GSS Chief: Hamas Buying Up Jerusalem
Hamas, Fatah, and the Islamic Movement are buying properties within Jerusalem city limits as part of the struggle for the future of Israel's capital, says Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin. Diskin appeared at a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee session this week to share his assessment.
Fatah, Hamas, and the Islamic Movement "are competing for influence and presence in the field," Diskin said. Fatah and Hamas have often competed for power since a joint PA coalition fell apart in 2007 with the violent Hamas takeover of Gaza.
Hamas is illegal in Israel, but has managed to buy land via Islamic charity groups (dawas), Diskin explained.
Almost a year ago, Diskin warned the Cabinet that Hamas had received $21 million to be used to buy buildings in Jerusalem. The money came from Yusef al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian sheikh with terrorist sympathies living in Qatar.
Diskin revealed at that time that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas was seeking to reduce the Jewish presence in historic Jerusalem by buying up properties and preventing Arabs from renting to Jews.
Also during Tuesday's meeting, Diskin warned MKs about the danger of removing the naval blockade on Gaza. Allowing ships to sail to Gaza from international ports would be "a huge security breach" even if the ships were inspected, he said.
Gaza terrorists are continuing to build their arms supplies, both by smuggling in new weapons from Egypt and by building their own, he said. Some Hamas rocket have a range of up to 40 kilometers. (IsraelNationalNews.com)
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Assad: Israeli 'Raid' Risks Regional War
DAMASCUS, Syria - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Israel's naval raid on the Turkish flotilla's flagship, Mavi Marmara, raised the risks of regional war.
In a television interview with BBC aired on Thursday, Assad said the death of nine pro-Palestinian activists aboard the ship "destroyed any chance for peace in the near future mainly because it proved that this government is another pyromaniac government and you cannot achieve peace with such government."
"When you don't have peace, you have to expect war every day, and this is very dangerous," he said.
But even before the confrontation at sea, Assad said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not a viable peace partner.
"No, we definitely don't have a partner, we know this," the Syrian president said.
Assad denied allegations by the U.S., Israel and England that he is continuing to arm Hezbollah, the Lebanese-based terror group, with Iranian missiles and other weaponry.
And while he would not abandon Syria's close alliance with Iran, Assad said he is happy to do business with the United States.
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Senator Gleans New Perspective on Israel
JERUSALEM, Israel - For years, CNN - through its negative reports - convinced Puerto Rican Senator Carmelo Rios not to come to Israel. But his perceptions changed dramatically during a recent visit as part of Puerto Rico's delegation to the Jerusalem International Conference, sponsored by the AmIsrael organization.
Headquartered in Brazil, AmIsrael established the annual conference in Jerusalem to provide "a venue for political and public debate on the growing threat to peace in the Middle East, in particular Iran's progressing nuclear program and hostile rhetoric directed against Israel."
Because Latin America has generally been perceived as a pro-Iranian bloc, AmIsrael and the delegates came to demonstrate to the world that this is not the case.
While the conference has become the largest gathering of Latin American politicians in Israel, this year several European delegates joined in.
"I don't know if you guys should go," friends and family said to Rios before he left. But wanting to see the human rights situation firsthand - often portrayed as intolerable by the media - was reason enough for the Puerto Rican delegation to make the trip. As a senator, Rios cares about human rights.
During the four-day conference, participants heard briefings from Israeli government officials, media professionals, foreign delegates and other keynote speakers.
This year, Miki Goldwasser, whose son, Ehud, was kidnapped and killed by Hezbollah in the Second Lebanon War, and Noam Shalit, whose son, Gilad, has been held captive four years by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, addressed the delegates.
Hearing Goldwasser and Shalit and seeing Israel firsthand made Rios much more sympathetic to the nation's need to defend its citizens from the enemies that surround it. Despite the circumstances, he said, Israel reacts with restraint.
During his visit, Rios learned that Israel deals with many of the same problems as any country seeking to improve the quality of life for its citizens. The delegation intends to bring back all the information it has gleaned to Puerto Rican lawmakers.
Contrary to perceptions abroad, the senator saw that Israel is not a war zone, but rather a nation protecting itself like any other nation. He and his colleagues felt safe in Jerusalem, with no need for a military escort.
All in all, the senator was "pretty impressed" with the rich culture he found, describing his first trip to Israel as an "eye-opening experience," something he wasn't expecting at all.
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Egypt refuses to stop flotillas
By JPOST.COM STAFF
06/18/2010 12:16
Cairo paper reports: Israel asks Egypt to block Iranian aid ships
Cairo newspaper "A-Dar" reported Friday that Israel issued a request to Egypt to prevent aid ships from Iran reaching Gaza via the Suez Canal. Egyptian officials reported the request because "it contradicts the law."
Egyptian authorities explained to the Cairo newspaper that Israel requested Egypt prevent any aid ships arriving from Iran passing through the Suez Canal claiming that Iran is aiding Hamas to work against Egypt.
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The newspaper added that Egypt refused the Israeli demands because it is not possible to prevent the passage of any ship through the canal because of international laws. Egyptians explained that they are not able to stand against the intent of Arab states, the Muslim world and international organizations to provide aid to the residents of Gaza and to lift the blockade.
Sources at "A-Dar" reported that according to sources at the department for defending the interests of Iran in Cairo that Egypt approved the demands of hundreds of Iranians that will accompany the aid ships.
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UN Screens Anti-Israel Flotilla Film, Israel Denied Response
by Maayana Miski
The United Nations Correspondents Association recently screened a film for foreign journalists that purported to show Israel attacking innocent activists. An Israeli request to show a second film that would put the events of the first in a more accurate light was originally granted, then denied at the last minute.
The screening was organized by the president of the Correspondents Association, Giampaolo Pioli, who invited correspondents to see an "Israeli attack on human rights activists."
The film shown was shot by one of the passengers on a Gaza-bound flotilla that aimed to break Israel's naval blockade of the Hamas-controlled region. Israeli commandos boarded the boats after they refused, when asked peacefully, to turn aside and dock in Ashdod. On one ship, the Mavi Marmara, soldiers were violently attacked by Turkish activists wielding knives and blunt instruments, leading to a clash in which nine passengers were killed and several passengers and soldiers were wounded.
The footage shows Israeli troops preparing to board the vessel, then switches to scenes in which passengers treat the wounded.
Mirit Cohen, spokeswoman for Israel's UN delegation, asked to attend the event and show a film prepared by the IDF Spokesperson's unit. The IDF has released a film showing members of the pro-terrorist Turkish group IHH on the Mavi Marmara attacking soldiers with metal clubs and throwing one soldier overboard; a second film shows the ship's Chief Officer testifying that the violent attack on soldiers was premeditated.
The UN group originally accepted Cohen's request and agreed to screen the Israeli film. However, just two hours before the event was to begin, Pioli informed Cohen that he would be dropping the Israeli film. He offered to show Israel's side of the story at a different time.
Israel distributed a complaint to foreign correspondents Thursday. "Offering UN media facilities to screen video produced by a one-sided activist while actively preventing a member state of the United Nations an opportunity to respond in real time is severely unethical," Cohen wrote.
The decision to cancel the screening of the Israeli video with just two hours notice "raises grave doubts as to the reason behind this decision," she added. Cohen demanded an official apology for the incident.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)
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Turkey Threatens Not to Return Ambassador
by Maayana Miskin
Turkey has threatened not to return its ambassador to Israel. The ambassador was called back following a clash between violent Turkish passengers on a Gaza-bound ship and IDF soldiers.
Soldiers clashed with members of the pro-terrorist IHH organization in late May as the IHH and other foreign activists attempted to break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza. After IHH members wounded and briefly kidnapped three soldiers, a fourth soldier opened fire, killing nine people and ending the standoff.
Turkey wants Israel to apologize for boarding the ships and for the subsequent clash, to offer to compensate the injured and families of those killed, and to allow an international investigation of the incident.
That is not going to happen, Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said Thursday. Speaking to the Voice of Israel radio station, Ayalon said that Turkey's demands prove that the country's leaders are not approaching the situation with good will.
The deterioration in ties between Turkey and Israel was not Israel's doing, he continued. The only way to restore ties is through diplomatic channels, he said.
Ties between Turkey and Israel have been strained since the IDF Cast Lead counter-terror operation in Gaza in early 2009. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan harshly condemned Israel over the operation. Erdogan has since taken several steps away from Israel - including canceling joint military exercises and reducing trade ties - while drawing closer to the Arab world and to Iran.
Ayalon said Israel is currently working to convince Lebanon not to follow in Turkey's footsteps and send its own flotilla to Gaza. At least one organizers of the planned Lebanese flotilla has ties to Hizbullah. (IsraelNationalNews.com)
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US lawmakers warn Turkey to back off Israel
US lawmakers are getting fed up with Turkey's continuing antagonism toward Israel, which escalated in the wake of Israel's raid on a Gaza blockade-busting flotilla this month, during which nine Turkish citizens with ties to terrorist organizations were killed.
Turkey led the international community in condemning Israel for the raid, and has set up its own commission of inquiry into the incident. Ankara has also threatened to downgrade ties with Israel and may not return its ambassador to Tel Aviv.
A number of members of the US House of Representatives warned in interviews this week that Turkey will suffer consequences if it continues down this path.
In March of this year, a bill recognizing Turkey's genocide against the Armenians during and after World War I passed a House committee by a single vote. But many congressmen who previously opposed calling Turkey out publicly for that past sin now say they may support the bill when it comes before the full House of Representatives in the near future.
The lawmakers said that Turkey is clearly moving closer to Iran and its terrorist proxies and adopting a more Islamic position. That being the case, they are less concerned about damaging US-Turkish relations by officially recognizing a holocaust only slightly less severe than that carried out against the Jews of Europe during the second world war.
Turkey has conducted a charm offensive in Washington since the bill was first introduced. But several lawmakers suggested it was hypocritical for Turkey to insist that the US treat it with kid gloves, while being so exaggeratedly harsh with Israel.
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Growing Israeli interest in Yeshua (Jesus
The Messianic ministry Revive Israel located just outside Jerusalem reports that its staff and partner ministries have experienced an upsurge in interest among secular and religious Israelis in the person and ministry of Yeshua (Jesus).
In their latest newsletter, Sahar S. writes that a group of 40 young Israeli college students recently visited the Revive Israel offices to ask questions regarding Jesus and the New Testament for a course on Israeli history and culture.
"They were surprised to discover that the promise of a new covenant is written in the Hebrew prophets (Jeremiah 31). The biggest news to them was that Yeshua loved the God of Israel and that His teachings were focused on a fulfillment of the moral law in the Ten Commandments (Matthew 5)," said Sahar. "A number of them came with pre-conceived ideas and even anger towards Messianic Jews. At the end of the meeting a young religious man came and admitted that his perspective had changed about who we are - Israeli Jews who believe in Yeshua."
The group was reportedly surprised at the level of kindness shown by the Messianics despite frequent harassment of and attacks on believers in Jesus in Israel.
The newsletter also included an update on a 4-week Jews for Jesus campaign in central Israel that is currently winding down. Ze'ev N. writes that the group received contact information from no fewer than 2,000 Israelis interested in hearing more about Jesus.
