Two years after Israel withdrew unilaterally from Gaza, the Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee says war, or something near it, is inevitable.

MK Tzachi HaNegbi (Kadima), a former Public Security Minister, was responding to the words of a widely-quoted "senior IDF officer" who said that Hamas has become a small army with strong military capabilities.  HaNegbi stopped short of calling upon Israel to attack Hamas, but merely said that it was an inevitable development.  "It's just a matter of time," he said.  "It will occur sooner or later, either as an Israeli initiative, or following a deterioration of the situation unwanted by both sides."

Hamas Army Growing
The quoted senior officer said on Thursday that Hamas had "advanced a generation" of late in its military capabilities.  He told reporters that the Hamas army now numbers 13,000 fighters, and that it had imported 20 tons of explosives through the Rafiah crossing in the past several weeks.  The Hamas arsenal contains Strella shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles, which are "liable to make air actions difficult," as well as "the best weapons there are," the officer said.

Nationalist Members of Knesset warned the 2005 Sharon-Mofaz-Olmert government that removing the IDF from the Rafiah crossing would lead to a mass influx of arms into Gaza, but the warnings went unheeded.

The officer said that at least 400 Hamas fighters had left Gaza via Rafiah for training in Iran in recent weeks.  On the other hand, since Hamas took over Gaza six weeks ago, Israeli forces had carried out some 50 actions to prevent terrorists from entering Israel; 110 terrorists were killed in these actions, 198 were wounded, and 766 were arrested, including 47 on the wanted list.

MK HaNegbi, who has also served as Minister of Justice, Health and the Environment, said that Hamas's strengthening is no secret.  He noted that the relative quiet being maintained by Hamas against Israel is designed only to serve its own interests, in order that Israel not respond in kind.  He said that Hamas is using this period to train and arm, though he noted that the IDF is also preparing and studying the mistakes it made last year in Lebanon.

Eygpt Ignoring Obligations
HaNegbi said that Egypt has no interest in fulfilling its obligations to prevent smuggling from the Sinai into Gaza via Rafiah, despite the agreement it signed with Israel to this effect when Israel withdrew. 

Some fears have been raised that war with Hamas could exact heavy IDF casualties and many Kassam rockets at the Negev.  Despite the dangers inherent in delayed action against the Hamas military build-up, at least one high-placed military officer says that the most he can recommend at present is an intense attack on various Hamas headquarters and top officials.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Friday that he cannot promise that Israel's border with Gaza will not soon look like Israel's border with Lebanon prior to last summer's war.  Despite this, he has no intention of ordering a major ground assault in Gaza.  It is felt that the shadow of the Winograd Commission, expected to release a scathing report criticizing Olmert's haste in going to war last year, is a factor in Olmert's hesitation to take the offensive.

On Sunday morning, IDF forces shot and killed two Hamas terrorists near a former Jewish community in the northern Gaza Strip.  The terrorists were approaching the security border fence and were carrying grenades and guns.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Syrian President Bashar Assad held a joint press conference in Damascus Thursday confirming the formation of a new regional military alliance.
 

"The enemies of this region should drop their plans to strike the interests of this region, for these enemies will burn by the fire of the people," Ahmadinejad stated. "Both countries are united in a frontier facing common enemies to the region."

Ahmadinejad warned the unnamed enemies to abandon their “hostile plans,” stating, "Syria and Iran are aspiring for this summer to be hot by virtue of the victories that will be attained by the peoples of the region... and the enemies of the peoples of the region are on their way to perdition and defeat."

As part of the new military alliance, the London-based Arabic paper A-Sharq al-Aussat states, Iran will fund over $1 billion in new defense equipment for Syria including: 400 Russian tanks, 8 Mikoyan helicopters, 8 Sukhoi fighter jets, 18 MiG-31s, Iranian armoured vehicles and tanks, and Chinese C-801/802 missiles.

Israel is reportedly "skeptical" about the deal, though sources say the very meeting itself is of great concern and shows that Assad is not interested in peace.

Ahmadinejad reportedly also pledged to help Syria overthrow Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora and to aid in the restoration of pro-Syrian influence within the Lebanese parliament.  In addition, Iran will fund Syrian research towards the respective establishment and improvement of nuclear and biological weapons programs.

In return, Syria has reportedly pledged not to enter into any diplomatic negotiations with Israel.  Tehran will also be permitted to keep Iranian warplanes stationed in Syria.

While in Damascus, the two heads of state also reportedly met with Hizbullah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.

History Repeats Itself

Knesset Member Aryeh Eldad (National Union) said the military alliance forged between Iran and Syria is “reminiscent of the pacts that were signed on the eve of the Six Day and Yom Kippur wars”.

“The Iranian decision will lead to the launching of an attack on Israel from Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Iran,” Eldad stated.

"For some reason, the government of Israel chooses to ignore not only intelligence information, but even information that is published for all to see," he added.

Olmert Still Prepared to Negotiate

In an interview with Channel 10 Saturday night, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (Kadima) said that Israel was still prepared to negotiate with Syria and abandon the Golan Heights.  "I don't know what will be at the end of negotiations with Syria.  Of course we will have to make concessions, but can I make commitments even before the beginning of negotiations and promise that I will withdraw from the entire Golan Heights?"

Previously, Syria demanded that Israel commit to a complete withdrawal from the Golan Heights as a precondition to opening talks with Jerusalem.

In a separate interview Thursday, when asked how Nasrallah was able to sneak into a meeting between Ahmadinejad and Assad, Olmert responded, "No reply I could give would sound the way I'd want it to."

Strategic Alliance Minister: Form Unity Government

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu) called for Olmert and Opposition Leader Benyamin Netanyahu (Likud) to form a unity government to deal with the growing Iranian-Syrian threat.

"The strengthening of the relationship between Assad and Ahmadinejad demands that Israel reorganize its political and military preparations," said Lieberman. "The Iranian threat remains outside of politics, and therefore I call on the Prime Minister and the head of the opposition to reconsider forming a national emergency government."

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reiterated his belief that Israel "needs to withdraw" from the biblical Jewish provinces of Judea and Samaria.

Speaking at a gathering of farmers in the Jezreel Valley, Olmert maintained that Israel would have to make "tough decisions" with regard to territorial compromise.

According to the Prime Minister, anyone who thinks Israel can continue to hold onto the provinces captured in the defensive Six Day War of 1967 is "living in a dream."

"Everyone understands that the State of Israel can't exist without a guarantee of a Jewish majority," Olmert added.

Although many in Israel believe the question of Jewish majority to be a fundamental problem, recent research suggests otherwise.  A major demographic study published in 2005 by Bennett Zimmerman, Roberta Seid and Michael L. Wise revealed that the status of a Jewish majority between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea is much more stable than previously reported, with Jews representing at least 60 percent of the total population.

The data further suggests that the numbers of Arabs living in Judea and Samaria (commonly referred to as the West Bank) in particular have been grossly overstated.

Olmert added in his address that any territorial compromise to giveaway all or parts of Judea and Samaria would not occur unilaterally—as was the withdrawal from Gaza 2005—but rather through a negotiated solution with the Palestinian Authority.

The statements came on the eve following Olmert's release of 255 convicted terrorists serving terms in Israeli prisons, back into the general population of Judea and Samaria, a move which drew the criticism of many throughout the country. Olmert did not demand any information on the whereabouts of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit in exchange for the release of the terrorists, but rather said that letting the terrorists out of jail was a "goodwill gesture."

Hundreds of activists have erected tents on a hill near the ruins of the northern Samarian community of Homesh, and others are on their way to the site, determined to rebuild the town destroyed two years ago in the 2005 Disengagement from northern Samaria and Gaza. 

Police are standing by, preparing to forcibly remove them.

National Union Knesset Member Aryeh Eldad has appealed to Labor party chairman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak to allow the rally to take place peacefully and to let hikers walk on the main roads instead of endangering themselves on side trails, several of which lead to Arab villages.

Organizers had already announced last week that they plan to rebuild Homesh.  “We have no time limit,” said one of the organizers. “Rebuilding the town will help the Jewish people to overcome the crisis it is facing.”  Activists were instructed to bring a brick or cinder block for immediate construction of the first house.

IDF soldiers and police were ordered to stop the marchers. Dozens were arrested by 7:00 a.m., including 40 activists who were caught in the early morning hours near Shavei Shomron and another 30 who were stopped near Elon Moreh, south of Homesh.

The arrested civilians were put on buses and will face criminal charges for participating in the march, police said.

Organizers told those who managed to reach the nearby towns of Kedumim and Einav to sleep for a few hours and then wait for further instructions.

In an official statement Friday, the IDF said that “any person or organization involved in transporting Israelis to Homesh or otherwise aiding them in securing supplies will be charged with a crime and [will be] prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”

Several police patrols were already on the road by Friday morning. The ranks swelled Saturday night, with police and military vehicles lining Road 55 from Kfar Sava and the Ariel-Emanuel Road, the main routes leading to access roads to Homesh.

A number of cars were pulled over and their drivers questioned at security checkpoints.

 

 

Arab schoolchildren in Israel will be taught next year that the founding of the State of Israel was a tragedy (Nakba in Arabic) in accordance with a widespread Arab view of the event.

The Education Ministry, headed by Prof.Yuli Tamir (Labor), has approved adding the Arab version to the curriculum in response to calls by Arab nationalists who requested the “Nakba” version be taught in their schools.

The new directive approves a Grade 3 textbook "Living Together in Israel," which was written by Arabs who left their homes during the 1948 War of Independence and claim that Israel took their land.  The textbook evenhandedly points out that the Arab nations refused to accept the United Nations partition plan creating the Jewish State and a new Trans-Jordan country. 

"The Arab narrative deserves to be told in Israel," Tamir explained.  Arab MKs congratulated her for her decision, though immediately raised new demands. Arab MK Hana Sweid said Tamir should now incorporate Arab poetry into Jewish school curricula, while MK Jamal Zechalke called for "Arab cultural autonomy" under which Arabs would solely determine Israeli-Arab schools' curricula regarding Arab history and culture.

Other Responses
Reactions from the right were very sharp.  MK Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism) said that Prime Minister Olmert, as part of his gestures to PA chairman Abu Mazen, might as well propose that PA officials run Israel's Education Ministry.  Porush said that Tamir's decision was shameful and should be retracted.

Former Education Minister Limor Livnat (Likud) declared that teaching Arab children the "Nakba" version of Israel's creation will encourage them to later work against the nation.

MK Zevulun Orlev (NRP), a former Director-General of the Education Ministry, called upon Prime Minister Olmert to fire Tamir for making an "anti-Zionist decision that erases Jewish history and denies the State of Israel as a Jewish state.  The Education Minister gives Arabs the legitimacy not to recognize Israel as the State of the Jewish people.  This decision marks the "Nakba" of Israel's education network."

Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman slammed Tamir as “expressing not only post-Zionism but also political masochism... The Israel left always complicates itself trying to justify the other side without understanding that there is nothing to justify.”

Moshe Feiglin, running for Likud Party Chairman on behalf of the party's Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish Leadership) faction, said, "If it is OK to teach Israeli[-Arab] schoolchildren that the Jewish victory in the War for Independence and the establishment of the Jewish State are actually a catastrophe, this means that the State of Israel is an illegitimate and temporary body...  Yuli Tamir hereby reveals that she does not identify with the Jewish claim over the Land more than with the Arab claim.  If we do not hurry and give Israel a leadership that truly believes in the justness of our existence, Israel will be erased from the map."

Tamir's History
Teaching the "Nakba" to Arabs is the latest in a number of dramatic moves by Tamir, a left-wing professor and Peace Now founder who has campaigned against subsidies for Jewish religious education while backing Arab nationalist programs.

Last year, she ordered that maps of Israel show the 1949 Armistice Line, also known as the Green Line, which draws the borders of Israel as it existed before the Six-Day War in 1967.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported to U.N. headquarters in New York that troops have discovered and destroyed numerous Katyusha rockets, launchers and explosives in their search of Hizbullah bunkers throughout southern Lebanon.

IDF sources said, however, that that the terrorists are using the same tactics as in the Second Lebanon War and are camouflaging the rockets and launchers in villages.

UNIFIL soldiers have sent reports to the world body saying they have searched some 90 percent of the terrorist bunkers, many of which included underground tunnels as well. The report said weapons and other materiel found in the extensive underground complexes were destroyed in controlled explosions.

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