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  • Erdogan Searches for Diplomatic Response to Israeli Invasion of Gaza

    Erdogan Searches for Diplomatic Response to Israeli Invasion of Gaza

    Erdogan Searches for Diplomatic Response to Israeli Invasion of Gaza

    Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 6 Issue: 1
    January 5, 2009
    By: Saban Kardas

    Israel’s ongoing offensive against Gaza has generated waves of anger among the Turkish public and Turkish political elite. Paralleling mounting street demonstrations throughout Turkey are international attempts by the country’s leaders to find a diplomatic solution to the crisis. The attacks came amid Turkey’s growing involvement in the Middle East as a significant power seeking to exert influence through nonmilitary means, including economic and trade relations, cultural exchanges, and its new-found role as a regional peace broker. The governing Justice and Development Party (AKP), under the leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has successfully involved Turkey in attempts to resolve the region’s protracted problems, most importantly Israel’s entangled relations with its Arab neighbors.

    When Israel launched air strikes on December 27, Turkey’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the high number of civilian deaths and emphasized Turkey’s concern that the developments might undermine regional stability (www.mfa.gov.tr, December 27). Erdogan criticized the operation and labeled Israeli aggression as an act against Turkey’s peace initiatives, noting that through this action Israel had shut the door on diplomacy. He said that any diplomatic contact with Israel was meaningless at that point and called on the United Nations to intervene to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe. He also cancelled his plan to call Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to discuss Israel-Syria negotiations, because Israeli aggression was also “an act of disrespect toward Turkey” (Radikal, December 27).

    Erdogan’s disillusionment with Israel can be better understood given Olmert’s visit to Ankara a few days earlier, during which they discussed the status of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and Olmert asked Erdogan to revitalize the Israeli-Syria talks (www.cnnturk.com, December 23). Erdogan was preparing to play a more assertive role as a peace-broker in 2009, but Israel’s unrestricted use of force and apparent “insincerity” toward Turkey might have shattered his optimism about finding a comprehensive solution to Middle Eastern conflicts through dialogue.

    In response to Israel’s uncompromising position, the Erdogan government embarked on a diplomatic offensive to mobilize the international community. Since the outbreak of the crisis, Erdogan has spoken to world leaders such as the UN Secretary-General and European politicians (Anadolu Ajansi, January 4). He went on a “Middle East tour” to consult with regional leaders and explore a common position against Israel. On the first step of his shuttle-diplomacy, he met with the leaders of Syria, Jordan, and Egypt, as well as Palestinian politicians. The second step of his tour took him to Saudi Arabia. Following his meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Erdogan announced Turkey’s proposal for a two-stage plan to calm tension in Gaza. The first stage would be a ceasefire supervised by international peacekeepers, including Turkish forces. The second stage would seek to find a common ground between rival Palestinian groups in order to achieve a sustainable peace in the region (www.ntvmsnbc.com, January 2; Sabah, January 3).

    In the midst of these initiatives, Turkey appears to be seeking ways to bridge the divisions among Arab countries as well. While some Arab countries tend to feel that Hamas has the main responsibility for the collapse of talks with Fatah and are seeking to isolate it because of its alleged connections to Iran, Turkey is arguing against its isolation (Referans, December 30). At a time when Hamas is also coming under international criticism for sparking Israeli aggression, Erdogan defended the organization by saying that “agitation does not come from Hamas; rather, Israel has created fertile ground for this agitation.” Referring to a June 2008 deal brokered by Egypt, he maintained that “Hamas complied with the six-month long ceasefire. Yet, Israel did not lift the embargo. The people of Gaza are living in an open prison.” Erdogan went on to add that “Turkey could sponsor Hamas’s conditions for a ceasefire at the UN Security Council [UNSC], because Hamas’s trust in the Palestinian authority and Egypt has been shaken” but it still had full confidence in Turkey (Yeni Safak, January 3; www.cnnturk.com, January 4).

    Here, Erdogan had in mind Turkey’s new role as a non-permanent member of the UNSC, which it assumed this month. However, the United States’ threat to veto any resolution to halt Israeli attacks, as reflected in the January 3 consultation meeting of the SC, will not make it easy for the Erdogan government to use this avenue for supporting Palestinian interests. It is also important to note that Erdogan has repeatedly emphasized Turkey’s willingness to work in tandem with Egypt as a defender of the Palestinian cause.

    At the same time, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan met with his counterparts. He phoned the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, himself a Turk, and arranged an emergency meeting of the OIC Foreign Ministers (www.mfa.gov.tr, December 28). The final communiqué of the OIC meeting held on January 3 strongly condemned “the ongoing barbaric Israeli assault on the Palestinian people in Gaza” and proposed a number of measures to mobilize the international community to relieve the suffering of Palestinians and end Israel’s attacks (www.oic-oci.org, January, 3). Similarly, Turkey also urged the Arab League’s foreign ministers to work toward a ceasefire and facilitate reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas.

    The start of Israel’s ground offensive despite these efforts raises questions about the future of Turkish-Israeli relations. In response to a question, Erdogan had earlier said, “Inter-governmental relations cannot afford emotions. Yet, injustice cannot be permitted either. If there is oppression, we cannot support it. We seek to solve it through talks” (Zaman, January 2). Given Israel’s lack of interest in “talks,” on the one hand, and Turkey’s pro-Hamas position and exclusion of Israel from its diplomatic initiatives, on the other, it will be interesting to see how Erdogan will advocate Palestinian rights in international forums and whether Turkish-Israeli cooperation can survive the storm.

    https://jamestown.org/program/erdogan-searches-for-diplomatic-response-to-israeli-invasion-of-gaza/

  • THE DEBKA REVIEW – A WEEK AT GLANCE

    THE DEBKA REVIEW – A WEEK AT GLANCE

    Summary of DEBKAfile Exclusives in Weeks Ending Dec. 25, 2008
    Kidnap, glider attacks in Jerusalem foiled. Two Palestinians arrested 14 Dec.: DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report that two residents of the Jerusalem village of Isawiya, Iyad Abid, 20, and Abdullah Abid, 21, were indicted before Jerusalem district court Sunday, Dec. 14, on charges of plotting a series of terrorist attacks on Israeli Border Guard and army officers on duty in the neighborhood of their village. One plan was to ram a border patrol jeep, use electric shockers to stun the officers and take them hostage against the release of jailed Palestinians, including members of their family.

    Isawiya is strategically located close to the Hebrew University, Hadassah hospital which serves the neighborhood, Mount Scopus, French Hill and the Jerusalem-Maaleh Adummim highway. The two accused Palestinians, brothers and Hamas members, also conspired to crash a glider loaded with explosives on the IDF electronic early warning station on Mount Scopus.

    Russia considers first Israeli military purchase – spy drones

    16 Dec.:

    A $10-12 million transaction for Moscow to purchase Israeli spy drones for the Russian army is in negotiation with Israel’s Aerospace Industries’. DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the sale, if finally approved by the defense ministry in Tel Aviv, would be Israel’s first advanced hardware sale to Russia. It would also mark a reversal of Israeli policy, since the Russian army would almost certainly use the drones in another future round of hostilities with Georgia over the breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

    A drone transaction with Moscow would give the Russian army a technological-intelligence edge over Caucasian and Caspian nations, like Georgia and Azerbaijan, and therefore place in doubt their future arms purchases from Israel.

    Crowded Sderot shopping center takes direct Qassam hit from Gaza, 12 injured 17 Dec.: The 15th missile of Wednesday, Dec. 17, from Gaza, which injured 12 people – three from shrapnel, the rest in shock – exploded in the Sderot supermarket parking area, destroying shops and cars and scattering crowds of panicky Hanukah shoppers.

    The attack capped two days of a massive Palestinian missile and mortar barrage against several Israeli towns and villages without an Israeli military response. Only after the Sderot shopping center was ravaged did the Air force go into action against the Palestinians launching missiles from Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip. Even then, the Palestinians kept on firing raising the day’s number of missiles to 21.

    Olmert’s bid to revive Syrian track runs into blank walls 19 Dec.: Israeli caretaker prime minister Ehud Olmert has been warned that the trip he booked to Ankara for next Monday will be an exercise in futility. Damascus let it be known Friday. Dec. 19, that acceptance in advance of its “borders document” was the pre-condition for direct peace talk. This six-point document covers Israel’s withdrawal – not only from the Golan but also from another slice of territory, the northeastern bank of the Sea of Galilee and Hamat Gader region, which is part of pre-1967 Israel.

    This maximalist approach, say DEBKAfile’s sources, aims at notifying US president-elect Barack Obama and designated secretary of state Hillary Clinton that Damascus’ “borders document” is a take-it-or-leave it proposition. Syrian leaders appear to believe that after he takes office, Obama will assign American partners to the negotiations, who will tilt the talks in Syria’s favor.

    Opposition Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu said the post-election government he expects to lead next year would not be bound by any “Olmert-Livni concessions to Syria” or abandon the Golan.

    US-Russian in race to arm Lebanon with heavy weapons
    DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

    20 Dec.:

    In their race to arm the Lebanese army with heavy weapons, which Israeli diplomacy has failed to deter, the United States and Russia have no way of keeping them out of Hizballah hands; Shiite soldiers make up nearly half the force and Hizballah’s hands are on the levers of the Beirut government.

    Israel’s tardy diplomatic efforts to forestall the flow fell on deaf ears in Moscow and Washington.

    David Hale of the state department announced the US package for Lebanon Friday, Dec. 19, while denying Washington was competing with Moscow. He said that in addition to M-50 Supersherman tanks, the US package for Lebanon included “air support capabilities (helicopters) with precision weapons and urban combat gear.”

    The US was helping the Lebanese army “to maintain internal security and fighting terrorism in Lebanon,” he said.

    DEBKAfile also reveals that a group of Hizballah operatives recently paid a secret visit to Moscow and asked for Russian hardware. Jerusalem is too busy spinning fairy tales about the feasibility of peace with Syria to pay enough attention to the hectic, hostile activity on Israel’s northern border.

    Israeli government again backs down as Gaza missile war boils over 21 Dec.: No military action to stamp out the Palestinian missile blitz against southwestern Israel will be undertaken before “international support” is organized and an attempt to renew the “ceasefire” with Hamas is undertaken. This was the gist of the Israeli cabinet decision Sunday morning as Palestinian missile fire continued.

    Schoolchildren were told to stay in their classrooms and forbidden the playground. Magen David Adom’s first aid services are on high alert. Hamas leaders have gone into hiding in the smuggling tunnels honeycombing the southern Gaza Strip in case Israel goes back to targeted assassinations.

    Iraq orders Iranian exiles to leave ahead of PM Maliki’s Tehran visit 22 Dec.: Days before Iraqi Prime minister Nouri al-Maliki visits Tehran, his government has told the opposition People’s Mujahideen Organization of Iran (PMOI) it is no longer welcome in Iraq and the 3,500 Iranian exiles would be deported.

    Cont. Next Column

    		 DEBKAfile reports they have nowhere to go. No government has offered the group asylum although Jordan has supported the PMOI’s claim to remove its terrorist listing by the European Union, based on its having laid down arms and renounced violent action in 2001.

    From 2003, Ashraf Camp came under US protection after the US military destroyed more than 2,000 tanks, armored personnel carries and other weapons. But the handover of security to the Iraqi government has left the organization in the lurch.

    First Palestinian anti-air gun fire against Israel helicopters. Military option still on ice 22 Dec.: For the first time in 9 years of Palestinian warfare, anti-air gun fire was directed from the ground against Israeli aircraft, DEBKAfile’s military sources report. The guns opened up Sunday night, Dec. 21, against Apache helicopters before they crossed into Gaza air space from Nahal Oz to strike missile crews.

    The helicopters returned the fire which came from hideouts in the orchards of northern Gaza.
    In line with the government’s decision Sunday to seek international backing for a potential military operation Gaza, Israel complained to the UN about the Palestinian missile and mortar attacks from Gaza terrorizing its southwestern population and asserted its right to exercise its military option to defend the population of the targeted region.

    Notwithstanding the severe escalation of Gaza attacks, a senior military source told DEBKAfile that a substantive military raid is not on the IDF’s immediate agenda. The government led by Ehud Olmert and defense minister Ehud Barak would prefer its postponement to mid-2009 or later.

    Kings Abdullah of Jordan and Saudi Arabia showered $316,000-worth of precious jewelry on Condoleezza Rice

    23 Dec.:

    They included an emerald and diamond necklace, ring, bracelet and earrings set from Abdullah II and Queen Rania and a ruby and diamond necklace with matching earrings, bracelet and ring from Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.

    US: Russia’s S-300 missile sale to Iran is Israel’s decision point

    23 Dec.:

    An American military intelligence official says Russia’s sale of S-300 long-range missiles to Iran presents a “decision point for Israel, since once the anti-aircraft system is in place it could deter any strike” against Iran’s nuclear sites.

    State department spokesman Robert Wood said Monday, Dec. 22: “We have repeatedly made clear… that we would strongly oppose the sale of S-300.” From Iran, they could reach American troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and shift the Middle East military balance of power.

    Amid the confusion contrived by Moscow about the state of the consignment, an American source said Tuesday: “The US believes it is taking place.” In Moscow, a “military-diplomatic source in Moscow” said Monday the S-300 systems are being packed up… and expected to be delivered from the defense ministry’s warehouses.” The latter statement indicates the missiles going to Iran straight from Russia’s own emergency stores and not waiting to come off production lines.

    Large-scale missile defense exercise 23 Dec.: A big missile defense exercise was conducted Tuesday in the southern Israeli towns of Ashdod, Ashkelon, Kiryat Malachi, Kiryat Gat, Gedera, Yavne.

    Gaza clash impending – Israel air strikes versus Palestinian long-range missiles
    DEBKAfile Exclusive Report     24-25 Dec.: The fifty or so missiles Hamas sent crashing into Israel Wednesday, Dec. 24, represented only a quarter of its capability of up to 200 missiles per day on a par with Hizballah’s barrage against Galilee in the 2006 Lebanon war.

    They can reach a distance of 42 km – an area far broader than the strip taking hits from Gaza Wednesday which was delimited by Ashkelon to the north and Netivot to the east. Therefore an outer rim of 30 locations 30 km distant from the Palestinian enclave has now been connected to the Homeland Command’s early warning system, including Kiryat Gath, Kiryat Malachi, the Lachish Region and Ashdod.

    The Israeli security cabinet meeting Wednesday approved military action to extinguish the escalating Palestinian offensive which Wednesday left a trail of 57 shock victims – half of them children – and wrecked homes, vehicles, shops, workshops and roads. The ministers took into account that Hamas might counter effective Israeli air strikes in Gaza with its long-range missiles.

    Former national security adviser Giora Eiland urged the government in a radio interview to start treating the Gaza Strip like a neighboring hostile state and hold its Hamas regime responsible for the insupportable missile aggression. Israel must fight back – not just against the missile teams, but go for the belligerent Palestinian government’s infrastructure, even if 100 civilians are killed every day, because this would finally give Hamas a strong incentive to live in peace instead of making war.

    Tehran deflects Hamas SOS for intervention against an Israeli attack in Gaza
    DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

    25 Dec.: Hamas asked Tehran Dec. 25, for its support by a threat to intervene if Israeli launched an attack on Gaza, DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources report. Tehran gave Hamas no promises, saying it was watching to see how Israel’s military operation evolved.

    Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert meanwhile strongly urged Gazan Palestinians to stand up to Hamas and stop them shooting missiles to ward off Israel’s military operation. He addressed them over al Arabiya television.

    In Cairo, foreign minister Tzipi Livni said after talks with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak that she did not ask Egypt for permission to embark on military action in the Gaza Strip. This decision was solely Israel’s, she said.

    Our sources note that the Iranian regime is thinking twice before making any military commitments for deterring Israel. For one thing, they believe it would have the opposite effect and offer Israel vindication for a major campaign.

    In southern Lebanon, close to the Israeli border, Lebanese army sappers defused seven Katyusha rockets fitting with timing devices a short time before they were set for launching against Galilee. There is no word who rigged them, but they apparently came out of Hizballah’s arsenal.
  • Summary of DEBKA file Exclusives in Week Ending Nov. 20, 2008

    Summary of DEBKA file Exclusives in Week Ending Nov. 20, 2008


     
    Summary of DEBKAfile Exclusives in Week Ending Nov. 20, 2008
    Four armed Palestinians killed in Israeli air strike after missile fire from Gaza 15 Nov.: The terrorists were encouraged to escalate their offensive by the decision Prime minister Ehud Olmert, defense minister Ehud Barak and chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi reached Friday night to refrain from fighting back after Ashkelon was hit by 6 Palestinian Grads and Sderot battered by 11 Qassam missiles on Day 10 of the Hamas blitz. 

    One Sderot 82-year old woman suffered shrapnel wounds, 22 were hospitalized in shock. Since then, the population within range of the Gaza Strip was told to stay in protected sites – when they have them – uncertain about whether they can return to normal work and school activities Sunday.

    Ashkelon town hall opened the public bomb shelters, while the city of Ashdod to the north ordered the shelters prepared. Several ministers as well as opposition leaders are demanding an effective military campaign against the terrorist groups ruling Gaza before it is too late. They say the Gaza truce, due for renewal next month, has become a farce.

    Sinai Bedouin revolt continues, 25 Egyptian police killed in clashes 15 Nov.: Clashes between insurgent Bedouin and Egyptian border police in central Sinai Friday, Nov. 14, left 25 Egyptians dead. No figures were immediately available on Bedouin casualties. The armed insurrection erupted Saturday, Nov. 7, when Egyptian troops posted at the Nitzana border post opened fire on a suspected drug smugglers’ truck, killing the Bedouin driver. 

    Hundreds of armed tribesmen in pick-up trucks bent on revenge – mostly Tarabin, Azazme and Tihama members – swarmed to the scene and began shooting up the Egyptian border guards. Around 1,000 besieged Egyptian positions along the Sinai-Israeli border south of Rafah. They took dozens of Egyptians hostage, including a general. The Bedouin outbreak assumed the form of an organized uprising when their chief commander handed the Egyptian officers a list of demands.

    Al Qaeda says order given for attack “far bigger than 9/11” 16 Nov.: DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report that US president-elect Barack Obama, European and Russian heads of state in Washington for the G20 conference over the weekend were briefed about an early al Qaeda attack. 

    Obama and his team have been advised that a new al Qaeda strike is highly probable in the United States or against a key US target in Europe, North Africa or the Middle East.

    On Thursday night, Nov. 14, Central Intelligence Director Gen. Michael Hayden said: “Al Qaeda, operating from its safe haven in Pakistan’s tribal areas, remains the most clear and present danger to the United States.” Every major terrorist threat threads back to the tribal areas, he said. “Whether it is command and control, training, direction, money, capabilities, there is a connection to the FATA (Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas.)”
    Hayden also mentioned Yemen and Somalia as important al Qaeda theaters of operation.

    Four armed Palestinians killed in Israeli air strike after missile fire from Gaza 16 Nov.: The Israeli air strike killed armed Palestinians on their way to blow up the Karni crossing through which supplies reach Gaza, Sunday, Nov. 16. The missiles landed outside a kibbutz. 

    The missile fire contradicts the calming statements from Israeli leaders claiming Hamas wants to maintain the agreed truce. Hamas spokesmen in fact demand the unconditional reopening of all the Gaza crossings by Israel and Egypt without commitments on their part.

    The Gaza-based Palestinian terrorist group announced Saturday, Nov. 15, that the 120,000 inhabitants of the Mediterranean port town of Ashkelon 15 kilometers from Gaza, were now held hostage. All Israeli military strikes in Gaza would be countered by long-range (25-kilometer) Iran-supplied Grad artillery rocket attacks on the city. “The rules of the game have changed,” said Hamas.

    Nine Palestinian missiles fired from Gaza Monday 17 Nov.: The first salvo of seven Qassam missiles damaged buildings in the Eshkol farm district Monday, Nov. 17, followed by two in the evening that were aimed at Sderot. There were no casualties. British foreign secretary David Miliband visited Sderot and was shown the damage Palestinian missiles caused since the Gaza truce broke down two weeks ago.  

    Israeli Arab nursery-school teacher charged with abetting Gaza terrorists 17 Nov.: Sumiya Abu Ghanem, 21, a nursery school teaching aide in the Israeli town of Ramle, was charged before the Petach Tikva district court Monday. She was detained a month ago as a result of a joint Border Police-Shin Bet operation. The charges against Abu Ghanem included conspiring to aid the Palestinian Fatah terrorist group in Gaza in a scheme to kidnap an Israeli. She was also asked to help spirit a Palestinian suicide killer into a crowded place in an Israeli town.  

    Hamas to maintain missile blitz up to Ashdod – until Israel’s February poll
    DEBKAfile Exclusive Report     17 Nov.: DEBKAfile’s military sources report that Israeli government leaders have misread the motives behind Hamas’ two-week missile-rocket-mortar assault on Israel as jockeying for better terms when the six-month truce comes up for renewal next month. Their decision to mute Israel’s military response to the ongoing violence stems from their misplaced expectation that the attacks will stop once the truce is in the bag. 

    Israeli intelligence circles estimate that Hamas will continue escalating the violence at least up until Israel’s general election on Feb. 10, 2009:
    1. The 25-kilometer range Grad multiple-launch rockets, which the radical terrorists have vowed to continue firing against the Mediterranean port-town of Ashkelon, will also be directed further north to Ashdod, Israel’s most important port after Haifa. This will keep Hamas at center stage of Israel’s election campaign and demonstrate who really influences the Israeli voter. The rival Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, whose “peace talks” with Israel came to naught, will be left behind.

    2. Hamas calculates that a major Israeli operation in Gaza will be so costly in casualties for the Palestinian population and Israeli troops alike that an international outcry will force the IDF to cut the campaign short without achieving its goals. Israel’s failure to achieve victory will enhance Hamas’ standing in Gaza and the West Bank – just like Hizballah after the 2006 Lebanon war.

    Mullen: The US Army has begun practicing traveling out of Iraq and into Afghanistan 18 Nov.: Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said in an interview to AP that the exit routes practiced through Turkey and Jordan would determine “what the challenges might be.” Both governments support the effort. 

    DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the US army chief’s statement marks the beginning of the American withdrawal from Iraq. While he is still following the orders of President Bush, Mullen said he was clearly aware of president-elect Barack Obama’s plan to withdraw the US army from Iraq in 16 months.

    This development is a negative augur for Israel’s strategic situation; after Lebanon and the Gaza Strip, the door is open for Iran to take control of another Arab nation in its vicinity. The Israel military has made no preparations for the encroaching Iranian presence.

    		 Iran, Syria tauten grip on Lebanon, Tehran woos Christian president
    DEBKAfile Exclusive Report      

    18 Nov.: Tehran and Damascus are going all out to get their hooks into Lebanon’s Christian politicians and wean them away from their’ traditional ties with the West. President Michel Suleiman this week accepted an Iranian invitation to visit Tehran Nov. 24-25, while another Lebanese Christian leader, Hizballah’s ally Gen. Michel Aoun, arranged to visit Damascus.

    DEBKAfile’s Middle East sources report that the Iranians are forging ahead with a campaign to bind the region’s Christian minorities to their Shiite wagon for challenging Sunni domination. Their first quarry is Lebanon’s powerful community.

    Although these developments bode ill for Israel too, they were left out of the sweeping 2009 prognosis which the Israeli Military Intelligence chief Maj. Amos Yadlin delivered in Tel Aviv Monday, Nov. 17. Neither did he look ahead to the likelihood that Iran would be able to assemble a nuclear weapon early next year. Senior Israeli intelligence circles described the evaluations heard from Yadlin Monday as less attuned to reality than the estimated positions of the incoming US president Barack Obama’s Middle East team and Olmert-Livni policies. Like them, he omitted to address the agendas which Tehran and Damascus are actively pursuing.

    Gaza crossings resealed Tuesday after 9 Palestinian missiles fired from Gaza 18 Nov.: The first salvo of seven Qassam missiles damaged buildings in the Eshkol farm district Monday, Nov. 17, followed by two in the evening that were aimed at Sderot. There were no casualties. Still, Israeli allowed 33 truckloads of supplies into Gaza following heavy international pressure and UNWRA renewed food supplies to the population. But fuel shipments are held up for as long as the Palestinians shoot rockets, missiles and mortars into Israel. 

    In two weeks they have fired 140 projectiles, effectively terminating the informal truce agreed in June and up for renewal next month. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon voiced concern to Israel about the suffering in Gaza under the Israeli blockade. Prime minister Ehud Olmert replied that the correct address for such complaints is Hamas.

    Final IAEA report: Syrian site hit by Israel resembled an atomic reactor
    DEBKAfile Special Report     19 Nov.: The final report of the International Atomic Energy Agency Wednesday, Nov. 19, says the Syrian complex bombed by Israel 14 months ago bore features resembling those of an undeclared nuclear reactor. “Significant” amounts of man-made uranium particles were found in situ. This report will be submitted the nuclear watchdog board meeting in Vienna on Nov. 27-28. 

    Damascus is accused of failing to produce requested documentation to support its declaration about the nature of the building and refusing follow-up IAEA visits to three other locations suspected of harboring possible evidence linked to Israel’s target.
    DEBKAfile was the only publication to report that the Israeli attack targeted more than one Syrian site.

    Our military sources stress that the IAEA report attests to one of the most formidable feats of Israel’s external intelligence agency Mossad in conjunction with the US CIA. Syrian president Bashar Assad is now confirmed as having been in the process of building nuclear weapons intended for attacking Israel.

    Al Qaeda’s venomous message for Obama 19 Nov.: In an audio message released Wednesday, Nov. 19, Ayman al-Zahari, al Qaeda’s No. 2, said US president-elect Barack Obama was not an “honorable black American” like Malcolm X but a “house negro” like Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. He urged Muslims to keep up attacks on the “criminal” US and criticized Obama for “promising to back Israel.” 

    Obama’s plan to shift troops to Afghanistan would fail, said Zawahri, in a message appearing on Islamist websites. He added: “A heavy legacy of failure and crimes awaits you.” The Islamist leader criticized Obama, born to a Muslim Kenyan farther, for what he described as turning his back on his Muslim roots.

    Indian navy sinks pirate “mother ship” in Gulf of Aden19 Nov.: Late Tuesday, Nov. 18, after a Thai boat and Iranian cargo vessel were hijacked, the Indian navy’s Tabar stealth frigate fought back and destroyed a pirate vessel loaded with food, diesel and water, with two speed boats in tow. On the deck, were rocket-propelled grenade launchers and guns. The attack took place 285 nautical miles southwest off Salalah, Oman. DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report that this area would be well off the Somali pirates’ beaten track and cause of concern on another score, their proximity to the Strait of Hormuz. 

    The Indian navy says it was the third attack the Indian warship had repelled since its anti-piracy mission began in the Gulf of Aden on Nov. 2. On Nov. 11, Indian naval commandos flying a helicopter foiled an attempt to hijack an Indian merchant ship.

    Israel chief of staff at NATO 19 Nov.: Israel’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi, will address NATO military leaders convened in Brussels on IDF’s counter-terror tactics and technology. 

    He has appointments set up with the US, French, German and Turkish military chiefs.

    First US, Russian steps to combat Somali piracy 20 Nov.: The US and multinational naval force patrolling the coast off Somali urged merchant vessels Thursday, Nov. 20, to sail with armed guards on board and only on lanes patrolled by warships. 

    The Russian Navy commander Adm. Vladimir Vysotsky announced more warships would be sent to the danger zone. US Vice Adm. William Gortney said merchant ships crews were being taught non-violent measures to prevent pirates boarding their vessels, such sharp rudder movements and speed adjustments to throw their speed boats off course.
    The Saudi tanker, the biggest ship every hijacked, is being held off the Somali coast with 2 million barrels of crude and a crew of 25, for a $25 million ransom.

    A NATO fleet of US, French, British and Danish warships along with Indian, Malaysian and Russian naval vessels are patrolling the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters. They were unable to prevent the seizure of the super tanker and three merchant vessels this week.

    New polls register seismic Israeli shift to right of center
    DEBKAfile Special Report     20 Nov.: With 61 days to go to Israel’s general election, at least two opinion polls position the right-of center opposition Likud ahead of its rivals with 32 Knesset seats (out of 120), whereas the ruling Kadima, led by foreign minister Tzipi Livni, would fall to 26, with two-thirds of its former voters dropping out. 

    Likud leader former PM Binyamin Netanyahu is cashing in on the popular figures he has picked for his top team, such as Benny Begin (son of the iconic Menahem Begin) and ex-chief of staff Moshe Yaalon as disenchanted defectors return to the Likud fold. If the figures hold up on Feb. 10, Netanyahu will be Israel’s next prime minister.

    Most strikingly, defense minister Ehud Barak is leading Labor, Israel’s founding party, to virtual eclipse with no more than 8-10 Knesset seats predicted. The party faithful are drifting leftward, boosting Meretz to an estimated seven seats.

     
  • Bethlehem News Updates: Number 4, 11-16-08

    Bethlehem News Updates: Number 4, 11-16-08

    Karahan Mete [Karahan.mete@gmail.com]

    Benim iki Amerikali arkadasim Filistine gonullu olarak gittiler. Amaclari onlara yadimci olmak. 6 ya veya bir sene orada kalmayi planliyorlar. Onlarin gonderdigi emalleri okudukca icim burkuluyor. Onceki emailleri gondermedim; fakat bundan soraki emailleri sizinle paylasmanin uygun olacagini dusundum. Cunki bu emaller bize oradaki olaylarin ve yasamin gercek yuzunu yansitiyor. Bu emiller bize emperyalizmin acimsiz, inaslikla alaksi olmayan vahis yuzunu gosteriyor. Bu guce tellaligini yapan  dunya basininin nekadar tarafli oldugu ve basinin hangi guclerin elinde oldugu birkez daha gosteriyor. Nerde domokrasi ve insan haklari telallari?
    Israelin Filistinlilere yatigini Turkiye yapmis olsaydi neler olacagini siz dusunun. Bu konuda soylenecek cok sey var. Geirsisni sizin gorulerinze birakiyorum.
    KM

    Forwarded message
    From: Patricia Daugherty <pdmc1234@gmail.com>
    Date: Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 3:38 PM
    Subject: Bethlehem News Updates: Number 4, 11-16-08
    To: Maggie Coulter <mcpd1234@gmail.com>

    Bethlehem News, Volume 4, Sunday, November 16, 2008

    As we sit down to write this week’s update it seems hard to believe we have already been in Palestine for one month!  Our days are always full – with both planned and spontaneous happenings.  (Note: If you have not received our 3 previous updates, please let us know.  Also, please pass these on to others who would be interested. And if you don’t want to receive our updates, just let us know.)

    This week we will limit our update to describing our visit on Friday to Wadi Fukeen.  It encapsulates the bittersweet experience of Palestine: the persistent hope, tenacity and grace in the jaws of a virulent Israeli occupation of land theft, settlement building, environmental damage and ethnic cleansing.

    Visiting Wadi Fukeen

    Wadi (Arabic for valley) Fukeen is located in the Bethlehem district. As the crow flies, it is almost as close to the old city of Jerusalem as it is to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.  Distances are not far here – but for Palestinians this does not equate with ease of movement. For nearly all Palestinians in the West Bank, Jerusalem might as well be in California as they are not allowed to travel there without a difficult-to-get Israeli-issued permit (*more info below).

    We had received two invitations to visit Wadi Fukeen, one from the young woman studying about the environment, mentioned in last week’s update and one from a young man who was working the hotel where a conference we attended was held. As we made plans to visit, we realized that we also had another contact (from Sacramento), an Israeli peace activist working with the people of Wadi Fukeen.

    We took a Bethlehem taxi, which, because it had Palestinian license plates, could only travel a few miles of the well-maintained settlement bypass road, before being diverted off to a poorly maintained road to the village. The bypass road, which continued on to the illegal Israeli only settlement, Beitar Illit, was built on land stolen from Bethlehem district towns and villages. And the Jewish-only settlement itself was built on stolen land from the villages of Wadi Fukeen and Nahhalin.

    As we traveled down the potholed, single lane road, we passed through ancient terraced hills of olive trees into a small beautiful fertile valley; stone farm houses formed the central village.  Further on were fields planted with lush vegetables tucked in on the valley floor.  Since this is a dry place, seeing these beautiful green vegetables was quite a sight!

    But the other sight from which one can not escape is the massive and looming settlement snaking along the length of the ridge and spilling down towards the village homes. Everyone in the village has lost land to this illegal settlement and the land theft continues.  As your eye follows the settlement along the ridge you see more housing units being constructed.  Beyond that, one sees where the hill has been leveled flat for more construction.  Rocks and dirt scraped from the hill were pushed into the next valley, covering olive groves belonging to the village of Nahhalin. While building of the illegal Israeli settlements continues unabated, construction in the Palestinian villages is completely restricted by Israel. Our Israeli contact told us that recently, when villagers asked the Israeli authorities what land they might be able to build on in the future, they were told that all the remaining available land would be taken for the settlement.

    It is difficult to comprehend how Palestinians cope with this ever-present threat to their future and that of their children. Looking at the scar left from bulldozing the ridge top, we were reminded of Har Homa, the huge illegal settlement we see everyday from Bethlehem.  Har Homa used to be covered with a forest; it had been designated by Israeli as a “nature preserve”, a euphemism for land they would eventually steal.  Just 10 years ago the Israelis mowed down the trees, flatted the hill top and replaced the forest with what looks like a concrete jungle.  It must have been sickening for the families of Bethlehem to watch, unable to change the outcome. This all took place in plain view from the Church of the Nativity as did the construction of the huge cement apartheid wall that presumably provides security to the settlement.

    After sage tea and delicious baked flat bread of zataar (like oregano) and cheese, we went off to see the vegetable fields, meeting and talking with people along the way. Wadi Fukeen is blessed by 11 natural springs.  These flow into a series of rectangular collection pools from which water is let out as needed to irrigate the fields. This is traditional farming method.

    Settlers have come into the village, taken off their clothes and gone swimming in the pools, contaminating the water. Villagers have posted signs in Hebrew asking them not to do this. We have heard stories of deliberate contamination of the water by settlers in other areas of the West Bank   In the past, Wadi Fukeen’s spring water was potable – but we were told that it is no longer safe to drink, in part due to the settler contamination.  Now villagers must buy their drinking water from Mekorot, the Israeli water company that basically steals the water from the deep aquifer that is under the Palestinian West Bank. (Palestinians are not allowed to drill wells without Israel’s permission.)

    Our village friends pointed out a large open pipe below the settlements. The pipe is an overflow for the settlement sewage (which is set up to be piped to Jerusalem for treatment). When the system overflows, raw sewage comes out of the pipe, down the hillside, contaminating the vegetable fields below.  The farmers have tried to ameliorate the problem by building large raised beds and diverting the source of contamination away from the beds.  However, as we write this we just received an email saying that the sewage is flowing again

    The trip home

    After more tea and gifts of vegetables we prepared to return to Bethlehem.  In the center of the village we met up with school kids from the Aida Refugee Camp (in Bethlehem) on an afternoon field trip. A wonderful outing for kids living in very cramped conditions next to the Apartheid Wall, which cut off the last remaining near-by open space for them – an olive grove. (see ** below for more on Aida Camp) The kids and adults were waiting for their bus which had a flat tire, so we tagged along to wait, chatting more with our young village friends and playing with the kids.  It was nearly dark when the bus finally came.

    As the bus bumped down the road and we watched a harvest moon rise, suddenly the bus came to a halt with a repeated whisper of “Jaysh” (Arabic for army – the Israeli soldiers).  All the men were ordered off the bus, both Palestinians and internationals. An armed Israeli soldier got on the bus walking down the aisle; at one point some of his gear got caught the hair of a little girl. The children were quiet. The young men got back on and we proceeded.  Then suddenly there was crying and screaming!  The bus lurched to a stop again. Children were running in the aisle.  Patricia (who was in the back of the bus) heard several yell, “grenade!”  The children were helped to file off the bus. Several had to be held tightly and consoled as they were screaming in pure terror.  Thankfully, it soon it became clear that it was just a bus malfunction. A hole had blown in the heating system and steam had gushed out.  But these are children who have witnessed Israeli military incursions into their camp – into their homes.  A grenade on the bus after the soldier walked down the aisle was a real possibility in their minds.

    We finished the day by attending a sister city event in the Bethlehem Peace Center.  (Czestochowa, Poland to Bethlehem, Palestine)  The Representative of the Republic of Poland to the Palestinian National Authority talked about Poland’s connection to Palestine, as two peoples who have been occupied, had their people killed and their land stolen. He offered his hope that Palestine, like Poland would also one day have its freedom from occupation and its lands restored.

    * Israelis are can visit Wadi Fukeen in the Palestinian West Bank.  However, Israel forbids the people of Wadi Fukeen to travel in Israel without a permit.  In reality, these are rarely given except in extenuating circumstances like an illness requiring hospital treatment.

    **  Aida camp is one of three refugee camps in the Bethlehem district.  We have mentioned Dheisheh camp (the largest) in past updates.  These refugee camps have been in existence since 1948 when upwards of 800,000 Palestinians (3/4 of the population) were either forcibly expelled or forced out in fear for their lives in the months before and after Israel declared itself a state.<–>

  • DEBKA:Russia lines up with Syria, Iran against America and the West

    DEBKA:Russia lines up with Syria, Iran against America and the West

    Summary of DEBKAfile Exclusives in Week Ending Sept. 18, 2008
    Russia lines up with Syria, Iran against America and the West

    Sept 12.: Moscow announced renovation had begun on the Syrian port of Tartus to provide Russia with its first long-term naval base on the Mediterranean.

    As the two naval chiefs talked in Moscow, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov met Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki in the Russian capital for talks on the completion of the Bushehr nuclear power plant by the end of the year.

    DEBKAfile’s military sources report Russia’s leaders have determined not to declare a Cold War in Europe but to open a second anti-Western front in the Middle East.

    In the second half of August, DEBKA file and DEBKA-Net-Weekly’s analysts focused on this re-orientation (Russia’s Second Front: Iran-Syria), whereby Moscow had decided to use its ties with Tehran and Damascus to challenge the United State and the West in the Middle East as well as the Caucasian, the Black Sea and the Caspian region.

    In aligning with Tehran and Damascus, Moscow stands not only against America but also Israel. This volatile world region is undergoing cataclysmic changes at a time when Israel is without a fully competent prime minister.

    Missile alert is revived on Israel-Gaza border

    12 Sept.: DEBKAfile’s Palestinian sources report that the leaders of the Iranian-backed Jihad Islami terrorist group in Gaza have warned they will go back to firing missiles at neighboring Israeli towns and villages unless the ruling Hamas stops persecuting them.
    Our military sources report that Israeli forces securing the Gaza border went on missile alert Thursday, Sept 11, when Hamas heavies continued their crackdown.

    Hamas gunmen are systematically bulldozing the Jihad bases, built over the ruins of the former Israeli Gush Katif villages, and flattening the sites. They have seized control of Jihad mosques in the southern part of the Gaza Strip and are making arrests.

    Syrian commandos invade 7 Greater Tripoli villages of N. Lebanon
    DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

    13 Sept.: Two Syrian commando battalions accompanied by reconnaissance and engineering corps units have crossed into Lebanon in the last 48 hours and taken up positions in seven villages, most of them Allawite Muslim, outside Tripoli, DEBKAfile’s military sources reported Saturday, Sept. 13. They are the vanguard of a large armored force poised on the border.

    Damascus has signaled to Washington and Paris: Don’t interfere.

    The Syrian incursion coincided with the expected arrival of Russian naval and engineering experts for renovating Tartus, the Syrian port 40 kilometers north of Tripoli, to serve as the Russian fleet’s first permanent Mediterranean base.

    Seen from Israel, once Assad’s army completes its advance on Tripoli, he will control the full length of the military supply route for Hizballah from the Syrian ports of Latakia and Tartus. The Russian presence will add a new and troubling dimension to this development.

    Russia, US pull further apart over Iranian nuclear activities

    13 Sept.: Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said Friday a military solution to the standoff over Iran’s nuclear ambitions is unacceptable and there is no need for new sanctions. At the same time, Washington has imposed new sanctions on Iran, blacklisting a main shipping line and 18 subsidiaries. The US government accuses the maritime carrier of ferrying contraband nuclear material, which Tehran denies.

    Washington sources predict this may be the prelude to more serious actions, such as a naval blockade to choke off Iran’s imports of fuel products.

    Moscow continues to support the European Union’s diplomatic drive to trade incentives for Iran’s consent to curb “some of its nuclear activities.”

    The nuclear watchdog has asked Tehran to account for 50-60 tons of missing uranium from its main enrichment site at Isfahan. It is enough to produce five or six nuclear bombs and is suspected of having been diverted to secret sites to boost the covert production of weapons-grade uranium.

    Terror suspected in Aeroflot crash which killed all 88 people aboard
    DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

    14 Sept.: DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources report from Moscow that three Jewish families, two Habad students and a Russian general were among the 88 passengers and crew killed in the Aeroflot Boeing 737 crash at Perm, Siberia, Saturday, Sept. 13. The plane was in flight from Moscow.

    Russian authorities reported the plane’s sudden disappearance off the radar at the moment cockpit communications shut off. This indicated the craft may have exploded in mid-air. They suspect terrorism as the cause of the crash because –
    1. At least five passengers bought tickets but did not turn up for the flight. Security officials are trying to locate their addresses and sifting through the wreckage for unaccompanied luggage.

    2. One of the passengers has been identified as Gen. Gennadiy Troshev, a Russian hero for quelling the Chechen rebellion.

    3. Our sources name one of the Jewish – or possibly Israeli – families aboard the doomed flight. They have been named as Ephraim Nakhumov, 35, his wife Golda, 24, and their two children, Ilya, aged 7, and Eva, aged four.

    Thirty-four people die in Iraq Monday

    15 Sept.: At least 22 people were killed and 32 wounded by a female suicide bomber who blew herself at a police gathering in Iraq’s Diyala province.

    The guests were attending an Iftar banquet, when Muslims break their fast during the month of Ramadan, in Balad Ruz, 70km (45 miles) north of Baghdad.

    Earlier, two car bombs exploded in central Baghdad, killing 12 people.

    In show of bravado, Iran launches “air defense exercises”

    Iranian official sources report that the air force drill began Monday, Sept. 15, in half of the country’s 30 provinces. They gave out no details of which provinces or how long the exercise would last. The commander of Iran’s aerial defense, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Mighani said that any enemies attacking the Islamic Republic would regret it.

    The exercise was launched on the day the UN nuclear watchdog reported that non-cooperation from Tehran had stalled its efforts to establish whether or not Iran was developing nuclear warheads, enriching uranium for military purposes, testing nuclear explosives or building nuclear-capable missiles.

    Tehran is not deterred by sanctions or tempted by international diplomacy to give up its nuclear aspirations, especially since the Georgia conflict with the United States has presented Iran with Russian backing for its nuclear program and opposition to sanctions.

    Iran’s defense minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said scornfully Monday: “Threats by the Zionist regime and America against our country are empty” – showing that Tehran feels free to go forward with its nuclear plans.

    Gates arrives in Baghdad unannounced

    15 Sept.: Gates arrived in Baghdad to supervise the handover of the Iraq command from Gen. David Petraeus to Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno. Petraeus moves on to lead the Central Command overseeing Middle East, Afghanistan, Horn of Africa.
     

    		 France wants more sanctions on Iran for stonewalling UN nuclear probe

    16 Sept.: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report that for lack of Tehran’s cooperation, it has made no progress in establishing whether or not Iran is developing nuclear warheads, enriching uranium for military purposes, testing nuclear explosives or building nuclear-capable missiles..

    Furthermore, despite three rounds of UN Security Council sanctions, Iran has not stopped nuclear enrichment. At present, 4,800 centrifuges are operating and another 2,000 are getting read to start work in the near future.

    DEBKAfile’s Iranian sources report that the Tehran administration shows more contempt than ever before toward the UN, international diplomacy and potential sanctions, certain that the prospect of a US and Israeli military strike on its nuclear facilities recedes further day by day.

    “Threats by the Zionist regime and America against our country are empty,” said defense minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar,”

    Ex-PMs Barak and Netanyahu in secret power-sharing talks
    DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

    16 Sept.: Defense minister Ehud Barak of Labor and opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu of Likud are in advanced negotiations to rotate the premiership between them in order to cut the ground from under Kadima’s winner as leader. The ultra-religious Shas is in on the plan.

    This is reported by DEBKAfile’s political circles.

    Barak’s Labor and Netanyahu’s Likud combined with Eli Yishai’s Shas hold more Knesset seats – 43, than Kadima’s 27. They are in a position to prevent the winner of the Kadima primary from automatically taking over from Olmert as head of the incumbent government coalition. Without Labor, Kadima lacks the numbers to form a viable coalition government.

    DEBKAfile’s sources report that Netanyahu and Barak are close to accord on the general principles of their partnership but are still working on details. Netanyahu would go first up until a general election because Barak, who is not a member of Knesset, cannot become prime minister. Barak believes he can use his pact with Netanyahu to push Kadima’s buttons and at the right moment, take the party over and form a left-of-center Labor-Kadima bloc to fight his current partner, head of the right-of-center Likud.

    North Korea conducts long-range missile engine ignition test

    17 Sept.: The test at the new Tongchang-ri site was detected by the U.S. KH-12 spy satellite. The base is located 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the North Korean border with China,

    At least 11 killed in bloody Hamas crackdown on Doghmush clan militia in Gaza

    16 Sept.: The dead included Momtaz Doghmush, head of Army of Islam and co-kidnapper with Hamas of Gilead Shalit, and in infant. Hamas battled the militia for five hours with mortar fire on its base at the Sabra district of Gaza City, losing one of its gunmen.

    Sixteen killed in al Qaeda attack on US embassy in Yemen

    17 Sept.: Eight Yemeni soldiers, six assailants and 2 civilians were killed in an al Qaeda suicide car bombing, RPG rocket and shooting attack on the US embassy in Sanaa, Wednesday, Sept. 17. No embassy staff members were harmed in the five explosions reported by a US official.

    DEBKAfile’s counter-terror sources disclose that Yemeni president Abdullah Salah, formerly a US partner in the war on terror, recently began working with al Qaeda to win their help for quelling plots by army dissidents to overthrow his regime and for beating back an Iran-backed Shiite rebellion.

    In March, al Qaeda mounted a mortar attack which missed the US embassy but injured 13 girls at a nearby school; other attacks targeted the Italian mission and Western tourists. Non-essential US staff were ordered to leave Yemen in April.

    CIA chief: Al Qaeda greatest security threat to US

    17 Sept.: Speaking in Los Angeles, CIA director Michael Hayden said Osama bin Laden has said repeatedly that he considers acquisition of nuclear weapons a religious duty and he intends to attack America “in ways that inflict maximum death and destruction.”

    North Korea and Iran were also threats. Hayden confirmed that the nuclear reactor Israel destroyed in Syria last year was similar to one in North Korea. Iran, he, has the scientific, technical and industrial capacity to produce nuclear weapons.

    DEBKAfile notes: This comment contradicts the US intelligence assessment last year that Iran had discontinued its military nuclear program in 2003.
    Tuesday, diplomats said that the UN watchdog had intelligence showing Iran had tried to refit a long-distance Shehab missile to carry a nuclear payload.

    Israeli banks hammered on Tel Aviv stock exchange

    17 Sept.: In Tel Aviv, prices plunged across the board, with the major banks taking an extra beating. The public voted no-confidence in the leading banks (Bank Hapoalim plunged 12.5 percent) and disregarded the finance minister, Ronnie Bar-On’s assurances that the Israeli economy is insulated from the global crisis.

    After meeting bank heads Wednesday, Bank of Israel governor Stanley Fischer issued a statement that Israel banks are “relatively well run.”

    Economic experts foresee an Israeli recession around the corner. Lehman Brothers is a major player in Israel’s structured-products market and options market. Personal savings schemes, exports to the United States and Europe and foreign investment are also susceptible.

    As foreigners employed on Wall Street, Israelis are second only to Canadians.

    Thousands have been thrown on the job market. Aside from those recalled by Lehman Brothers after the Barclays buyout, many will return home adding to the pressures on the job market. Israel’s hi-tech industry, second only to the US in annual start-ups, was already facing difficulties before the current crisis, as export orders began drying up.

    After her narrow win, Livni’s ability to form government in doubt
    DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis

    18 Sept.: Foreign minister Tzipi Livni scraped through to victory in the Kadima party’s first leadership primary Wednesday, Sept. 17.although her win was challenged by transport Shaul Mofaz, one percent behind her (43 to his 42 percent). Early Thursday, Mofaz finally called Livni to congratulate her. Later, he announced he was quitting politics, including the party and government.

    The real results differed dramatically from the three TV exit polls which wrongly awarded Livni a landslide victory and were up to 10 percent wide of the mark. Throughout the campaign the foreign minister was a media favorite and inaccurately described as unchallenged successor to Ehud Olmert both as party chair and prime minister.
    Kadima comes out of the primary bitterly divided.. Livni faces the daunting dual challenges of uniting the party and persuading all the government coalition parties to accept her as prime minister.
    Kadima’s two senior partners, Labor and Shas, are already looking at alternatives.

    The low Kadima turnout, according to DEBKAfile’s political analysts, was a public vote of non-confidence in the party. At the Tel Aviv stock exchange Wednesday, another popular vote of no confidence took place – this one against the economic system ruled by Kadima ministers and the banks
  • Jordan set to launch huge water project

    Jordan set to launch huge water project

    AMMAN (AFP) — Thirsty Jordan announced on Sunday that a Turkish firm will begin work next week on a near-billion-dollar project to supply the capital with water from an ancient southern aquifer.Water Minister Raed Abu Soud said GAMA Energy will next Sunday launch the 990-million-dollar plan to extract 100 million cubic metres (3.5 billion cubic feet) of water a year from the 300,000-year-old Disi aquifer 325 kilometres (200 miles) south of Amman.

    Infrastructure work on the much-delayed project in the desert kingdom is expected to take around four years, the state-run Petra news agency quoted Abu Soud as saying.

    This will include using 250,000 tonnes of steel and digging 55 wells to pump water from Disi to Amman, where per capita daily consumption of its 2.2-million population is 160 litres (42 gallons), he said.

    Jordan’s overall population of nearly six million is growing by almost 3.5 percent annually, and it is one of the world’s 10 most water-impoverished countries, relying mainly on rainfall to meet its needs.

    “A radical solution to Jordan’s chronic water problems is the Red-Dead Canal project, expected to provide Jordan with 500 million cubic metres (17.5 billion cubic feet) of water” annually, Abu Soud said.

    He was referring to a multi-billion dollar plan to build a massive canal to channel water from the Red Sea to the slowly evaporating Dead Sea, the lowest point on earth, and to construct a desalination plant.

    The demand for water is constantly rising in Jordan, which has seen an influx of around 750,000 Iraqi refugees since the US-led invasion of its eastern neighbour in 2003.

    Current water consumption is some 900 million cubic metres (31.5 billion cubic feet) per annum.

    The water ministry says Jordan, where 92 percent of the land is desert, will need 1.6 billion cubic metres (56 billion cubic feet) of water a year to meet its requirements by 2015.

    Source: AFP, 27 July 2008