diseases and brings them to Israel to be treated by Israeli doctors at the forefront of cardiac medical technology.

The three young Kenyans, Samuel, 7, and 1-year-olds Hastings and Winfred, were accompanied by two of their mothers. The operations will take place at the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon. The children's treatment in Israel was arranged by a Kenyan physician who trained with SACH at Wolfson in anesthesiology.   

Kenya is SACH's 29th partner country, and plans are currently underway to expand medical and training opportunities, including the training of a pediatric cardiac surgeon in Israel. 

Since 1996, Save a Child’s Heart has provided surgeries for children from Ethiopia, Nigeria, Zanzibar, Rwanda, Moldova, Vietnam and China.

Half of the group's life-saving services have been provided to children for PA-controlled areas and Arab countries.