"Slim Fast" Fattens Wallet of Israel's Prime Minister

QUOTE: Sherman also testified that he gave Olmert funds from Abraham, who denied any connection to the money. Sherman said that the money was hidden in packages of the diet drink "Slim Fast," which is a product manufactured by Abraham's company.

Driver: I personally handed Olmert envelopes stuffed with cash

By Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondent

Avi Sherman, a limousine driver who drove Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during his tenure as mayor of Jerusalem, testified to police on Thursday that he personally gave Olmert envelopes stuffed with cash from several businessmen, among them U.S. businessman and fund-raiser Morris Talansky and American billionaire Daniel Abraham.

Olmert is currently facing a criminal investigation over suspicions that he took bribes from Talansky during his tenures as Jerusalem mayor and later as trade minister.

Channel 2 on Thursday aired excerpts from Sherman's testimony. "When Olmert would arrive in New York," Sherman is heard saying in one of the excerpts, "he would coordinate his trip with Shula Zaken, and I would go to the offices of the non-profit organization raising funds for Sha'arei Tzedek ? which was headed by Talansky ? and I would collect an envelope from his secretary. The envelope was full of cash dollars. Then I would go to the Regency Hotel and give the envelope to Ehud personally, in his hand."

Sherman also testified that he gave Olmert funds from Abraham, who denied any connection to the money. Sherman said that the money was hidden in packages of the diet drink "Slim Fast," which is a product manufactured by Abraham's company.

Sherman was questioned by the National Fraud Investigations Unit several months ago, before the investigation into Olmert's conduct was launched. However, after Talansky testified some two weeks ago, Sherman was summoned to testify for a second time. Police sources said they were not convinced of Sherman's credibility. According to the sources, the investigators tried to corroborate his testimony this week, but it is not clear whether they will be able to rely on it.

Several days ago, the police confronted Abraham with Sherman. Abraham vehemently denied Sherman's allegations, and denied even knowing who Sherman was.

Last update - 22:54 15/05/2008

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/984041.html

Nuclear Holocaust: Christian Zionists' Dangerous Flirtation with Israel

This article is especially useful because it gives names of those involved in this wacky infatuation with Israel.

The Politics of Armageddon

Hillary's "Final Solution" to the Persian Problem

By ROBERT WEITZEL

"To misunderstand the nature and threat of evil is to risk being blindsided by it . . . An evil unchecked is the prelude to genocide." - - Dr. Mordechai: The Ezekiel Option

There are over 70 million human beings living in Iran, 17.5 million of whom are under the age of fifteen. Hillary Clinton vowed to attack Iran and "totally obliterate" the majority of the Persian race in a furnace of primordial fire should the Iranian government attack Israel with nuclear weapons, which they do not now possess or are likely to for some time-if ever.

Hillary's "final solution" to the Persian problem bests Adolf Hitler by a magnitude of ten.

Missing in Clinton's campaign trail pandering to America's pro-Israel lobbies and the mushrooming evangelical Christian Zionist movement is the "inconvenient truth" that Israel has the most modern and most deadly army in the Middle East thanks to an annual $3.5 billion in American aid-one third of the U.S. aid budget.

Israel is also a major nuclear power in the region-though it refuses to admit it-with up to 200 nuclear warheads and the inter-continental-range ballistic missiles to deliver them and, according to the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment, also has an undeclared offensive chemical and biological warfare program.

Israel, along with India and Pakistan are the only three nations not to have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran is a signatory of the NNPT, by the way.

The most inconvenient truth, however, is that Israel has a 60-year history of attacking- with American-supplied armaments-any Arab country it perceives as a threat, nuclear-armed or slingshot-armed alike. Israel's bombing of Iraq's Osirak nuclear facility in 1981 comes to mind as an example of the former, its shelling of Gaza the latter.

Israel can and will " preemptively defend" itself against Iran, the country that a February 2008 International Atomic Energy Agency report concluded has not diverted nuclear material to non-peaceful purposes. Unfortunately for the 70 million Persians in Hillary's bombsight, Iran's biggest liability is its president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad-but then the U.S. is equally burdened.

So the real truth behind Clinton's "final solution" to the Persian problem or John McCain's "bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, Iran" off-key hyperbole is not simply a "David and Goliath" struggle for survival, but is instead a cynical exploitation of the unholy marriage of convenience between fanatical Jewish Zionists who want a Muslim-free Eretz Israel in order to fulfill Old Testament prophecy and bring about the first coming of their Messiah and fanatical Christian Zionists who want the entire Middle East in flames to fulfill New Testament prophecy and bring about the Second Coming of their Messiah.

Jewish Zionists need the money and the political clout of the Christian Zionists. Christian Zionists need the Semitism and the chutzpah of the Jewish Zionists. Politicians need the votes that both groups can deliver, which in religion-drenched America is a hefty consignment.

According to a 2006 Pew Research Center poll, fully 44 percent of Americans believe that "God gave the land that is now Israel to the Jewish people" and 36 percent believe the "creation of the state of Israel is a step toward the Second Coming of Jesus."

Depending on which poll is the most accurate, there are between 105-135 million evangelical and born-again Christians in the United States. Of these Christians, a 2004 International Fellowship of Christians and Jews poll found that 31 percent identified U.S. support for Israel as their "primary consideration" in selecting a presidential candidate, while 64 percent cited it as an "important factor."

Predictably then, when Hillary Clinton or John McCain threaten to obliterate Iran, or any predominately Muslim country in the Middle East, with nuclear weapons, the primary audience for their saber rattling is not the Muslim "evildoers" but is, instead, the pro-Israel lobby and the Christian Zionist muscle in America who are willing to see the "ultimate evil" committed to further their ideological and eschatological agenda.

Nowhere does "ultimate evil" play a more prominent role than in the End Time machinations of two well-connected Christian Zionists, Tim LaHaye and John Hagee.

Tim LaHaye is best known as the coauthor of the blockbuster Left Behind series, which has sold over 60 million copies worldwide. The pulp fiction series takes the Book of Revelation as its inspiration and chronicles the tribulations that will occur between the Rapture of born-again Christians and the Second Coming of Jesus. The blood and viscera of millions of infidels and heretics-unrepentant Atheists, Jews, Muslims, and Catholics-are spattered on every page.

Tim LaHaye is least known as the founder and first president of the secretive Council for National Policy. The CNP was formed in 1981 as an umbrella organization to advance an ultra-conservative, right wing Christian agenda. LaHaye's particular agenda items include replacing U.S. secular law with Old Testament biblical law and a Middle East foreign policy that expedites the Second Coming.

According to the New York Times, the CNP consists of "a few hundred of the most powerful conservatives in the country" who meet "behind closed doors at undisclosed locations...to strategize about how to turn the country to the right." Though the membership of the CNP is a guarded secret, a list of those known to have been associated with it reads like a who's who of Christian Zionists and neocon ideologues whose passion is to see the Middle East in flames and in chains.

A short list includes: George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfowitz, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, former Attorney Generals John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales, former U.N. ambassador John Bolton, the late Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Phyllis Schlafly, and Oliver North-the guy who sold weapons to Iran using Israel as the middleman.

Do not be blindsided. The CNP is a major player in domestic and foreign policy decisions and the "evil" that results.

John Hagee, televangelist and pastor of the 19,000-member Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, is the founder of Christian United for Israel. Hagee formed CUFI in 2005 following the publication of his book, The Jerusalem Countdown: A Warning to the World, which sports a mushroom cloud on its cover and argues for a pre-emptive nuclear strike on Iran to fulfill God's plan for both Israel and the West.

Hagee's theology-and vision of the future-focuses on selected apocalyptic passages from the Old Testament. He believes that a nuclear strike against Iran will cause Arab nations to unite under Russian leadership, as outlined in the Book of Ezekiel, leading to an "inferno [that] will explode across the Middle East, plunging the world toward Armageddon." Consequently, CUFI exists to set the fires of the Apocalypse and bring about the Rapture and the Second Coming, but it needs Jewish Zionists to strike the match.

Christians United for Israel is the evangelical equivalent of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the powerful pro-Israel lobby courted and placated by every American politician who has national aspirations. John McCain, Hillary Clinton, and Barak Obama have each pledged their fealty to AIPAC.

John Hagee is not without his own short list of beltway benefactors. The list includes, but is not limited to: George W. Bush, House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, Senator Joe Lieberman-who called Hagee an "Ish Elokim," a man of God-and John McCain who was "very honored by Pastor John Hagee's endorsement [for president]."

When Christian Zionists with the stature of LaHaye and Hagee shill for fanatical Jewish Zionists who are promoting the ethic cleansing of Eretz Israel for biblical or nationalistic reasons or the pre-emptive "defensive" nuking of Iran, politicians with the stature of Hillary Clinton and John McCain, along with a hefty consignment of the electorate, are their willing dupes. It's just the politics of religion as usual in America.

But Jewish Zionists need to understand that the difference between Christian Zionists and Muslim suicide bombers is scale, a nuclear warhead versus a backpack bomb, and a willingness to let others do the killing-and the dying-for them.

Jewish Zionists should also keep in mind that Christian Zionists have no intention of being around when the sands of the Middle East are turned to glass in a furnace of primordial fire. They will have been Raptured and out of harm's way in Paradise. Their Bible tells them so.

Robert Weitzel is a contributing editor to Media With a Conscience. His essays regularly appear in The Capital Times in Madison, WI. He can be contacted at: robertweitzel@mac.com

May 14, 2008

http://counterpunch.com/weitzel05142008.html

Hamas Condemns "Holocaust Denial"

They're not likely to get credit for their condemnation, however, because to say anything nice about the group wouldn't fit with its "terrorist" group status in US-Israeli propaganda.

Hamas minister condemns Shoah denial

By JPOST.COM STAFF

"The Holocaust was not only a crime against humanity but one of the most abhorrent crimes in modern history," according to a senior Gaza-based Hamas official.

The London-based Guardian published an op-ed on Monday written by Dr. Bassem Naeem, Hamas's minister of health and information in the Gaza Strip.

Naeem addressed several topics in his piece, including Holocaust denial by Palestinian media, the alleged exploitation of the Holocaust by Israel and what he described as continued "occupation and oppression" of Palestinians.

The Hamas minister, referring to a recent broadcast on the Gaza-based Al-Aksa channel that claimed the Holocaust was a 'joke' put on by prime minister David Ben-Gurion - wrote that the network "is an independent media institution that often does not express the views of... the Hamas movement" and that "in the case of [this] opinion it is alone and is solely responsible for it.

"But it should be made clear that neither Hamas nor the Palestinian government in Gaza denies the Nazi Holocaust," his op-ed continued. "The Holocaust was not only a crime against humanity but one of the most abhorrent crimes in modern history. We condemn it as we condemn every abuse of humanity and all forms of discrimination on the basis of religion, race, gender or nationality."

Naeem then went on to write that while he "unreservedly condemns the crimes perpetrated by the Nazis against the Jews of Europe, [he] categorically rejects the exploitation of the Holocaust by the Zionists to justify their crimes... of ethnic cleansing and subjection they have been waging against us."

He further stated that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was not a "religious" one between Muslims and Jews in Palestine or anywhere else, but rather that it was "of a purely political nature - it is between a people who have come under occupation and an oppressive occupying power. Palestinians had nothing to do with the Holocaust but find themselves punished for someone else's crime. But we are well aware and warmly welcome the outspoken support for Palestinian rights by Israeli and Jewish human rights activists in Palestine and around the world."

May 13, 2008 14:39 | Updated May 13, 2008 19:22

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1210668624631&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Egypt, Israel "At Peace" for Almost 30 Years

Opinion polls within the last year found that only 5% of Egyptians have a favorable view of Israel.

Egyptian culture minister: I would burn Israeli books myself

Israel files official complaint with Egypt over Farouk Hosni's remarks, may thwart his appointment as UNESCO secretary-general

Itamar Eichner

Diplomatic tensions have arised [sic] between Israel and Egypt due to a harsh statement made recently by Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosni. In a conference that took place in the Egyptian Parliament last week, the minister said that he "would burn Israeli books himself if found in Egyptian libraries."

Israeli Ambassador to Cairo Shalom Cohen defined this statement in a classified report that he submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem as "harsh and especially blunt, in a way which makes it impossible for Israel and for the international community to continue a regular agenda with Egypt."

Yedioth Ahronoth was informed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received and accepted the Israeli ambassador's suggestion to present a severe protest to the Egyptian government. Simultaneously, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs passed on a severe protest to the Egyptian ambassador in Israel.

On Sunday, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is scheduled to leave for Sharm al-Sheikh in order to participate in a summit with US President George W. Bush, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Jordan's King Abdullah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. She is likely to raise the issue in her discussions with the Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

The anger in Israel over Hosni's statement is especially emphasized due to the fact that the Hosni is Egypt's candidate for the UNESCO position, as the United Nations' education, science and cultural organization secretary-general, and he has good chances of being chosen.

Israel is weighing the option of bringing the case to the attention of the international community and thus harming his chances of receiving the position.

Hosni is considered one of the strongest opposition leaders in the Egyptian government to stand against normalization with Israel. In the past, he accused Israel of trying to steal Egyptian culture, and he adamantly opposes any cooperation with Israel.

Moreover, he opposed an initiative presented by the American-Jewish Committee to establish a museum of Jewish antiquity and culture in Cairo.

Published: 05.14.08, 14:25 / Israel News

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3543242,00.html

Abu Quisling On the Way Out?

QUOTE: If Abbas were to run against Haniyeh [the Hamas leader in Gaza], he'd get 32 percent to Haniyeh's 34 percent. . . . The approval rating of the Palestinian government in the West Bank has dropped 13 percentage points since January and President Mahmoud Abbas would have trouble winning if elections were held now, according to a poll published Wednesday. . .Abbas' government, meanwhile, is slipping in popularity. Only 20 percent of respondents said Prime Minister Fayyad is doing a good job, compared to 31 percent in January.

COMMENT: This isn't surprising: Abu Quisling Abbas has been unable to deliver any improvements in life to the Palestinians. Even promises Israel made to Bush and Rice in this respect have not been kept. You'll read talk of postponing the election, which is the only way to keep this Bush puppet in power.

Poll: Abbas' popularity has slipped dramatically since January

By The Associated Press

The approval rating of the Palestinian government in the West Bank has dropped 13 percentage points since January and President Mahmoud Abbas would have trouble winning if elections were held now, according to a poll published Wednesday.

The poll was conducted at a time of growing Palestinian frustration over

stalled peace talks with Israel and a stagnant economy. Negotiations on the so-called core issues - the borders of a Palestinian state, a division of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees - resumed earlier this year.

Abbas and his prime minister, Salam Fayyad, are being hurt by the lack of

progress, according to pollster Nader Said. "This goes to illustrate that

Palestinians will always come back to the core issues," he said. "Not to make progress on these issues will harm the stakeholders trying to achieve a solution."

The survey was conducted among 1,200 Palestinians by an independent think

tank, Arab World For Research & Development, and had an error margin of 3

percentage points.

The poll indicated that Marwan Barghouti, an imprisoned militant leader, is by far the most popular Palestinian politician. Barghouti is serving five life sentences in an Israeli prison for involvement in attacks that killed four Israelis and a Greek monk.

In a presidential race, Barghouti, a former leader of Abbas' Fatah movement in the West Bank, would comfortably defeat the head of the Hamas government in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh, by 47 percent to 29 percent. If Abbas were to run against Haniyeh, he'd get 32 percent to Haniyeh's 34 percent.

Abbas' term formally ends in January, but it's unlikely presidential elections will be held in the current political climate.

Hamas seized power in Gaza by force a year ago, and Abbas says he won't talk to the Islamic militants unless they cede control there.

In parliament elections, Fatah would win 47 percent of the vote, down from 53 percent in January. Hamas would come in second, with 37 percent, but has gained ground from its 32 percent rating in January.

Abbas' government, meanwhile, is slipping in popularity. Only 20 percent of respondents said Prime Minister Fayyad is doing a good job, compared to 31 percent in January. Another 25 percent said the government's performance is average, compared to 27 percent in January.

Last update - 16:42 14/05/2008

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/983420.html

Douglas Feith: Liar or Alzheimer's Victim?

Douglas Feith, the notorious Neocon, is either very forgetful or lying, because news stories from August, 2002 (see below), had the Israeli Prime Minister (Sharon) and Foreign Minister (Peres) urging Washington to attack Iraq as soon as possible.

NOTE: the last story raises a strong suspicion that Israel might have been the source of faked evidence on Saddam's Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Doug Feith: Israel didn't push for Iraq War

Former US undersecretary of defense tells Ynet he never saw evidence of Israeli pressure on America to launch Iraq War. In private conversations, Israelis warned that Iraq failure could undermine effort against Iran, he says

Yitzhak Benhorin

WASHINGTON - As opposed to frequently cited claims, Israeli officials did not push their American counterparts into launching a war in Iraq, Former United Stated Undersecretary of Defense Douglas Feith told Ynet in a special interview.

Addressing claims that Israel pushed the US Administration into the war, Feith said "I never saw that."

"What you heard from Israeli officials in private discussions was that they were not really focused on Iraq," Feith said. "They were much more focused on Iran."

When asked why Israel did not publically object to military action in Iraq, he said this was a result of the strong relationship between Israeli officials and the Bush Administration.

"The relationship between Bush and Israel was so strong and so friendly that the Israeli government was not going to join Germany and French in opposing the US," Feith said, and added that "what you heard from the Israelis was not any kind of advocacy of war with Iraq."

Feith said that he heard "constant (Israeli) emphasis on the importance of the Iran danger" and added that Israel was worried about a scenario that ended up materializing, namely that "if the US got into a military conflict in Iraq and it didn't go well, it could make our diplomacy with Iran less credible."

'People were looking for ways short of war'

Feith, whose new book War and Decision aims to present his take on the Iraq War, also dismissed claims that the Bush Administration had its mind set on war in Iraq even before the September 11 attacks.

"A lot of the decisions came after September 11th," he told Ynet. "I think one of the things the book explains is that Iraq was a major issue before September 11th - it was a major issue since 1990 for the US, and there was a debate within the US government on what to do about Iraq."

"After all, you had the Iraq Liberation Act in 1998, which said the US policy is regime change, the Senate passed that law unanimously, and President Clinton signed it," he added.

"I review the debates inside the administration on what to do about Iraq and what I point out is that no decisions were made," Feith said, referring to his book. "There were debates about the no-fly zone enforcement, strengthening economic sanctions, and the CIA had been talking about the possibility of a coup. There were debates about whether we can create an autonomous enclave in the south... people were looking for ways short of war to deal with the problem."

Feith also rejected suggestions that the Bush Administration chose to target Iraq because it was the easiest move at the time.

"I don't think it was the easiest," he said. "We looked at each of the states supporting terror, and we said we need a policy appropriate to that country. In the case of Iran and North Korea, it was clear that before anyone could even consider any military action there was important diplomacy that had to be tried."

"At the time the UN was dealing with Iraq for 12 years," Feith said, and added that "the risks of leaving Saddam Hussein in power were very serious."

Published: 05.13.08, 19:41 / Israel News

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3542925,00.html

============= August 2002 stories ======

(In addition to these, there are more, and a much later one had Israel's Prime Minister Sharon ordering government officials to stop talking about an Iraq invasion.)

Friday, August 16, 2002 Elul 8, 5762 Israel Time: 05:00 (GMT+3)

PM urging U.S. not to delay strike against Iraq By Aluf Benn

Israel is pressing the United States not to defer action aimed at toppling Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq.

[Compete story below]

Israel Urges U.S. to Attack Iraq

Israel Urges United States Not to Delay Military Strike Against Iraq

The Associated Press

J E R U S A L E M, Aug. 16 [2002] - Israel is urging U.S. officials not to delay a military strike against Iraq's Saddam Hussein, an aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Friday.

[Complete story below]

Friday, August 16, 2002 Elul 8, 5762 Israel Time: 05:00 (GMT+3)

PM urging U.S. not to delay strike against Iraq By Aluf Benn

Israel is pressing the United States not to defer action aimed at toppling Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq.

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has sent messages to the U.S. administration in recent days saying that postponing the Iraq operation "will not create a more convenient environment for action in the future." But Sharon added that Israel would support any American action, and would respect U.S. decisions regarding the method and the timing.

Foreign Minister Shimon Peres sent a similar message yesterday during an interview with CNN television. "The problem today is not if, but when," he said, adding that while attacking now would be "quite dangerous... postponing it would be more dangerous," as "he [Saddam] will have more weapons."

But like Sharon, Peres also added a disclaimer, saying he did not want to be seen as urging the United States to act and that America should act according to its own judgment. Israel, he said, "will be a good soldier" in the camp led by President George W. Bush.

Sharon has also repeatedly informed Bush that if Iraq were to attack Israel, Israel would respond. During the 1991 Gulf War, the United States effectively prevented Israel from retaliating against Iraqi missile strikes by refusing to give it the "friend-foe" codes required to keep U.S. and Israeli planes from shooting at each other. But in closed discussions recently, Sharon told associates that he had a clear understanding with the United States that this time, if Saddam were to attack, Israel would be allowed to exercise its right to self-defense.

However, he added, the Israeli response would be closely coordinated with the Americans - and, as he told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee earlier this week, it would not be automatic.

A senior government source explained: "If we are talking about a single missile that falls in the middle of the Arava [Desert], far from the major population centers, or into the sea, it is hard to believe that we will respond."

But if missiles strike Israeli cities, as they did during the Gulf War, Sharon told the committee, "we cannot sit with folded hands."

Asked by CNN whether and how Israel would respond to an Iraqi strike, Peres gave a similar answer, saying the response would depend on the type of attack. Asked what Israel would do if attacked with weapons of mass destruction, Peres said, "I wouldn't commit myself. I don't think I can give you a response. Israel will be very careful and reluctant to go out of the conventional domain of weaponry."

Peres believes that Israel must preserve some room in which to maneuver, but at the same time, it must not say or do anything that would be perceived by the Americans as impeding their war effort.

Senior Israel Defense Forces officers have also told American officials in recent days that Israel must respond if attacked in order to maintain its deterrence, which was badly damaged by Israel's restraint during the Gulf War.

But Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, in contrast, objects vehemently to publicly-voiced Israeli threats against Iraq. He believes that the various media reports in Israel in recent days, indicating that a U.S. attack is near, are exaggerated and create unnecessary tension among the Israeli public, while public threats of an Israeli response merely hurt the American effort.

"We are dependent on the Americans," explained a defense source. "We need their cooperation in intelligence and in giving us prior notice. Our public threats don't help them."

Senior government sources said yesterday that the possibility of an Israeli military response to an Iraqi attack made the U.S. administration very uncomfortable, but for now, it prefered to ignore the Israeli threats rather than deal with the issue directly.

The defense establishment believes that the United States will not attack before the end of the year. It also believes that while Saddam will attack Israel if "pushed into a corner," he does not have many missiles or launchers.

===========================

Israel Urges U.S. to Attack Iraq

Israel Urges United States Not to Delay Military Strike Against Iraq

The Associated Press

J E R U S A L E M, Aug. 16 - Israel is urging U.S. officials not to delay a military strike against Iraq's Saddam Hussein, an aide to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Friday.

Israeli intelligence officials have gathered evidence that Iraq is speeding up efforts to produce biological and chemical weapons, said Sharon aide Ranaan Gissin.

"Any postponement of an attack on Iraq at this stage will serve no purpose," Gissin told The Associated Press. "It will only give him (Saddam) more of an opportunity to accelerate his program of weapons of mass destruction."

The United States has been considering a military campaign against Iraq to remove Saddam from power, listing him as one of the world's main terrorist regimes. However, there is considerable world opposition to a U.S. strike.

As evidence of Iraq's weapons building activities, Israel points to an order Saddam gave to Iraq's Atomic Energy Commission last week to speed up its work, Gissin said.

"Saddam's going to be able to reach a point where these weapons will be operational," he said.

Gissin said Israel was not seeking to dictate the timing of a U.S. military campaign but said that, faced with the threat of one, Saddam was fast developing weapons.

While the Israeli government backs U.S. action against Iraq, there is also concern in Israel that in response, Iraq would launch missile attacks against Tel Aviv and other cities in Israel.

During the 1991 Gulf War, in which U.S.-led forces pushed back an Iraqi invasion of neighboring Kuwait, Iraq hit Israel with 39 Scud missiles none of them with chemical or biological warheads causing few casualties but extensive damage.

In the 1991 conflict, the United States worried it would lose Arab support if Israel retaliated for the strikes, and under heavy pressure Israel reluctantly agreed to hold back. However, Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said Israel would defend itself against any new attacks.

In an interview published Friday, Ben-Eliezer told the daily Yediot Ahronot that Israel would surely become a target during such a conflict and would consider retaliation in coordination with U.S. forces.

"We will be one of the main targets," he told the newspaper. "What I told the Americans, and I repeat it: 'Don't expect us to continue to live with the process of restraint. If they hit us, we reserve the right of response.'"

Iraq has few chemical and biological weapons, Ben-Eliezer said. "We are taking this into account and we are prepared. But we are so far away from this right now that all this hysteria is simply unnecessary," he said.

A survey in the daily Maariv newspaper showed 57 percent of Israelis were in support of an American battle to wipe out Saddam's leadership, though about the same percent of people questioned believed Iraq would attack Israel. The survey found that 28 percent of them thought Iraq would use chemical or biological weapons against Israel.

The poll, which surveyed 590 adult Israelis and quoted a 4 percent margin of error, found 23 percent were in favor of using nuclear weapons against Iraq to retaliate for such an attack.

Career of Israel's Prime Minister Olmert Hits Speedbumps

QUOTE: According to reports earlier Tuesday, as part of the probe investigators are looking into the possibility that at some point during his tenure as mayor of Jerusalem between 1993 and 2003 Olmert ordered the installation of speed bumps near the home of Talansky's son, Yitzhak, in the Har-Nof neighborhood in the capital.

Olmert probe: Police raid government ministry

After raiding Jerusalem city hall, investigators search for evidence at Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry, question billionaires Adelson and Abrams

Efrat Weiss

National Fraud Unit investigators raided the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry in Jerusalem Tuesday and confiscated documents related to the latest probe against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Investigators raided the Ministry in search of evidence regarding donations received while Olemrt served as Industry, Trade and Labor minister. They were also looking for documents that could indicate whether Morris (Moshe) Talansky, the businessman involved in the affair, turned to Olmert in a bid to promote his company.

Meanwhile, police also questioned billionaire businessmen Sheldon Adelson and Daniel Abrams in connection with the investigation.

The latest raid marks the second one in two days. On Monday, police investigators raided city hall. Police confiscated various documents reportedly related to the corruption allegations against PM Olmert.

Five months earlier police raided several government offices, including those of the Jerusalem Municipality, as part of a different investigation against Olmert.

According to reports earlier Tuesday, as part of the probe investigators are looking into the possibility that at some point during his tenure as mayor of Jerusalem between 1993 and 2003 Olmert ordered the installation of speed bumps near the home of Talansky's son, Yitzhak, in the Har-Nof neighborhood in the capital.

The order was given, police suspect, after the businessman complained that speeding drivers were endangering his son's family.

First Published: 05.13.08, 17:21 Latest Update: 05.13.08, 20:23 / Israel News

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3542856,00.html

Bush's Lebanese "Blackwater" a Total Flop

At the same time the US was screaming that Hezbollah was an illegal militia that had to be disarmed, Bush was secretly attempting to build up a rival, pro-US militia, disguising it as a Lebanese "Blackwater," but the "troops" ran away at the first shooting.

QUOTE: "You can't just spend millions of dollars to build an army in one year," he said. "They have to be motivated and believe in something. They have to be willing to die." . . . Hariri's deputies have denied his movement was building a militia, though ranking military officials, independent analysts and employees of the security firm, called Secure Plus, say it was doing just that.

Lebanon's Sunni bloc built militia, officials say

The Future movement used a security firm to assemble a private force, officials say. But the fighters were no match for the Shiite group Hezbollah.

By Borzou Daragahi and Raed Rafei, Special to The Times

BEIRUT -- For a year, the main Lebanese political faction backed by the United States built a Sunni Muslim militia here under the guise of private security companies, Lebanese security experts and officials said.

The fighters, aligned with Saad Hariri's Future movement, were trained and armed to counter the heavily armed Shiite Muslim militant group Hezbollah and protect their turf in a potential military confrontation.

But in a single night late last week, the curious experiment in private-sector warfare crumbled.

Attacked by Hezbollah, the Future movement fighters quickly fled Beirut or gave up their weapons. Afterward, some of the fighters said they felt betrayed by their political patrons, who failed to give them the means to protect themselves while official security forces stood aside and let Hezbollah destroy them.

"We are prepared to fight for a few hours but not more," said one of the Sunni fighters in the waning moments of the battle. "Where do we get ammunition and weapons from? We are blocked. The roads are blocked. Even Saad Hariri has left us to face our fate alone."

The head of a conventional private security firm in Beirut, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said the Sunni force was "not really ready."

"You can't just spend millions of dollars to build an army in one year," he said. "They have to be motivated and believe in something. They have to be willing to die."

Lebanon's U.S.-backed government and the Iranian-backed opposition led by Hezbollah have been mired in a political stalemate for more than a year. The country has been without a president since November.

Amid the political crisis that has sharpened differences among various religious communities, Lebanon's army and Internal Security Forces had played a peacekeeping role, preventing clashes without confronting any of the different armed groups. They feared any robust intervention would break the unity of the armed forces and plunge the country into civil war.

But the crisis has created a power vacuum. Hariri's deputies have denied his movement was building a militia, though ranking military officials, independent analysts and employees of the security firm, called Secure Plus, say it was doing just that.

Private security firms are the latest arrivals to a hodgepodge of armed groups that include Islamic militants inspired by Al Qaeda, Palestinian militias based in the country's dozen refugee camps and Hezbollah.

With speed that surprised observers, Hezbolllah last week took over West Beirut and crushed the Future movement's fighters.

Hezbollah said its move was aimed at stopping the government, which had outlawed the militant group's private communication system, from hampering its ability to confront Israel. But it appears the Shiite militia's main targets were the Future fighters, some of them operating under the guise of Secure Plus.

For months, Lebanese security officials in the army and the Internal Security Forces warily watched the growth of the Future-Secure Plus fighting force. Officials close to and inside Hezbollah said they were monitoring the growth of the potential threat.

Over the last year, Secure Plus went from a small security company to an organization with 3,000 employees and unofficial associates on the payroll, mostly poor Sunnis from the country's north. Some were armed with pistols and assault rifles.

"We have . . . thousands of young people in plainclothes working with us all over the country," a company official said before the clashes started.

Even those who feared the development hoped the Future movement's growing military capacity would create a "balance of terror" with the more heavily armed Shiite fighters, government officials and members of the group say.

"On the one side, Hezbollah has trained military groups allied with it," said a high-ranking official with the Internal Security Forces, which has received $60 million in training and equipment from the U.S.

"On the other side, the Future movement has created security firms to protect itself."

Secure Plus declined multiple requests for interviews. It was the largest of dozens of security firms that have sprung up in recent years. Run by retired Lebanese army officers, it ostensibly provides security for banks, hotels and offices. Hariri's media office denied there were any official links between Secure Plus and the Future movement.

"Future bloc has members of parliament, not fighters," said Hani Hammoud, a spokesman for Hariri. It "believes in the rule of law, and that it is up to official security and military agencies to resolve any problem that might arise."

Secure Plus employees, in beige pants and maroon shirts, were drilled for months in basic military training, including hand-to-hand combat. At least two dozen informal offices were opened in Beirut.

For a monthly salary of at least $350, they served eight hours a day guarding offices, patrolling neighborhoods on motorcycles, communicating via walkie-talkie and remaining on call to defend against threats to Sunni neighborhoods or offices of the Future bloc, employees of the company said. Though the group was officially barred from carrying weapons, many had them anyway. One said he bought guns from Hezbollah.

In the last few months, fighting regularly broke out between Sunni supporters of the Future bloc working formally or informally with Secure Plus and Shiites allied with Hezbollah and Amal, another militia. The clashes often took place in West Beirut, a patchwork of Sunni and Shiite areas.

The government became so worried about street battles that in February it convened an emergency meeting of military officials and government and opposition leaders. All agreed to stand by the army and the security forces if they intervened, even if it meant some of their own fighters would sustain casualties. But Lebanon's weak government made little attempt to interdict the arming of such groups.

"We cannot ask the Christian Lebanese or Sunni Lebanese to give up their arms when others have arms," said Ahmed Fatfat, a leader of the Future bloc and a Cabinet minister.

When the clashes began last week, the Sunni fighters proved no match for Hezbollah's firepower, discipline and intelligence capabilities.

Secure Plus and Future movement offices and strongholds were pummeled. Hezbollah first targeted Future movement positions in mixed Sunni-Shiite neighborhoods, easily defeating them.

Meanwhile, the Shiite militiamen encircled but did not enter Sunni strongholds, terrorizing fighters into giving up without causing huge casualties on either side.

Hezbollah also shut down the Future movement's media outlets, cutting off its ability to rally public support.

The Sunni fighters may have been lulled into a false belief that Hezbollah would not enter into full-fledged confrontation. The security company executive said the Future fighters were caught off guard by the speed of the offensive.

"Maybe they thought they could hold Hezbollah off for a few days or a few weeks before help arrived," he said. "They faced an onslaught that they had never planned for."

After the Future movement fighters gave up, Hezbollah handed them over to the Lebanese army, freeing itself of caring for prisoners while preventing the captured fighters from reentering the battle for at least a few days.

At a hospital near the scene of some of the heaviest fighting, a Future movement fighter employed by Secure Plus wandered stunned in his pajamas with his two sons, who also served in the Sunni militia. His sons had suffered minor wounds after being beaten up by Hezbollah fighters.

Once he realized that Hezbollah's victory was inevitable, he and his sons tried to escape their rivals' clutches by staying home. But to no avail; Hezbollah knew where they lived.

"I didn't leave my home," he said. "They came for us."

May 12, 2008

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-security12-2008may12,0,6458359.story

Israeli Army Kills UN Schoolteacher in Her Home

UN asks Israel to probe killing of Gaza teacher

UNRWA awaits 'impartial Israeli investigation' into death of agency employee during IDF raid

Reuters

A United Nations agency called on Israel on Sunday to investigate the death of a Palestinian teacher employed by the agency who was killed in her home during an Israeli raid last week in the Gaza Strip.

"We're calling on the Israelis for an impartial investigation," said Christopher Gunness, spokesman for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), for which Wafa al-Daghma worked as a teacher at an elementary school for refugee children.

'We want to see accountability'

A spokesman for the Israeli armed forces said they were looking into the matter. Dozens of civilians have been killed in Gaza this year in air and ground attacks that Israel says are directed against militants who fire rockets into its territory.

Immediately after the violence near Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday, the army said troops attacked militants. Islamic Jihad said one of its fighters was killed and six were wounded in an Israeli air strike in the area.

Palestinian medics and relatives at Abassan, a village east of Khan Younis, said Daghma, 32, was at home with three of her children when Israeli troops with tanks approached.

Gunness said inquiries by UNRWA suggested Daghma was killed when troops blasted open the door of her home in order to take the building as an observation post.

Daghma's 13-year-old daughter Samira told reporters last week that her mother had ordered her and a sister and brother aged under 5, into another room. The children then heard an explosion, she said. Soldiers then entered the house.

Only some hours later, when the soldiers left, were the children able to leave the room where they had been held and neighbors and relatives were able to retrieve Daghma's body.

Inquiry calls

Human rights groups have called on Israel to mount independent investigations into several civilian deaths in the Gaza Strip recently. Among these was the killing of a mother and four of her children on April 28 and the killing of a Reuters television cameraman and several other civilians on April 16.

After the deaths of Myassar Abu Meateq and her family as they ate breakfast in Beit Hanoun two weeks ago, the Israeli military released video footage that it said indicated their home was damaged by explosives carried by a militant who was hit and killed by Israeli fire as he passed the house.

Israeli human rights group B'Tselem has challenged the army's account of this "secondary explosion" and said witness testimony and other evidence suggested the family was killed by the gate of their home being blown off by an Israeli missile.

B'Tselem called for a full military police investigation.

Reuters is awaiting results of a promised army inquiry into the killing of its journalist, Fadel Shana, by a tank that fired a controversial shell loaded with darts while he was filming.

Published: 05.11.08, 18:29 / Israel News

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3541952,00.html

Petition Supports Jimmy Carter Talk With Hamas

QUOTE: 64% of Israelis have said they support talks with Hamas. Please support including talks with Hamas in efforts to achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

5,000 support Carter-Mashaal meeting

By ELANA KIRSH

Two American peace organizations, Jewish Voice for Peace and Just Foreign Policy, presented former US President Jimmy Carter with a petition Thursday supporting his mid-April meeting with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal.

The petition, which will be presented to the remaining Democratic and Republican presidential candidates next week, was signed by 5,000 members of the two groups.

A letter to the former president thanked him "for [his] recent efforts toward creating a lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians and as encouragement for [him] to continue, despite criticism from many sectors."

"Peace," the letter continued, "demands courage."

The petition itself reads: "I support peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Jimmy Carter speaks for me when he says that resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict requires talking to Hamas. 64% of Israelis have said they support talks with Hamas. Please support including talks with Hamas in efforts to achieve peace between Israelis and Palestinians."

Responding to the petition, Carter said he was grateful for the efforts of Jewish Voice for Peace, Just Foreign Policy, and "others working for the cause of peace in the Middle East."

"Public dialogue and awareness are crucial to achieving the goals of peace with security for Israel and peace with justice for Palestinians," he continued.

Individuals from all 50 states of America signed the petition.

May 9, 2008 21:41 | Updated May 10, 2008 8:13

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1209627047844&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull