Undercover IDF soldiers arrested a senior Hamas terrorist responsible for the kidnapping of IDF Cpl. Gilad Shalit in the heart of Gaza Friday night.

The IDF has denied the reports, but Hamas-run and Israeli news agencies are reporting that Israeli soldiers disguised as local Arabs arrested senior terrorist Muhawesh al-Kadi near the Rafiah Crossing. The operation was carried out nearly a mile inside Gaza, in an area heavily populated by armed Hamas terrorists belonging to the group’s heavily supplied Executive Force.

Palestinian Authority sources said the undercover soldiers were riding a donkey-pulled wagon carting groceries and even conversed with local Arabs before carrying out the arrest. Al-Kadi was working on a tract of land near his house at the time.

According to Hamas, the IDF men wore Hamas Executive Force uniforms and drove a Subaru. Hamas members first believed al-Kadi had been apprehended by Fatah members, following clashes between the two terrorist groups Friday. They said they were planning on launching a reprisal against Fatah when they learned that those who apprehended the Hamas man fled toward the border with Israel and were escorted by IAF helicopters.

Israeli government radio reported that the car holding al-Kadi was driven to the Gaza airport at Dahaniyeh, where IAF helicopters picked him and the soldiers up.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert seemed to reference the operation Sunday when he said following the weekly Cabinet meeting: "I want to express my appreciation of the security forces's courageous and unusual operations that are aimed at impeding the activities of terror groups."

Dozens of Jews spent the Sabbath, for the seventh week in a row, at the site of the former Shomron community of Homesh.  The police made three attempts to mar the Sabbath joy, however: They arrested a family Friday morning, removed several more pioneers late Friday afternoon, and made a general attempt to evacuate the site a half-hour after the Sabbath ended on Saturday night.

On Friday morning, a family - husband, wife and three children - was arrested in Homesh, where they have been living for several weeks.  The father received a police order barring him from the site for 15 days.

Later in the day, after dozens of people arrived at the site and were making last-minute Sabbath preparations - such as setting up tents to sleep, eating areas, and the like - Border Guard police swooped down and began rounding up the pioneers.  Many people ran off to the nearby mountains, in accordance with what has become usual procedure, and only seven people were caught and removed by force. 

On Saturday night, security forces surprised them again and began forcibly removing them. Some were taken to the police station in Ariel; at least one person was still detained as of Sunday morning.

"Their goal is clear to us, but ours is equally clear," a Homesh First official told Arutz-7.  "They want to put an end to Jewish presence in Homesh, but we will not allow it.  We are more stubborn, and even those who were taken down say they will return."

Sunday morning, several youths were at the site, studying in the makeshift yeshiva there.

Homesh First officials decry the army's priorities in pursuing the would-be Homesh settlers and not the Arabs.  "It took them until just recently," they say, "to seal up five routes used for many years by the Arabs for terrorist and criminal activity."

Court to Rule on Outposts
Tensions are mounting throughout the Judea and Samaria settlement enterprise, as the Supreme Court is scheduled to hand down its long-delayed decision regarding the community of Migron.  The ruling is to deal with a petition filed by Peace Now and local Arabs, claiming that a third of Migron - a north-of-Jerusalem outpost community between Adam and Beit El - was built on privately-owned Arab land.

Though the Yesha Council is apparently prepared to agree to a compromise by which Migron would be moved to nearby Shaar Binyamin, the ruling is expected to demand the removal of many other outpost communities throughout Judea and Samaria.  With the residents and their supporters adamantly opposed to any change in the outposts' status, particularly in light of the expulsion from Gush Katif and the destruction and violence in Amona, the police and army fear that any attempted evacuation will result in even stronger violence.

The latest word, however, is that Yesha officials expect the Supreme Court to once again postpone its Migron ruling.

Osama Al-Mazini, the Hamas spokesman for the Gilad Shalit case, says the reports of an upcoming visit by the International Red Cross to the captive soldier are untrue.  Al-Mazini explained that the Shalit case is "different than others," and that a Red Cross visit could endanger his life.

"This is a complex security issue," Al-Mazini said.  "We refuse to allow any visit to Shalit, in order to preserve his life and in order to guarantee the success of an exchange of captives to bring about the release of the Palestinian prisoners from jail."

How would a Red Cross visit endanger Shalit's life? Al-Mazini explained that if, as a result of the visit, Israel manages to locate the place where Shalit is being held, "Israel is liable to bomb it in order to liquidate Shalit and thus extricate itself from the whole business, just as it did with Nachshon Wachsman."

Wachsman Background
Nachshon Wachsman was a 20-year-old IDF soldier who was kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists in Oct. 1994, and was murdered a week later by his kidnappers during a military attempt to rescue him.  It appeared that the entire country was mobilized on behalf of the abducted soldier; the Wachsman family received 30,000 letters in a matter of days, and 100,000 people attended a prayer service on his behalf at the Western Wall.  The man thought to have masterminded the attack, Muhammad Deif, survived several Israeli attempts to kill him - but just barely.  In July 2006, he was attending a high-level Hamas meeting in Gaza when Israeli aircraft attacked, leaving Deif with serious spine injuries and costing him his arms and legs, according to some PA sources.  A year ago, an Egyptian newspaper reported his arrest by Egypt as he tried to enter the country for health care.

Gilad Shalit has been held, apparently in Gaza, ever since his abduction by a Hamas cell in June 2006.  No word was heard from him until two months ago, when the terrorists released a recording of his voice.  The terrorists have released no other signs that he is well or even alive.

Israel, On the Other Hand...
In August 2001, a five-judge Israeli Supreme Court panel decided unanimously to allow Red Cross representatives to visit Lebanese terrorists Mustafa Dirani and Sheikh Abdul Karim Obeid in Israeli prison. This, despite the government claim that withholding such privileges was an important bargaining chip in the continuing efforts on behalf of several Israelis being held hostage at the time by Hizbullah. The judges ruled, "The State of Israel is a democracy that respects civil rights... Compassion and humanism are rooted in our national character... Human dignity even of our enemy is precious to us." 

Talks Mired
Al-Mazini further said that talks for Shalit's release have gone nowhere.  Egypt has abandoned its mediation efforts, and Israel is apparently seeking another country to take its place.  It is generally believe that Israel has agreed in principle to release at least 1,000 PA prisoners from prison, in three stages, in return for Shalit.

Two other IDF captives, Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, have been held by Hizbullah in Lebanon for 14 months.  There is no talk of a Red Cross visit to them, and in fact a Lebanese daily reported this summer, quoting German sources, that one of the two is apparently dead.  Hizbullah chieftain Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah has said that he plans to divulge no hint at all as to the wellbeing or whereabouts of the two captives, unless Israel releases Lebanese terrorists from Israeli prison.

Israeli Police have busted a group of Israeli neo-Nazis in the Tel Aviv region and found a gun and explosives. The youths are non-Jewish immigrants from the Former Soviet Union.

Although the nine arrests were made a month ago, a gag order on the case was in place until Saturday night. Police had been investigating over 20 people involved with the group ever since the vandalizing of a large synagogue in Petach Tikvah over a year ago. The neo-Nazis had painted the walls, as well as the insides of prayer books, with Nazi graffiti.

The teenagers are from Holon, Petach Tikvah and even the Samaria town of Karnei Shomron. They reportedly have ties with neo-Nazi groups overseas via the Internet and some boast Nazi tattoos.

When police raided the homes of the neo-Nazis, they found video documentation of dozens of other crimes. The group’s members had been found to regularly beat religious Jews and foreign workers in Tel Aviv. One video shows members of the group surrounding a Russian heroin addict and, after the man admits he is Jewish, beating him mercilessly, along with another man who tries to assist him.

The group was also found to have in its possession explosives and an M-16 assault rifle.

The members remain in police custody and an indictment in the case is expected Tuesday.

Police say all the members of the neo-Nazi cell received Israeli citizenship, which grants citizenship to anybody with a third-degree Jewish relative – even by marriage. The policy has come under criticism in the past, with the Jewish Agency coming under attack for continuing to allot resources to recruiting descendents of Russian Jewry to immigrate even after nearly all Russian Jews who wished to leave had done so. In recent years, as high as 40 percent of those immigrating from Russia are non-Jews according to Jewish law.

Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit says, "Giving automatic Israeli citizenship without making any demands is worth zero.  We have to change our immigration laws to those of a regular state... Jews from all around the world are invited to live here, but first they must be temporary residents, and prove they are loyal to the State, and only then can they become citizens - and not the opposite."

ADL Defends, MKs Outraged
The Anti-Defamation League, founded to protect Jews from neo-Nazi groups and anti-Semitism, released a hasty statement in Hebrew from its Israel office in defense of the neo-Nazi group. "The youth are angry at Israelis for holding them in contempt and lash out with hatred," the statement said, calling upon Jewish Israelis not to blame all Christian immigrants from Russia for the behavior of a “fringe group.”

MK Effie Eitam (National Union) said he plans on submitting legislation that will prevent non-Jews from immigrating to Israel under the Law of Return. The legislation would require matrilineal Jewish roots. "In recent years the State of Israel has become a refuge for people whose hatred of Jews and Zionists burns in their hearts,” he said.

The current formulation of the law is based on the early Zionist premise that anyone who would have been considered a Jew under Adolf Hitler’s Nuremberg Laws should be considered Jewish for the sake of immigration to Israel.

MK Zevulun Orlev (NRP) and MK Collette Avital (Labor) each said they would also submit legislation that would strip neo-Nazis of their Israeli citizenship and deport them to their countries of origin, after first serving prison terms. Former Interior Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) also echoed the call for deportation, calling the neo-Nazi groups an "erosive cancer" in Israeli society.

Syrian Vice President Farouk a-Shara announced Saturday night that Syria plans to respond to Israel’s alleged entry into its airspace.

A-Shara said that Syria’s military is still examining potential responses, but promised “the results will come soon enough.”

Meanwhile, Turkey’s Hurriyet newspaper published photos over the weekend of fuel tanks that it alleged Israeli F-151s jettisoned along the Syrian-Turkish border to evade Syrian anti-aircraft fire Wednesday night.

Israel’s Air Force regularly does drills over Turkey, with the Turkish government’s consent.

The US State Department uncharacteristically declined to condemn the alleged Israeli infraction. "I'd leave it up to the parties to describe what happened," deputy State Department Spokesman Tom Casey told reporters Thursday. “We'll leave it to them to try and sort this out.”

The state-regulated Syrian newspaper Tishrin accused the US, in a front-page editorial, of coordinating “this new Israeli hostile operation.” It said US silence on the matter constitutes “overt and scandalous encouragement of Israel.” Referring to the upcoming diplomatic conference on the establishment of a Palestinian state set for November, the Tishrin editorial asked: "How could a superpower call for the establishment of peace and send invitations to some countries to convene a peace conference at a time when it maintains silence over a clear violation of the simplest laws and international norms?”

Israeli-Arab Minister Accuses Israel
MK Raleb Majadle (Labor), appointed by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as Minister of Culture, Science and Sports, broke the government’s policy of silence on the incident over the weekend. Majadle said that Israeli planes enter Syrian airspace “all the time.” He also speculated that the planes entered Syrian airspace “either to take photographs or by mistake.”
 
Majadle’s statement, made to an Israeli-Arab newspaper, drew fire from several sides.

Minister Tzachi HaNegbi said: "The minister should learn to show more restraint with his words. It was unacceptable to speak to the media on matters unrelated to his office."

Al-Arabiya: Mission Was to Bomb Russian Missiles
The Arabic Al-Arabiya daily claimed that unnamed Israeli sources admitted that the IAF jets were on a mission to destroy newly purchased Russian surface-to-air missiles deployed by Syria along the coast.

Israeli-Arab MK in Syria Illegally, to be Prosecuted
Public Security Minister Avi Dichter announced Saturday night that Israeli-Arab MK Sa’id Nafa will be prosecuted for disobeying Interior Ministry instructions and traveling to Syria together with a delegation of Druze religious leaders.

Nafa entered the Knesset recently after the head of his Balad Party, Azmi Bishara, fled the country and an ongoing espionage investigation.

MK Majalli Whbee (Kadima), also a member of Israel’s Druze community, heavily criticized Nafa accusing him of following in the footsteps of former Balad MK Azmi Bishara and of “fawning” over Syrian president Bashar Assad. 

Whbee dismissed Nafa and his cohorts as “marginal extremists who do not represent the overwhelming majority of the Druze community in Israel.”  However, he said, Israel should do more to stop them.  Thursday’s trip was “yet another sign that the state is hiding its head in the sand and does not do enough to cut down subversive activities carried out under the auspices of Balad and its leaders,” Whbee said.

MK Effie Eitam (National Union) slammed Nafa. “I expect that the security establishment will do all in its power to get as many details of Nafa's meetings in Syria as it can,” Eitam said. “It appears that he is following in Bishara’s footsteps, starting with simple visits to Syria and ending up as an agent.”

Ex-MK Bishara toured Lebanon last week as a guest of Hizbullah. He praised the group and its war against the Jewish state. According to a Lebanese paper, Bishara asked to meet with Hizbullah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, but the terror chief turned him down, saying that he was "busy."

More than 70 Palestinian Authority Arabs in Gaza were wounded in clashes between Fatah and Hamas terrorists on Friday.

Fatah men tried to hold Friday prayers in public Friday, as ordered by Fatah chief and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. Hamas deployed members of its newly established armed forces with clubs to bludgeon the rebels.

Four Fatah men were injured by a small bomb thrown into one of the Fatah protests in southern Gaza.

Seven journalists were also beaten, including local stringers for international news agencies. Fatah and Hamas both boast several news agencies and scores of journalists affiliated with each group are employed by news agencies such as Reuters and the Associated Press. AP quoted one journalist who said a member of Hamas’s Executive Force told him he would be killed if footage of the clashes appeared on TV.

The Foreign Press Association has called upon Hamas to end its systematic harassment of journalists.

Hamas also arrested senior Fatah officials who have remained in Gaza, according to Fatah sources. Hamas said its forces had arrested two officials who had instigated riots and released them later Friday.

Fatah terrorist Tarazan Doghmush, who used to work for the Fatah security forces when the group ruled Gaza, was found dead Friday. Fatah claimed that Hamas killed him.

Israeli-Arab Leader Calls For Unity
Sheikh Raed Salah, who heads the Israeli Arab Islamic Movement’s northern branch, said Friday that Hamas and Fatah must reunite in order to battle the Jewish State. "I am turning to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and to the Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, and swear you in Allah's name, in the name of the masses present here, in the name of our children and elders and in the name of the martyrs - to renew the Palestinian dialogue. I call on you to establish a Palestinian unity government and to keep to the Mecca agreement. Jerusalem and Al Aksa [the Temple Mount –ed.] call you, do not let down their call.”

Salah was indicted on charges of incitement to violence after he called upon Israel’s Arabs to launch an Intifada to protect the Temple Mount from the Jews.

A Jew in Uzbekistan was murdered and a rabbi in Germany was stabbed in the past few days.

Mark Weil, a theater director in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, was found murdered near his home Thursday night, according to theYediot Acharonot newspaper. There were stab wounds all over his body.

Police said the murder was carried out by two men and was believed  to have been anti-Semitic. Weil was involved in the local Jewish community and founded a theater that often hosted Israeli drama and literature festivals.
  
In Germany, a rabbi was stabbed by an Arabic-speaking attacker in Frankfurt’s financial district.

The 42-year-old rabbi was walking home from synagogue through Frankfurt’s West End area on Friday night when an Arabic-speaking man approached him. He said something in Arabic and when the rabbi said he didn’t understand, yelled in German for him to “die” while stabbing him in the stomach.

The rabbi made it to a local hospital and told police that the man had fled with two women. He is in stable condition after an operation. His name has still not been released.