[imra] Daily digest - Volume: 2 Issue: 1364 (14 messages)

imra Tue Apr 4 02:21:27 2006 Volume 2 : Issue 1364

In this issue of the imra daily Digest:

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip is
increasing its efforts to infiltrate terrorists into Israel
Michael Oren on Israel lobby "working paper"
PA FM: "dream to have state on all historic
Palestine (including Israel)
- This dream will become real one day"
2 Palestinians Killed and Another Injured in
Further Incidents Involving Misuse
of Weapons in the Gaza Strip
Israeli Expert Doubts Iran Claims of New Missile
Annual Report of the Bank of Israel for 2005 issued
Excerpts: Egypt's liberal political parties in deep crisis.
Armed chaos in Gaza 3 April 2006
Mazuz annuls IDF-Hebron settlers agreement
Abbas Meets Welch in Amman ahead of Quartet Meeting
Cracks in Siege Imposed by US, Israel
on Hamas Government
Jordan to Produce Russian Helicopters
Senior Tanzim Operative Killed During Arrest Activity in Bethlehem
PMO Director-General Cohen Convenes
Directors-General Forum On Bird Flu
Jewish Community of Hebron on AG Mazuz's decision
to renege on agreement: Blood-shed or Compromise:
Which is preferable?
MEMRITV: Hizbullah Secretary-General:
We Support Armed Struggle Against the U.S. in Iraq

----------------------------------------------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: The Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip is
increasing its efforts to infiltrate terrorists into Israel

Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center
at the Center for Special Studies (C.S.S) March 29, 2006
www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia/English/eng_n/html/pij_e0306.htm

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip is increasing its efforts
to infiltrate terrorists into Israel to carry out attacks and establish a
front-line terrorist-operative infrastructure in the West Bank .

Overview

On January 25, 2006, the day Palestinian Legislative Council elections were
held, Dr. Mahmoud al-Zahar, senior Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip and
candidate for the post of foreign minister, stated that Hamas was committed
to the ideology of its 1988 charter . He noted emphatically that "the
movement [would] not change a single word in its charter," which calls for
the destruction of the State of Israel , and would not become a purely
political movement, but quite the opposite, it would continue its policy of
"resistance" (i.e., terrorist attacks) (Reuters, Gaza , January 25).

The Hamas charter referred to by Mahmoud al-Zahar was formulated during the
first year of the previous round of the violent Israeli-Palestinian
confrontations (1987-1993). It was edited and approved by Ahmad Yassin , the
movement's founder and leader (who died in a targeted killing in March
2004), and issued on August 18, 1988. It is Hamas's most important
ideological document and as of this writing, copies continue to be
circulated in the Palestinian Authority-administered territories. It makes
extensive use of Islamic sources (the Qur'an and hadith 1) to assure its
religious Islamic basis.

. Infiltrating terrorists with medical documents and exploiting Israel's
humanitarianism, which allows Palestinians to enter Israel to receive
medical treatment: In recent years the Palestinian terrorist organizations
have attempted to infiltrate larger numbers of terrorists though the
crossing by having them masquerade as ill individuals in need of medical
treatment. A prominent example was the female suicide bomber, Wafa Samir
Ibrahim al-Bas , who in June 2005 was arrested wearing exploding tights. She
was stopped at the Erez crossing, where she had crossed with medical
documents enabling her to receive treatment at a hospital in Israel . She
had been sent by Fatah/Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades to carry out a suicide
bombing attack at the hospital. 1

. Infiltrating terrorist-operatives into Israel through the Sinai and the
Negev , and exploiting the lack of physical obstacles along the border:
During interrogation, Samih Haddad stated that his attempt to cross though
the Erez crossing was not the first and that a number of months previously
his handlers had tried to infiltrate him in through Egypt . During the past
year there has been an increase in the number of attempts made by the
Palestinian terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip, among them
the PIJ, to infiltrate terrorist-operatives into Israel through the Sinai
peninsula . For example, on February 8, 2006, two PIJ terrorist-operatives
who had arrived from the Gaza Strip were arrested in the Negev . One was a
17 1-year old potential suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest, and the
other was his escort. They had come via Sinai to carry out a suicide bombing
attack in Jerusalem .

. Exploiting the relatively easy entrance given by Israel to West Bank
residents and possessors of West Bank identity cards who temporarily live in
the Gaza Strip : That conduit was exposed when Ihad Tity was arrested. He
went from the West Bank to study in the Gaza Strip, and as a West Bank
resident received a permit to return. Another example was Muhammad Bahisi,
who was arrested in March 2005. He was a Hamas terrorist-operative residing
temporarily the Gaza Strip and who planned to carry out a suicide bombing
attack in Israel after having first gone to the West Bank as a potential
kidney donor. He received a permit allowing him to enter the West Bank for
medical reasons because on his ID card, place of residence was listed as
Qalandia.

Following are the statements of the two terrorist-operatives: 2
Dispatching a terrorist-operative from the Gaza Strip
to carry out a mass-murder attack in Israel

On March 7, 2006, Samih Maher Salameh Haddad , 21, a resident of Zeitun in
the Gaza Strip, was arrested at the Erez crossing point. Samih Haddad tried
to enter Israel using counterfeit medical documents, which would have
allowed him to enter Israel to receive medical treatment. During
interrogation he admitted that he had been recruited by the PIJ. He had been
given training and several times had even participated in the launching of
Qassam rockets into Israel .

In January 2006 his PIJ handlers informed him that they intended to send him
into Israel through the Erez crossing. They told him that counterfeit
medical documents indicating the need for urgent medical treatment would
enable him to enter.

On March 7 his handlers told him the documents were ready. Before he left
the Gaza Strip, they introduced him to Majid Yussuf Ibrahim Harazin , one of
the senior PIJ's terrorists in the Gaza Strip. Samih Haddad was then led to
the Palestinian side of the Erez crossing where he was instructed to
infiltrate into Israel where he would receive an automatic weapon to carry
out a shooting attack (even if it cost him his life) .

The arrest of a terrorist-operative sent to set up a terrorist-operative
infrastructure at Mt. Hebron

On March 1, 2006, the Israeli security forces arrested Ihab Ahmad Musa Tity
, a PIJ terrorist who was sent to the West Bank by his handlers from the
Gaza Strip to set up a PIJ terrorist-operative infrastructure at Mt. Hebron
.

Ihab Tity, 25, a resident of Al-Aroub (north of Hebron ) went to the Gaza
Strip for university studies in 2000. In 2004 he was recruited by the PIJ,
and during 2005 began military training in explosives. His training, which
ended in February 2006, included the manufacture of explosives, detonators,
explosive belts and explosive devices; methods for detonating explosive
devices; firing M-16 and Kalashnikov rifles and the theoretical use of RPGs.

After his training, his handlers instructed him to return to his home in
Al-Aroub and to establish a PIJ terrorist-operative infrastructure. It was
to consist of several operative squads which would carry out various types
of attacks against Israeli targets and would be funded by the organization
in the Gaza Strip. They also instructed him to set up an explosives
laboratory and to train recruited operatives in the manufacture of
explosives, explosive devices and explosive belts.

Among the attacks he was expected to carry out were the following: suicide
bombing attacks carried out by terrorists he would recruit ; attacking buses
and military vehicles with explosive charges; drive-by shooting attacks
against Israeli vehicles in the West Bank . He was also expected to collect
information about security measures at the West Bank settlements, especially
about the vehicles used for security. He was asked to examine the
possibility of abducting soldiers or civilians to use as bargaining chips in
the release of prisoners . His handlers suggested he use a young woman to
tempt a potential abductee or to pretend to want to buy drugs from an
Israeli drug dealer and then to abduct him.

At the end of February, Ihad Tity returned to Al-Aroub. On March 1, a few
days after his return, he was arrested by the Israeli security forces.
During interrogation he admitted that after his return he had begun
gathering information about possible targets for attack, among them military
jeeps at the entrance to Al-Aroub and the bus stop near Gush Etzion. He also
investigated the security arrangements at the entrance to one of the
settlements in the area.

1 For further information see our Special Bulletin "A suicide bombing attack
planned to be carried out in Israel by a Palestinian female suicide bomber
was thwarted at the Erez crossing in the Gaza Strip," at
www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_multimedia//ENGLISH/COUNTERTERRORISM-DATA/PDF/JUNE32_05.PDF

2 According to Israel Security Agency reports.

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Michael Oren on Israel lobby "working paper"

TINFOIL HATS IN HARVARD YARD.
Quiet Riot
by Michael B. Oren New Republic,
Post date: 03.31.06
Issue date: 04.10.06

What does Jerry Falwell have in common with Paul Wolfowitz and Howard Dean?
What links columnist George Will with The New Republic? All, according to a
recently issued "working paper," a shortened version of which appeared in
the London Review of Books, are agents of an amorphous but incalculably
powerful "Israel Lobby." That same inscrutable organization, the paper
alleges, has dictated the decisions of politicians from George W. Bush to
Jimmy Carter and determined the content of The New York Times and The Wall
Street Journal. The goal of the lobby? Quite simply, it wants to impose the
will of a racist, colonialist, antidemocratic state on the unsuspecting
American people, to provoke conflict between the United States and the
world, and to endanger American lives for its own sake.

Exposes of Jewish conspiracies have long been the bailiwick of white
supremacists and Islamic radicals. Indeed, the former Klan leader David Duke
has lauded this document for "validat[ing] every major point" he had ever
made, and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood has also praised it. But "The
Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," as the paper is titled, was written
not by lunatics, but rather by Stephen Walt, the academic dean of Harvard's
John F. Kennedy School of Government, and by University of Chicago political
scientist John Mearsheimer--two of America's most reputable scholars. Well,
scholars in most regards--but not in this case. To prove their argument, the
professors don't rely on such banal sources as declassified records,
presidential memoirs, or State Department documents. These would
unimpeachably show that Arab oil (and not Israel) was America's persistent
focus in the Middle East--and that presidents have supported Israel for
strategic and moral reasons, not political ones. But, instead of citing
archival sources, Walt and Mearsheimer pack their footnotes with newspaper
articles and references to the polemical writings of Noam Chomsky and Norman
Finklestein, as well as the unreservedly pro-Arab Washington Report on
Middle East Affairs. The paper's slipshod quality was so evident that the
Kennedy School removed its official seal from the treatise. Criticisms have
rained down upon on it from across the political spectrum, with one notable
exception--the field most pertinent to their paper: Middle Eastern studies.

The refusal of this faculty to distance itself from a report that fails to
meet rudimentary research standards, posits unsubstantiated conspiracies,
and, if directed against any other ethnic group, would surely be renounced
as racist, raises serious questions about the state of today's academy. It
should compel all those outside of academia to ask: Why?

The answer can quickly be discerned from a tour of recent writings by the
leaders of Middle Eastern studies. One eminence, Juan Cole of the University
of Michigan, has argued, "[K]nee-jerk US support for Israeli expansionism is
at the root of anti-Americanism in the Arab world." According to Cole,
"pro-Likud intellectuals" have plotted "to use the Pentagon as Israel's
Gurkha regiment, fighting elective wars on behalf of Tel-Aviv." At Columbia,
the political scientist Joseph Massad has proclaimed that Israel is "a
racist Jewish state." Indeed, the contention that support for Israel is the
primary cause of Arab rage against America has long been regarded as
unassailable doctrine among American scholars of the Middle East, along with
a grossly inflated estimation of the Israel lobby's potency.

The radical politicization of Middle Eastern studies stems from one
generation's romance with an idea. The generation was that of the 1960s New
Left, which briefly succeeded in seizing many campuses but failed to capture
the society surrounding them. Retreating into the safety of their
universities, these rebels set about institutionalizing their postmodernist
creed, which denied the existence of objective truths and treated all
narratives as equally valid. "I don't pretend to write history," Avi Shlaim,
an anti-Zionist professor extensively cited by Walt and Mearsheimer, once
proclaimed. "I write my history." Infused with the nihilism of postmodern
French philosophers, this coterie was also deeply skeptical of its own
country's virtue and of Western civilization in general.

Ten years after the student revolts of 1968, those students had become
junior professors, but they still needed a galvanizing idea, an
all-encompassing manifesto that encapsulated their relativist approach to
history and cynicism about the West. That credo was just then furnished by a
charismatic and gifted scholar who, though a professor of English and
comparative literature at Columbia, wrote as a Palestinian attacking the
venerable discipline of Middle Eastern studies.

The academic impact of Edward Said's Orientalism, first published in 1978,
was seismic. That's because its core argument was so powerful: "[E]very
European, in what he could say about the Orient, was ... a racist, an
imperialist, and almost totally ethnocentric," Said maintained. He accused
the old "Orientalist" professors, who once dominated the discipline, of
"essentializing" the Middle East into a primitive "other," thus rendering it
conquerable by the West. To cleanse themselves of these impurities, Said
implied, scholars would have to identify "wholeheartedly with the Arabs,"
and, as he later explained, become "genuinely engaged and sympathetic ... to
the Islamic world."

As a work of history, Orientalism is patently unsound. (For instance,
Germany and Hungary, which produced the greatest Orientalists, never coveted
a granule of Middle Eastern territory.) Yet, by condemning laudable
curiosity about other cultures as a symptom of imperialism, by planting this
sequoia of self-doubt in the innermost courtyard of academic inquiry, Said
provided the New Left academics with a road map for their intellectual
assault.

Said's thesis swept through Middle Eastern studies departments, which, in
large measure, were transformed into platforms for advocating the Arab
worldview. Scholars who challenged this dictum were branded Orientalists,
and students who rejected the regnant canon were unable to publish their
work or obtain tenure. Special enmity was reserved for those who portrayed
the United States as anything other than a force for oppression in the
Middle East or who defended Israel against charges of racism and
colonialism. All narratives were valid, suddenly, except those of
unapologetic Americans and Zionists.

But the idea behind Orientalism did not remain within the confines of Middle
Eastern studies. Inexorably, it spread to the emergent fields of gender and
postcolonial studies, and, in time, it grew to dominate the humanities
departments. (One Harvard junior recently told me that she has already been
assigned to read Orientalism twice--once for a course on French colonial
literature and another for an Italian-language class on Africa.) It's
precisely this triumph that makes Walt and Mearsheimer's complaints about
the Lobby's efforts "to stifle criticism of Israel by professors and
students" ring so hollow. Organizations like the Israel on Campus Coalition,
which the working paper specifically targets, emerged because real academic
debate over the Middle East has become virtually impossible. Consider the
case of Michael Doran, the promising former Princeton professor who, after
venturing to suggest, in Foreign Affairs and elsewhere, that the Arabs--not
Israel, not the United States--bore primary responsibility for their
malaise, was publicly excoriated and never granted tenure. Indeed, it seems
the only real disputation among scholars today is over which is the more
sinister, Zionism or U.S. imperialism. Massad, for example, reproved Walt
and Mearsheimer for fixating on the Lobby's power rather than on U.S. crimes
in the region. "[T]he very centrality of Israel to U.S. strategy in the
Middle East ... accounts, in part, for the strength of the proIsrael Lobby
and not the other way around," he argued.

"The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy" in fact reveals little about the
conduct of U.S. foreign affairs. It does, however, afford a disquieting look
into just how far the pernicious ideology of Middle Eastern studies has
penetrated the humanities and helped render the academy irrelevant. Gripped
by absolutist theories that quash all opposition, some of America's finest
universities provide environments in which partisan and shoddily documented
screeds like the working paper can pass as serious research.

Michael B. Oren is a senior fellow at The Shalem Center in Jerusalem and the
author most recently of Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the
Modern Middle East (Oxford University Press).

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: PA FM: "dream to have state on all historic
Palestine (including Israel)
- This dream will become real one day"

Hamas leader urges int'l community to respect Palestinian people's choice

www.chinaview.cn 2006-04-02 05:36:32
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-04/02/content_4373348.htm

GAZA, April 1 (Xinhua) -- New Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mahmoud al-Zahar urged the international community on Saturday to respect
the Palestinian people's choice in electing the Islamic Resistance Movement
(Hamas) in the January legislative ballot.

Al-Zahar, a senior Hamas leader who was sworn in as the new Palestinian
top diplomat on Wednesday, also called upon the international community in
an exclusive interview with Xinhua to give the Hamas cabinet a chance to
show it was "clean and transparent."

He also said that the United States should abandon its long-time partial
policy that favors Israel and should not act in a hurry to pressure the new
Hamas government politically and economically.

Shortly following the inauguration of the Hamas cabinet, Washington
ordered its diplomats and contractors to cut off contacts with Palestinian
ministries and reiterated that no U.S. funds should go to the Hamas
leadership.

Meanwhile, the U.S. along with other members of the Quartet of Mideast
mediators-- the European Union, the United Nations and Russia-- threatened
to cut off aid to the Palestinian government if Hamas did not renounce
violence, recognize Israel's right to exist and accept interim peace deals.

"There are so many countries which are standing on the side of the Hamas
cabinet and supporting its stance," said al-Zahar. "We will build close
diplomatic relations with these countries."

Al-Zahar said that the new government would reconsider previous deals
with Israel, but quickly added that all the agreements reached in the past
had been later destroyed by the Jewish state. "Do you want us to repeat the
same experience?" he asked.

Al-Zahar also stressed that Hamas opposed holding negotiations with
Israel.

"Israel wants to negotiate only for the sake of negotiations, but on the
ground, it expands settlements and continues building the separation fence
on the Palestinian territories," he said, adding that Israel had negotiated
with the Palestinians and the Arab world in the past but all the agreements
resulted in were undermined by the Jewish state.

"Israel doesn't want peace and nor does it have any peace project.
Therefore, we should not cheat our people and tell them that there will be
negotiations," he concluded.

But al-Zahar reiterated that it was possible that Hamas and its cabinet
accepted a temporary two-state solution to the conflict with Israel, but
voiced doubts over whether Israel really wanted to see the establishment of
an independent Palestinian state.

"I want to ask, 'Does Israel believe in the idea of two states?'" he
said. "Israel is deceiving the international community and it actually wants
only a Jewish state and it just hopes to see the Palestinians have an
autonomous regime."

The senior official also defended Hamas' ultimate goal of destroying
Israel and founding an Islamic state.

"I dreams of hanging a huge map of the world on the wall at my Gaza home
which does not show Israel on it," he said. "I hope that our dream to have
our independent state on all historic Palestine (including Israel)."

"This dream will become real one day. I'm certain of this because there
is no place for the state of Israel on this land," said al-Zahar.

However, he didn't rule out the possibility of having Jews, Muslims and
Christians living under the sovereignty of an Islamic state, adding that the
Palestinians never hated the Jews and that only the Israeli occupation was
their enemy.

Al-Zahar also said that the Hamas cabinet might make contacts with
Israel in running the daily affairs of the Palestinians on
some occasions, but stressed that these contacts would never be promoted to
political talks.

In addition, al-Zahar sharply criticized Israel for halting the transfer
of monthly tax revenues to the Palestinian government, urging Israel to
allow continuous flow of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people.

Al-Zahar also rejected the disarmament of Hamas' armed wing Izzeldein
al-Qassam, stressing that the Hamas government would continue supporting
armed resistance against Israeli occupation. "Why should we disarm the
militants while the Palestinian territories are still occupied? The people
should defend themselves," he said.

On the Palestinian internal political situation, al-Zahar said that the
Hamas cabinet would work together with President Mahmoud Abbas, dismissing
that there were differences between the two sides.

Defeating Abbas' long dominant Fatah movement in the Jan. 25
parliamentary elections, Hamas has become the dominant faction in the
Palestinian Legislative Council and then single-handedly formed a new
cabinet. Enditem

Editor: Luan Shangli

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: 2 Palestinians Killed and Another Injured in
Further Incidents Involving Misuse
of Weapons in the Gaza Strip

PCHR
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

Security Chaos and Proliferation of Small Arms
Misuse of Weapons by Armed Groups and Security Personnel

Field Update
2 April 2006

2 Palestinians Killed and Another Injured in Further Incidents Involving
Misuse of Weapons in the Gaza Strip

Over the past 3 days, two Palestinians were killed and another was injured
in accidents resulting from the mishandling of weapons in the central area
of the Gaza Strip.

At approximately 2:25 on Saturday, 1 April 2006, the body of Mohammad Fathi
Abu Musallam (a 23-year-old resident of Maghazi refugee camp) was taken to
Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir El-Balah. The man had died from a bullet
injury to the chest. According to PCHR's initial investigation, the victim
had been with two friends, one of whom mishandled his weapon and fired a
bullet accidentally. The bullet hit Abu Musallam in the chest, killing him
instantly.

And on the evening of Friday, 31 March 2006, Shifa Hospital announced the
death of Imad Hasan Taha (a 34-year-old resident of Nuseirat refugee camp),
as a result of wounds sustained on 19 March 2006. PCHR's initial
investigation at the time of the incident indicated that Taha had been
preparing an explosive device at his house, located near Khaled Bin El-Walid
School in Nuseirat refugee camp. The device exploded, causing burns and
lacerations all over his body. Taha was taken to Shifa Hospital for
treatment. Due to the severity of his injuries, he was transferred to Egypt
for treatment.

And at approximately 15:30 on Thursday, 30 March 2006, Mohammad Mahmoud
El-Hila (a 22-year-old resident of Maghazi refugee camp) was injured by a
bullet to the chest. The bullet was fired from a firearm he and a relative
had mishandled. El-Hila was taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital for
treatment, where his condition was described as moderate.

PCHR is very concerned over the continued number of deaths and injuries
resulting from the misuse of weapons, which is has become a prominent
feature of the ongoing security chaos in the region. The Centre calls upon
the Palestinian National Authority to take preventive measures to prevent
such incidents and safeguard the safety of citizens.

Public Document
**************************************
For more information please call PCHR office in Gaza, Gaza Strip, on +972 8
2824776 - 2825893
PCHR, 29 Omer El Mukhtar St., El Remal, PO Box 1328 Gaza, Gaza Strip.
E-mail: pchr@pchrgaza.org, Webpage http://www.pchrgaza.org
-----------------------------------
If you got this forwarded and you want to subscribe, send mail to
request@pchrgaza.org
and write "subscribe" in the subject line.

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Israeli Expert Doubts Iran Claims of New Missile

Israeli Expert Doubts Iran Claims of New Missile
By LOUIS CHARBONNEAU, REUTERS, BERLIN
www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=1658354&C=mideast

An Israeli missile expert said on March 31 the missiles shown on Iranian
television reported to be capable of evading radar did not the match the
description, which he said sounded like Russian Iskander-E missiles.

Iranian state television said the country's armed forces successfully test
fired a domestically-produced missile which can evade
radar, a development analysts said could be worrying for Western forces in
the Gulf.

"The description does not match the picture," Uzi Rubin, an Israeli missile
expert and former director of Israel's Arrow missile defense program, told
Reuters from Tel Aviv. "They could be bluffing."

Hossein Salami, head of the Revolutionary Guards air force, told Iranian
state television that the guards had successfully tested "a new generation
of missiles."

He said the Iranian-produced missiles can evade radar, anti-missile
missiles, can carry multiple warheads and that the "technology is completely
new, without copying any other missile systems that may exist in other
countries."

If it is true that Iran has such rockets, however, there is no way Tehran
could have produced them without outside help, Rubin said.

"I definitely don't believe that the Iranians could cook up such a
sophisticated missile indigenously," Rubin said.

WARHEADS

He said the description "fits almost word-for-word the way the Russians
describe the Iskander-E, with one exception -- the Russians don't claim the
capability to 'hit several targets'."

Rubin said that the Iranians could mean the rockets had so-called "clustered
warheads", which is not something the Iskanders have.

The Iskander-E, also known as the SS-26, has a range of around 300 km (186
miles) and is extremely accurate, according to the Federation of American
Scientists Web site (www.fas.org).

The Web site of the Nuclear Threat Initiative ( www.nti.org ), a U.S.
think-tank, cites Russian media reports from April 2001 as saying that Iran
was planning to purchase Iskander-E missile systems from Russia.

To the annoyance of the United States and European Union, Russia has made it
clear it is willing to sell small-scale defensive missiles to Iran. Late
last year, Moscow agreed to sell Iran tactical surface-to-air missiles that
could be used to shoot down low-flying aircraft or guided missiles.

Russian dealers have been selling Iran other medium- and long-range missile
technology as well, according to European and other Western intelligence
sources.

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Annual Report of the Bank of Israel for 2005 issued

Annual Report of the Bank of Israel for 2005 issued
(Communicated by the Bank of Israel)
Jerusalem, 2 April 2006

In 2005, Israel's economic recovery continued and became even more firmly
based. GDP grew rapidly by 5.2 percent, led again by the business sector
which expanded by 6.6 percent. The integration of the Israeli economy into
the global economy continued apace.

Macroeconomic policies in 2005 achieved its three numerical objectives: The
rate of inflation at 2.4 percent was within the price-stability range, and
both the budget deficit at 1.9 percent of GDP and the increase in public
expenditure at about 0.3 percent were below their ceilings. Correspondingly
the public-debt/GDP ratio declined significantly, although it remains very
high in international terms.

The main goal of economic policy for the next few years should be to create
the necessary conditions for sustainable growth, which will raise the
overall economic well-being of Israelis, and make it possible to tackle
social problems, in particular that of poverty. To do this, economic policy
will need to maintain fiscal discipline, price stability and financial
stability, while promoting reforms that will improve infrastructures and
intensify competition in the economy. Alongside all these, a continuous
policy focused on reducing poverty is required.

In 2005, Israel's economic recovery continued, and became even more firmly
based. GDP grew by 5.2 percent, led again by the business sector, which grew
by 6.6 percent. Improvements in the macroeconomic environment and in the
state of the economy were reflected in many ways. These included the decline
in unemployment from 9.8 percent at the end of 2004 to 8.8 percent at the
end of 2005, accompanied by increases in the rates of both employment and
labor force participation; the increase in the surplus in the current
account of the balance of payments; and positive developments in the capital
markets. The above points are taken from the Annual Report of the Bank of
Israel for 2005, which was presented today to the President, the Vice Prime
Minister and the Knesset Finance Committee.

The Report also states that Israel's economic growth was bolstered by the
continuation of strong global growth and the sustained improvement in the
security situation, as well as the steady implementation of a supportive
economic strategy. The macroeconomic policy mix combined fiscal discipline,
reflected in tight control of expenditure, a considerable reduction in the
deficit, and tax cuts, together with an accommodative monetary policy. These
made it possible to take advantage of the favorable underlying conditions,
and were a key factor in the positive reactions of the financial markets.

The integration of the Israeli economy into the global economy continued
apace in 2005: Imports currently constitute more than 40 percent of GDP, and
exports more than 35 percent; Israelis' investments abroad, direct and
portfolio, reached $10.1 billion; nonresidents' investments in Israel
totaled $10.8 billion; and nonresidents' participation in the NIS/forex
market rose to 49 percent. Integration into the global economy is vital for
Israel's continued economic growth.

Macroeconomic policy in 2005 achieved its three numerical objectives: The
rate of inflation, at 2.4 percent, was within the price-stability range; and
both the budget deficit at 1.9 percent of GDP and the increase in public
expenditure at about 0.3 percent were below their ceilings. Correspondingly
the public-debt/GDP ratio declined significantly, although it remains very
high in international terms.

In the capital markets, where important reforms have been under way for some
years, progress was made on two fronts: A significant start was made on the
implementation of the recommendations of the Bachar Committee to reduce
banks' holdings in provident and mutual funds, aimed at increasing
competition in the capital markets and reducing conflicts of interest; and
the process of equating tax rates on income earned on securities in Israel
and abroad was completed, thus ending the tax discrimination that had
favored Israelis' investment in securities in Israel over such investment
abroad.

The incidence of poverty in Israel has risen in the last few years, whether
measured in relative terms or in terms of basic needs. This reflects both
the long recession, and the cuts in welfare benefits from 2002. The latter
were intended to raise the rate of participation in the labor market, which
is an important means of reducing poverty in the long run.

The main goal of economic policy for the next few years should be to sustain
and strengthen the continuing growth of the economy. Sustained strong growth
will make it possible to raise the overall economic well-being of Israelis,
and to tackle social problems, in particular that of poverty. To sustain
growth, economic policy will need to maintain fiscal discipline, while
striving to keep government spending and the budget deficit as a share of
GDP on a downward path. In addition, macroeconomic policy should maintain
price stability and financial stability, while promoting structural reforms
aimed at improving infrastructure and intensifying competition.

Alongside all these, a continuous policy focused on reducing poverty is
required. It is important that resources be allocated to education to ensure
that, in the long term, the weaker sections of the population receive a
level of education that will enable them to participate in the labor market.
Several steps are required to reduce poverty in the medium term; These
should focus on the sections of the population with a particularly high
incidence of poverty - low-wage employees, the elderly, the ultra-orthodox
and the Arab sector. At the same time some welfare benefits will need to be
adjusted for those unable to participate in the labor force.

Legislation should be completed of a new central bank law, which will deal
with the independence of the central bank, clearly define its purposes, and
determine new frameworks for decision-making and transparency. The main
objective of the Bank will be defined as maintaining price stability in the
long run in accordance with the target set by the government, while
supporting other government targets such as growth and employment, without
undermining long-term price stability, and while supporting the stability of
the financial system.

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Excerpts: Egypt's liberal political parties in deep crisis.
Armed chaos in Gaza 3 April 2006

Excerpts: Egypt's liberal political parties in deep crisis.Armed chaos in
Gaza 3 April 2006

+++THE DAILY STAR (Lebanon) 3 April '06:"Harried liberals face an uncertain
future in Egypt" by Issandr El Amrani

QUOTES FTOM TEXT:
"Egyptian political landscape .. a virtual two-party system: the ruling
National Democratic Party
(NDP) and an emergent Muslim Brotherhood."

"liberal political parties are in deep crisis"

"80 per cent of eligible Egyptians ... did not vote in 2005."

"Muslim Brotherhood will continue to represent the only clear
alternative to the status quo (NDP)"
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EXCERPTS:

The parliamentary elections of late 2005 realigned the Egyptian political
landscape into a virtual two-party system: the ruling National Democratic
Party(NDP) and an emergent Muslim Brotherhood.
... Muslim Brothers in the People's Assembly ...generally score points among
their constituents and the public. Leftists and liberals were left stranded
by their abysmal electoral showing (16 seats total). While civil society
groups remain active, liberal political parties are in deep crisis.
. . .
... in civil society, professional associations are carrying the banner of
reform. ... But civil society groups have a limited impact as long as
there are no like-minded parties substantially represented in national
politics.
. . ..
Constituency building is key for liberal parties, which remain elitist and
are unable to mobilize loyal followers like the Muslim Brotherhood has ... .
. . .
Liberal parties face a further difficulty in building public support: they
are vying for the liberal-reformist title against the ruling party itself.
Since 2000 the NDP has undergone an internal reform process at the hands of
Gamal Mubarak, the president's son. The younger Mubarak and his supporters
have gradually gained the upper hand inside the party, sacking long-standing
apparatchiks, as well as in the Cabinet, where technocrat ministers have
been brought in from the private sector. While many elite Egyptians feel
Gamal Mubarak and his associates have yet to prove their political reformist
credentials, they do find their business-friendly approaches a welcome
change and see no viable alternative.
... while a liberal elite is increasingly engaged in political debate,
voter turnout among urban, educated Egyptians is extremely low. It remains
unclear whether liberal parties could... mobilize some of the 80 percent of
eligible Egyptians who did not vote in 2005. ...
... Muslim Brotherhood will continue to represent the only clear
alternative to the status quo.
==
Issandr El-Amrani is a freelance journalist living in Cairo.

+++JORDAN TIMES 3 March '06:"Hamas minister says could take a year to end
armed chaos"
QUOTES FROM TEXT:
"clashes between rival gunmen"

" in contact with 'imams and gunment' in a bid to control the
situation but counselled it could take months if not a year to end the armed
chaos"

"first major challenge faced by the new Hamas-led government.

"Security officers drawn from ... Fateh Party have expressed fears
of a Hamas purge to replace their ranks with Islamist loyalists"
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
FULL TEXT:
CITY (AFP) - Palestinian Interior Minister Said Siam said Sunday it could
take a year for his Hamas government to end armed chaos in Gaza after three
people were killed in clashes between rival gunmen.
"We will ensure that nobody is above the law and demand an end to the
instability and armed chaos," Siam said of clashes Friday in the Gaza Strip
that also left 36 people wounded after the assassination of a commander.
"We are giving the security forces all the authority and power to
investigate this ugly crime [the assassination] and also the three killings
and other casualties that followed," he said referring to a commission of
inquiry set up late Friday.
Later addressing a news conference in Gaza City, Siam said he had been in
contact with "imams and gunmen" in a bid to control the situation but
counselled that it could take months if not a year to end the armed chaos.
"I am going to meet the groups, heads of security services until we bring
people to face their responsibility," he said.
Friday's deadly violence was the first major challenge faced by the new
Hamas-led government since its inauguration two days earlier following its
upset January election victory over Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' Fateh.
But Said, who only took office four days ago, said security problems would
not be solved "by waving a magic wand."
"The Palestinians, who have seen security chaos and misrule for years, will
have to wait a little more, one year."
He also stressed that the interior ministry would not be composed only of
members of Hamas, branded a terrorist organisation by Israel and the West.
"I will mix up people and rate all those who merit it."
Security officers, drawn from Abbas' defeated Fateh Party, have expressed
fears of a Hamas purge to replace their ranks with Islamist loyalists.
Siam ruled out any "security cooperation" with Israel at a "national level"
but did say he was not opposed to coordinating with the Jewish state on
"daily matters" such as water, electricity and health.
Israel, like the West, has refused to deal with the new Hamas government
unless the movement recognises its right to exist, renounces violence and
commits to peace agreements signed in the past by the Palestinian Authority.
Israel has imposed crushing economic sanctions against the Palestinian
administration, withholding the transfer of customs duties, but has said it
will not cut off water and electricity supplies to the territories.
Faced with the recent violence in the Gaza Strip, the umbrella group of
Palestinian factions - the Committee of Islamic and National Forces - also
called for an end to instability and armed chaos.
It condemned the war of words between rival groups that followed the murder
of the military commander of the Popular Resistance Committees, Abu Yussef
Al Gouga.
"We condemn the accusations being bandied about against different
Palestinian groups and affirm our concern for Palestinian unity in
confronting the occupation," a statement said.
The moderate Abbas' Fateh, whose supporters clashed Friday with men of the
Popular Resistance Committees, expressed both concern for Palestinian unity
and worry about the bloodshed, which it described as a "red line."
"It is a red line for us. We will not allow anyone to touch it and to use it
for his interest and party point of view," a statement said.
"We confirm our commitment to supporting the Palestinian Authority and
imposing the rule of law and back [prime minister Ismail] Haniyeh's
government in establishing a commission of inquiry into what happened in
Gaza City."
Meanwhile, the diplomatic Quartet on the Middle East - the United States,
Russia, the European Union and the United Nations - met Sunday in Amman to
discuss international aid for the Palestinian territories, the Jordan News
Agency, Petra, reported.
Petra gave no details.
On Friday, a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the
United States wanted to change its aid "to bypass the foreign ministry" of
the Palestinian Authority.
The United States froze its aid to the Palestinian Authority in January,
after Hamas won the elections.
The State Department announced Friday that Washington has suspended all
contact with the Palestinian government led by Hamas, though it will
maintain contact with "individuals and organisations who are not affiliated
with Hamas," such as the Palestinian president.
The Quartet has called on Hamas to renounce violence and its call for the
destruction of the Israeli state and warned that international aid is at
risk.
The United States will be represented at the meeting by Assistant Secretary
of State David Welch.

Sue Lerner, Associate - IMRA

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Mazuz annuls IDF-Hebron settlers agreement

Mazuz annuls IDF-Hebron settlers agreement

[IMRA: Attorney General Menachem Mazuz played a key role in both encouraging
the retreat from Gaza (with what was perceived as a policy of not indicting
Mr. Sharon as long as he continued with the retreat) and insuring the
victory of the Kadima Party (he declined to term Mr. Sharon to be
permanently unable to fulfill his duties as PM despite his medical condition
with the result being acting PM Olmert went to the elections as the acting
PM rather than as a member of the loyal opposition with Netanyahu serving as
PM). Critics note that Mr. Olmert has a closet full of cases that Mazuz can
pick from if the AG should feel it necessary to "encourage" Olmert to
continue with the retreats come-what-may.]

Attorney general says deal struck between Hebron Jews, Brig. General Yair
Golan, which states that settlers who evacuated Hebron market willingly may
return at later date, is invalid. Jewish settlement in Hebron: Inconceivable
that agreement will be breached

Tal Rosner YNET 3 April 2006
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3235561,00.html

Attorney General Menachem Mazuz said Monday that any agreement between the
IDF and the settlers regarding the market in Hebron is invalid and can not
be relied upon.

In a letter to Meretz Mk Ran Cohen, who inquired about the issue, Mazuz also
revealed that the head of the Judea and Samaria Division Yair Golan was
reprimanded by the Chief of Staff Dan Halutz, who did not support the
agreement.
Hebron Market

One day before the Amona evacuation the settlers who invaded the market in
Hebron were evacuated. There were several families that evacuated without
resistance, claiming that they had an agreement with the IDF that if they
evacuate calmly they would be able to return to the place at a later date.

After petitioning the High Court, the state made it clear to the settlers
that such a promise was never given and the legal aspect will be examined
without a time-table and without any pre-arranged commitments. The settlers
kept on insisting that they had reached an agreement with the IDF.

Following inquiries by the attorney general it was revealed that such an
agreement was indeed reached between the settlers and the IDF. However, it
is not clear if it was put in writing. The agreement was reached without the
approval of the political echelon, causing Mazuz to render it invalid,
saying the IDF and the state are not obligated to uphold it.

Jewish settlers in Hebron refuse to believe

Spokesman of the Jewish Community in Hebron, Noam Arnon said in response,
"We fulfilled our part and will continue to do so. It is inconceivable that
officials of the State of Israel will breach the agreement, be it an oral
agreement or in writing."

A member of the Jewish settler community in Hebron told Ynet that "we have a
signed agreement with the IDF, and it was signed by a very high-ranking IDF
official."

It should be noted that Mazuz already made it clear to the settlers back in
January that evacuating the market in Hebron was their choice and the move
is not conditioned by a compromise or any concession by the government.
Mazuz also said that the state was not obligated to re-settle the market in
Hebron.

Efrat Weiss also contributed to the story

(04.03.06, 11:04)

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Abbas Meets Welch in Amman ahead of Quartet Meeting
Cracks in Siege Imposed by US, Israel
on Hamas Government

Abbas Meets Welch in Amman ahead of Quartet Meeting
Cracks in Siege Imposed by US, Israel on Hamas Government
03/04/2006

Palestine Media Center - PMC [Official arm of the PA]
www.palestine-pmc.com/details.asp?cat=1&id=1114

Two days after Washington officially suspended contacts with and aid to the
new Hamas-led government, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in
Jordan from a three-day visit to South Africa and met US Middle East envoy
David Welch in Amman on Sunday, where the Quartet was meeting to discuss
future aid to Palestinians under Israeli occupation.

Welch, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs and fellow US
envoy Elliot Abrams held talks with Israeli Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni,
and "Defense" Minister, Shaul Mofaz, on Thursday, one day after the new
Hamas-led government was sworn in by Abbas.

Abbas-Welch talks were focused on recent developments in the Palestinian
occupied territories, how to push forward the stalled peace process and the
relationship between the United States and the Palestinian National
Authority (PNA), Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said on Sunday.

Washington said on Friday that it had suspended all contact with the Hamas
government but that it would maintain contact with the PNA's representative
in Washington, Afif Safieh, because he does not report to the foreign
ministry.

"We've advised our mission in Jerusalem, as well as other missions around
the world that...there should be no contact between US government officials
and PA officials who are under the authority of the prime minister or any
other minister in the Hamas-led government," Deputy State Department
spokesman Adam Ereli told reporters on Friday.

"This includes working-level officials in those ministries. If they're
working in a Hamas-led ministry, no matter what their affiliation is, we're
not going to have contact with them," Ereli said.

Haniyeh Criticizes US

Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh criticized the US on Sunday for
restricting diplomatic ties with his government, saying the Palestinian
people were being punished for their democratic choice.

"This government was elected in a free and honest election, and according to
the democratic principles the American administration is calling for,"
Haniyeh told a group of supporters who had come to his office to wish his
new government well.

"We believe this is a punishment of the Palestinian people because of its
democratic choice, and at the same time, it increases the people's
suffering," he said.

Similarly Canada joined Israel and US in suspending contacts and aid to the
Palestinian government.

Cracks in Siege

However there were signs of cracks in the siege imposed by the United States
and Israel on Hamas government.

Russia had already received a Hamas delegation in Moscow late in March.

France has been holding low-key talks with Hamas over the past few weeks,
Israel's Army Radio reported Monday, citing a special document recently
received by government sources.

The radio said that Israel is concerned that other states, including China,
India and Japan, will soon publicly recognize the Hamas-led government.

According to the radio, the European Union, Russia and India have already
launched contacts with Hamas representatives.

The purported document also reportedly claims that France has been leading
the negotiations with Hamas on behalf of the European Union (EU).

India has already held an official meeting with senior Hamas officials and
Russia's contacts, which apparently began before Hamas' victory in January's
parliamentary elections, became official as soon as the results came out.

New Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mahmoud al-Zahar urged the
international community on Saturday to respect the Palestinian people's
choice in electing the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in the January 25
legislative elections.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua Saturday, he urged the United States
to abandon its long-time biased policy that favors Israel and not act in a
hurry to pressure the new Hamas government politically and economically.

Al-Zahar added, "There are so many countries which are standing on the side
of the Hamas cabinet and supporting its stance. We will build close
diplomatic relations with these countries."

Quartet Meets in Amman

Welch was in Amman to attend a meeting of the Quartet of Middle East
diplomats, comprising representatives of the United Nations, the United
States, the EU and Russia. The EU was reportedly represented by its Middle
East envoy Marc Otte. Moscow was represented by the ambassador at the
Russian Foreign Ministry Sergi Yakovlev, a spokesman for the Russian embassy
said.

The Quartet meeting, held at an envoy-level, was expected to issue a press
release later Monday about the outcome of its deliberations.

The meeting was attended by ambassadors of the U.S., Russia and Egypt,
Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdel Ilah al-Khatib said, according to Petra,
adding the meeting reviewed the deteriorating economic situation in the
Palestinian areas and the need for international support to improve living
standards of the Palestinian people.

The meeting was expected to focus on means of ensuring humanitarian aid to
the Palestinians under the Israeli occupation since 1967 without giving
money directly to the Hamas government led by Prime Minister Haniyeh.

The Quartet, in a joint statement on Thursday, warned the new Palestinian
government that its positions will affect direct aid.

"Having carefully assessed the program of the new government approved on
March 28," the Quartet "noted with grave concern that the new government has
not committed to the principles" spelled out by Hamas in a pronouncement
made soon after the January elections, the statement said.

Those principles include the recognition of Israel, renouncing violence, and
acceptance of previous agreements between Israel and the PNA, including a
call to have two states living side-by-side in peace, taken in concurrent
steps by both parties.

"The Quartet recalled its view that future assistance to any new government
would be reviewed by donors against that government's commitment to the
principles outline," the statement said, adding: "The Quartet concurred that
there inevitably will be an effect on direct assistance to that government
and its ministries."

However, "The Quartet encouraged continued humanitarian assistance to meet
the basic needs of the Palestinian people," the statement added.

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Jordan to Produce Russian Helicopters

OPK Oboronprom JSC and Orangeville Consultants Inc. Set Up a
Russian-Jordanian Joint Venture for Ka-226 Production in Jordan
(Source: Oboronprom; dated March 28, web-posted March 31, 2006)
[With thanks to www.defense-aerospace.com ]

AMMAN, Jordan --- Today at SOFEX 2006 (Jordan, Amman) the OPK Oboronprom JSC
General Director, Mr. Denis Manturov has announced that Russia and Jordan
will be setting up the Oboronprom Middle East joint venture for the
production of the Ka-226 in Jordan.

Under the license agreement, OPK"Oboronprom will authorize the joint venture
to produce and then sell the Ka-226s in Jordan and other countries in the
region. The joint-venture will also be entitled to overhaul and repair
Ka-226s and procure its spare parts.

Mr. Manturov, OPK Oboronprom General Director, said of the new partnership
"The joint-venture is an important step towards expanding Russian presence
at world aviation market. It is almost 50 years since Mil helicopters have
been first shipped to the Middle East and Northern Africa and proved to be
reliable and undemanding rotorcraft designed to best fit the region. I am
convinced that new Ka-226 helicopter will be highly appreciated by the
Middle East region's customers."

Mr. Majdi Al Yacoub, Managing Director of Orangeville Consultants Inc., and
acting Managing Director of the new joint venture, OPK Oboronprom Middle
East, commented, "the formation of Oboronprom Middle East here in Jordan is
highly important in highlighting the position of the Kingdom as a central
hub and entry point to the Middle East. Jordan is an emerging hub for
aviation manufacturing and development as we have a clear understanding of
the region's needs and approach."
"I am delighted to welcome our partners to SOFEX and look forward to working
closely with them to establish the full range of our services from
manufacturing and maintenance, through to servicing and pilot training for
Oboronprom subsidiary products in the Middle East."

The Oboronprom Middle East will aim at not only manufacturing the Ka-226s
but also at establishing a service center for Oboronprom's helicopter
manufacturing subsidiaries to maintain the products in the region. A pilot
and technician training center will also be set up to provide the regional
customers with accessible helicopter training. The regional Sales and
Marketing Department of Oboronprom Middle East will promote all the products
manufactured by Oboronprom and its subsidiaries in the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the parties agreed to carry out joint market researches to
estimate the possible volume of Ka-226 helicopters sales in the Jordanian
market and other countries of the region. Production funding will commence
once a solid order for helicopters is placed.

BACKGROUND NOTES:

OPK Oboronprom s a multi-sector production and investment group established
in 2002. The corporation is the parent managing company of the helicopter
holding, which includes Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant JSC, Kamov JSC, Ulan-Ude
Aviation Plant JSC, Kazan Helicopter Plant JSC, Rostverto" JSC, Vpered
Moscow Machine Building Plant JSC, Stupino Machine-Building Production
Enterprise JSC, Kamov-Holding JSC.

OPK Oboronprom JSC also holds more than 75% of Oboronitelnie Sistemy
(Defense Systems) JSC shares and 100% of Oboronpromlizing JSC shares, etc.

The Ka-226 is a light helicopter. Its modular design enables helicopter use
in various configurations: passenger, transport, search-and-rescue,
emergency medical services, patrol and fire-fighting. The rotorcraft is a
synergy of well-chosen and proven solutions (co-axial rotor scheme and
"flying chassis" concept) with modern technologies. It is fitted out with
twin gas-turbine engines of 450hp each, advanced flight and navigation
equipment, its fuselage and blades are made of composite materials. The
helicopter meets international standards on reliability, service life
limits, noise and flight safety, certified under AP-29 airworthiness rules
aligned with FAR 29.

-ends-

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Senior Tanzim Operative Killed During Arrest Activity in Bethlehem

April 3rd 2006
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Attributed to "security sources" [Provided by the IDF Spokesperson's Office]

Senior Tanzim operative killed during arrest activity in Bethlehem.

During a joint IDF and ISA activity in Bethlehem early this morning, April
3rd 2006, to arrest Ra'ad Mahmed Hasin Abiaat, head of the Tanzim
organization in the city, forces identified Abiaat armed with an assault
rifle and opened fire at him. An M-16 assault rifle and an explosive device
were found near his body. An additional hand gun was uncovered during the
subsequent search of the building.

Abiaat had been wanted by security forces since 2001 for his involvement in
shootings attacks against Israelis in the area of Bethlehem and Jewish
neighborhoods which border with the city. These shooting attacks include the
murder of Israeli citizen Avi Boaz ( http://tinyurl.com/ovjph ) on January
15th 2002, who was shot by Abiaat while driving his car south of the Israeli
community of Har Homa and the killing of Israeli Police Officer Moshe Dayan
( http://tinyurl.com/n7k4u ) on March 2nd 2002, who was shot by Abiaat and
his cell while driving his motorbike near the Mar Saba Monastery located
east of Bethlehem.

An additional wanted Tanzim operative, Ra'ad Saliman Hasin Halil Abu Jora,
was also hiding in the structure with Abiaat. Abu Jora, a senior aid to
Abiaat and operative in the Bethlehem Tanzim organization, was lightly
injured during the arrest and received initial medical treatment on location
before being evacuated for further medical treatment in an Israeli hospital.

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: PMO Director-General Cohen Convenes
Directors-General Forum On Bird Flu

PMO Director-General Cohen Convenes Directors-General Forum On Bird Flu
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

Prime Minister's Office (PMO) Director-General Ilan Cohen this morning
(Monday), 3.4.06, convened the Directors-General forum on dealing with bird
flu ( http://tinyurl.com/gpmz7 ; see also http://tinyurl.com/po8yq for
detailed Health Ministry information in Hebrew) . Agriculture and Rural
Development Ministry Director-General Yossi Yishai, Health Ministry
Director-General Prof. Avi Yisraeli, Veterinary Services and Finance
Ministry representatives, regional council chairmen, and poultry farmers'
representatives attended the meeting.

Participants were briefed by representatives of all relevant bodies on -
inter alia - work procedures of, and lessons gained from, the campaign
against bird flu in order to be better prepared for possible future
outbreaks. To this end, the Directors-General agreed on formulating
detailed work procedures:

Advance stage - A work procedure has been formulated on the equipping of
government bodies, including communications with contractors and suppliers
and intra-governmental coordination.

Identification and immediate action stage - Work procedures have been
defined for immediate action upon the identification of the disease. PMO
Dir.-Gen. Cohen instructed that action timetables be quickened and that
emphasis be placed on quarantines and sterilization methods to prevent the
disease from spreading.

Culling and sterilization stage: Culling and burial procedures have been
defined.

The Directors-General decided that immediately upon the conclusion of all
such events, a comprehensive review - including an epidemiological study -
will be held in order to draw the necessary conclusions.

Agriculture and Rural Development Ministry Dir.-Gen. Yishai said that
farmers will soon be eligible to receive advances on the compensation due to
them, as per the Government's commitment to them. A professional team is
currently examining the issue of farmers' indirect damages in order to
assess them more accurately.

A conference of all relevant government bodies and officials will be held on
Monday, 10.4.06, in order to review the aforementioned work procedures and
lessons. The conference is in continuation of the Government's cooperation
with local authorities.

PMO Dir.-Gen. Cohen thanked all those concerned: "Despite the difficulties
involved, the State of Israel dealt immediately and professionally with the
first crisis and brought about its conclusion in a very short time in
comparison to other countries, and minimized potential damages." (Less than
2% of the poultry sector was adversely affected; this is in comparison with
much higher proportions in various European countries. Neither was there
any decrease in the supply of poultry to consumers.)

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Jewish Community of Hebron on AG Mazuz's decision
to renege on agreement: Blood-shed or Compromise:
Which is preferable?

Blood-shed or Compromise: Which is preferable?
by David Wilder
The Jewish Community of Hebron www.hebron.org.il
pril 3, 2006

Two months ago, on February first, over 1,600 police participated in
destroying the Jewish community of Amona, on the outskirts of Ofra, in the
Benjamin region of Israel. As a result of massive police brutality, over
three hundred and fifty people needed medical care and/or hospitalization.

Several days prior to this, it seemed almost inevitable that a similar
confrontation was going to precede Amona. Hebron leaders had been warned: if
you do not immediately abandon the Mitzpe Shalhevet neighborhood, outside
the Avraham Avinu neighborhood in Hebron, the troops will arrive and start
with you. Amona will be second. Hebron will be first.

Hebron leaders participated in an emergency meeting with several senior
military officers, including Brigadier General Yair Golan. Golan is the
ranking officer in charge of Judea and Samaria. During a very tense meeting,
Golan laid the groundwork for a compromise solution. There were a number of
details involved, but the primary offer consisted of: the nine families
living in the former 'Arab market,' as well as the Torah study hall
established in memory of the murdered infant Shalhevet Pass, would
'voluntarily' leave their homes within 48 hours, and all their belongings
would be removed from the homes by the end of the week. In return, the
defense establishment, in conjunction with the Attorney General's office,
would void any possible remaining legal status Hebron's Arab municipality
might still maintain at the site, and following the conclusion of that
procedure, lease the structures to Hebron's Jewish community.

Despite heavy doubts and misgivings, Hebron's leaders, following a lengthy
consultation, decided to accept the offer. Two more meetings were conducted,
first with residents living in the Mitzpe Shalhevet neighborhood, and then
with a forum of other Hebron residents. At the conclusion of that gathering
it was decided to call an emergency 'town-meeting' of all Hebron residents,
that very night. At about two o'clock in the morning Hebron residents met in
the Avraham Avinu synagogue to discuss the proposed offer and make a
decision: accept or reject it. Following two hours of intense discussion a
vote was taken and a majority of those present decided to take a chance and
accept the compromise agreement.

It wasn't easy to implement a 'self-expulsion' from the homes in the Mitzpe
Shalhevet neighborhood. The scenes of 1929, the scenes from Yamit, the
scenes from the more recent expulsions from Gush Katif and the northern
Shomron, all played before our eyes. Would we be desecrating little
Shalhevet's memory by abandoning the homes and neighborhood; after all, it
was initiated in her memory, following her murder, five years ago? Yet,
despite the question marks, qualms and reservations, it was done. The
neighborhood was left empty; all the families moved elsewhere, some living
in very difficult conditions, and the houses locked. Hebron's Jewish
community implemented its side of the deal. Now it was the other side's
turn.

Even prior to the 'deal,' the defense department had already begun the
process of voiding any possible Arab claims to the former 'market.' The
defense department notified the Supreme Court of this plan and added its
intention to 'weigh leasing the structures to Hebron's Jewish community.'
The actual legal process by which the Hebron Arab municipality was notified
of the intentions to void any possible legal rights to the site actually
began prior to the agreement reached between the community and the state.
This process was approved by none other than Attorney General Menachem Mazuz
himself!

Mazuz's declaration that the agreement reached between the Hebron community
and the state is null and void is ludicrous:

Mazuz himself participated in authoring the response to the Supreme Court
from December 2005, which, as stated above, already agreed in principal to
lease the structures to the Hebron Jewish Community. (The courts already
accepted the fact that the land on which the buildings sit is Jewish-owned
and legally belongs to the Hebron Jewish Community.)

Mazuz was directly responsible for the brutal Amona expulsion/destruction
because, in his opinion, 'no viable agreement' between the sides was
possible. In the case of Hebron, an agreement was not only possible; it was
achieved and implemented (by one side). Why then would he, after the fact,
reject such an agreement, which explicitly prevented the scenes from Amona
in Hebron?

Defense Minister Shaul Mufaz himself said on Israeli radio, "The wholesale
market in Hebron is on Jewish land and the building, belongs to the Hebron
municipality. Therefore, we told them, if they voluntarily evacuate it, in
the future, legally, according to the recommendations of the attorney
general, they will be able to return."

Minister of Internal Security, Gideon Ezra said, "Our experience and our
success in Hebron to reach a solution, and as a result, violence was
prevented, and I am happy about that."

The intermediate report of the Knesset parliamentary committee of inquiry
into the events at Amona: "The compromise reached a short time before
[Amona] concerning the eviction of Jews from the wholesale market in Hebron,
implicitly supports the idea that the two sides, the government and the
settlers, acted in good faith with the intentions of reaching an agreement
acceptable to both sides."

The question must be asked: Does the attorney general of the state of Israel
(as well as, perhaps others in the administration) have a veiled interest in
preferring blood-shed to negotiated agreements with Jews living in Judea and
Samaria? Does he prefer policemen on foot and on horseback beating Jewish
youth, as opposed to compromise settlements, which avert such situations?

And of course, the final question to be pondered: What is the significance
of today's nullification of the agreement reached, in the context of
Olmert's planned expulsions (G-d forbid) from large segments of Judea and
Samaria? Is this a hint of things to come, - 'beat them, trample them, expel
them, perhaps even kill them' - anything goes - the means justify the ends -
the end being.., just what?

Hebron's Jewish community rejects Mazuz's chutzpah - the attorney general of
any so-called democratic state is supposed to represent the pinnacle of
justice. Mazuz's attempted nullification of the agreement reached between
the community and the state is the opposite of justice; it is inequity at
its best, it breeds distrust, and creates a situation whereby promise,
trust, and agreements belong to the genre of science fiction.

We suggest that Mazuz rethink his response concerning the Mitzpe Shalhevet
neighborhood in Hebron and immediately implement the agreement reached, and
spare himself, and the rest of Israel, continuing nightmares as witnessed at
Amona.

------------------------------

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: MEMRITV: Hizbullah Secretary-General:
We Support Armed Struggle Against the U.S. in Iraq

The following are excerpts from a speech given by Hizbullah
Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, which aired on Al-Jazeera TV on March
30, 2006.

TO VIEW THIS CLIP: http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1094

*Clip # 1094 - Hizbullah Secretary-General Sheik Hassan Nasrallah: We
Support Armed Struggle against the Americans in Iraq. We Will Chop Off the
Hand and Head of Whoever Tries To Disarm Us

Hassan Nasrallah: I say again, in front of you, that no one, either in
Lebanon or outside it, will be able to punish the resistance for its
accomplishments. Whoever wants to forcefully disarm the resistance - and I
have said this more than once - we will chop off his hand, behead him, and
get rid of his soul. We are that determined. We are that determined. As for
flexibility - I have said that we are ready to negotiate. Let us talk about
the strategic political options. We want to defend our land, to defend our
people, to preserve our sovereignty, and our honor. How? Let us discuss
that. Some say that the state should be responsible for that. [...] The real
option that can bring an end to the American occupation in Iraq is the
option of armed resistance. We, as resistance fighters, and from a
cultural-ideological perspective, and from a practical perspective, believe
in this. Therefore, we declare - and this is not the first time I am being
so candid... We publicly declare our
support of the Iraqi resistance.

TO VIEW THIS CLIP: http://www.memritv.org/search.asp?ACT=S9&P1=1094

**********************
For assistance, please contact MEMRI TV Project at memritv@memri.org

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) is an independent,
non-profit organization that translates and analyzes the media of the Middle
East. Copies of articles and documents cited, as well as background
information, are available on request.

MEMRI holds copyrights on all translations. Materials may only be used with
proper attribution.

MEMRI TV Project
P.O. Box 27837, Washington, DC 20038-7837
Phone: (202) 955-9070
Fax: (202) 955-9077

------------------------------

From: imra-owner@imra.org.il
Subject: IMRA Subscription Info

--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il

For free regular subscription:
Subscribe at no charge: imra-subscribe@imra.org.il
Unsubscribe: imra-unsubscribe@imra.org.il

For free daily digest subscription:
Subscribe at no charge: imra-subscribe-digest@imra.org.il
Unsubscribe: imra-unsubscribe@imra.org.il

For a copy of all reports distributed for a given day please send a
message to:

monday@imra.org.il tuesday@imra.org.il wednesday@imra.org.il
thursday@imra.org.il friday@imra.org.il
saturday@imra.org.il sunday@imra.org.il
--------------------------------------------

------------------------------

End of [imra] Daily digest - Volume: 2 Issue: 1364 (14 messages)
**********