[imra] Daily digest - Volume: 2 Issue: 1385 (11 messages)

imra Sun May 7 02:20:04 2006 Volume 2 : Issue 1385

In this issue of the imra daily Digest:

Caroline Glick: US has no reason to
support Olmert's withdrawal plan
Excerpts: Political uncertainty in Lebanon.6 May 2006
PM Olmert Speaks With ISCAR
Chairman Eitan Wertheimer
IDF aerial attack of a Popular Resistance
Committees training compound
PM Olmert Speaks With ISCAR
Chairman Eitan Wertheimer
IDF to recruit violent kids
- exclude right-wing protesters
SYRIA BUILDS MILITARY POSTS IN LEBANON
Haaretz legal expert slams IDF for punishing
soldier for not shaking Halutz's hand
Leading Leftist commentator slams IDF
for punishing soldier for not shaking Halutz's hand
Israel foils plot to kill Palestinian president
Hamas: permit guns only for enforcing
law and attacking Israel

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Caroline Glick: US has no reason to
support Olmert's withdrawal plan

Column One: When Olmert goes to Washington
Caroline Glick, THE JERUSALEM POST May. 4, 2006
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1145961281934&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

...
ISRAEL HAS had next to no debate either on the strategic consequences of the
Gaza withdrawal or on the likely security consequences of a withdrawal from
Judea and Samaria. Such a debate would note that the Gaza withdrawal was a
failure on every level. It would also raise the likelihood that an Israeli
withdrawal from Judea and Samaria will cause an inflow of terrorists and
missiles that will place all of Israel's major cities as well as its major
highways, seaports and Ben-Gurion Airport within missile range from
Hizbullah forces in Lebanon and Palestinian forces in Gaza, Judea and
Samaria.

Aside from that, such a debate would no doubt draw attention to the fact
that a jihadist takeover of Judea and Samaria would cause an immediate
danger to the Hashemite regime in Jordan. To date, Israeli military control
of Judea and Samaria has made it difficult for Palestinian jihadists to
threaten Jordan. But if Israel retreats, there will be no one stopping them
from joining forces with their counterparts on the east bank of the Jordan
River.

And so, an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria would cause the
destabilization of America's two most stable and reliable allies in the
Middle East. Fuel and other vital materiel for US forces in Iraq would no
longer be able to be safely transported overland from Israeli ports through
Jordan into Iraq due to the instability of both Israel and Jordan. This
would increase American dependence on ports in the Persian Gulf. This
increased American dependence would embolden Iran to cause the US Navy
repeated headaches in the Straits of Hormuz. Judea and Samaria would be used
as a terror training base for jihadists who would go on to fight not only
Israel, but US forces in Iraq.

Aside from that, just as Israel's retreat from Gaza convinced the
Palestinians that terror pays and so brought Hamas to power, an Israeli
retreat from Judea and Samaria leading to the destabilization of both Israel
and Jordan will be perceived by the Arab and Islamic worlds as a strategic
victory for the forces of jihad. From Paris to Haifa to Islamabad to
Baghdad, to Dearborn, thousands will answer the call to jihad.

By the same token, with the momentum on the side of the jihadists, the US
and its allies will experience unprecedented difficulty in attempting to
convince Arab and Muslim governments, opinion makers, intellectuals and
activists to support them. Political and cultural leaders who today support
the US's strategic goal of bringing democracy and liberalism to the Arabs
and Muslims worldwide will be cowed into silence. After all, whether the US
likes it or not, the Arab and Muslim worlds perceive Israel as an American
client state and as a result, an Israeli retreat is seen as an American
retreat. If Israel is weakened, America is weakened.

OLMERT HAS put a price tag of $10 billion on his withdrawal plan. Many
Israeli economists have claimed that this is a gross underestimate of the
actual cost of the massive withdrawals he has planned and the dislocation of
between 50,000-100,000 Israeli civilians. Nonetheless, Israel's new prime
minister is hoping that the Congress will agree to have US taxpayers cover
the bill. Olmert is also hoping that the Bush administration will recognize
the lines of his proposed retreat as Israel's political borders.

America has not hesitated to force Israel to change course in everything
from building settlements, to not responding to unprovoked missile attacks
during the 1991 Gulf War, to cancelling weapons sales to places like China
when the US believed that its national security interests were harmed by
Israel's action. Generally, Israel's leaders have abided by American
requests. Sometimes, when they felt that Israel's national well-being or
their political fortunes were at stake, they did not.
While listening to the Israeli media's coverage of Israel's political debate
could lead a foreigner to believe that retreating from Judea and Samaria is
necessary for Israel's future, in fact what they are hearing is one side of
a domestic culture war. And Israel's culture wars should be of little
interest to foreign governments trying to assess their own interests, just
as what The Nation or Mother Jones thinks about al-Qaida should have no
bearing on how foreign governments perceive the threat that the global jihad
constitutes for their nations.

Olmert's withdrawal plan will be devastating for Israel's national security.
But that's Israel's problem to deal with. We elected this government and we
will pay the price.

The US has no reason to support this plan that harms its most important
interests in the region, and in the war against the global jihad. When
Olmert comes to Washington, the first question his hosts should ask him is
how can he expect them to support a plan that advances the cause of global
jihad?

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Excerpts: Political uncertainty in Lebanon.6 May 2006

Excerpts: Political uncertainty in Lebanon.6 May 2006

+++THE DAILY STAR (Lebanon) 4 May '06:"Three sectarian negations cannot make
a nation"
by Michael Young ,Opinion Editor
QUOTES FROM TEXT:
"Lebanon needs a new social contract"
"it would be nice to see someone capable of leading"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EXCERPTS:
... Lebanon needs a new social contract. ...you might have to be patient.
.Sunday Druze leader Walid Jumblatt escalated his conflict with the Syrian
regime by receiving a delegation from Syria's Muslim Brotherhood The same
day,.. Christian politicians from the March 14 coalition met ...Lebanese
Forces leader Samir Geagea...only hours after Maronite Patriarch Nasrallah
Sfeir had lamented the disunity within the Maronite community .... On
Monday, Hizbullah's secretary general, Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, ... praised
Iran, saying it wanted "only good things" for Lebanon ...underlined that
Tehran "has done nothing but enjoin unity in the Shiite sphere, the Islamic
sphere and the national sphere."
...Jumblatt has expressed fear that a majority of Christians, led by Michel
Aoun, would succumb to the temptation of an alliance of minorities between
the Maronites and Shiites in Lebanon and the Alawites in Syria. ...primarily
directed against the Sunni majority in the region and against growing Sunni
Islamism. ..., , ...Jumblatt's enemies started floating that he, or his
father Kamal, had toyed with the ambition of creating a pan-Druze statelet
between Lebanon and Syria.
... if anything has made the Maronites more likely to radically overhaul
their policies in recent years, it is Jumblatt's hardnosed manipulation and
containment of the community, a cornerstone of his power. ...
... Jumblatt and the Druze are vulnerable in Lebanese communal maneuvering.
... Jumblatt knows that the Sunnis and Maronites would push him aside if
they could do so, or had to. That's why his opening to the Brotherhood
appears to be more than just a threat against Damascus; it is Jumblatt's bid
to garner Islamist cards to better enhance his position vis-^-vis the Saudi
regime and any domestic Lebanese alliance that could lead to his political
elimination. He figures that if Syrian President Bashar Assad can persuade
the Saudis to defend his Baath regime by threatening them with Sunni
Islamists, then he can use the Brotherhood to stay relevant in Riyadh and
Beirut. . . ..
So what you get with the Aounists is a hybrid: The general's supporters are
no less sectarian than their adversaries inside the Christian community, or
those Lebanese outside, and no less the prisoners of a psychological ghetto;
but at the national level their leader continues to peddle a fiction that he
is the grand unifier, Lebanon's own Bismarck, even as he allows his
followers to persuade themselves that he is really one of them.
Then there is Hassan Nasrallah. He adroitly speaks of Shiite unity and
national unity in the same breath, but ... no one wants to bargain with
someone armed to the teeth. What is Hizbullah's vision of communal
relations? What type of Lebanon can be built under the grim countenances of
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, regardless of the "good"
Iran desires for the country? What Lebanon can we expect when the best
Hizbullah has to offer by way of a social model is permanent armed
resistance against its enemies?
Lebanon's ... communal leaders and communities can't even agree how to
disagree. ...Whatever the answer, Jumblatt's maneuvering, perhaps motivated
by fear of extinction, Maronite discord, and Hizbullah's Kalashnikov-envy
are only widening the communal divide. Almost no one dares ask what type of
state most people want, even as everyone somehow needs everyone else so
there can be balance in the system.
...Lebanon is still caught in a vacuum left by a 15-year war and a
debilitating 29-year Syrian presence that denied any cross-sectarian
political cooperation. ...it would be nice to see someone capable of leading
... .

Sue Lerner - Associate - IMRA

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: PM Olmert Speaks With ISCAR
Chairman Eitan Wertheimer

PM Olmert Speaks With ISCAR Chairman Eitan Wertheimer
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert spoke this evening (Saturday), 6.5.06, with Eitan
Wertheimer, Chairman of the Board of ISCAR ( ww.iscar.com ), 80% of
which was sold over the weekend to Warren Buffet for $4 billion. "This is
major news and a great present for the State of Israel. We salute you, both
personally and on behalf of the entire State of Israel. This sale will
provide great momentum to the Israeli economy and I am certain that it will
lead to other economic benefits," the Prime Minister said.

Wertheimer thanked Prime Minister Olmert and said that he always mentions
the fact that he was in contact with the Prime Minister, who supported the
sale, and with whom he is considering and planning how the acquisition of
ISCAR can be an economic lever for the State of Israel. He added that he
views the transaction as lighting an economic torch just as his father,
ISCAR founder and Honorary Chairman Steff Wertheimer, lit one of the torches
on Independence Day. He added that Warren Buffet's declaration of
confidence was an important statement for the country and will be spoken of
in the same light as the Balfour Declaration ( http://tinyurl.com/otyxk ).

Prime Minister Olmert is due to speak with Warren Buffet tomorrow afternoon.

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: IDF aerial attack of a Popular Resistance
Committees training compound

May 5th 2006
IDF SPOKESPERSON ANNOUNCEMENT

IDF aerial attack of a Popular Resistance Committees training compound in
the Gaza Strip

Israeli citizens are under relentless terror attacks on a daily basis. These
attacks include the launching of projectile rockets from the Gaza Strip at
Israeli civilians and civilian infrastructure. Six rockets were launched at
Israel from the northern Gaza Strip this morning alone.

In response, the IDF carried out an aerial attack on a Popular Resistance
Committees terror target - a compound in which terrorists were trained to
carry out attacks against Israel. Several terrorists were training in the
compound at the time of the attack today, May 5th 2006.

The IDF will continue to act determinately in order to defend the citizens
of the State of Israel, and will continue to employ all means at its
disposal to combat terrorists and their supporters, in order to uphold the
security of the citizens of Israel.

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: PM Olmert Speaks With ISCAR
Chairman Eitan Wertheimer

PM Olmert Speaks With ISCAR Chairman Eitan Wertheimer
(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert spoke this evening (Saturday), 6.5.06, with Eitan
Wertheimer, Chairman of the Board of ISCAR ( www.iscar.com ), 80% of
which was sold over the weekend to Warren Buffet for $4 billion. "This is
major news and a great present for the State of Israel. We salute you, both
personally and on behalf of the entire State of Israel. This sale will
provide great momentum to the Israeli economy and I am certain that it will
lead to other economic benefits," the Prime Minister said.

Wertheimer thanked Prime Minister Olmert and said that he always mentions
the fact that he was in contact with the Prime Minister, who supported the
sale, and with whom he is considering and planning how the acquisition of
ISCAR can be an economic lever for the State of Israel. He added that he
views the transaction as lighting an economic torch just as his father,
ISCAR founder and Honorary Chairman Steff Wertheimer, lit one of the torches
on Independence Day. He added that Warren Buffet's declaration of
confidence was an important statement for the country and will be spoken of
in the same light as the Balfour Declaration ( http://tinyurl.com/otyxk ).

Prime Minister Olmert is due to speak with Warren Buffet tomorrow afternoon.

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: IDF to recruit violent kids
- exclude right-wing protesters

[IMRA: It would appear that the IDF Manpower Division has embraced the
notion that its primary objective in the coming years will be to fight Jews.
The new policy adds another thing for the parents of children slated to
enter the army in the coming year to worry about: an increased possibility
that their children may find themselves in a unit with violent kids armed
with weapons provided by the IDF.]

IDF to recruit violent kids - exclude right-wing protesters

TEL AVIV [MENL] -- The Israeli military plans to significantly revise
recruitment policy that would accept youngsters deemed as violent while
exclude right-wing protesters.

Military sources said the army's Manpower Division has drafted new standards
for recruitment, particularly in combat units, in wake of the Israeli
military withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank in September
2005. They said the withdrawal has spawned a resistance movement against
similar military operations in the West Bank that has been joined by
hundreds of Jewish youngsters.

"We are expecting to turn away many people who are deemed unreliable and
accept others who need a second chance," a military source said. "It a very
controversial decision that even proponents say could backfire."

The sources said the new standards were meant to avoid the prospect that
Israeli soldiers would refuse orders to destroy Jewish communities in the
West Bank. They said the military would play the key role in the policy of
Israel's new government to withdraw from at least 90 percent of the West
Bank over the next three years.
===
NOTE: The above is not the full item.
This service contains only a small portion of the information produced daily
by Middle East Newsline. For a subscription to the full service, please
contact Middle East Newsline at:
editor@menewsline.com for further details.

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: SYRIA BUILDS MILITARY POSTS IN LEBANON

SYRIA BUILDS MILITARY POSTS IN LEBANON

NICOSIA [MENL] -- Syria's military has constructed positions inside Lebanese
territory.

Lebanese officials said Syrian Border Guard units have established
fortifications at the edge of Lebanon's Bekaa Valley. The officials said the
Syrian construction consisted of sand berms and checkpoints.

Officials said a Lebanese delegation would travel to Damascus on May 9 to
resolve the issue. So far, the Lebanese government has sought to play down
the Syrian incursion.

"This was not worrisome and would not lead to any problems," Lebanese Prime
Minister Fuad Siniora said.
===
NOTE: The above is not the full item.
This service contains only a small portion of the information produced daily
by Middle East Newsline. For a subscription to the full service, please
contact Middle East Newsline at:
editor@menewsline.com for further details.

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Haaretz legal expert slams IDF for punishing
soldier for not shaking Halutz's hand

A soldier's freedom of expression
By Ze'ev Segal Haaretz 7 May 2006
[ Professor Ze'ev Segal is legal commentator fo Haaretz]
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/712937.html

Sergeant Hananel Dayan's refusal to shake hands with the chief of staff at
the traditional ceremony for outstanding soldiers at the President's
Residence might have remained an anecdote on the margins of the Independence
Day events. The soldier came up onto the stage, saluted Lieutenant General
Dan Halutz as required by military orders and therein fulfilled his duty. He
neither said anything explicit nor explained his action, which could perhaps
have constituted illicit public expression on a political or military
matter, contrary to General Staff regulations.

The outstanding combat soldier, a resident of the settlement Psagot near
Ramallah, many of whose family members were evacuated from Gush Katif,
behaved inappropriately when he refused to shake the outstretched hand of
the person who is, as the Basic Law on the Army puts it, "the supreme
commanding rank in the army." Even when senior officers asked him to
apologize to the chief of staff, his cooler head did not prevail. As has
been reported, the soldier made it clear he was prepared to have his conduct
examined in any suitable framework.

The framework, meanwhile, has taken the form of a hasty decision by Colonel
Moshe Chetrit, commander of the Barak armored brigade, to suspend the
soldier from service in the brigade. On the face of it, this decision
appears disproportionate. Unless it is rescinded by IDF Personnel
Directorate Head Elazar Stern, who just recently correctly defined the
branch he heads as a human resources department, the IDF will be forgoing
the human resource of a combat soldier who did not refuse an order, but
rather failed to behave in accordance with the degrees of politeness and
respect the chief of staff deserves.

Sergeant Dayan made use of the freedom of expression, which also applies to
soldiers, according to the foundations of Israeli democracy and the Basic
Law on Human Dignity and Freedom, as the military appellate court ruled in a
precedent-setting verdict in 1997. In that case the court upheld the
conviction of a major for conduct unbecoming an officer, because he had sent
hate mail to various officials, including then-prime minister and defense
minister Yitzhak Rabin, along the lines of "You joined forces with evildoers
for whom Jewish blood is like water." There were also letters that included
praise of the murderer Baruch Goldstein for the massacre in the Tomb of the
Patriarchs.

The judges - Major General Ilan Schiff and Brigadiers General Yoram
Tzelkovnik and Menachem Finkelstein - convicted the defendant, but it is
clear from the verdict that the conviction was based on the severity of the
statements, the blunt and adamant way in which they were stated and the fact
that it involved a senior officer. The court ruled that the freedom of
expression of a citizen, including a soldier, must not be violated, "unless
the statement constitutes, to a near certainty, severe harm to public
safety."

All the circumstances together seem to indicate that the sergeant's refusal
to shake hands with the chief of staff is not a judicial or disciplinary
matter. The soldier did not violate an existing order, and there is no order
that can obligate a soldier to shake hands with the chief of staff, or any
of his superiors, in contrast to the duty to salute them. Even if the
refusal can ostensibly be viewed as a forbidden public expression of a
political stance, the dominant element in the refusal, which takes
precedence, is the expression of a personal and human emotion and not
necessary political protest.

It would be better if the law were not enforced when it came to feelings.
Any punishment of the outstanding soldier, except for a "commanders' note"
on his personal record, would be a disproportionate violation, above and
beyond the requisite, of his human dignity and freedom of expression. It
would cause the IDF, which is investing a lot of effort in improving its
public relations, more harm than good. Recognition by the IDF of the
legitimacy of declining a handshake, as opposed to refusing an order, would
be in keeping with the processes recognizing the individual's dignity and
right to personal expression. Raising human dignity and freedom to the level
of a constitutional right motivated the High Court of Justice to recognize
the right to individual inscriptions on soldiers' gravestones, contrary to
the army's position. The right to personal expression, at least to a minimal
and moderate extent, as in this case, is also the right of soldiers who
fight and follow orders, even if they are not comfortable with them.

The chief of staff led the disengagement with the same "sensitivity and
determination" that brought him widespread public appreciation. He now holds
the authority to to rein in the military determination regarding Sergeant
Dayan, which was possibly taken on behalf of the chief of staff without his
having requested it. The chief of staff would be acting with sensitivity if
he summoned the sergeant, the outstanding combat soldier, and heard what he
had to say. One may presume that such a meeting would end with a handshake,
which the IDF spokeswoman would be justified in not hiding from the public
eye.

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Leading Leftist commentator slams IDF
for punishing soldier for not shaking Halutz's hand

Leading Leftist commentator slams IDF for punishing soldier for not shaking
Halutz's hand

Aaron Lerner Date: 7 May 2006

Leading Leftist commentator, Gideon Levy, slammed the decision to punish
Sergeant Hananel Dayan for refusing to shake hands with the chief of staff
at the traditional ceremony for outstanding soldiers at the President's
Residence in a column published in today's Hebrew edition of Haaretz titled
"Army of the People or Army of the COS"
www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArtPE.jhtml?itemNo=713011&contrassID=2&subContrassID=21&sbSubContrassID=0

Dayan, who has family that was removed from Gush Katif, saluted COS Halutz
at the ceremony but declined to shake his hand.

"Sergeant Hananel Dayan, a settler from Psagot, may not be a "Hero of
Israel", as the extreme right activist Baruch Marzel termed him, but he is
a brave soldier who is worthy of esteem... Dayan was removed from his
brigade. Such is done in the banana republic to those who don't shake the
hand of the COS.The IDF cannot stand soldiers who think. And certainly not
soldiers who express their thoughts and even protest legally - also in the
IDF there is no order that obligates shaking the hand of the COS .If the IDF
was an organization that was a little more open it would encourage soldiers
that think otherwise, and despite that fulfill all the orders and even excel
in their service, as Sergeant Dayan...The greatest danger now facing the IDF
is that it will be composed only of soldiers that are automatons.

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(Mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
Website: http://www.imra.org.il

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Israel foils plot to kill Palestinian president

Israel foils plot to kill Palestinian president
Uzi Mahnaimi, Tel Aviv
The Sunday Times May 07, 2006
www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2089-2168494,00.html

A HAMAS plot to assassinate Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, has
been thwarted after he was tipped off by Israeli intelligence.

Hamas's military wing, the Izza Din Al-Qassem, had planned to kill Abbas at
his office in Gaza, intelligence sources said.

Abbas, who became president of the Palestinian Authority last year after the
death of Yasser Arafat, was formally warned of the danger by the Israelis
and cancelled a planned visit to the territory.

The murder plan is the clearest sign yet of the tensions inside the
Palestinian Authority between Hamas, which swept to power after elections in
January, and Abbas's Fatah movement.

Hamas leaders, who refuse to recognise the state of Israel, suspect Abbas of
obstructing their attempts to govern, which have been hampered by a
financial boycott from donor nations. "Hamas considers Abbas to be a barrier
to its complete control over Palestine and decided to kill him," said a
Palestinian source who was an adviser to Arafat and is a close acquaintance
of Abbas.

It is understood that the attack would also have targeted Mohammed Dahlan,
Abbas's strongman in Gaza.

The sources were unable to say who in Hamas's secretive leadership had given
the order to kill Abbas. But an indication of its hostility towards Abbas
came last week.

In a statement to Al-Jazeera, the Arab television news network, Mohammed
Nazzal, one of its leaders, accused the president of being party to
"besieging and isolating the Hamas-led government".

Abbas, who is guarded by his own security men, divides his time between his
Gaza and Ramallah offices. While in the West Bank he is relatively safe, but
Gaza - stronghold of Hamas and numerous rogue terrorist organisations - is a
dangerous place. Shortly after his election to the presidency Abbas narrowly
escaped an assassination attempt in the Gaza Strip.

A recent request to the Israeli government to let him bring in new weapons
for his presidential guard was rejected by Shaul Mofaz, the outgoing Israeli
defence minister.

However, the Israelis could not ignore intelligence information regarding
the imminent threat to Abbas's life. "We monitor every movement of Hamas in
Gaza," said an Israeli intelligence source. "So when we learnt that Abbas's
life was in danger, we made sure to inform him without delay."

Matti Steinberg, a former adviser to the head of Shin Bet, Israel's domestic
security service, said he would be surprised if any decision to kill Abbas
had been taken by Ismail Haniyeh, the Palestinian prime minister, or Khaled
Mashaal, the Damascus-based Hamas leader. "However, such an action by the
military wing of Hamas is very plausible," he added.

While Hamas is struggling to maintain power, and Abbas to remain relevant,
economic chaos is spreading in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. For the
second month in a row 160,000 employees of the Palestinian Authority have
not received their salaries.

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

From: imra@netvision.net.il
To: imra@imra.org.il
Subject: Hamas: permit guns only for enforcing
law and attacking Israel

Hamas armed force readies for action
Khaled Abu Toameh, THE JERUSALEM POST May. 6, 2006
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1145961290193&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Hamas's new security force is expected to start operating in the Gaza Strip
next week, sources in the Palestinian Authority Interior Ministry said on
Saturday.

Meanwhile, Hamas leaders warned over the weekend of a new intifada and said
they would "chop off" the head of anyone who works to bring down their
cabinet. The warnings were made during huge demonstrations in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip in support of the Hamas cabinet and in protest against the
US-led sanctions on the Hamas cabinet.

The 3,000-strong force, which consists largely of Hamas militiamen, was
established last month by Interior Minister Said Siam to help PA security
forces enforce law and order in the Gaza Strip.

The decision to establish the new force has enraged PA Chairman Mahmoud
Abbas, who responded by issuing a "presidential decree" forbidding the
Interior Minister from pursuing his plan under the pretext that the move was
"illegal."

However, the Hamas cabinet, which has ignored Abbas's decree, managed to
recruit hundreds of militiamen to the new force. Abbas and his aides have
expressed fear that Hamas was trying to undermine the PA security forces,
whose members are all affiliated with Fatah.

Khaled Abu Hilal, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the new force
would officially start operating on May 14 by participating in a major
security operation against illegal construction along Gaza City's beach.

He said a joint operations room comprising members of all the PA security
forces had been set up to supervise the campaign, which is also aimed at
"liberating" public land illegally seized by Palestinians over the past few
years.

Many families, armed groups and senior PA officials are reported to have
exploited the state of anarchy and lawlessness in the Gaza Strip to grab
public lands and to build houses and businesses on them.

Abu Hilal said the new security force, whose members will wear special
uniforms, will assist the various branches of the PA security forces during
the operation, the first of its kind since Hamas formed the cabinet last
March.

He revealed that the Interior Ministry was also preparing to launch a
similar campaign to confiscate "illegal" weapons in the Gaza Strip and was
seeking the backing of large clans for the drive. Leaders of several clans
have already agreed to cooperate with the ministry by signing a document
prohibiting the use of weapons in local disputes.

The spokesman, however, stressed that the campaign was not directed against
militias that are fighting against Israel. "We want to end the chaos of
weapons," he said. "The only ones who will be allowed to carry weapons are
the policemen who are in charge of law and order and members of the
resistance groups who are confronting Israeli aggression."

On Friday, thousands of Palestinians took to the streets to protest against
the international sanctions against the Hamas cabinet. The protests were
held under the motto, 'Yes to starvation, no to capitulation." In Ramallah,
local residents donated over $60,000 in cash and two kilograms of gold to
the Hamas cabinet.

Interior Minister Siam threatened to "turn the table over the heads of all
those who are trying to foil the Hamas cabinet." Addressing supporters in
Khan Yunis, he reiterated his Hamas's refusal to recognize Israel's right to
exist. "We can't accept the existence of the criminals, executioners and
murderers on our blessed lands," he said. "We won't change our position."
Hassan al-Safi, a senior Hamas official in the Gaza Strip, warned that the
international sanctions would lead to a "third intifada." He added: "This
time it will be a regional intifada which will change the balance of power
in the region."

Addressing US President George W. Bush, Safi said: "We will chop off the
head of anyone who tries to bring down our cabinet. The US wants us to
succumb and become its slaves, but we won't give in because we are free and
sovereign."

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

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

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End of [imra] Daily digest - Volume: 2 Issue: 1385 (11 messages)
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