News & Analysis From Israel: If We're At War, The IDF Didn't Plan For It - Comments Page 2

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• 26 - Clavos

  Jul 14, 2006 at 12:50 am

  Ruvy, First I want to say may God watch over you and your family and keep you safe.
  
  I tried to access the Reuters article, for some reason it's no longer available; a circumstance I found strange. Was there something controversial about it?
  
  Thanks for keeping us all informed on the situation.
  
  FWIW, I'm an American-born Gentile who's solidly in Israel's camp--I like Rice generally, but I think she and her bosses are wrong about this; it's a matter of your survival, nothing less.
  
  Clavos

• 27 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 14, 2006 at 1:57 am

  This came in on e-mail - an article from Ynetnews
  
  Fresh news of missile strikes have not come in yet.

• 28 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 14, 2006 at 1:59 am

  Working with Mozilla Firefox is a royal pain. I have trouble doing previews. Hopefully, I was able to close off the html tag.

• 29 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 14, 2006 at 4:06 am

  Well, I'm back using OE with news updates.
  
  Apparently there has not been more fighting on the border, although there may have been air-raids on Lebanon overnight. So now the analysts are kicking in in a big way, spinning the facts this way and that.
  
  It should be borne in mind that many Israelis in the north spent their night in a "miklát" - a word that serves for basesment, air-raid shelter, storm cellar, and in the case of rich folks, wine cellar. So many of them were away from their computers, which is how I have gotten news on the ground without running into military censors or the BS artists in the Hebrew and overseas press.
  
  First, from the IDF. This report deals with the fact that, in spite of eveything, Israel is trying to make sure that Arabs in Gaza have food to eat. This was received courtesy of Dr. Aaron Lerner and IMRA.
  -------------------------------------------------
  July 13th 2006
  
  IDF SPOKESPERSON UPDATE
  
  Despite ongoing terror attacks from Gaza aimed at the civilian population in Israel, and as part of the IDF's commitment to minimize the damage to the Palestinian population of the Gaza Strip, the following supplies were transferred today through the Erez, Karni and Nahal Oz crossings;
  
  Over 30 containers and 140 trucks containing:
  - 1080 tons of various grains
  - 800 tons of sugar
  - 140 tons of dairy products
  - 520 tons of flour
  - 420 tons of fruit
  - 169 tons of oil
  - 120 tons of salt
  - 160 tons of rice
  - 40 tons of eggs
  - 100 tons of meat and fish products
  - 7 trucks containing medicines and medical equipment
  - several heavy duty generators
  - 25,000 liters of chloride
  - 350,000 liters of diesel
  - 50,000 liters of petrol
  - 100 tons of cooking gas.
  
  It is important to note that the water and electricity supply from Israel to
  the Gaza Strip remains uninterrupted.
  -------------------------------------------------
  The second report comes from a lady who works in Tzfat (Safed in her e-mail) and lives in Karmiel, not far away. It is another "slice of life" report that puts you on the ground in the hilly holy city in the north.
  -------------------------------------------------
  Hi, all.
  
  Yesterday, just before I left the office, I heard
  several 'booms' and saw the smoke rising from Safed. As I was leaving, several ambulances were coming into the ER at the Hospital. By the time I got back to Karmiel, Madj el Krum had been hit and there were rumors, later verified, that Karmiel had suffered a hit as well, but apparently no one was hurt in Karmiel
  although several injuries occured in Madj.
  
  When I got to my neighborhood, lots of folks were
  milling around the local miklat, problem being that there was an enormous lock on the door and no key.
  
  The local moked (literally "focus" - used in modern Hebrew to indicate a command center) said to call the police. The police said the call 'this number,' and 'this number' said to call the moked. Finally, someone went home and got a big hammer and broke the lock. The miklat was clean and very basic. The ventilators did not work. I don't know about the toilets, because I left and went to a "five star" miklat in another neighborhood! (air conditioning, 3 working toilets, etc.) The second miklat is
  operated as a moadón (clubroom) for olím hadashím (new immigrants, like yours truly) from Romania. There I found about 25 young girls and their group leader. The group was from a small town in Hungary, and they had saved up for 2 years to be able to fly to Israel and perform at the Karmiel dance festival which is scheduled to be held next week (or not???) One girl spoke pretty good English and asked what was happening, so I filled them in and assured them that their lives were not in danger. Eventually the organizers appeared and told them to pack up; they were returning home. I saw them off on the bus to Tel Aviv where they would await word from the Hungarian Embassy as to when they would be flying home.
  
  After a couple of hours I went home. Most of my
  friends never went to the miklatím (plural of miklat). Many, because they could not understand the announcements in Hebrew.
  
  Listening to a teacher in ulpán (a special class to teach Hebrew to new immigrants) is a whole lot
  different from trying to figure out what someone in a car is saying over the loudspeaker as he drives by...
  
  Some just elected to stay home. The last direction I heard last night was that residents of Karmiel (and lots of other places) were to spend the night in or near a miklat. Since I am pretty close to our neighborhood miklat, I elected to spend the night in my own bed. Good decision.
  
  Well, what about today??? Just as in the Iraq Wars (I'm only here since 1985, so I don't have the previous war experiences of our most senior
  members of the list), I will go to the gym, buy my newspaper, do my shopping and have a coffee with friends. Life goes on.
  
  I did call my kids in the USA to let them know I was okay. Like many other Americans, they had no idea what was going on. I wanted to let them know that if they should, by any chance, hear the name of my town on TV (one of them doesn't own a television set anyhow), they should not get alarmed. The truth is, I just wanted to let them know I love them. I am not an alarmist; I do believe that one never knows what any given day might bring, so that it is very important to
  me to say "I love you" at every opportunity. One of them reminded me that if I want to 'retreat' to the US, I would be welcome, and that the ticket would be on him. I was really touched, thanked him, and told him about my plans for the day...
  
  Anyhow, I hope we will be able to walk about without fear soon and wish all my neighbors from g'vul hatzafón (the northern border areas) to Haifa and all 'Am Yisrael (the people of Israel - meaning all Jews everywhee) a safe and quiet weekend.
  
  And I hope we bomb the *&&% out of our enemies,
  wherever they may be. "Tuez-les tous; Dieu
  reconnaitra les siens."
  
  S, still glad to be here...
  -------------------------------------------------
  
  
  

• 30 - MAOZ

  Jul 14, 2006 at 6:02 am

  Couple of "Only in Israel" tidbits:
  1) The rabbis are discussing with the Army the possibility of opening up a "gal shaket" for residents of the north. A "gal shaket" is a "quiet station" on the radio: nothing is broadcast on it except emergency announcements such as "ahem, everybody should head into their miklatim NOW". The point of the gal shaket being that those who are Sabbath-observant can leave their radios turned on during Shabbat so they'll hear those civil-defense announcements, if there be such, but otherwise won't have their Shabbat disturbed by radio blather, music, whathaveyou.
  
  2) An interesting sight: Magavnikit datiyya -- a religious young Jewish woman who is a member of Israel's Border Police...dressed in the gray-green Border Police uniform including full-length gray-green skirt, toting her M-16 and kissing the mezuzah as she enters the building.
  
  Hineh lo yanum ve-lo yishan Shomer Yisrael -- the Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps.
  
  Shabbat shalom, all.

• 31 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 14, 2006 at 9:42 am

  Final News Reports before Signing Off for the Sabbath
  
  Most of these stories have to do with the fact that while the IDF has struck at HizbAllah, the real problems in Israel are not Arabs at all.
  
  The attacks on Lebanon have had unexpected consequences. The Age reports tht as many as 25,000 Australians, tourists and businesspeople, are now stuck in Lebanon.
  
  This is from Shmuel haLevi of Radio Free Israel:
  =================================================
  LITMUS TEST QUESTIONS
  
  Our recognition to the soldiers and field officers
  
  As to the... government...
  
  The so called "offensive" as it is is so pathetic that no results will come of it. It is a transparent propaganda attempt, not to repair the huge disaster of Oslo and disengagement.
  
  WHERE IS THE ARROW anti rocket SYSTEM...?
  
  Where are the 3000 machine guns and millions of bullets Mr. Olmert and Mr. Peres and theirs facilitated to the enemy?
  
  Why is Mr. Olmert re supplying the enemy in Gaza?
  
  Is the Shabak "Jewish Sektion" detaining Jews in secret?
  
  When will the Knesset order the creation of Commissions to investigate the Oslo crimes, the Lebanon catastrophic retreat, the "disengagement" Pogrom and the Amona assault?
  
  When will the IBA (Israel Broadcasting Authority)be available to those that correctly denounced the activities of those involved in all of the above acts?
  
  INVESTIGATIONS: Is Mr. Hanegbi's investigation completed? (Hanegbi is under investigation fro various charges of corruption. He moved from the Likud to Kadima - I suspect on the promise of Ariel Sharon that the investigation of him would be buried.)
  
  Is Mr. Omri Sharon serving time yet? (Omri Sharon, the eldest son of Ariel Sharon was sentenced to a light prison term after pleading guilty to charbes of illegally handling vcampaign fund for his father).
  
  There are four young girls in jail for protesting the deviants that created Oslo and disengagement.
  Release them immediately.
  
  SHmuel HaLevi
  Radio Free Israel
  
  PS: The poor victims of peace soldiers taken prisoner by the enemy are of course not even counted any more in the news.
  
  PS 2: Shortly our investigative reporters will publish our findings regarding the above.
  =================================================
  This is from Sergio Tezza:
  
  INCOMPETENCE OR WORSE?
  Whose hands are we in?
  
  Foreign press agencies and Lebanese sources confirm that all the MEA (Lebanese Airlines) planes and many other private planes have taken off this morning from Beirut Airport for unknown destinations from a side runaway missed by the Israeli Air Force.
  
  These are the kind of things that they keep hidden from Israelis. NO ONE HERE SPEAKS ABOUT IT!
  
  Wasn't the Israeli Air Force supposed to prevent the take off of all planes from Lebanon so as to avoid the transfer of our soldiers outside of Lebanon???
  
  Are we once again in the hands of people who do not know what they are doing, chas we-shalom (G-d forbid)?
  
  Do we have reasons to trust the same guys who gave us the Palestinian Authority, Hamastan, Hizbollahstan, and said things like "they would not dare using the weapons we give them against us" (Rabin 1994); or "Shtuyot! (nonsense!): whoever speaks of missiles from Gaza does not know what he is talking about" (Peres 1994), "In the new middle east Israel is going to be part of the Arab League" (Peres 1994); "if they dare doing anything against the Jews of Hebron we'll send in the tanks" (Netanyahu 1997 while giving the PLO terrorists control of the high grounds overlooking Hebron's Jewish community, which caused six months of uninterrupted fire upon it and the assassination of 10 months old Shalheveth Pass); "if they just dare shooting one bullet from Lebanon we'll hit them hard" (Barak 2000 just a few months before katyushas fell on Shlomi, Hizbollah kidnapped and killed our soldiers and Israel did nothing); "if they dare sending missiles from Gaza onto Israel we'll make it stop painfully" (Mofaz and Sharon 2005).
  
  =================================================
  This from IMRA
  
  Friday, July 14, 2006
  Israeli legal system in ideological clash with teenage girls?
  http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=30061
  
  [IMRA: Noam Federman is a personality who has been a source of tremendous embarrassment to the Israeli prosecutorial system over the years - and paradoxically a glimmer of hope for the court system. Time and again Israeli authorities have tried to silence Federman (who has been associated with various "radical" right activities over the years) with criminal charges only to find that the courts ultimately ruled in his favor.]
  
  Noam Federman July 2006
  
  Presently incarcerated in the women's prison - Nave Tirtza - for the last four weeks are three 14 year old girls.
  
  Another 15 year old young girl has also been incarcerated in the Russian Compound detention facility in Jerusalem.
  
  What are the "grave" crimes that these young girls have committed? Some three weeks ago large IDF and police forces arrived at the Avraham
  Avinu neighbourhood in Hebron with the object of constructing a wall between the neighbourhood playground and the house of an Arab. The Avraham Avinu residents object to the construction of the wall since it is being built on
  the area of the neighbourhood playground and is harmful to the children. The forces came to prevent a disturbance to the construction of the wall.
  
  Demonstrators awaited them at the site and also a group of some 20 girls stood on the roof and threw water over the police officers. The police
  officers used great violence and arrested the group. In the evening they were brought before a judge of the Jerusalem Magistrates Court.
  
  At the court hearing the three girls - Shira Meydad, Yizka Federman and Uria Shirel - stood up and informed the Court that they did not recognise its jurisdiction to try them since the Court was not acting in accordance with the laws of the Torah. They also stated that they were not prepared to sign any document or guarantee.
  
  They were detained in consequence thereof and the Court judges attempted to 'educate'the girls and to compel them to be released upon conditions that would be determined by the Court. Every few days the girls are brought
  before the Court and the judges ask them "Nu, are you prepared to sign now?" and the girls 'stick to their guns' - "We are not prepared"!
  
  The prison authorities are also attempting to exert pressure on them, they are preventing them from having family visits, from receiving equipment from their families and more, with the object of making them want to be released - but without success.
  
  A week ago the police arrested another young girl - Yizka Weiss - because, according to the police, she had participated in a demonstration opposite the home of Supreme Court Justice Ayela Proketzia, who had handed down a harsh sentence against Yizka Federman. After the investigation the young girl was brought to Court and the police applied for her to be released on
  the condition that she would not approach the Supreme Court Justice's home.
  
  The young girl then announced to the Court that she also did not recognise its jurisdiction to try her and that she was not prepared to be released on the conditions that had been required of her. She has also been detained
  since then and while the three girls are being held together, she is in total isolation in the Russian Compound in Jerusalem.
  
  =================================================
  
  Finally, I send you all to the website of Arutz Sheva for a summary of Friday's news out of this fair country.
  
  
  

• 32 - Nancy

  Jul 14, 2006 at 9:56 am

  Shalom shabbat, Ruvy, and I hope G-d protects you & yours. I also hope Israel kicks the crap out of Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, and anyone else wanting to mess with them. Good luck, guys.

• 33 - David Ben-Ariel

  Jul 14, 2006 at 12:23 pm

  Israelis Were Warned about Katyusha Rockets...and Shimon Peres
  
  Israelis have been sufficiently warned what would happen with katyusha rockets and they proceeded to ignore it and now have begun to suffer the consequences. Israelis have also been warned that the treacherous Shimon Peres (who came to power over Rabin's dead body) would sell-out Jerusalem to the Germans and Jesuits, collaborating with the Vatican. Will Israelis remove him from office and put him in prison or let Jerusalem fall?
  

• 34 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 14, 2006 at 12:40 pm

  I'm supposed to be off the computer and was about to shut it when this came in my e-mail box...
  
  From: harvey tannenbaum
  Sent: Friday, July 14, 2006 13:28
  Subject: no shabbat here
  
  
  Nahariya 2 more katyushas hit residential building 710pm injuries...
  Karmiel 5katyushas....injuries
  Meron area katyushas just hit near kever
  
  cabinet called into session 11pm Friday night
  
  Haifa sirens just went off expected incoming missiles
  
  

• 35 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 14, 2006 at 12:52 pm

  This pulled up from news flashes from Haaretz
  
  
  19:36 Katyusha rockets hit Safed; no injuries or damage reported (Haaretz)
  
  19:32 Katyusha rocket lands in Acre; 4 land in Nahariya, one in Carmeil (Haaretz)
  
  19:09 PMO official: Israel poised to take any steps necessary to protect its citizens (Reuters)
  
  18:52 Dozens of Palestinians enter Gaza via hole blown in Gaza-Egypt border wall (Reuters)
  
  18:29 Palestinian gunmen blow up portion of Gaza-Egypt border fence (Reuters)
  
  18:18 IAF missiles slam Hezbollah radio offices in Beirut (Reuters)
  
  18:07 IAF targets bridges on Beirut-Damascus highway (Haaretz)
  
  17:56 Witnesses: IAF aircraft fires rocket at Hezbollah`s Beirut stronghold (Reuters)
  
  17:24 Man seriously hurt when rocket hits Galilee village of Yesod Hama`alah (Channel 10)
  

• 36 - gonzo marx

  Jul 15, 2006 at 2:51 pm

  Ruvy... a hopeful Wish for the safety of you and yours...as well as to all the Innocents on all sides of this insane Conflict in your region...
  
  just so it arrives in your e-mail box, allow me to copy something i wrote on another Thread, for the Record...
  
  -might i note some Facts that everyone here, from either "gang" seem to agree on at least....
  
  Hizballah + Hamas started fucking with Israel
  
  Hizballah is a legally elected part of the Lebanese government
  
  Hamas controls the legally elected Palestinian government
  
  both Hizballah and Hamas receive financial backing (at least) from Iran
  
  besides the human Tragedy of this Conflict (total deaths of innocents from all sides, captured soldiers, collateral deaths from war-damage to infrastructure, etc) we see the clear evidence of smoething unmistakable which no one appears to have pointed out...
  
  these democratically elected groups (Hamas and Hizballah), have entered into a sectarian War of Agression
  
  so much for the hypothesis that bringing "democracy" to the Middle East would be the panacea to the regions Problems
  
  and it raises a Question...
  
  there are many Signs that Iraq could go along a similar theocratic Path, following Iran, and joining with the democratically elected governments of Hamas and Hizballah...to form a "democratic" Caliphate (remember, there were "elections" in Iran as well)
  
  and who is bleeding, and dying on the front lines of all this?
  
  Israelis trying to Live, and the non-Shia (especially the more secular) portions of the surrounding Muslim countries caught up in the jihadist conflicts started by the theocrats "elected" to Power...
  
  no easy Answers anywhere to be found, and the stench of burning Death permeates all Involved...the guilty and Innocent alike
  
  this is NOT any kind of U.S. political bullshit, the ONLY thing the U.S. has involved in this insanity stem from the result of the Policies it has pursued in the Region, many of them evolving from poorly thought out, or just plain uninformed Wishful thinking on the part of those making Policy
  
  the Responsibility lies squarely upon those who ordered the rocket attacks into Israel, as well as the capture for exchange of Israeli soldiers... to be taken into account, is the Israeli reaction, few can lay blame to them for striking out...though many can Question their methodology, none can really blame them for defending themselves from invading rocket attacks as best as they are able...at least this is not some sort of "pre-emptive" type Action...
  
  but rather a militarily directed Reaction to attacks by Factions of foreign governments
  
  the closest thing i can find to any kind of "good news" in all this , is that the "Arab League" appears to be split in it's condemnation of Hizballah for the attacks...it shows that there IS some "sanity" in a few of the Arab governments, while there is a clear Faction which supports the Iranian directed actions of Hizballah and Hamas
  
  the Questions will be...
  how does Israel conduct themselves in resolving this Conflict?
  how do the Arab governments, not directly involved, conduct themselves?
  how does U.S. foreign policy, and that of the other world Powers, react and adjust to ongoing Events as this War unfolds?
  
  me? i'm Concerned for the Innocents who will suffer, as they always do, under this War of Idealogues and Theocrats...
  
  in the macro-geopolitical sense...we must Ask, did U.S. Policy, vis-a-vis Iraq and thus Iran (the old "axis of evil" speech onward)...effect and possibly embolden the "leaders" of Hamas and Hizballah into these attacks?
  
  and what can be done to stop the Conflict, and resolve the underlying Issues that lead to the insanity of this kind of Violence?
  
  no easy Answers..but i do know this, bullshit mindless name-calling and knee-jerk Ideological reactions are NOT any part of the Answer, and help no one
  
  your mileage may vary-
  
  Excelsior?
  
  

• 37 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 15, 2006 at 4:24 pm

  All Sabbath long, I've been hearing bullets or firecrackers. I don't know if it is Arabs shooting because of a wedding (they tend to shoot rifles into the air during wedding celebrations) or shooting bewteen Gilo and Beit Jallah or shooting at Har Homa.
  
  

• 38 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 15, 2006 at 4:35 pm

  Shavua Tov,
  
  ISRAEL AT WAR
  
  This came in my e-mail this evening from Rabbi Rahamim Pauli. I think that most of this is from Ynetnews, but no URL was given.
  
  BEIRUT, Lebanon (July 15) - Israeli warplanes hit central Beirut for the first time and smashed the Hezbollah leadership's main strongholds, as strikes killed at least 18 Lebanese fleeing the onslaught. Hezbollah rockets continued to pour into Israel, where officials warned citizens that Tel Aviv could be hit.
  The deadly barrages came as Israel charged that Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have 100 troops in Lebanon providing Hezbollah key support - including helping fire a missile Friday that badly damaged an Israeli warship. Hezbollah denied it.
  
  Neither side showed signs of backing down from the conflict, which erupted Wednesday when Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid. As civilian deaths mounted, diplomatic efforts to end the crisis had yet to get off the ground.
  
  Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said, "You wanted an open war and we are ready for an open war."
  
  President Bush, on a trip to Russia, said it was up to Hezbollah "to lay down its arms and to stop attacking." Arab foreign ministers gathered in Cairo but fell into squabbling after moderate states, led by Saudi Arabia, denounced Hezbollah for starting the fight.
  
  In a sign the West expects a drawn-out battle, the U.S. Embassy said it was looking into ways to get Americans in Lebanon to Cyprus. France said it had already decided to send a ferry from Cyprus to evacuate thousands of its nationals.
  
  Police said a 106 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Lebanon in the four-day Israeli offensive. On the Israeli side, at least 15 have been killed, four civilians and 11 soldiers.
  
  Israeli warplanes demolished the last bridge on the main Beirut-Damascus highway - over the Litani River, six miles from the Syrian border - trying to complete their seal on Lebanon. The strike killed three civilians driving on the bridge.
  
  In the afternoon, Israeli forces hit central Beirut, striking the port and a lighthouse on a posh seafront boulevard, where people stroll in the evening or jog in the early mornings. It is a few hundred yards from the campus of the American University of Beirut. The seaport is adjacent to downtown Beirut, a disctrict rebuilt at a cost of billions of dollars after the 1975-1990 civil war.
  
  But the brunt of the onslaught focused more and more on Hezbollah's top leadership in south Beirut and the eastern city of Baalbek. Ambulances raced to a Baalbak residential neighborhood where black smoke rose from airstrikes.
  
  Hezbollah in turn has unleashed rockets on northern Israel with increasing sophistication. Rockets hit Tiberias twice on Saturday, the first such attack on the Israeli city, 22 miles south of the border, since the 1973 Mideast War. The rockets caused no injuries.
  
  An Israeli intelligence official said Hezbollah has missiles with ranges of 60 to 120 miles that could reach Tel Aviv, Israel's largest metropolitan area. The Israeli officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information.
  
  The strike on the warship off Beirut's coast Friday night was the first direct Hezbollah hit on Israel's military since Wednesday's raid. Israel said the strike was carried out with an Iranian-made, radar-guided C-102, missile. Earlier, the military said the ship was hit by an unmanned, remote-controlled aircraft loaded with explosives. One Israeli soldier was killed and three were missing from the attack, which set the ship ablaze.
  
  An Egyptian merchant ship carrying concrete to Syria was also hit by a Hezbollah rocket at about the same time, injuring a crew member, Egyptian officials said. Iran is one of Hezbollah's principle backers along with Syria; many believe they are fueling the battle to show their strength in the region. There has been no sign in Lebanon of Iranian Revolutionary Guards - a force that answers directly to Iran's supreme clerical leader - for 15 years, since the end of the country's civil war.
  
  Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, warned Israel on Friday against retaliating against Syria and taunted that Iran itself could not be hit, though both countries deny any involvement.
  
  At a G-8 summit in St. Petersburg, Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the worsening situation but appeared divided on how to restore calm.
  
  Bush blamed Hezbollah and Syria for the escalating violence in the Middle East.
  
  "In my judgment, the best way to stop the violence is to understand why the violence occurred in the first place," Bush said. "And that's because Hezbollah has been launching rocket attacks out of Lebanon into Israel and because Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers."
  
  Putin said it was unacceptable to try to reach political goals through abductions and strikes against an independent state. "In this context we consider Israel's concerns to be justified," he said. At the same time, he said, "the use of force should be balanced."
  
  In successive early morning raids Saturday that continued through the afternoon, Israeli warplanes pounded gas stations, fuel tanks and roads, destroying one bridge after another, splitting large parts of the country.
  
  Fleeing refugees, including women and children, were hit on a road adjacent to the Lebanese-Israeli border in an apparent Israeli airstrike as they left the village of Marwaheen, which abuts the border. Two cars were aflame, and bodies were blown into an adjacent ravine.
  
  Police said 15 were killed in the afternoon attack. An Associated Press photographer counted 12 bodies in the vehicles.
  
  "They're peaceful people who were displaced. They were just fleeing the shelling. They were hit on the road, in their cars," Abdel-Mohsen Hussein, the local mayor, told Al-Arabiya television.
  
  Israel also targeted the headquarters compound of Hezbollah's leadership in a crowded Shiite neighborhood of south Beirut for the second straight day. Strikes Friday night hit the home and residence of Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah inside the compound, though Nasrallah was not hurt.
  
  Smoke billowed from the Haret Hreik neighborhood after four loud impacts reverberated in the latest hits. Witnesses said the planes were attacking the same compound, where Hezbollah's Shura Council political decision-making body is located. Black-clad Hezbollah fighters carrying assault rifles blocked journalists from the area and questioned civilians.
  
  In the southern village of Kfar Sir, the empty house of a local guerrilla official was destroyed by a missile.
  
  In Jerusalem, an Israeli army spokesman said Saturday that it attacked 44 Hezbollah targets in the past 24 hours, including its headquarters, its Al-Manar television's broadcasting offices and several bridges in Lebanon, including on the Beirut-Damascus road.
  
  Meanwhile, Lebanon sought support from fellow Arabs at an emergency session of foreign ministers in Cairo on Saturday. But sharp rifts erupted over as moderate Arab states denounced Hezbollah for starting the conflict.
  
  Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal called the group's actions "unexpected, inappropriate and irresponsible," telling his counterparts: "These acts will pull the whole region back to years ago, and we cannot simply accept them."
  
  Supporting his stance were representatives of Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Iraq, the Palestinian Authority, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, delegates said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks.
  
  Another camp, led by Syria, defended Hezbollah as carrying out "legitimate acts in line with international resolutions and the U.N. charter, as acts of resistance," delegates said.
  
  A Tiberia residence took a direct hit. A woman and family went to be with her mother-in-law and offered her house to her sister from Kiriat Shemona. The sister said, "Nothing doing, the Katyshas are running after me from Kiriat Shemona to Haifa". Had either been there, there surely would have been injuries or deaths due the force of the hit.
  
  25.4 mm = 1inch 1.6km = 1 mile 454 grams to the lb or 1000 to kg or about 2.2 lbs.
  
  Here are the ranges of the rockets. Regular Katyusha 20 KM diameter 122mm 10kg explosives. The ones that hit Haifa and Merom HaGolan sofar are upgrades with 35km range 122mm and 10kg. Farga 3 has a rage of 43km 240 mm and 90kg or close to 200 lbs of explosives. Farga 5 has a range of 75 km or northern areas of Netanya, 353mm and 175 km of exposives.
  
  Due to the larger missile threat, the IDF brought in Patriot anti-Missiles into Haifa. They are ineffective against a regular Katyusha. The government is asking the public to be strong as Hizballah has 10 -12,000 Katyushas. The Navy Ship that was attacked has an anti-missile defense but the threat was not taken into account as the IDF did not know that Hizballah had received anti-ship missiles from Iran. I am wondering what other surprises they have up their sleeves.
  
  In the meantime, the IDF bombed the houses of the big Hizballahniks in Balbek and Baaka Valley. The Hizballah headquarters is rubble today and their TV offices were destroyed.
  
  Our military sources doubt whether the Patriots, positioned in an Israeli city for the first time in three years, are much effective against Hizballah rockets. Their deployment may be intended as a morale booster.
  
  The last time they were brought out for the US invasion of Iraq, to guard against another missile attack by Saddam Hussein.
  
  Three Patriot anti-missile missile systems deployed in Haifa. Tiberias hit by 12 rockets Saturday in two volleys that injured 9 and caused heavy damage The ancient Roman town, holiday and pilgrim center, 35 km from the Lebanese border on the shore of the Sea of Galilee was targeted for the first time Saturday, July 15. The lake authorities have shut down all its beaches and told trippers to take shelter. A rocket landed further south near Kibbutz Maoz close to another important town of Beit Shean, indicating that Hizballah has now begun using its longer-range Fajjar-5 rockets whose range is 45 km. Israeli military sources warn that Hizballah is preparing to launch rockets next against Tel Aviv. Those rockets are secreted by Hizballah in thousands of villages across south Lebanon in fortified rooms built in private homes.
  
  Grandmother and grandson, 5, killed, rest of family injured in direct Katyusha strike at home in Moshav Meron Friday evening as strikes spread to Acre and Carmiel regions
  
  The disaster that overtook one of the Israeli Navy’s state of the art warships, Ahi-Hanit, was thoroughly planned in advance by an enemy which managed to take Israel’s military commanders by surprise. It has shocked Israel’s military to a degree comparable to the profound effect on US forces of al Qaeda’s 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Aden.
  
  The Saar-5 class corvette, with a crew of 61 seamen and a 10-man helicopter crew, was hit Friday, July 17 at 20:15 hours, while shelling Beirut international airport. Four crewmen were reported missing. One was found dead Saturday aboard the crippled ship. He is First Sgt Tal Amgar, 21, from Ashdod. The search continues for three missing crewmen, Sgt. Yaniv Hershkovitch, 21, from Haifa, Corp. Shai Atias, 19, from Rishon Lezion and Master Sgt. Dov Shternschuss, 37, from Carmiel.
  
  DEBKAfile’s military sources reveal: The Israeli Saar-5 corvette Ahi-Hanita was
  
  DEBKAfile’s military sources reveal that the warship was struck from Beirut by an Iran-made C-802 shore-to-sea missile of the Silkworm family. Weighing 715 kilos, with a range of 120km, the missile is armed with a strong anti-jamming capability, which lends it a 98% success rate in escaping interception.
  
  The Israeli ship is armed with an advanced Barak anti-missile system, which may have missed the incoming missile. Israeli military planners must now look at the vulnerability of the navy following the appearance of the first Iranian C-802 missiles
  
  The Israeli chief of staff, Lt.Gen. Dan Halutz, started his news conference Friday night just 15 minutes earlier at 20:00. The campaign was then 60 hours old from the moment Hizballah raiders captured two Israel soldiers in an ambush inside Israel. He was poised, assured and clear, until a reporter asked if the military goals of the Lebanese offensive matched the objectives set out in government decisions. His answer was: “Don’t start looking for cracks.”
  
  But Hizballah found the cracks 15 minutes later. Its secretary general Hassan Nasrallah put in a telephone appearance on Al Manar TV straight after General Halutz to inform his listeners across the Middle East that one of Israel’s warships was ablaze at that very moment. He said the ship had been crippled while it was bombing Beirut and was sinking. Hizballah, he added, had prepared a number of surprises for Israel and its armed forces Despite several Israeli air raids, the station is still broadcasting.
  
  In Israel, the Hizballah chief’s words were taken at first as an implausible threat for the future " until the order of events began to unfold.
  
  DEBKAfile’s military sources reveal:
  
  Shortly before 20:00 hours Friday, Hizballah launched a pair of land-to-sea C-802 missiles against the Israeli ship from the coast of Beirut. The trajectory of the first was adjusted to a landing amidships from above. It missed and exploded in the water. The second was rigged to skim the water like a cruise missile. It achieved a direct hit of the Ahi Hanit’s helicopter deck, starting a fire. The ship began to sink, as Nasrallah said, and would have been lost were it not for the speed and bravery of crewmen who jumped into the flames and doused them before the ship exploded and sank.
  
  It is not known whether the men dead and missing paid with their lives for saving the ship.
  
  This was the second time in 48 hours that the Israeli high command was taken by unawares.
  
  July 12, the day that Hizballah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers, was also the deadline for Iran to deliver its answer to the six-power package of incentives for giving up its nuclear enrichment program. Tehran let the day go by without an answer. Someone should have kept an eye on Iran’s Lebanese surrogate and made the connection with a fresh virulent threat against Israel from Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. However, the high alert declared earlier this month for Israeli units on the Lebanese border was not restored.
  
  The Hizballah guerrillas took advantage of this lack of vigilance to infiltrate Israel near Zarit, penetrate to a distance of 200 meters, fire RPGs and roadside bombs at two Israeli Hammer jeeps on patrol, and make off with Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. Eight Israeli soldiers lost their lives as a result of this attack.
  
  The IDF ground pursuit for the two men was cut short when an Israeli tank was blown up by a massive 300-kilo bomb in south Lebanon, killing the four-man crew and a fifth soldier who tried to rescue his comrades.
  
  The attack on the Ahi-Hanit was the third surprise.
  
  When General Halutz was asked if Israel does not fear Syrian and Iranian intervention in the hostilities, he replied firmly in the negative. But Iran has been involved from the very first moment.
  
  This localized perception of the Just Reward campaign in Lebanon, contrary to Israeli leaders’ rhetoric, is hampering its effectiveness. The war embarked on Wednesday night, July 12, must be seen in its regional strategic dimensions. It is therefore not enough to bash Nasrallah without taking into account beforehand that his strings are pulled by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Ahmadinejad from Tehran and the Syrian president Bashar Assad, who opened up Damascus military airport for the delivery of Iranian missiles to his militia.
  
  Saturday morning, Hizballah TV broadcast a videotape showed a blurred object looking like a small unmanned aircraft purportedly packed with explosives exploding in the water. This was an attempt to muddy the trail leading to Tehran and present the fatal attack as an extraordinary feat of arms by Hizballah. It was also another move in and intense psychological war to undermine Israeli morale. The inference they are trying to get across is that if the Shiite terrorists have a weapon that can hit a moving target at sea, the will not find it hard to reach any part of Israel including Tel Aviv.
  
  
  
  
  WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Americans could be evacuated from Lebanon using an "air bridge" of fast-moving aircraft, U.S. military officials said Saturday.
  
  Pentagon and U.S. State Department officials are working on contingency plans to get about 25,000 people out of Lebanon to escape Israel's military campaign, launched after two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped by Hezbollah guerrillas.
  
  An "air bridge" is the term for planes that would move in swiftly and ferry people out in quick succession.
  
  Planners are focusing on flying people from the Lebanese capital of Beirut to the island of Cyprus, officials said. (Watch what options the Pentagon has for the trapped Americans -- 1:59)
  
  But the U.S. military is also looking at other options for any evacuation, considering whether it is possible to dock ships or land aircraft in Beirut, given the large number of Hezbollah militants there.
  
  The Israeli bombing of the Beirut International Airport rendered it unusable, and has complicated planning.
  
  "As of the morning of July 15, we are looking at how we might transport Americans to Cyprus," the State Department said Saturday.
  
  "Once in Cyprus, Americans can then board commercial aircraft for onward travel. Commercial airlines provide the safest and most efficient repatriation options to final destinations," it said.
  
  The State Department added that the government would not provide free transportation but could provide repatriation loans "to those in financial need."
  
  The State Department has set up a Middle East Task Force to coordinate policy and share information.
  
  It is also asking Americans in Lebanon to stay in contact with the American Embassy. (Read message from State Department)
  
  People in the region or their relatives and friends can call the following numbers for information: 1-202-501-4444 from overseas, or 1-888-407-4747 in the United States.
  
  U.S. citizens can also register with the embassy online at https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibrs/
  
  
  
  Right now 1 - 2 million people close to shelters or in shelters in Israel and the IDF has nearly finished bombing all the bridges in southern Lebanon and many Hizballah installations.
  
  Other items reported today on Ynet:
  
  Tiberias calls off summer camps and kindergartens activities for Sunday
  (21:29 , 07.15.06)
  UJC committed USD 1 million in emergency relief for Israeli children
  (21:09 , 07.15.06)
  Arab League chief Amr Moussa: Middle East peace process is "Dead"
  (20:34 , 07.15.06)
  Lebanese PM: Israel is ruining our country
  (20:32 , 07.15.06)
  Security officials: No loosening the grip from Hizbullah
  (20:28 , 07.15.06)
  Peretz may designate northern Israel as "A special state"
  (20:23 , 07.15.06)
  Carmiel: Katyusha rocket lands near gas station; no injuries
  (20:08 , 07.15.06)
  Katyusha rocket hits a house in Nahariya; man lightly wounded
  (20:05 , 07.15.06)
  12 people evacuated on Saturday to Safed hospital
  (20:01 , 07.15.06)
  IDF: IAF attacks Katyusha carrying vehicle in Lebanon
  (19:57 , 07.15.06)
  Lebanese army: IDF attacked radar stations, Lebanese soldier killed
  (19:42 , 07.15.06)
  Katyusha rockets hit kibbutzim Sde Nehamia, Amir; no injuries
  (19:37 , 07.15.06)
  Katyusha barrage hits north of Tiberias; no injuries
  (19:31 , 07.15.06)
  MK Whbee: MK Bishara distributed leaflets against IDF operation in Lebanon
  (19:24 , 07.15.06)
  Katyusha barrages hit Safed, Kiryat Shmona
  (19:14 , 07.15.06)
  Report: IAF strikes Beirut port
  (19:00 , 07.15.06)
  Another Katyusha hits Tiberias, no injuries
  (18:52 , 07.15.06)
  Report: IDF attacks Tripoli port
  (18:46 , 07.15.06)
  1 man wounded by Katyusha rocket in Tiberias
  (18:43 , 07.15.06)
  IDF discovers and detonates explosives in Lebanese border
  (18:40 , 07.15.06)
  Report: IAF strikes home of senior Hizbullah member
  (18:31 , 07.15.06)
  4 people lightly wounded in Tiberias after latest Katyusha barrage
  (18:27 , 07.15.06)
  IAF drops leaflets in southern Lebanon calling residents to evacuate
  (18:20 , 07.15.06)
  Iraq PM denounces Israel over Lebanon, Gaza
  (18:17 , 07.15.06)
  Hamas official survives Israeli strike in Beirut
  (18:16 , 07.15.06)
  Katyusha rockets barrage hits Tiberias
  (18:11 , 07.15.06)
  IAF strikes offices of Hizbullah spiritual leader in Beirut
  (18:09 , 07.15.06)
  Patriot missile batteries stationed in Haifa
  (17:58 , 07.15.06)
  Katyusha barrage hits Safed, kibbutz Mahanaim; no injuries
  (17:55 , 07.15.06)
  European countries begin evacuating citizens from Lebanon
  (17:50 , 07.15.06)
  Report: IAF attempted to assassinate senior Hizbullah member
  (17:42 , 07.15.06)
  Iran denies it has troops in Lebanon
  (17:29 , 07.15.06)
  Qassam dud found near former PM Sharon's home
  (17:26 , 07.15.06)
  Katyusha barrage hits Nahariya during Minister Ezra's visit; no injuries
  (17:22 , 07.15.06)
  Northern District Police: Situation in north may escalate
  (17:21 , 07.15.06)
  Syrian official: Syria not attacked by Israel
  (17:14 , 07.15.06)
  Beirut: Building severely damaged in IDF strike
  (17:13 , 07.15.06)
  Report: IDF strikes in Southern Lebanon; 3 civilians killed
  (17:01 , 07.15.06)
  EU calls for restraint on all sides in Middle East
  (16:53 , 07.15.06)
  IDF: Air Force struck on Lebanese side of Syria-Lebanon border
  (16:35 , 07.15.06)
  Eyewitnesses: IAF struck Syrian targets near Lebanon border
  (16:25 , 07.15.06)
  Italy evacuates hundreds of its citizens from Lebanon
  (16:21 , 07.15.06)
  At least 17 killed in Nepal landslide
  (16:12 , 07.15.06)
  IDF strikes building used by Hizbullah’s High Council in Beirut
  (16:05 , 07.15.06)
  1,000 Bangladesh Muslims protest Israel's attacks on Lebanon, PA
  (16:03 , 07.15.06)
  Katyushas land in Kabri, Shavei Zion and Nahariya; no injuries
  (15:33 , 07.15.06)
  Lebanon: Hizbullah building totally destroyed
  (15:31 , 07.15.06)
  Report: IDF struck Lebanon-Syria border crossing
  (15:25 , 07.15.06)
  Italian PM to Olmert: Refrain from hitting civilian infrastructure in Lebanon
  (15:14 , 07.15.06)
  Russia: Hizbullah must cease attacking neighboring countries
  (15:09 , 07.15.06)
  
  Defense Minister Amir Peretz was expected on Saturday evening to declare a "special security situation" in Israel, enabling certain cities to be subject to martial law. The status constitutes the second highest level of alert before an emergency status.
  
  Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz was expected to meet with Home Front Commander Yitzhak Gershon to discuss which cities would be covered by the directive.
  
  For Home Front Command safety information click here.
  
  Under such a situation, the instructions given by the Home Front Command, previously considered recommendations, would become obligatory. Businesses, factories and schools may be ordered to be shut down, while the declaration is in effect.
  
  It would also allow for businesses that would be closed following the extreme security status, to receive compensation for money lost.
  
  A declaration made by a defense minister would be in effect for as long as 48 hours. To extend it beyond that period would require governmental approval.
  
  Both the Cabinet and the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee were scheduled to convene on Sunday to discuss the new status.
  
  Kassams fell in the South still and an explosion opened up the fence between Egypt and Israel and many Arabs ran into Gaza as they were stuck outside.
  
  Have a good week,
  
  Rachamim Pauli
  
  

• 39 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 15, 2006 at 4:51 pm

  THIS UPDATE WAS RECEIVED AT 11:45 ISRAEL TIME
  
  Over 800 Katyushas have fallen in the North.
  
  In Daniya, Givati is in the old airport.
  
  Other places were bombed in Gaza last night and tonight by the IDF the financial offices of Hamas, Kassam factory, etc.
  
  Hizballah is being worn down by other Lebanese people and there is talk about their army going south.
  
  Concerns here that the war may escalate into Syria and Iran?
  Rachamim
  

• 40 - troll

  Jul 15, 2006 at 5:14 pm

  interesting to call the Saudis moderates
  
  troll
  

• 41 - Howard Dratch

  Jul 15, 2006 at 5:20 pm

  Ruvy. Do keeep posting. Your reports are high my list with Reuters, BBC and NYT and Jerusalem Post.
  
  Thank you for the offer. My cousin and his large family are fine. He has a computer, sends email, links... but I can't talk him into blogging.
  
  Keep your head down and remember all those Westerns we grew up with -- "shoot first and ask questions later."
  
  

• 42 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 15, 2006 at 6:27 pm

  OK Gonzo, I took a look at your interesting and well thought out comment.
  
  You grant the obvious in stating that it was Hamas and HizbAllah that started to fuck with us, and that our actions appear to be a response to aggression and to acts of war.
  
  But so many other "reasonable" people refuse to grant the obvious.
  
  You point out that democratically elected regimes do not necessaily elect for peace - another no-brainer that many people refuse to understand. A look at the disastrous invasion of Turkey by the democratically elected Greek democracy of Eleftherios Venezilos 83 years ago would demonstrate this.
  
  Fo once, you point out, this is not an issue of what America wants to do. So we can be spared all the nonsense about internal American squabbling so frequently seen at BC.
  
  There is nothing to diagree with here.
  
  You raise questions. What will Israel do? If you examine the really long piece that Rahamim Pauli sent me, you'll see that our government is on the verge of declaring martial law. That will be used by the government to quash internal dissenters - they might even reach lowlifes like me!
  
  That, my democracy and liberty loving friend, is something you should keep a close eye on.
  
  Egypt does not want war with us. The Aswan High Dam is the knife in the belly of Egypt and all we have to do is pull the knife out of the belly and Egypt will bleed to death.
  
  The Saudis do not want war with us - we could slaughter them and they know it. They want to encourage the political trends in Israel that would commit national suicide here. Their strategy with respect to us follows closely the wisdom of Sun Tzu.
  
  Beyond all that, I'm too tired to analyze.
  
  Looking at somethng that most folks don't - the North Korean gov't - for a sufficient sum of money (a few $ hundred billion) - would probably be willing to wipe us out. Hopefully the Arabs are as cheap as we are and will not lay out the dinars...

• 43 - gonzo marx

  Jul 15, 2006 at 6:45 pm

  thanks Ruvy for taking the time...
  
  my Concern was for accuracy, or more precisely, for how my reasoning appeared to one that is MUCH closer to the Inferno than i am, thousands of miles away in relative safety
  
  i would not worry about the Koreans, the Saudis (right now), or the Egyptians (probably ever)..in fact i was quite upset by you rmentioning nuking a dam in Egypt
  
  your War, right now, is NOT with such as them, but with the pawns of Iran(Persia) and in the guise of Hamas and Hizb'allah attacking from just over yoru Borders...have a care and examine the "board" carefully in this conflict with those who invented chess...that is the pitifully poor Advice from this broken down gonzo...
  
  but most of all, keep yourself and Family safe in the Insanity of theocratic War
  
  as for Martial Law being declared in Israel...in time of War, such would nto be inconceivable, in fact it's Probability approaches certainty more and more for each day that passes amidst Violence...prepare now for what might come
  
  and pray to all you hold Holy that this is resolved soon, and Sanity prevails over Emotion for those in charge of Weapons for either side
  
  Excelsior?
  
  

• 44 - Sanjay

  Jul 16, 2006 at 2:35 am

  Gonzo, it wouldn't take a nuclear attack to destroy the Aswan High Dam. An FAE would do just fine.

• 45 - gonzo marx

  Jul 16, 2006 at 3:37 am

  well am i Aware...actually, 50 kilos of plastique should do it, if properly placed... you don't have to hit a dam hard, just accurately...water does the rest
  
  but, as i stated previously...why even bring it up...the Egyptians are not involved in any way with the current Insanity...
  
  so, your point is..............???
  
  Excelsior?

• 46 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 16, 2006 at 4:19 am

  Updates from Israel at War.
  
  Good morning,
  
  As you can see, I'm not writing fresh articles, there seems little reason to. So I'm continuing to update this piece, and this is where you should look for my Updates from Israel at War.
  
  The items you see all come from my e-mail, but some have URL links. It BC policy to limit one to three live URL links to a comment, so in some instances the links will be left in without making them live. I do not know that I will have electricity after tonight. This is not a matter of war, but relates to other concerns.
  
  The first iteme comes from Rav Rahamim Pauli, who has undertaken it upon himself to continually update those on HIS e-mail lists of events here.
  
  ==================================================
  The war in Gaza is continuing with IDF advancing slowly but surely and out of the main focus on the news.
  
  Last night, bunker busters were used in Beirut. As a result, Nastrallah and other big shots were wounded or taken care of. The TV station is only saying [playing?(RiJ)]Koran songs. No confirmation but rumors have it that the blight/plague and a few other nice words @!#@!$$@%%E^& was only injured.
  
  Bunkers housing missiles were destroyed with secondary explosions. It is said that Hizballah was given 150 km range missiles that would include Tel Aviv, Yerushalayim, Lod, Chashmonayim, etc.
  
  At night it seems that they do not send out missiles as the IDF has night vision on our planes and they are easier targets. They want to be a wolf hiding among the sheep. In the meantimes just as some of our civilians have fleed so have theirs. There is a mass exodus from south Lebanon by Shiites as they know it is just a matter of time before invaded.
  
  Hizballah claims to have knocked out an Israeli bulldozer pushing into Lebanon. No word on our side which might means that it is true.
  
  So far 350 civilians have visited the hospitals mostly light or nerves shot. There are a few of the critical that have become moderate and one man lost a leg.
  
  Shalom U'bracha and keep saying Psalms,
  Rachamim Pauli
  ==================================================
  
  This next item is from Stratfor's Strategic Analysis. I put one paragraph in bold, and those of you planning business trips to this part of the world or with loved ones here should pay close attention. Those of you with feeds to newslines should expect serious to report news accordingly.
  
  Red Alert: Getting Ready
  
  We are now in the period preceding major conventional operations. Israel is in the process of sealing the Lebanese coast. They have
  disrupted Lebanese telecommunications, although they have not completely collapsed the structure. Israeli aircraft are attacking
  Hezbollah's infrastructure and road system. In the meantime, Hezbollah, aware it is going to be hit hard, is in a use-it or-lose-it scenario, firing what projectiles it can into Israel.
  
  The Israeli strategy appears to be designed to do two things. First, the Israelis are trying to prevent any supplies from entering Lebanon, including reinforcements. That is why they are attacking all coastal maritime facilities. Second, they are degrading the roads in
  Lebanon. That will keep reinforcements from reaching Hezbollah fighters engaged in the south. As important, it will prevent the
  withdrawal and redeployment of heavy equipment deployed by Hezbollah in the south, particularly their rockets, missiles and launchers. The
  Israelis are preparing the battlefield to prevent a Hezbollah retreat or maneuver.
  
  Hezbollah's strategy has been imposed on it. It seems committed to standing and fighting. The rate of fire they are maintaining into Israel is clearly based on an expectation that Israel will be attacking. The rocketry guarantees the Israelis will attack. Hezbollah has been reported to have anti-tank and anti-air weapons.
  The Israelis will use airmobile tactics to surround and isolate Hezbollah concentrations, but in the end, they will have to go in,
  engage and defeat Hezbollah tactically. Hezbollah obviously knows this, but there is no sign of disintegration on its part. At the very
  least, Hezbollah is projecting an appetite for combat. Sources in Beirut, who have been reliable to this point, say Hezbollah has
  weapons that have not yet been seen, such as anti-aircraft missiles, and that these will be used shortly. Whatever the truth of this,
  Hezbollah does not seem to think its situation is hopeless.
  
  The uncertain question is Syria. No matter how effectively Israel seals the Lebanese coast, so long as the Syrian frontier is open, Hezbollah might get supplies from there, and might be able to retreat there. So far, there has been only one reported airstrike on a Syrian target. Both Israel and Syria were quick to deny this.
  
  What is interesting is that it was the Syrians who insisted very publicly that no such attack took place. The Syrians are clearly trying to avoid a situation in which they are locked into a confrontation with Israel. Israel might well think this is the time to have it out with Syria as well, but Syria is trying very hard not
  to give Israel casus belli. In addition, Syria is facilitating the movement of Westerners out of Lebanon, allowing them free transit. They are trying to signal that they are being cooperative and nonaggressive.
  
  The problem is this: While Syria does not want to get hit and will not make overt moves, so long as the Syrians cannot guarantee supplies will not reach Hezbollah or that Hezbollah won't be given sanctuary in Syria, Israel cannot complete its mission of shattering Hezbollah and withdrawing. They could be drawn into an Iraq-like situation that they absolutely don't want. Israel is torn. On the one hand, it wants to crush Hezbollah, and that requires total isolation. On the other hand, it does not want the Syrian regime to fall. What comes after would be much worse from Israel's point of view.
  
  This is the inherent problem built into Israel's strategy, and what gives Hezbollah some hope. If Israel does not attack Syria, Hezbollah could well survive Israel's attack by moving across the border. No matter how many roads are destroyed, Israel won't be able to prevent
  major Hezbollah formations moving across the border. If they do attack Syria and crush al Assad's government, Hezbollah could come
  out of this stronger than ever.
  
  Judging from the airstrikes in the past 24 hours, it would appear Israel is trying to solve the problem tactically, by degrading Lebanese transport facilities. That could increase the effectiveness of the strategy, but in the end cannot be sufficient. We continue to think Israel will choose not to attack Syria directly and therefore, while the invasion will buy time, it will not solve the problem.
  
  Hezbollah certainly expects to be badly hurt, but it does not seem to expect to be completely annihilated. We are guessing, but our guess is that they are reading Israel's views on Syria and are betting that, in the long run, they will come out stronger. Of course, Israel knows this and therefore may have a different plan for Syria. At any rate, this is the great unknown in this campaign.
  
  The other unknown is the withdrawal of Western nationals from Lebanon. We have received very reliable reports from sources in Lebanon who assure us Hezbollah does not intend to renew hostage taking, which is deemed an old and nonproductive strategy. These same sources have reported splits in Hezbollah over how aggressive it should be. We believe Hezbollah has no current plans for hostage taking [of Westerners RiJ]. We are not convinced, however, that in the course of the battle it will not change its mind, or that with weakened central
  control elements, elements of Hezbollah will take hostages as a bargaining chip. Regardless of what Hezbollah is saying now, hostage
  taking must be taken seriously as a possibility.
  
  The U.S. Embassy in Beirut is now saying plans are being developed in concert with the U.S. Defense Department for extracting U.S. nationals from Lebanon. A convoy scheduled to travel from the American University of Beirut to Amman, Jordan, via Syria, was cancelled at the last moment, with participants being told that the
  embassy has other plans.
  
  There are said to be 25,000 U.S. citizens in Lebanon, but many of these are Lebanese-American dual nationals who actually live in Lebanon as Lebanese. These are less visible, less at risk and have greater resources for survival. The most at-risk Americans are those who hold only U.S. papers and are clearly American, such as employees of American companies, students studying at Lebanese universities and tourists. There is no clear count of these high-risk nationals, nor is there a count on high-risk nationals from other non-Islamic countries. There are thousands, however, and getting them out will be difficult.
  
  The U.S. Embassy is considering flying them to Cyprus. That would mean an air bridge from Beirut International Airport, where a single
  runway has been opened, to Cyprus, a short flight away. The United States will not do this while Beirut is under attack, so it will ask
  the Israelis to create a safe zone and air corridor during the evacuation. But the threat on the ground is real, and we suspect the
  United States will send troops in to secure the perimeter and surrounding areas against shoulder-launched missiles. They will also keep the precise timing secret, although thousands of people in Lebanon -- the evacuees -- will know it is coming.
  
  There was a Marine Expeditionary Force on maneuvers in the Red Sea a few days ago. We do not know where they are now, but they had 2,200
  marines on board -- the right number to secure extraction. We suspect aircraft will be chartered from airlines in the region and that some U.S. Air Force and allied aircraft might also be used. Doubtless, the United States is busy organizing it. Given that the United States
  cancelled several ad hoc withdrawals, it must be highly confident it has the process nailed; we would expect this operation to get going
  sometime Sunday. Assuming aircraft that can carry any average of 200 people (purely arbitrary), 50-100 flights could get everyone out. Assuming that everyone can be notified and can get to Beirut International Airport. That won't happen. The remainder who are at risk will probably be advised to move into Christian areas east and northeast of Beirut and to keep their heads down for the duration. It is also possible that discussion of Cyprus notwithstanding, the path will be through Syria, but we doubt that.
  
  In the meantime, that Israel has not sent major ground units into Lebanon yet (lots of small units are operating there) but is taking
  rocket attacks and hunkering down indicates it does not plan to act piecemeal. If we were to guess, the main thrust would likely begin
  late Sunday night or Monday morning. They will be ready by then. Of course we are not privy to Israeli operations, so it could be delayed
  24-48 hours to give forces a chance to gear up. But given the Hezbollah bombardment, the Israelis are under pressure to move sooner
  rather than later.
  
  We are in a relatively quiet spell (emphasis on quiet). Both sides have made their strategic decisions. Both know how the war will be
  fought. Hezbollah thinks it can give as good as it will get for a while, and will ultimately be able to regroup for a guerrilla war against the Israelis. Israel thinks it can immobilize and crush Hezbollah quickly and decisively and will be able to withdraw. Both sides know Syria is the wild card, and neither is quite sure how it
  will play its hand. One side is wrong in its expectations about the outcome. That's the nature of war.
  
  © Copyright 2006 (www.stratfor.com) Strategic Forecasting Inc.
  All rights reserved.
  
  ==================================================
  
  The following piece come from Florida and is from a man planning to make aliya (to immigrate to Israel). A comment from the list moderator has been italicized. These represent the thoughts of the writers, rather than hard news. The list moderator is sort of thinking of moving here, and her comments reflect, IMHO, her less clear understanding of reality here.
  
  Subject Re: Concerns the war may esculate
  
  You probably think I am reckless. The best thing that could happen is that the war would escalate; especially to Iran. The sooner the better.
  
  I hope that the IDF will make the mosque on the Dome of the Rock their HEADQUARTERS. Then it will give the Arabs an incentive to BOMB it, and then we can rebuild the Temple on there!
  I wonder if anyone else thought of this?
  
  -- J
  
  I've got to believe G-d would be with Israel. This would afford the additional pretext (though we don't really need any more pretext than we have) of setting Iran's nuclear effort back perhaps twenty or thirty years. I do not especially look forward to living in Israel next to a nuclear armed Iran. I cannot imagine any Jew that would rest easy in Israel next to a nuclear Iran. One nuclear exchange between Israel and Iran could mean hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions dead in Israel. A nuclear-armed Iran is unthinkable.
  
  Unfortunately, this war may be over in the next 48 or 72 hours or so. President Bush will loose his will. Maybe.
  
  -- S
  
  ==================================================
  
  The next piece is from Haaretz. It's a tad old. But note that Cpl. Shalit is no longer referred to as "kidnapped" here. Even the loony idiots at Haaretz have awoken to the fact that we are at war.
  
  Last update - 01:32 15/07/2006
  Shin Bet chief met secretly with Abbas to discuss captured soldier
  By Avi Issacharoff, Haaretz Correspondent
  
  Palestinian sources told Haaretz on Friday that the head of the Shin Bet security service, Yuval Diskin, met secretly with Palestinian
  Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas this week in Amman to discuss the fate of Corporal Gilad Shalit, who was abducted by Palestinian
  militants and taken to Gaza nearly three weeks ago.
  
  Diskin told Abbas that Israel would release Palestinian prisoners if a exchange deal were reached with the PA, not with Hamas, the
  Palestinian sources said. The two also discussed the latest developments in the violent clashes in the Gaza Strip.
  
  The meeting was held after Jordan's King Abdullah II sent Diskin an urgent request to visit the Jordanian capital.
  
  King Abdullah was scheduled to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Friday in Cairo to coordinate their positions on recent developments in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. On Thursday, Abdullah spoke on the phone to Abbas and Mubarak in relation to these issues. The king also met Thursday with Lebanese parliament member Sa'ad a-Din al-Hariri, who was visiting Aqaba.
  
  London-based Arabic-language newspaper Al Quds al Arabi reports that Egypt deported Hamas political wing member Mohammed Nazal who visited
  the country. Nazal met with Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar
  Suleiman, and had planned several other meetings and press conferences.
  
  Security agents came to his hotel and escorted him to the airport ensuring his departure from the country.
  
  ==================================================
  
  The final piece is an analysis. Michael Rubin almost seems to argue that occaqsionally it is necessary to send the diplomats to their favorite bars to get drunk, while the real players deal with the problem.
  
  by Michael Rubin Weekly Standard July 24?, 2006 ME Forum
  
  As Israeli warplanes pounded Lebanon last week, European leaders called for diplomacy. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan dispatched a
  three-member team to the region to urge all parties to exercise restraint. Even President George W. Bush said, "To help calm the
  situation, we've got diplomats in the region." Officials ritually promote diplomacy and dialogue, but absent an overarching strategy,
  these are no panacea. Indeed, diplomacy for diplomacy's sake can sometimes make matters worse.
  
  On April 9, 2000, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah declared that Israel was a "cancerous body in the region . . . [which] must be
  uprooted." Like Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Nasrallah added, for good measure: "Jews invented the legend of the Nazi
  atrocities." But rather than ostracize him, Kofi Annan became the first senior international leader to shake hands with the terror chief. His outreach did not moderate Hezbollah, but rather emboldened the group and endowed it with newfound prestige.
  
  Within the United States, the efficacy of dialogue is a mantra among the foreign policy elite. "Diplomacy is much more than just talking
  to your friends. You've got to talk to people who aren't our friends, and even people you dislike," former Deputy Secretary of State
  Richard Armitage told the New York Times on May 26, shortly before the Bush administration announced its decision to engage the Islamic
  Republic of Iran. But just as Annan's intercession with Hezbollah made matters worse, Washington's perpetual willingness to give
  diplomacy a chance can backfire.
  
  Many adversaries factor the West's preference for engagement into their strategies. In 1990, Saddam Hussein offered to negotiate a
  withdrawal from Kuwait, all the while consolidating his occupation. Had President George H.W. Bush heeded the advice of Colin Powell, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to accept Saddam's offer, Kuwait might still be Iraq's 19th province. As secretary of state, Powell was willing to entertain a second U.N. resolution on Iraq, which gave Baghdad, Damascus, and Tehran time to organize resistance.
  
  Misplaced confidence in an adversary's sincerity can hamper rather than hasten solutions to international problems. Following the 1993
  Oslo Accords, U.S. officials failed to calibrate their level of engagement with Palestinian chairman Yasser Arafat to his level of
  commitment to peace. President Bill Clinton in 1996 assigned the Central Intelligence Agency to train Palestinian security forces, but many graduates used their newfound skills to further terrorism, not to stymie it. After he graduated from a U.S.-led counterterrorism training course, Palestinian security officer Khaled Abu Nijmeh organized a series of suicide bombings and took part in the May 2002 siege of the Church of the Nativity.
  
  More recently, Hamas responded to a State Department deal to funnel aid to Gaza with rocket barrages and the kidnapping of Israeli
  soldier Gilad Shalit. Diplomats can say the money did not go to Hamas, but money is fungible. The time was not right; nor was the
  strategy. Foggy Bottom may have thought the money was a show of compassion, but instead it gave a green light to terror. And even
  with the benefit of hindsight, Bill Clinton falls back on the same platitudes. On July 7, he suggested striking a deal with Hamas. "I'd
  still talk to them if they wanted to talk," he said. Such a move would, like Annan's with Nasrallah, legitimize terror.
  
  Poorly timed dialogue is often worse than no talk at all. Lebanon once looked like a potential Bush administration success story. On
  April 18, Bush welcomed Lebanese prime minister Fouad Siniora to the White House. "We took great joy in seeing the Cedar Revolution. We
  understand that the hundreds of thousands of people who took to the street to express their desire to be free required courage, and we
  support the desire of the people to [be] . . . truly free," Bush said.
  
  How unfortunate, then, that during her first trip to Lebanon as secretary of state three months later, Condoleezza Rice chose to meet
  the pro-Syrian president Emile Lahoud, against whom the pro-democracy forces had rallied. Her aides may have counseled talk, but the timing
  and symbolism deflated the Cedar Revolution. Her meeting was out of place with the vision both she and the president had pledged to promote. Foggy Bottom's subsequent unwillingness to press demands that the Lebanese government disarm Hezbollah demonstrates that the price of dialogue can be high indeed.
  
  Rice's most recent outreach to Iran was hardly timed to succeed. The Iranian leadership had heard Rep. John Murtha and Sen. John Kerry's
  declarations of defeat in Iraq. It felt emboldened. And it understood Rice's May 31 offer of negotiations as a sign of weakness. Less than a week later, on June 4, Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei declared, "In Iraq, you failed. . . . Why do you not admit that you
  are weak and your razor is blunt?" Engaging overconfident adversaries leads to entrenchment. That adversaries rebuff offers of concessions
  with more violence should not surprise.
  
  Indeed, the Iranian leadership has a much better sense of timing than the State Department. President Ahmadinejad's statement that he would
  not respond until August signals that Tehran - not Washington - controls the process. The Iranian military can continue to enrich
  uranium while Iranian politicians talk about talk. That Ahmadinejad promised a response on August 22 - corresponding to the anniversary
  of the Prophet Muhammad's night journey from al-Aqsa to heaven - shows a sophisticated appreciation of symbolism, and will enable
  Ahmadinejad to channel religious passions and rally his constituents. Had Washington demanded a response on July 20 - the anniversary of
  Ayatollah Khomeini's 1988 decision to negotiate an end to the Iran-Iraq war - the advantage would be Washington's. Almost as an
  afterthought, Rice demanded the Islamic Republic respond by July 12. The deadline lapsed without consequence. Even as the U.N. Security
  Council promises to renew deliberation on punishment, Tehran knows it can count on weeks if not months of more deliberation and additional last chances.
  
  It is not just in the Middle East that the failure to tie diplomacy to an overarching U.S. strategy backfires. As the North Korea crisis
  continues, the Bush administration appears ready to repeat Clinton's mistakes by rewarding Kim Jong Il's provocations with diplomatic
  legitimacy and material gain. Unsurprisingly, the Clintonites still urge this approach: Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright told
  CNN on July 5 that the U.S. government should respond to North Korea's missile tests by resuming bilateral talks with Kim Jong Il.
  On Meet the Press four days later, former U.N. ambassador Bill Richardson explained the North Korean mindset: "They don't believe in
  compromise. They believe in their only way or the highway. Their view is that their cause is right, and they're going to wait you out."
  Pyongyang's desire to run down the clock demonstrates a strategic framework. Richardson's recommendation did not. "I believe the only
  way to deal with them - and we have shown that effectively in past dealings in the Clinton administration - is direct engagement."
  
  Robert Gallucci, lead negotiator for the 1994 Agreed Framework, at the time billed as a major breakthrough for diplomacy, appeared on
  the same show and argued that striking a diplomatic deal with North Korea was more important than holding Pyongyang to it. "Nobody did that deal in '94 thinking we were trusting North Koreans. . . . We caught them cheating. You might make another deal." What you don't
  do, he argued, is let that sour you on more deal-making.
  
  Bush appears to concur. In a July 6 press conference, he called four times for diplomacy to continue, even while acknowledging that
  "diplomacy takes a while, particularly when you're dealing with a variety of partners." But when winning Chinese and Russian acquiescence becomes more important than denying Kim Jong Il
  missiles, process has trumped outcome. That's a recipe for strategic failure.
  
  Foggy Bottom's enthusiasm for dialogue absent strategic context has a corrosive effect on U.S. relations with its allies. Take Turkey: On
  June 6, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his desire to visit the White House. On July 5, Turkish foreign minister
  Abdullah Gül repeated the request in a meeting with Rice. The State Department endorsed the meeting, explaining that it's convention to
  grant the prime minister of any NATO ally - even one that hosts Hamas - a White House audience.
  
  But Erdogan wants an Oval Office meeting less to engage in sincere dialogue and more to imply White House endorsement. His request came
  amid growing domestic difficulties. While Erdogan's Justice and Development party came to power in 2002 on an anti-corruption
  platform, his finance minister now faces a corruption probe, Erdogan's own assets are murky, and last month Turkish officials
  announced a probe into money transfers from top adviser Cuneyd Zapsu to an al Qaeda financier. Turkey's currency has lost 20 percent of its value in recent weeks. Turkish talk shows speculate daily about early elections.
  
  Two recent Turkish polls place support for the Justice and Development party at just under 30 percent. Any visit by Erdogan during an election campaign will only antagonize the remaining 70
  percent of Turks who will complain of interference. Talk is fine. But only when guided by strategy.
  
  Diplomacy is the bread-and-butter of statecraft. Richard Armitage is correct that engagement with adversaries is important. But results matter most. As the Middle East does battle, Iran pursues nuclear weapons, North Korea goes ballistic, and Arab liberalism collapses
  for lack of support, surely the Bush administration should come to grips with reality, rather than engage in a diplomatic fantasy in which all adversaries are flexible, and all dialogue partners sincere.
  
  Michael Rubin, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, is editor of the Middle East Quarterly.

• 47 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 16, 2006 at 5:45 am

  Another bit of analysis rom Sergio Tezza, a former Italian peace-promoting Socialist who has changed his mind.
  
  Mivchan ha-Totsa'à (measuring something by its consequences)
  
  Thirteen years ago they told us: "No more blood" in that ridiculous display of disgusting science fiction in the Rose Garden in Washington where bloody hands were shaken.
  
  Three months later almost to the day, in December 1993, that surrender cost the lives of Mordechai and Shalom Lapid, and the leg of the little Betzalel, struck by "the kalashnikov bullets of peace". The disgusting directors of the same science fiction production even invented the term "qorbanot ha-shalom", sacrifices for peace, to describe the cold blooded murder of Jews by THEIR "peace partners".
  
  Since then, with the arms that the same liars gave to the terrorists, and the military grade high power explosives they allowed them to import from Sudan (Semtex) via Egypt into Gaza, MORE ISRAELIS HAVE DIED in the following twelve years than in the 45 previous years of the existence of the State of Israel. Car bombs started blowing-up since the early 1994, so-called "palestinian police" started murdering our soldiers with the Israeli given weapons since June 1994, and a few months later buses started blowing-up all over Israel. That was the beginning of the Oslo War brought onto the People of Israel by the Oslo Criminals.
  
  THAT disastrous surrender of land and power to terrorists and sworn enemies continued and even accelerated with Barak's flight from reality and flight from Lebanon. Which caused the escalation ALL OVER our land, as our enemy even had the courtesy of telling us very clearly for all those who wanted to hear rather than hiding their heads in the sand.
  
  The area was left for Hizbollah to occupy with thousands of troops and fill it with its Iranian made weapons.
  
  All the leftists that, whining the mantra "peace, peace", had pushed for our troops to run away rather than demanding the destruction of the enemy instead, or at least before, were jubilant seeing our army running away like a scared sheep with its tail between its legs.
  
  Once again they LIED and told all of us: "No more blood".
  
  We see now, after - for the first time in 58 years - places like Haifa and Tsefat are receiving missiles and defenseless Jews are killed and injured, that THEY LIED AGAIN.
  
  And UNTIL WAR BECOMES SOMETHING IN WHICH THE ENEMY IS DESTROYED OR PUT ON ITS KNEES BEGGING FOR MERCY, OUR BROTHERS' BLOOD WILL BE SPILLED.
  
  They need to change the "diskette" up there: it's about time to finish the Jewish people's sadomasochistic relationship with the ghetto mentality. It's about time to learn from our REAL LEADERS: Moshè (Moses) and David Ha-Melekh. King David) NO MERCY ON THE ENEMY! If they choose to spit on us, we don't say "it rains" or even "it's not so bad". A weasel who provokes a lion gets killed!
  
  So, since in muslim culture one throws stones to dogs and pigs, it's about time to show them that we are neither dogs nor pigs. A fortiori if they throw anything else on us.
  

• 48 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 16, 2006 at 6:57 am

  Updates from Israel at War.
  
  These two brief bulletins are from Gaza where hostilities continue.
  
  
  #1 July 16th 2006
  IDF SPOKESPERSON ANNOUNCEMENT
  Summary of IDF activity in the Gaza Strip overnight
  
  The IDF carried out an aerial attack on a structure in Jebaliya, in northern
  Gaza, that was used by the Hamas terrorist organization and from which
  terrorist activity against Israeli citizens was planned and directed.
  
  Armed gunmen opened fire at an IDF force in the area of Beit Hanun. The
  armed cell was targeted in an aerial attack.
  
  IDF forces identified an armed cell carrying an RPG missile in the area of
  Beit Hanun. The armed cell was targeted in an aerial attack.
  
  The IDF will continue to act with determination against terrorist
  organizations and terror infrastructure in order to create the conditions
  for the return of Cpl. Gilad Shalit and to stop terror attacks and the
  launching of rockets towards Israel.
  
  #2 July 16th 2006
  IDF SPOKESPERSON ANNOUNCEMENT
  IDF activity in the northern Gaza Strip
  
  Beginning early this morning, July 16th 2006, IDF ground forces are
  operating near Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip, as part of the ongoing
  operation in the Gaza Strip to thwart terror threats and the launching of
  projectile rockets.
  
  The operation is focused on the terrorist organizations and the terrorist
  infrastructure involved in the launching of projectile rockets at
  communities in Israel.
  
  The IDF operation is directed against the Gaza Strip's terror infrastructure
  only. The IDF will make every effort in order to prevent civilian
  casualties, and continues to stress to the civilian Palestinian population
  that, for their own safety, civilians should stay clear of combat zones.
  
  The IDF will continue to act with determination and to employ all means at
  its disposal against Palestinian terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip
  to allow the return of Cpl. Gilad Shalit and to stop terrorist attacks and
  the launching of rockets at Israel.
  
  

• 49 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 16, 2006 at 7:21 am

  This was received from Dr. Aaron Lerner and IMRA.
  
  [Are the idiots at Haaretz finally recognizing - a year too late - that destroying Gush Katif was wrong and that now we're paying for it? Now that they are starting to piss in their pants in their nice homes in north Tel Aviv? Good for them! Ruvy]
  
  We deserve the Qassams and the Katyushas
  By Nadav Shragai
  Haaretz 16 January 2006
  
  The hundreds of Qassams and Katyushas that have landed in the south and north are a natural response coming from those who, over the years, have grown used to believing that Israel regards the thousands of mortars and Qassams on the inhabitants of Gush Katif as nothing more than rain.
  
  The kidnapping of the soldiers was practically obligatory from someone who understands that "deterrence," a much-favored term used by many Israelis, was a kind of self-delusion, largely virtual, and that Israeli prisoners,
  for those who swore they would "not get down on the knees," are worth a few hundred terrorists.
  
  Hezbollah and its Palestinian pupils internalized this and made note of it. After the wars against terror, like the one going on now, come the retreats, and then more wars, which lead to more retreats. Terror sows and then reaps.
  
  Fact: The blood of the dead and wounded had yet to dry and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was already making clear that in addition to the two fronts where unilateral steps were taken - with great success, as everyone knows - he will undertake another unilateral move. The "convergence," right next to
  the main mass of Israel's population, will take place, he insists.
  
  
  The truth? We earned it honestly as a nation of gullible fools, who over and over followed the illusions of quiet, peace and demography sold buy its leaders. We deserve it. However, the influence of the recent events has moved something, maybe temporarily, but something has moved. Suddenly, there's not enough room on board for all those who are disengagement
  opponents.
  
  Half of them, it turns out, were at Kfar Maimon - we must have missed them. The other half, were like the secret Jews of the Spanish inquisition,
  secretly opposed, while publicly voting in favor.
  
  As for the first half, with their retroactive opposition to the disengagement, jokes can be made along the lines of "They were also on the
  Altalena." From the others, politicians like Benjamin Netanyahu, Silvan Shalom and Limor Livnat, who explained from every podium why the plan was bad and dangerous but raised their hands in favor of it, we never had any
  expectations. The real disappointment, the searing disappointment, is with the military echelons.
  
  Former chief of staff Moshe Ya'alon, former Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter, Major General Giora Eiland, and others, who during Sharon's time
  consistently avoided expressing public support for the disengagement while behind closed doors expressed opposition to it, have dodged doing what they should do: putting their ranks on the desk, resigning and revealing their views to the hundreds of thousands of demonstrators and dozens of MKs who tried to stop the evil - those who internalized the lessons of Oslo; who
  understood that once burned, twice shy, who warned "don't give them land and rifles again"; who raised the alert about a Hamastan state; who anticipated the flight of the rockets and missiles toward Ashkelon; who understood that
  disengagement was a free gift, a further disintegration of Israel's deterrence strength and a shot of Adrenalin for terror, and despite all that they continued to serve the government that was so wrong and so misleading.
  
  There would be no point in pouring salt on the wounds, especially in light of their updated criticism of the disengagement now, if not for the fact that the current leadership of the General Staff and Shin Bet is tainted with the same disease when it comes to "convergence": against it and squirming on the inside; quiet and swallowing their tongues in public.
  
  Under cover of this false quiet, and nearly total media and legal enlistment in favor of disengagement, Sharon granted terror a paradise and turned Gush Katif into a pile of rubble.
  
  If, heaven forbid, people don't arise from within the establishment to pull Olmert off his convergence plan and find him some other trend on which to anchor his regime, then from the rubble of Itamar, Elon Moreh, Har Bracha
  and the series of outposts and settlements on the mountain ridge, the terrorists will aim their missiles at the major Israeli cities on the coast, at Jerusalem and at the airport. The intelligence Israel currently enjoys from the areas of Judea and Samaria - which is a direct result of presence in the territory - will evaporate, as happened to intelligence that we used to have at our disposal in the south.
  
  If the High Court continues to rely only on security experts on behalf of the state because that "has been the court's position since it was
  established"; if the court once again allows the state to deceive it and present a false picture of the position of the security echelon, without
  confirming it; if once again the justices automatically assume such plans "enhance security because the friction with the Palestinian population is reduced and because the evacuation ... reduces Palestinian motivation to harm the Israeli public," then a Hamastan will grow to even more monstrous
  dimensions and suffocate us on the outskirts of Kfar Sava and Tel Aviv.
  
  "We told you so" should be shouted out bitterly now, not to win medals but to prevent Olmert and his government from dragging us into another adventure with a foregone conclusion. The law of disengagement, as Uri Elitzur recently wrote, may say its goal is to lead to a better security reality, but reality is the devil's work; it behaves according to common sense and
  not the Knesset's decisions.
  
  

• 50 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 16, 2006 at 8:16 am

  Updates from Israel at War.
  
  Janglo [Jerusalem Anglos (English speakers)] and Taanglo (Tel Aviv Anglos) are lists for buyers and sellers of items and for jobs and information. I live in Jerusalem (for the time being...) so I belong to Janglo.
  
  This came from Zev Stub, who is the moderator of Janglo. I suspect that Taanglo has a similar posting...
  
  MOD - New Temporary Policies...
  
  Due to the emergency situation the nation finds itself in, Janglo is
  going to temporarily adopt a few new policies:
  
  While real estate-related posts are generally not allowed on Janglo,
  for the time being:
  1. Posts from people from up North who are in need of housing will be
  accepted.
  2. Posts from people who want to open their houses to people from the
  North will be accepted.
  3. Posts from people willing to rent out their apartments for two
  weeks or less will also be accepted.
  
  I'll just mention here that the JPost (the Jerusalem Post) has a good summary of
  Instructions from the Home Front Command
  
  We pray that the current situation ends quickly, and that Israel
  emerges from this predicament safely, with no more casualties.
  
  
  

• 51 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 16, 2006 at 12:07 pm

  I just got this in my e-mail box, and it is an appeal to American Jews to get the US to keep its grubby hands off our campaign in Lebanon.
  
  Within this appeal is an important piece of news. Hopefully, soon, there will be an analysis in trhe comments to explain this bit of news and why it is no surprise to this Jew in Jerusalem.
  
  Sent: Sunday, July 16, 2006 6:03 PM
  Subject: URGENT: AN APPEAL TO ACT TO SAVE ISRAEL!! Serious new information, please read and act.
  
  
  I have just acquired information of a most alarming nature from the Middle East NewsLine, the most reliable of sources, regarding the situation of the war in the north. Please! spread this information absolutely as widely as possible, especially in the U.S. Send this to everyone you can, put it on your lists and websites. If ever a groundswell of response was necessary, it is now.
  
  The Bush administration is playing a good cop-bad cop routine with Israel. Bush is not taking phone calls from Olmert, but is saying positive things to the press. Sec. of State Rice is the one who is communicating with Israel, and she is putting pressure on Israel not to send in ground forces. The goal is a "ceasefire" in the next 72 hours.
  
  Unfortunately, we are dealing with a novice, confused government that is lacking the essential part of the male anatomy (figuratively this applies also to Livni) that will allow it to mount a ground war in the face of Rice's objections. If we were determined to do so, we damn well could.
  
  What is more, Steve Hadley, Bush's National Security Advisor, was in Russia two days and made a statement to the effect that the U.S. has no evidence that Iran and Syria are involved in what's happening here -- thereby making it a local Israeli issue. A local Israeli issue is precisely what it is not!!
  
  The facts:
  
  Even though there have been over 1,000 Israeli Air Force sorties into Lebanon, with airport, etc. bombed, the Hezbollah missiles continue to hit us. In fact, it's getting worse. Eight people were killed in the last attack on Haifa. Hundreds have been wounded. Residents of Tel Aviv are now warned that they may be attacked. Rosh Hanikra and the Golan have been hit. What is happening? Without a ground expedition, it's impossible to strike accurately and actually take out the missiles. Hezbollah is threating our stategic facilities and this remains a real danger.
  
  There are other sources of major concern: The C-802 rocket that hit the Israeli ship on Friday was a sophisticated radar-guided weapon that comes from Iran via China. Israeli authorities were surprised: they didn't know Hezbollah had these. This means intelligence is lacking and we don't know what else they have.
  
  The fact of the Iranian weapon makes even clearer what is well understood: Iran is involved here. Hezbollah is not a rag-tag operation, it is an Iranian expeditionary force. Israel is the canary in the mine, dealing with what the west will deal with in larger terms down the road, if no action is taken. Iran is testing the waters!!
  
  In spite of talk in the last day or two (which I had duly reported) of an IDF goal of putting the Lebanese army on the border, the IDF is opposed to this. Putting the Lebanese army on the border without taking out Hezbollah strength will be counted as a victory by Hezbollah. The Lebanese army is much weaker than Hezbollah; Hezbollah will strengthen its forces behind the lines and then come forward to attack us again. Hezbollah strength must be removed.
  
  Here in Israel, there must be pressure on the government to stay strong, stay the course, do what needs to be done to take out Hezbollah strength. This should be shared with every member of the Knesset.
  
  But even more important is pressure from inside the U.S. on Bush; he is focused on the election later this year and needs to know that American voters are watching him now!!!
  
  Please, call or write to President Bush:
  
  [] Remind him that he promised to defend Israel if it is attacked by Iran.
  
  [] Point out that this is exactly what is happening now.
  
  [] Speak about his readiness to act in places like Afghanistan, and how this is the same thing.
  
  [] Say that the U.S. will face greater difficulty down the road with Iran if it doesn't show resolve in supporting Israel now, because Iran is testing the western world.
  
  Ask him to communicate directly and unequivocably to the Israeli government that it has the full support of the U.S. in doing what needs to be done to take out Hezbollah strength, including a ground action.
  
  Ask him to acknowledge that our fight in Israel is also the U.S.'s fight.
  
  Ask him to oppose a ceasefire before the job is done.
  
  Phone calls are best, then letters (snail mail or fax), then e-mail. Do as you can.
  
  White House Comment line: 202-456-1111 TTY/TDD Comment line: 202-456-6213.
  
  The White House
  1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
  Washington DC 20500
  
  Fax: 202-456-2461
  
  
  
  

• 52 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 16, 2006 at 1:12 pm

  Updates from Israel at War.
  NEWS ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY
  
  This article is about a week old, but the concepts in it still apply. It predicates a scenario requiring a small war for its application. Now there is a bigger war. IMHO, the likelihood of the scenario below can increase. I have mentioned elswewhere that unless religious Jews and religious Moslems can get some kind of a peace deal going, the Americans and EU will move in imposing a diktat.
  
  This diktat will not be to the interests of anybody living here. Whether it will get you in America cheap gas is another question - frankly I doubt this will happen. But I'm convinced that in the not too distant future, Israeli sovereignty will be overthrown alogether (it nearly is gone now - "Palestinian" sovereignty never even existed) and will be replaced by some arrangement of foregn forces here working through a 'Judenrat' - a council of Jews (and perhaps supplemented by a council of Arabs) who are loyal to it. They nearly have that now in Olmert and Abbas.
  
  I'm part of a group of Israelis and Jews in North America who are convinced of a coming American or European occupation. My efforts to craft a religious solution to the region's problems that you have read about here on Bliog Critics are my attempt to avoid what I think may happen. I would happy to be wrong in my prognosticating.
  
  Emmanuel Winston, who writes from America, has detailed the idea of a coming NATO occupation.
  
  Bear in mind that Europe and America are not partners but competitiors, and outside of NATO, there would be competition between the two empires rather than coöperation.
  
  NATO is the one area where the two empires can coöperate reasonably well.
  
  The saying goes, "the devil is in the details". If that is so, this analysis below is a study in demonology.
  
  This piece was reformatted by my friend and colleague. Aryeh Gallin, the president of Root & Branch, an information service that runs a lecture series in English in Jerusalem. I will attempt to duplicate some of his reformatting in this comment format. This article MAY be found at the Gamla Website, but since I'm not sure, I've reproduced it in whole.
  ==================================================
  THE EUROPEAN UNION WILL USE N.A.T.O. TO TAKE ISRAEL copyright (c) 2006 by Emanuel A. Winston
  
  (Originally distributed by Mr. Winston on Sunday, July 9, 2006) Sent with emphasis added by Root & Branch while my ISP was cutting my outgoing list in half. Emphasis & Excerpt highlighted by R&B. Thanks to R&B from the Winstons)
  
  Excerpt: "what is the next move for the Arabists and their "Shadow Government" in WASHINGTON despite their clout in the Oval Office? One "band-aid" solution was that they need a war sufficiently large enough between ISRAEL and the Arab Muslim Palestinians which (to save the "poor Palestinians") would warrant a United Nations call for Global intervention. "Intervention" means the use of a mix of military forces under the umbrella of the United Nations but, actually driven by WASHINGTON Arabists with the E.U. (European Union) of the world with words of "Peace", "Saving the Jews" and "we must save those poor Palestinians" to justify the intervention to be led by FRANCE, GERMANY and ENGLAND, among others....However, before that venture, a small war is needed. The present clash in GAZA may suffice when ISRAEL is forced to re-occupy GAZA merely to stop the rain of Kassam rockets and Katyusha missiles -- with the ongoing unification of the various deadly terrorist organizations into one protected base of global terrorist operations....Should ISRAEL refuse to passively allow occupation of its ancient homeland, there could be a manipulated conflict, staged like the Gulf of Tonkin incident....The so-called "Peace-Keepers" would, of course, be primarily U.S. and European soldiers, formed into combat units, straight out of N.A.T.O. It is here the Pentagon wants to know if Americans (including especially American Jews) would go along with an attack against Israel...".
  
  by Emanuel A. Winston, Middle East Analyst & Commentator
  
  Some time ago I noticed a small article in U.S. Defense News about the Europeans "somehow" planning to employ N.A.T.O. as their military arm in a Rapid Response Force. My alarm bells started ringing that this was a threshold move to gather sufficient military power to cross the Mediterranean Sea and occupy the Jewish nation of ISRAEL, with a claim that this would be a "necessary move toward regional peace" -- for the good of all".
  
  Nothing in that small U.S. Defense News article suggested that there was a far greater "Game Plan", intended to pacify the Arab and Muslim oil producing nations by driving the Jews in ISRAEL either onto a smaller sliver of land, as originally proposed by the United Nations, or to extinction....whatever was doable first. This translates into seeing that which was not supposed to be seen.
  
  Sometimes clues expose the intentions without the hard evidence of what is called the "smoking gun". Let us begin accumulating the bits and pieces which, by themselves, do not tell all of the story but point us in the right direction.
  
  We know that in 1947 the UNITED STATES State Department worked diligently at the behest of [Wahhabi] SAUDI ARABIA, EGYPT and the oil corporations to kill the U.N. proposal to allow Jews to have a state in their ancient homeland, the only place in the world where they could be safe as Jews and build themselves a nation.
  
  When the UNITED STATES State Department's strenuous efforts failed, thereafter they used every hostile stratagem to subvert ISRAEL's existence by arming the Muslim Arab countries to a point where it would be a foregone conclusion that ISRAEL would be easily overrun, occupied and driven off the planet. They also created small enclaves of Arabists within America's most important government institutions to act with hostility toward ISRAEL and threatened American Jewish leaders to force them into silence.
  
  Instead of their hostile plans succeeding, the constant assaults of the Arab Muslim nations by wars and incessant terrorism forced the Jews of the new born State of ISRAEL to develop an army of consequence and a People with strength, fortitude and courage. As a result, despite being mightily armed, the Arab armies shamefully lost six wars and resorted to terrorist proxies to attack the Jews in order to save their Muslim Pride.
  
  The Arab Muslim oil producing nations went ballistic and employed their international oil servants [partners], the multi-national oil companies, to carry their message of hate into WASHINGTON and to the Generals of the Free World. The Europeans were easy recruits to Arab Muslim plans of Genocide as proven, age-old Jew-haters. By adding their vested interests in escalating oil needs and prices, the Arabs had a dedicated ally. All oil-using nations began pandering to the Middle Eastern oil states and their consummate hatred of the Jewish State.
  
  Perhaps that is why the UNITED STATES N.S.A. (National Security Agency) developed a secret center nicknamed "The Jew Room" in which various Intelligence agencies exchanged information about ISRAEL specifically and Jews generally. According to John Loftus' book "The Secret War Against the Jews: How Western Espionage Betrayed the Jewish People -- 1920-1992" (1) this "Room" was off limits to all American Jews (2). As I recall, fundamentalist Christians who supported ISRAEL were likewise unwelcome. Clearly, subverting an ally by misusing the word "democracy" as cover is not something WASHINGTON Arabists would want exposed to the American people.
  
  At that time, according to our laws, American intelligence agencies were restricted in their "domestic" spying, so they traded with British intelligence agencies to by-pass those restrictive laws as follows: The Brits agreed to monitor the American Jews for the Americans in the UNITED STATES, while the C.I.A. reciprocated by monitoring British Jews for the Brits in ENGLAND.
  
  Clearly, in deference to the foreign influence of [Wahhabi] SAUDI ARABIA, among other Arab Muslim nations, American Jews and all their organizations were under surveillance. The American "Jew Room" was where the various intelligence services traded information about Jews when needed which was also passed on to EGYPT, [Wahhabi] SAUDI ARABIA and others. This was particularly true of ISRAEL's defensive and offensive plans regarding their hostile neighbors. Presumably, this would include electronic surveillance both from satellites and, on the ground, from "Humint" (Human Intelligence).
  
  While ISRAEL was adhering to the M.O.U. (Memorandum of Understanding -- Agreement signed by American Presidents to share vital intelligence with ISRAEL), Arabists in the UNITED STATES State Department would simply pass that intelligence information on to the Arabs and conceal it from the Israelis. Apparently, that twisted arrangement continues today for whatever benefits it brings government and commercial interests from grateful Muslim nations such as EGYPT, SAUDI ARABIA, 'et al'.
  
  The American people admired the plucky little Jewish nation that could beat a well-armed Muslim civilization numbering millions. But small Arabist cabals in WASHINGTON were dedicated to the rivers of [almost 100% U.S. tax-free] oil [profits and the trillions of] dollars that flowed out of [Wahhabi] SAUDI ARABIA, IRAQ, IRAN and the GULF STATES. These became the "Shadow Government" that drove American foreign policy in the MIDDLE EAST.
  
  Every new Secretary of State seemed to change character upon entering the hallowed halls of "Foggy Bottom" -- the UNITED STATES State Department. Please note that our current Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, hardly ever voiced a negative word against ISRAEL while she was President Bush's National Security Advisor. However, after entering the State Department, her public statements seem to be extraordinarily slanted against ISRAEL. The recommendation called "restraint" was more than a mere word spoken through back channels and publicly to ISRAEL.
  
  [Condoleezza Rice served on the board of directors for the Chevron Corporation, which honored her by naming an oil tanker after her, but controversy led to its being renamed Altair Voyager. She also headed Chevron's committee on public policy until she resigned on January 15, 2001 to become U.S. National Security Advisor].
  
  The word "Treason" does not even approach what these evil people were doing in the name of true Americans via a hijacked foreign policy. The oil interests lined their pockets, as [the price of] crude oil was conveniently ramped up. While plundering the national treasury, they insured that Americans began to spiral down in their ability to afford daily living -- which rose exponentially with the extortionate price of oil.
  
  Seniors saw their retirement savings diminished to the point that they had to choose between food and their medications. This meant absolutely nothing to the oil barons who joined the Arabs in posting [almost 100% U.S. tax-free oil] profits which escalated beyond mere petty thievery into the stratosphere. Quietly being whispered in WASHINGTON was that, when gasoline reached $4 per gallon at the pump, it would be necessary to nationalize the oil industry.
  
  So, what is the next move for the Arabists and their "Shadow Government" in WASHINGTON despite their clout in the Oval Office?
  
  One "band-aid" solution was that they need a war sufficiently large enough between ISRAEL and the Arab Muslim Palestinians which (to save the "poor Palestinians") would warrant a United Nations call for Global intervention. "Intervention" means the use of a mix of military forces under the umbrella of the United Nations but, actually driven by WASHINGTON Arabists with the E.U. (European Union) of the world with words of "Peace", "Saving the Jews" and "we must save those poor Palestinians" to justify the intervention to be led by FRANCE, GERMANY and ENGLAND, among others.
  
  The well-informed propagandists are prepared to flood the [Jewish Pioneering] communities with their troops moving into GAZA, JUDEA and SAMARIA (the so-called "West Bank"). This, of course, also includes forcing the Jews out of the JORDAN VALLEY and off the GOLAN HEIGHTS in order to establish an elevated UNITED STATES military base to oversee the vested interests of the major multi-national oil corporations in the region(the oil pipeline from Baghdad to Haifa runs through the Golan Heights - Ruvy). Goebbels understood the need to manipulate the minds of the people if Genocide was to be willingly accepted.
  
  However, before that venture, a small war is needed. The present clash in GAZA may suffice when ISRAEL is forced to re-occupy GAZA merely to stop the rain of Kassam rockets and Katyusha missiles -- with the ongoing unification of the various deadly terrorist organizations into one protected base of global terrorist operations.
  
  When ISRAEL starts to clean out the terrorists from GAZA, the Global Media will be urged by WASHINGTON to show Palestinian families suffering, to justify intervention by the Free West. Israeli suffering from Arab Muslim Palestinian terror and cascading missiles will be positioned in the media as ISRAEL's own fault for daring to strike back at her tormentors. Should ISRAEL refuse to passively allow occupation of its ancient homeland, there could be a manipulated conflict, staged like the Gulf of Tonkin incident.
  
  A report entitled, "Israel, Foreign Preference -- Foreign Influence Cases" in "Insight Magazine" of The Washington Times (3) said the Pentagon has sought to increasingly restrict access to Americans Jews with relatives in ISRAEL for jobs in the F.B.I., C.I.A., N.S.A.., etc. This report, authored by Sheldon Cohen, reviewed 47 security clearances hearings held by the Pentagon since 1996. Eighteen of the 47 applicants were granted clearances but the report cited other cases in which the Pentagon banned security clearance from dozens of Americans, mostly Jews, who either lived, worked or have relatives in ISRAEL.
  
  Within that article the authors outline the question posed by the Pentagon to American Jewish applicants for security clearance: "Would you be willing to join a U.S. attack on Israel and abandon your relatives if the Jewish State was threatened?" That’s like asking anyone: "If the situation arose where there is a choice of saving your mother or your father -- or your daughter or your son, who would you choose?" It is a question that should never be asked and, if asked, never answered unless, of course, the game plan by Arabist moles in WASHINGTON is to, indeed, create a pretext to invade our ally, ISRAEL.
  
  When the Jews of EUROPE were gathered up for extermination by the German Nazis and Europeans, they too were asked exactly that question when they were off-loaded from the cattle cars before entering the Nazi death camps. For example, if a woman held two children, the Nazi officer would ask which child would she keep and which would she give up to be taken away.
  
  Is this what the Pentagon questioners are asking to entrap Jews? Will you fight against the country where your religion and soul resides or will you fight against that country because Arabists, enslaved to oil, want the only Jewish nation to be obliterated as the Europeans, at the behest of the German Nazis, attempted to do? Is this then the role to be adopted by American officers while telling the American people and Congress that it is not [Wahhabi] SAUDI ARABIA or other Muslim nations which hate America's Judeo-Christian ethics but, somehow, it is the Jewish nation which threatens our national security? If Hitler and Goebbels were able to sell this Orwellian psychosis to the German people, why not sell it to the Americans?
  
  Looking past what I shall call the "Weinberger Doctrine" of subverting the Jewish State whenever possible, there were Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger's extensive opportunities for threatening American Jews. Jonathan Pollard blew the whistle on Weinberger's scheme to withhold vital information from ISRAEL on the development by IRAQ, IRAN, PAKISTAN, SYRIA and others of W.M.D. (Weapons of Mass Destruction) including N.B.C. (Nuclear, Biological and Chemical) weapons -- much of which was paid for by [Wahhabi] SAUDI ARABIA.
  
  Weinberger used the expose by Pollard to exclude Jews from research programs that could similarly expose collusion to occupy ISRAEL or to subvert her. The question arises: Was there a (hopefully) small, limited circle within UNITED STATES Intelligence which spied upon our ally, ISRAEL, as we spy on all others but, act as enemies while pretending friendship?
  When General Alexander Haig (former Secretary of State) was asked (on T.V.) if AMERICA spies on her friends, he answered: "I certainly hope so" (4).
  
  Why were Weinberger and his cronies so deeply tied to Saudi oil, while overlooking the Saudi's role as deep pockets for global terrorists? [R&B: Answer -- trillions of dollars in almost 100% U.S. tax free oil income profits]. He and his cronies were never investigated for treason for these crimes, acting as rogue operators within American Intelligence. Perhaps that was why President Reagan accepted Weinberger's resignation or, in other words, fired him. Some believe that Weinberger was dismissed for countermanding President Reagan's order to have Americans fire on SYRIA after the Marine barracks was blown up in BEIRUT at Syrian instigation, killing 242 American Marines in 1983. Have you ever noticed how SYRIA is always so carefully protected in WASHINGTON, no matter what they do? Imagine what James Baker and former President George Herbert Walker Bush could tell us about the inner workings of a doctrine that put a wall around SYRIA.
  
  
  SHADOW GOVERNMENT
  
  
  Was the arrest of Jonathan Pollard a pretext to expand a supposedly closed down illegal covert operation by the F.B.I. called "SCOPE" whose purpose was to compile lists of Jews in government, research and institutional leadership, ‘et al’? This operation was revealed publicly in The Wall Street Journal on January 17, 1992 (5). Jews have played a disproportionate role in advanced research and development, assuring that AMERICA stayed well ahead of her enemies, such as the SOVIET UNION.
  
  Albert Einstein, Robert Oppenheimer, Edward Teller, among many other Jews were the reason that AMERICA could build a nuclear weapon (before GERMANY) which subdued JAPAN in two blasts, saving an estimated million plus American soldiers who could have died trying to take JAPAN with conventional forces. The Weinberger Cult, buried deep in the State Department, Pentagon, C.I.A., ‘et al’ has continued to flourish with its primary victim being the Jewish State of ISRAEL.
  
  Would the Congress dare to investigate the existence of a "Shadow Government" and would The New York Times or any other major Media sources publish this story? [Please note list of 11 major articles out of 68 written by Emanuel Winston discussing the "Shadow Government"] (6).
  
  American Jews need not apologize for bettering the lives of all Americans, all humans, for their work in medicine and technology both in the civilian and military sector while the Islamists [Saudi Arabian Wahhabis] bring us nothing but global grief. As for ISRAEL, the Israelis were always ready to fight side-by-side with American soldiers against such threats from IRAQ, IRAN, SYRIA, or any other hostile Muslim nations. I cannot help but wonder if this same "Shadow Government would dare to evolve such plans to invade ENGLAND, FRANCE, the NETHERLANDS, GERMANY and then, as cover, question the loyalty of dual citizens from those nations?
  
  One: If the UNITED STATES Defense Department is supposedly asking questions of loyalty to protect AMERICA, perhaps it would best start within the bowels of State Department and question its employees -- especially those who have cycled back into the American system after serving abroad in any one of the 23 Arab Muslim countries or 40 some total Muslim countries. It seems that the Muslim cult is both invasive and pervasive to those who served there, absorbing the Muslim prejudices by osmosis and by money enticements for their future jobs. It is often noted that the State Department (Foggy Bottom) has a "revolving door". Once someone serves in such Muslim governments of the world, he (or she) returns to take up "expert" residency at the Middle East desk, biases intact and well-honed. Worse yet, when these former diplomats leave "official" government service and are now on the direct payroll of Middle East oil sheiks, do they act as moles deep within our American government institutions?
  
  Two: As keeper of the gates for those who enter this country, how is it that the UNITED STATES State Department colluding with the Department of Immigration has worked so diligently to permit the entry of Muslims, to flood America with hostile Muslims [Wahhabis], both in our vital industries and universities where the incoming Muslim students invariably choose Nuclear Physics, Biology and Chemistry? Most of these fields have military applications when the young zealous Muslim students return to their countries of origin (or proceed to fit into America as "loyal" citizens who can subvert from the inside). Both BRITAIN and CANADA are first beginning to learn about second generation Muslims who adopt the extreme religious hatred of Saudi or Taliban Wahhabism [the Taliban form of the Wahhabi religion is called "Deobandism"]. FRANCE is experiencing a massive increase in violent anti-Semitic acts from the "critical mass" of Muslims now in FRANCE.
  
  I cannot help but wonder why Americans, both Christians and Jews, come under suspicion if they believe that ISRAEL is a true friend and devoted ally, while the Saudis are looked upon as hostile enemies? Remember that of the 9/11 hijacking bombers, 15 of the 19 were Saudis and the other 4 were Egyptian. Not all Muslims are terrorists, for sure. But, all the terrorists (except for Oklahoma City) have been Muslims [Wahhabis].
  
  When W.M.D. were transferred directly or indirectly to Saddam Hussein during his 8 year war with IRAN, little to nothing was investigated. It all fell into that black hole entitled "National Security" well used by father President George H.W. Bush and James Baker -- as described by the 9/11 Commission, and prior to that as Iran-Contra. When SAUDI ARABIA acquired long range missiles from CHINA, the UNITED STATES State Department remained unusually silent, despite the probability that these missiles were probably nuclear capable and stationed in the RUBI KAHLI desert of SAUDI ARABIA (the Saudis refused to allow inspection).
  
  Why were not the Pentagon or the State Department questioning the visits by the notorious Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan, father of the Islamic Atom Bomb of PAKISTAN, who made frequent visits to EGYPT with his nuclear "package" -- as he did to LIBYA, IRAN and IRAQ? Do I hear a resounding silence? Who at State, the Pentagon and the Oval Office decide to keep this buried tightly under wraps as a matter of "National Security"? Who created (what I hope is) a limited secret policy to protect and preserve hostile Muslim regimes while using American resources to cast ISRAEL as a threat?
  
  Am I being paranoid to think that the same German doctrine of World Rule (as in the Third Reich) is still alive and thriving as it was all through World War Two? There we found cooperation with the Nazis by U.S. and European companies, such as the Ford Corporation, through their subsidiaries, selling trucks to the Nazi German Army during the war. Have we forgotten the sale of the mobile SCUD missile launchers to Saddam Hussein which were reportedly sold by Matrïx Churchill, a subsidiary of a major American corporation. How deeply are "they" entrenched in the State Department, Pentagon, Intelligence, ‘et al’?
  
  What should irk all Americans and Congress is that we rely upon the State Department, Pentagon, C.I.A. and N.S.A. to reflect American values and protect us from our enemies -- not from our friends. Has a secret AMERICA become like EAST GERMANY, with its Stasi secret police where everyone was under surveillance? Americans do not anticipate secret cabals within their federal agencies to run a "Shadow Government" and make their own policy.
  
  As mentioned earlier, I do not remember Condoleezza Rice, then as National Security Advisor, being an outspoken representative of pro-Arab Muslim policies as she is now ever since she entered the portals of the State Department. It seems as if State runs America's foreign policy and that almost all those at the top represent the ideals of those unknown and unidentified "experts" within who drive that Agency.
  
  This is how Adolph Hitler came to power. Neither the German Parliament nor the German people recognized that Power had slipped from their hands into the hands of Evil. It all looked legal then and it is looking legal now. They have good P.R. (I am not accusing anyone in America of assuming a Nazi style agenda but, this is how it happens).
  
  Clearly, it is time to question "insiders" about their loyalty to AMERICA, or, is it their loyalty to their own doctrine? Weinberger and associates had a doctrine with a bias in favor of "their good friends" the [Wahhabi] Saudis which embodied a reverse bias against ISRAEL. A Hitler-ian legacy brings no honor to the great nation of AMERICA because that is NOT who we are. To allow a gang of Dr. Strangeloves to subvert and trash the American way is a mistake which cannot be undone, unless Congress takes a sword to that Gordian knot.
  
  A Game Plan for occupying ISRAEL in deference to the [Wahhabi] Saudis and their proxy terrorists has been laying on the shelf, awaiting the right moment to be utilized. (Its time may have come). The present face-off between ISRAEL and the Palestinian Arab Muslim terrorists can be the opportunity for WASHINGTON Arabists to claim to bring "Peace" but, the underlying reason will be to force ISRAEL to cede more of her G-d given Land under the "protection" of U.N. supposedly "Peace"-keeping soldiers. This would be a replay of U.N. collaboration with terrorists in LEBANON when they were there as so called "Peace-Keepers".
  
  The so-called "Peace-Keepers" would, of course, be primarily U.S. and European soldiers, formed into combat units, straight out of N.A.T.O. It is here the Pentagon wants to know if Americans (including especially American Jews) would go along with an attack against Israel, in deference to Saudi and other Muslim countries' wishes. Perhaps a better question is to ask all Americans (both Jews and Christians): Would they agree to serve in an attack on the only Democratic nation in the Middle East so the oil companies can continue to post astronomical [almost 100% U.S. tax free petro-dollar] profits?
  
  This also requires the pre-recruitment of accommodating Leftist Jews in ISRAEL's government NOT to fight N.A.T.O. occupation but to accept such an invasion in passive silence and thus allow ISRAEL to become something like a BOSNIA under U.N. supervision. That recruitment has been in progress for some time, led by Shimon Peres, then Ariel Sharon and now Ehud Olmert -- all following the failure of the 1993 Oslo Accords.
  
  Wherever Good establishes itself, Evil is sure to follow. Evil comes to nest and, like any parasite, it hides itself, using the coloring of Good as its cover. Most parasites know that, as long as they do not kill their host but merely feed on it, they too will live on. But, when Evil truly takes over and, in its greed, devours its host, it will eventually die -- unless it can transfer itself to another host.
  
  We have in this great land Islamo-Fascists [Saudi Arabian Wahhabis] burrowing deeper inside of our most valuable institutions. The Pentagon, C.I.A. and N.S.A. are not supposed to be servants of the Saudis through the offices of the State Department. We have watched Eurabia flourish as FRANCE, ENGLAND, the NETHERLANDS and GERMANY have started down that slippery slope where Muslim critical mass has begun to take control through violence.
  
  We have many Good institutions in AMERICA which is what makes it a great country. However, the parasites of Evil have found it too comfortable and safe a nesting place while the Good acts too late to survive. Strong indicators of a nation's decay is when a nation first uses Jews as an explanation for evil behavior. That is happening now across EUROPE and within certain American institutions which cater to the predatory nature of Islamo-facsism [Saudi Arabian Wahhabism].
  
  None of the Muslim nations can achieve a decent living standard for their people so the leading dictators blame the Jews and recruit the oil parasites of the West to support their failure to achieve. Therefore, we should not be surprised to see the Arabists in the Pentagon, State Department and C.I.A. cut open the familiar wound of Jew-hatred. We have excellent patriots in our American Services but, some have been brain-washed to see things through an Arabist lens. Shifting the focus for the failure in IRAQ and AFGHANISTAN to win over the hearts and minds of hostile Muslims of IRAN, SYRIA, IRAQ and SAUDI ARABIA and with that bunch called Palestinians by sacrificing ISRAEL buys them some time.
  
  To build up a case against Jews so we can accommodate the Muslim oil world by attacking ISRAEL is what Arabists hope to achieve. It is the Enemy within our institutions who endangers us -- not our proven allies such as ISRAEL. Let us start the clean-up and clean-out to bring the State Department, Pentagon, Oval Office and Intelligence Agencies back to the American way and the awareness that they are not the Government.
  
  Some will recall the old movie "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" where Jimmy Stewart as an elected Congressman, fights corruption in Congress against deals in his home state run by the party bosses and subversion at the highest levels of Government. I do not know if it is anymore possible to take back AMERICA from the scheming connivers and special interests whose loyalty lies with Arab oil nations who openly express their hatred for anything American and Democratic. Here I address the President, the Congress and Institutions which should be serving Americans and not adopting the secret ways of subverting what we Americans stand for.
  
  Does it really pay to allow the crippling of ISRAEL by advancing the cause of Palestinian Islamists [Wahhabis] so they can run wild as they now do in IRAQ and in GAZA? ISRAEL has often been referred to as America's Aircraft Carrier in the Middle East. Some will recall that it was ISRAEL which provided the on-ground Humint Intel (human Intelligence) to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Colin Powell and General Norman Schwarzkopf when AMERICA took back KUWAIT from Saddam Hussein.
  
  ISRAEL also supplied air cover for incoming U.S. cargo planes for much of the 6 months it took for a reluctant President George H.W. Bush and James Baker and Colin Powell to get ready to fight Saddam Hussein. One American General publicly congratulated ISRAEL for her invaluable assistance, whereupon the Bush, Baker, Powell clique relieved him of command. The pretense that the Saudis, Syrians, Egyptians, actually helped free KUWAIT without Israeli assistance was a charade that had to be maintained.
  
  Shabbat Shalom from Chicago,
  Emanuel A. Winston
  
  Many of our articles appear on Websites at http://www.gamla.org.il/english & freeman.org
  
  1. "The Secret War Against the Jews: How Western Espionage Betrayed the Jewish People - 1920-1992"
  by John Loftus & Mark Aarons, St. Martin’s Press, 1994
  
  2. "Room With A View of virtually every Jewish citizen, organization and charity in the world"
  by Geoffrey Paul, LONDON JEWISH CHRONICLE, October 28, 1994
  
  3. "Defense Dept. Imposes Loyalty Test on American Jews" INSIGHT Magazine of the Washington Times, June 27 to July 4, 2006
  
  4. "Spying on Friends...Or Enemies" Chicago Sun-Times, December 20, 1988
  
  5. "Operation Scope" Wall St. Journal, January 17, 1992
  
  6. List of articles (9 key ones listed out of 68) by Emanuel A. Winston re: "Shadow Government:
  
  a. "THE AGONY OF THE POLLARDS" June/July 1988
  b. "JONATHAN POLLARD DISCOVERED A "SHADOW GOVERNMENT" 11/11/88
  c. "IN THE SHADOWS OF JONATHAN POLLARD" January 15, 1993"
  d. "BIAS IN U.S. FOREIGN POLICY" December 24, 1998
  e. "WHY WON’T CLINTON RELEASE POLLARD?" December 9 & 30, 1998
  f. "TREASON AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS: A STORY THAT MAY NEVER BE TOLD" January 10, 1999
  g. "ISRAEL SPIES ON ARABS IN AMERICA" December 15, 2001
  h. "TROLLING FOR JEWS" June 26, 2005
  i. "A JEW WHO SUBVERTS JEWS" December 8, 2002
  
  Editors Note:
  R&B Editor's Note: The Root & Branch Information Services and Lecture Series is closed for seven months from Rosh Chodesh Nisan (New Month of Nisan, Thursday, March 30, 2006) through Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan (New Month of Cheshvan, Sunday, October 21, 2006). R&B Information Services updates will be issued and lectures will take place monthly during this period.
  
  
  

• 53 - troll

  Jul 16, 2006 at 1:29 pm

  all of the above shows the necessity of SEMITIC unity to withstand the onslaught from Persia and NATO
  
  troll

• 54 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 16, 2006 at 1:38 pm

  Shame on me!! I missed the big story of the day!
  
  The New York Times covered the attck on Haifa this morning that killed 8 people. This explains two e-mails that I got during the day which I'll lay out for you.
  
  The first is from Sergio Tezza.
  
  ==================================================
  
  That station - according to the talking heads - was supposed to be off the air three days ago and still broadcasts LIVE pictures that we don't see on Israeli TV.
  
  WHO ARE THE ARAB-ISRAELIS WHO FEED HIZBOLLAH'S IMAGES???
  
  Begin forwarded message:
  
  
  Date: 16 July 2006 09:36:49 GMT+03:00
  Subject: Aljazeera broadcasting live feed of Haifa being bombed
  
  
  Aljazeera broadcasting live feed of Haifa being bombed
  
  Aaron Lerner Date: 16 July 2006
  
  Israel Radio correspondent Mickey Gurdis complained in a live report of what
  he termed a major security failure that the Arab news station, Aljazeera, is
  broadcasting a live television feed of the bombing of Haifa from a camera
  located at the top of the Carmel mountain in Haifa.
  
  This enables the Hezbollah rocket teams to adjust their aim.
  
  ==================================================
  
  That led to this e-mail
  
  FINALLY!!!! Al-Jazeera Arab Network News Team Detained in Haifa
  
  
  This guy is a real terrorist operative who works from an airconditioned office in Jerusalem!!!!
  Now let's wait for HaAretz to complain and defend the enemy as usual!
  
  Al-Jazeera Arab Network News Team Detained in Haifa
  18:15 Jul 16, '06 / 20 Tammuz 5766
  
  
  (IsraelNN.com) A news team from the Al-Jazeera Arab news network was detained on Sunday after broadcasting specific information against military censorship regulations.
  
  The network’s Israel correspondent, Elias Karram, was part of the team that was detained after broadcasting the attack live from an observation point near the scene.
  
  Media have been forbidden to convey specific information about the location of landing sites of rockets fired by Hizbullah in order not to inadvertently assist the terrorist group to refine its aiming at Israeli targets.
  
  Until now, the Arab news network, which has reported from Israel for years, has accepted the security regulations. On Sunday, the news team was warned against broadcasting again without censorship.
  

• 55 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 16, 2006 at 1:57 pm

  Updates from Israel at War
  Another Slice of Life
  
  Closing in, Again
  
  The author of this essay is the writer of Jerusalem Diaries: In Tense Times
  
  Photos at Flicker Jerusalem Diaries
  
  Copyright © Judy Lash Balint, 2006
  Jerusalem
  
  "Will my gas mask from the last war do any good if they start sending
  over biological weapons?" inquires Rachel from Kiryat Tivon, a Haifa
  suburb, on a special Sunday afternoon call-in radio show on the Army
  Radio channel.
  
  "Where's the best place in the building to survive a direct hit?" asks
  Moshe in Karmiel in the upper Galilee. "Nothing defends against a
  direct hit," intones the calm voice of the Home Front Command officer
  fielding calls on the radio show designed to reassure an edgy public.
  And, "no, your gas mask from 2003 won't help in this case."
  
  On this, the deadliest day yet of the new, as yet unamed war, Israelis braced themselves for more bad news and adjusted to the new reality
  that left almost half the country under threat of either Kassam, katyusha or the new Hizbollah missiles with a 70 km. range.
  
  After ten Israeli civilians were killed in the north over the past two days, more than a million Israelis north of Tel Aviv were told not to go to work today and stay close to home, while tens of thousands more in the long-suffering southern part of the country endured yet another day of Kassam rockets fired from Gaza.
  
  Indeed, irony of ironies, it's the Jews in Judea and Samaria, the so-called "settlements," the "obstacles to peace," who are being left
  alone by the enemy today.
  
  Together with a few friends, I spent a peaceful Shabbat in another disputed part of the country--the Golan Heights, just a few miles east
  of Tiberias, Hatzor and Tsfat, where rockets rained down all weekend.
  
  Yes, we heard the constant thud of the missiles launched from Lebanon, but in Alonei Habashan, the Israeli community closest to the Syrian
  border, all was quiet and Shabbat was observed as normal in the pretty, small village.
  
  It's hard to recall that just six years ago, Prime Minister Ehud Barak was considering trading the Golan Heights for a peace treaty with
  Syria. The prospect of such an action recipitated one of the most successful grassroots movements in Israeli political history. Ha'Am Im haGolan (The People are with the Golan) proclaimed bumper stickers, flyers, ads and balloons all over Israel. The idea of giving away one of the country's most strategic border areas and the largest, most beautiful open space filled with 18,000 residents and dozens of productive small communities was dropped after Barak resigned in December 2000.
  
  Today, the Golan Heights, which shares a border with Syria and Lebanon, has not yet been targeted by Hizbollah. Most likely explanation is that there's nothing of strategic value up on the vast plain that makes up the Heights, plus there are a number of Druse villages scattered among the Jewish communities. Someone at Alonei
  Habashan even speculated that perhaps the terrorists didn't have such great control over their missiles, and were afraid that if they shot a few eastward in the direction of the Golan, one might actually overshoot its mark and land in Syria.
  
  In any event, all was quiet as we drove up the Jordan Valley on Friday, making a right at the southern end of the Kinneret . A stop at Kibbutz Ein Gev, on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee provided a welcome refreshment break, as well as an opportunity to gaze across the beautiful blue waters at the resort town of Tiberias across the lake.
  
  Exactly 24 hours later, Tiberias was hit by at least 12 rockets, causing extensive damage to apartments in the upper part of the city.
  Tourists fled south in droves, as residents were left to pick up the pieces and the mayor in a TV interview, begged Israelis to return to the tourist-dependent town, "after all this is over."
  
  Up at Alonei Habashan, a busload of American 11th graders taking part in the Mach-Hach Summer Israel Program sponsored by the religious
  Zionist Bnei Akiva youth movement, were our companions for Shabbat. It was their first Shabbat in Israel and they celebrated it with
  gusto, singing and dancing and socializing as they got to know their madrichim (youth leaders) and each other.
  
  Late Saturday night, the group was told to move out of the north of Israel, and the subdued teenagers quickly packed up and piled onto
  their bus for the long drive down to Eilat.
  
  Walking around Alonei Habashan, a community of about 65 Torah observant families, it's hard to miss the bomb shelters that stick up every few hundred yards amidst the manicured lawns and lush flora. Close inspection reveals, however, that as in many northern communities, apart from those closest to the border with Lebanon, the
  concrete shelters are in a serious state of neglect. They haven't been used for years.
  
  On the drive back down to Jerusalem we learn of the latest missile hit. Eight workers killed at the main garage of the train terminus in
  Haifa. A few hours later, Defense Minister Amir Peretz tells the country: "None of the families of the victims should think that their loved ones died in vain.." Then he intones the now cliched and standard response that we're still waiting to have realized: "Those that perpetrated this deadly attack will pay a very heavy price."
  
  Meantime, many people in the shrinking "safe" areas of the country, like Jerusalem and Beersheva, are offering to put up families from the north for the duration of the war.
  
  "It sounds like you were born here," the Army radio anchor says to Rachel from Kiryat Tivon, who called about the gas masks. "So you know
  we've gone through all this so many times before. We overcame Pharoah--we'll overcome this time, too."
  
  From: Judy Lash Balint, Jerusalem
  
  Jerusalem Diaries: In Tense Times by Judy Lash Balint (Gefen) is available for purchase from www.israelbooks.com
  
  
  

• 56 - gonzo marx

  Jul 16, 2006 at 2:01 pm

  i just read all the way through comment #52...
  
  /weeps
  
  that any could hold such thoughts, much less appear convinced of the authenticity in such ravings, shows that there are indeed insane theocrats in every slice of the Spectrum involved here
  
  that there are some who can never be part of a Solution, since they remain an integral part of the Problem
  
  no one i know or have read , here in the States, has anything but ympathy for what is happening in Israel currently
  
  no one i know, or have read,(again, in the States) appears to have any real prolem with the IDF's current response against the rocket attacks
  
  the same holds true for my sources in EU countries
  
  the whole idea of NATO invading Israel is ludicrous at best, and delusional in a very dangerous fashion
  
  i have clearly stated my own Position, that Israel has every right to defend itself, and deal with those attacking it...
  
  but allow me to also state that there can NEVER be any Answer made by theocracies...for the simple fact that those who believe they are following the "will of [insert deity here]" CANNOT compromise due to tenets of "faith"...and thus can never achieve any kind of reasonable settlement of disagreements leading to lasting Peace
  
  a compelling Argument that governments should be secular, and the current Conflict in the Mid-East gives Proof that conflicting Theocracies will ALWAYS war with "infidels/heretics/unbelievers"
  
  my Wishes for the safety of the Innocent, and Hope for Sanity to reign rather than the ego and dogma of theocratic authoritarians
  
  Excelsior?

• 57 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 16, 2006 at 2:14 pm

  OK Gonzo, you stated your viewpoint, and I brought forth someone to represent mine in somewhat more detail than I am able.
  
  Bear in mind that I ould rather believe that all that Manny Winston writes is just so much hogwash. I could go back to dancing ther hora again and voting Meretz on the extreme left of the politcal spectrum, which is where I feel most comfortable. But what I see around me confirms his words.
  
  Now, we watch - and wait.

• 58 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 16, 2006 at 3:20 pm

  Updates from Israel at War
  
  8:30 (20:30) Update from Harvey Tannenbaum
  IDF Targets Tunnel in Gaza (20:52)
  Two IDF Bulletins about Lebanon (from IMRA)
  -------------------------------------------------
  From: harvey tannenbaum
  Sent: Sunday, July 16, 2006 14:32
  
  Tsfat, Mt. Meron katyushaed now
  Sderot kassams just hit there too
  Jews moving southward, nomads, Eilat 100%occupancy...Masada/Ein Gedi/Dead Sea filled with Israelis and their luggage
  Looking for Moses to lead them back to the Promised Land. Jews from Sderot are moving northward and traffic jams from northward bound and southward bound Jewish nomads of 2006 are tying up the highways.
  
  Gush Etzion and Hebron, remember those "West Bank" 'settlements' are now hosting kids from Haifa and Sderot!!!!!!!!!
  
  
  6years since Barak ran away from S. Lebanon...long time to bring in those long range missiles and set up properly.
  
  Gush Katif evicted Jews still in trailers and hotels and some temporary housing..offering spare rooms to Jews from Haifa and Tiberias tonight.
  
  Arik Sharon resting comfortably in Tel Hashomer...Ehud Olmert's daughter cannot be found..usually hassling soldiers at checkpoints...Olmert's sons still AWOL from IDF in Europe(never really served)
  
  Aliza Olmert still doing artwork of cracked egg shells in downtown Jerusalem.
  
  "WE TOLD YOU SO" bumper stickers are being given out free in Jerusalem
  __._,_.___
  
  
  -------------------------------------------------
  
  July 16th 2006
  
  IDF SPOKESPERSON ANNOUNCEMENT
  
  IDF targets tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip
  
  During the night, July 16th 2006, the IDF carried out an aerial attack in
  the southern Gaza Strip, targeting the infrastructure of a tunnel which was
  meant to be used to carry out terror attacks in Israel's home front.
  
  Striking this infrastructure prevents the carrying out of terrorist attacks
  in the Israeli home front.
  
  The IDF continues its operation to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in
  northern Gaza, firing artillery at open areas in northern Gaza from which
  Qassam rockets are fired towards Israel.
  
  The IDF will continue to act through all operational means against the
  Palestinian terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip in order to create
  the conditions for the return of Cpl. Gilad Shalit and to stop terror
  attacks and the launching of rockets towards Israel.
  -------------------------------------------------
  #1 July 16th 2006
  
  IDF SPOKESPERSON ANNOUNCEMENT
  
  Summary of IDF aerial activity in Lebanon during the day
  
  Since this morning, July 16th 2006, the IDF has attacked approximately 80
  terror targets in Lebanon.
  
  Targets include Hezbollah command centers in the Dahiya neighborhood of
  Beirut, Hezbollah buildings and bases, Hezbollah infrastructure and
  Hezbollah communications facilities. This comes in addition to the ongoing
  activity against the organization's weapons infrastructure, which includes
  attacks on missile launchers, launching positions and weapons facilities.
  
  #2 July 16th 2006
  
  IDF SPOKESPERSON ANNOUNCEMENT
  
  Seven villages in southern Lebanon warned to evacuate area
  
  The IDF is continuing to operate against missile launching sites and
  Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon, as part of the ongoing operation
  to remove the terror threat in south Lebanon.
  
  For several days Hezbollah terrorists have been firing missiles at Israel
  from population centers in southern Lebanon, using civilians as "human
  shields". The IDF is thus forced to operate in those villages, located in
  the combat zones in southern Lebanon and used by Hezbollah, in order to
  protect the citizens of Israel. In order to prevent harm to the civilian
  population, the IDF requested the population of the southern Lebanese
  villages of Bint Jabel, A-Tiri, Yaroun, Kounin, Maroun, A-Ras, Yater and
  Bazuriya to leave those areas, for their own safety.
  
  As long as missiles are fired from within villages, the IDF will not
  hesitate to respond to those terror threats, and will continue its
  operations until security is restored to the citizens of Israel.
  
  
  
  
  

• 59 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 16, 2006 at 4:10 pm

  Updates of Israel at War
  
  This was received courtesy of Dr. Aaron Lerner and IMRA.
  Yaakov Katz, Jpost staff and AP, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 15, 2006
  
  Senior officer: Group's chain of command still functioning
  
  About 25 percent of Hizbullah's capabilities have been hit, a high-ranking IDF officer estimated on Sunday night at the end of the fifth day of Operation Just Reward.
  According to the officer, the group's chain of command is still functioning. He estimated that the Lebanese group would not be annihilated when the dust settles, only severely damaged.
  
  The officer predicted that the operation would end in the middle of next week.
  
  Earlier, the IDF mobilized a reserve infantry division in preparation for a possible ground incursion into south Lebanon, The Jerusalem Post has learned. The move was intended as the beginning of a new effort to push Katyusha rocket launching cells away from the Israel-Lebanon border.
  
  The division was setting up command posts along the northern border, while tanks and armored personnel carriers were being transported northward.
  
  A senior IAF officer revealed to the Post on Sunday afternoon that the IDF was using bunker-buster bombs to strike at senior Hizbullah officials in hiding throughout Beirut and Lebanon. According to the officer, several of
  the bunker hideouts were hidden under civilian parking lots. The officer also said that the air force had encountered some resistance,
  including the firing of anti-aircraft shells at IAF aircraft. Since the Lebanon operation began, the IAF has launched close to 2,000
  sorties over Lebanon. According to the officer, the strikes were conducted
  under the assumption that the Hizbullah had and would use shoulder-mounted surface-to-air missiles.
  
  In addition, overnight strikes in northern Lebanon near Tyre killed several senior Hizbullah officials. On Sunday, the Post was told, the IDF destroyed five long-range rocket launchers in southern Lebanon, some of which were used to fire rockets at northern Israel over the past few days, including at Haifa.
  Meanwhile, Al-Arabiya television reported that the Syrian military was mobilizing its own reserve divisions.
  
  IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz insisted on Sunday afternoon that the IDF was not going to invade south Lebanon as yet. While Katyusha rockets continued to rain down on northern Israel, the IDF pounded Lebanon on Sunday for the fifth straight day. On Sunday afternoon, the army called on the residents of south Lebanon to
  leave. Shortly thereafter, the IAF succeeded in hitting arms warehouses in southern Lebanon, as well as 20 mobile Katyusha launching crews in the area.
  
  Since Sunday morning, dozens of launchers have been targeted. The IDF noted that it was largely focusing on destroying the rocket-launching crews, in order to prevent further bombardments of Israel's northern residents.
  
  Meanwhile, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, a pro-Syrian close ally of Hizbullah, said that Israel's bloody assault could push desperate Lebanese citizens to sacrifice their lives to defend their country - and even commit acts of terrorism. He added, however, that the Lebanese "will not surrender," and pleaded for
  the UN Security Council to "stop violence and arrange a cease-fire" so discussions could take place.
  
  Lahoud also accused the Security Council of delaying intervention to stop Israel's military operation, thereby giving them extra time to make Lebanon surrender to its conditions.
  Lebanon's Cabinet issued a statement Sunday saying the country faces "real annihilation" by Israel.
  
  "We are facing a real annihilation carried out by Israel," Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said after an emergency cabinet meeting.
  So far, Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have killed 130 people.
  
  Earlier in the day, the IAF bombed the building in Beirut from which the Hizbullah-run television station, Al-Manar, is broadcast.
  The station went off the air for a short while after the airstrike but then resumed broadcasting about six minutes later. The station is Hizbullah's main communications link, and most of the information the world has received from the group about recent fighting has been issued by Al-Manar.
  
  It was the fourth time in recent days that the IDF has targeted the building.
  
  Before the Al-Manar strike, an IDF attack on Hizbullah's main headquarters in southern Beirut destroyed the compound and sprouted new rumors that Hizbullah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah was wounded in the strike.
  
  Hizbullah promptly denied any such rumor.
  Two major explosions echoed from the Haret Hreik neighborhood and reverberated across Beirut after the strike. IAF planes returned about 20
  minutes later and struck the southern suburbs again. Witnesses said it was the same neighborhood that houses Hizbullah headquarters, and which has been hit several times over the past three days.
  
  Al-Manar said that a bridge linking the al-Hazmiyah district to the road that leads to the airport, south of the capital, was also targeted in what were the heaviest raids since Israel launched its offensive on Wednesday.
  
  On Saturday evening, Israel destroyed all the radar stations along the Lebanese coast, the IDF said. In addition, the IAF attacked Beirut on Saturday evening for the first time in the four-day-old offensive, striking a lighthouse and the Beirut seaport.
  
  A short while earlier, the IAF fired missiles into the seaport of Lebanon's northernmost city of Tripoli in the deepest attack into Lebanese territory since fighting began four days ago.
  Witnesses said helicopter gunships and gunboats fired four missiles into the port area, hitting grain silos.
  
  The IAF also staged four bombing runs on residential areas inside the eastern city of Baalbek, where senior Hizbullah officials have residences or offices, witnesses said. Heavy black smoke billowed from the area and ambulances were seen rushing to the scene.
  Earlier on Saturday IDF fighter jets struck the western side of bridges connecting between Lebanon and Syria. That target was the closest to Syria that was hit since the campaign in Lebanon began. The IDF said that the
  strike was meant to prevent the transport of weapons from Syria into Lebanon
  

• 60 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 17, 2006 at 1:16 am

  Updates from Israel at War
  Good Monday morning from the City of David. The rockets of HIzbAllah creep ever southwards...
  
  This first story is from Haaretz and appeared in my e-mal box at 03:52 Israel Summer Time. No URL was given but I did find one. Using the link to Haaretz, you'll find a map.
  
  Last update - 02:42 17/07/2006
  
  IDF: Residents from Tel Aviv northward to 'be alert'
  
  Rockets strike Afula, Jezreel Valley for first time; Hezbollah: We can hit anywhere
  By Yuval Azoulay, Amos Harel and Yoav Stern, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies
  
  Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah may decide to use the longer range missiles in his movement's arsenal against Israel, according to Israel Defense Forces assessments.
  
  IDF sources say that use of such weapons will depend on authorization from Iran, which has equipped Hezbollah with long-range missiles and has played a formative role in shaping the character of the current fighting. If the confrontation continues to escalate, as it appeared to have done Sunday, the chances that Nasrallah's organization will launch such missiles increases.
  
  The army is concerned that Iranian-made Zelzal missiles, whose range is estimated to exceed 200 kilometers, may be used, thus allowing Hezbollah to target the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. Intelligence information suggests that the organization has a limited number of these missiles.
  
  The IDF on Sunday told Israelis from Tel Aviv northward to "be alert."
  
  The command said that in the event of a rocket strike, a siren will sound, alerting the public to seek shelter inside in a protected room or an area away from doors, windows and exterior walls.
  
  Those caught outside at the time of the siren should enter a stairwell or get close to wall or shelter and lie down. The Home Front Command also told the public to await further instruction.
  
  A barrage of Katyusha rockets fired by Hezbollah militants in Lebanon late Sunday landed in the lower Galilee's Jezreel Valley for the first time.
  
  Rockets landed in the city of Afula and the surrounding communities of Upper Nazareth, Migdal Ha'emek and Givat Ela at 11 P.M. At 50 kilometers inland from the northern border, this was the longest range rocket to hit Israel. There were no reports of injuries.
  
  Hezbollah still has at its disposal a significant arsenal "of very many rockets of all kinds," Israel Air Force Commander Major General Elyezer Shkedy told reporters at a news briefing on Sunday.
  
  Shkedy said that thus far the IDF has struck part of Hezbollah's array of rockets and that the goal of the military campaign against Lebanon is to "deal seriously with the infrastructure that has been built over the course of years."
  
  The IDF's chief intelligence officer, Brigadier General Yuval Helmish, said that since the end of Operation Grapes of Wrath - the IDF's offensive in south Lebanon in April 1996 - Hezbollah has amassed over 10,000 rockets, some of which have a range of over 70 kilometers, and has dispersed the missiles in towns and villages throughout south Lebanon.
  
  Nasrallah on Sunday said the IDF offensive on Lebanon had not depleted its large stockpile of rockets, and warned that the Islamic group could strike almost anywhere in Israel.
  
  "We will continue. We still have a lot more and we are just at the beginning," Nasrallah said in a taped televised address on Al-Manar. "We promise them surprises in (any) confrontation."
  
  At least eight people were killed Sunday morning as rockets fired by Hezbollah guerillas in Lebanon struck the northern port city of Haifa.
  
  Nasrallah threatened "direct confrontation" if IDF ground forces entered Lebanon, adding that his guerrillas have "complete strength and power" despite Israel's five-day bombardment.
  
  "As long as the enemy pursues its aggression without limits and red lines we will pursue the confrontation without limits and without red lines," Nasrallah said. "The enemy doesn't know our capabilities or what we have."
  
  The Hezbollah leader said the IDF's offensive in south Lebanon "relied on false information," adding that "all the targets hit in south Lebanon were civilian. There were no bases or Katyushas there."
  
  He urged Arabs and Muslims worldwide to support his guerrillas, saying his group was fighting Israel on behalf of them.
  
  "Today, especially in this sensitive moment and after several military achievements and surprises, Hezbollah is not fighting a battle for Hezbollah or even for Lebanon. We are now fighting a battle for the(Islamic) nation," he said. "The peoples of the Arab and Islamic world have a historic opportunity to score a defeat against the Zionist enemy ... We are providing the example," he added.
  
  Other communities in the north also came under attack from the rockets Sunday. Residents across the north were instructed to take cover in bomb shelters and secure areas.
  
  All of those killed were in an Israel Railways depot located near an Israel Electric Corporation installation on Haifa Bay, according to the head of Magen David Adom rescue service.
  
  The fatalities in the attack have been identified as Rafi Hazan, 30, of Haifa; Shlomi Mansura, 35, of Nahariya; Nissim Elharar, 47, of Kiryat Ata; David Feldman, 28, of Kiryat Yam; Shmuel Ben Shimon, 41; Dennis Lapidos, 24, of Kiryat Yam; Rafael Damati, 39, of Kiryat Yam; and Reuven Levi, 46, of Kiryat Ata.
  
  Some 30 Israel Railways employees were in the depot at the time. At least 17 people were wounded in the strike, six seriously and four moderately. The wounded in the depot were taken to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa.
  
  Police reported a total of 53 injuries in Haifa and its immediate surroundings. Rambam Medical Center in Haifa said it had received 27 patients, three injured seriously, two moderately and and the rest lightly.
  
  Following the strike, Israel Railways announced it was halting all train traffic north of Binyamina.
  
  Following the rocket strike, authorities closed the Haifa port and diverted ships to the Ashdod port.
  
  Israeli security officials said Sunday that Hezbollah hit Haifa with Iranian-produced Fagr missiles, which have a range of 40 kilometers.
  
  Two salvos of rockets hit Ahuza, a central residential and business district of Haifa, and the border town of Nahariya. A rocket also struck Kiryat Haim, on the outskirts of Haifa, Channel 2 television reported.
  
  <>i>Channel 10 television reported that rockets also hit the Checkpost business district on the Haifa-Nahyaria highway.
  
  A subsequent attack hit a major street in Haifa, causing further injuries, police said.
  
  "The injuries at the depot are the most severe," said Haifa mayor, Yona Yahav. "It has been a sad morning for us - the type of morning we are not accustomed to since the [1991] Gulf War."
  
  Hezbollah's television station, Al-Manar, reported that rockets hit the oil refineries in Haifa Bay.
  
  "After the enemy continued all night their destructive shelling of [Beirut's] southern suburb and other areas... the resistance movement fired dozens of rockets on Haifa," the TV station said, reading a statement from the militant group.
  
  "The Islamic resistance at 9:45 [local time] rained again on Haifa with a new salvo of Raad-2 and Raad-3 rockets," it said.
  
  Hezbollah also warned that if the Israel Air Force continues its strikes on Beirut strikes, it would target petrochemical plants in Haifa.
  
  The group said it intentionally avoided hitting petrochemical installations in Haifa, which houses Israel's major oil refinery, according to a statement read on Al-Manar.
  
  "But the next time, it [HizbAllah] will not spare anything in Haifa and its surroundings," the statement said.
  
  The Israel Defense Forces said over the weekend that more than 700 rockets have been fired at Israel since the start of the military operation in Lebanon, prompted by the Hezbollah abduction of two IDF soldiers last Wednesday.
  
  
  Emergency hotline at Carmel Medical Center: 12-55-142
  Haifa municipality emergency hotline: 12-12-466-106
  

• 61 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 17, 2006 at 1:30 am

  Updates from Israel at War
  News Analysis
  
  Joe Farrah is the chief editor of World Net Daily, on on-line newspaper. He is of Lebanese descent, a Christian, and very much pro-Israel. Lately he has soured on the Israeli government, after searching his barrel for excuses to explain the self wounding policies of successive Israeli governments asnd finally finding the barrel empty.
  
  This article was received cortesy of Allan Mallenbaum, who publishes a daily column, "Shalom Y'All" from Isrel.
  
  WAKE-UP CALL FOR ISRAEL?
  
  By Joseph Farah* © 2006 WorldNetDaily.com July 15, 2006
  
  This is a hard column for me to write.
  
  It's difficult because what I need to say about the two-front terrorist attacks on Israel is nothing new.
  
  I've said everything that needs to be said many times in as many new ways as I could imagine.
  
  Suffice it to say I am not shocked by these developments. I am not even a little bit surprised. In fact, I predicted it.
  
  I knew that Israel's evacuation of Gaza was not solving problems with terrorism but creating bigger problems for another day.
  
  I knew that Israel's evacuation of Judea and Samaria was not solving problems with terrorism but creating bigger problems for another day.
  
  I knew that Israel's unilateral evacuation of southern Lebanon was not solving problems with terrorism but creating bigger problems for another day "" not to mention selling out the Jewish state's Christian friends in the region.
  
  However, the point of this column is not to point out how smart I am. The point is to show how predictable it is that appeasement of evil aggression always leads to more evil aggression.
  
  Indeed, I have become so weary of making these points over and over again that, a few months ago, I actually gave up on Israel "" deciding it was a lost cause to defend people who were unwilling to be responsible with their own national security.
  
  After all that, here we are.
  
  Israel is battling on two fronts "" Gaza and Lebanon "" two territories from which it unilaterally withdrew its military presence in what could only be interpreted by its enemies as an unconditional retreat and surrender.
  
  Likewise, Israel is on the verge of finalizing plans to do the same thing in the West Bank. If it had completed that operation, it would now be fighting on three fronts.
  
  Maybe some good can still come out of this unmitigated policy disaster for Israel. Maybe some official are ready to realize and admit they made some tragic errors. Maybe it's not too late to reverse course. Maybe, if Israel begins to see its very survival is at stake, it will correct course, defend itself and, in the process, do all free people in the world a big favor at the same time.
  
  What does Israel need to do now? It needs to do what I have been advocating from the beginning "" defeat the bad guys, destroy them, kill them all.
  
  Nothing short of this response will do anything more than buy time until the next barbaric assault on Jewish civilians by Hezbollah, which, I understand, translates in Farsi to "Hitlers in headscarves." As I've said before, it's time for Israel to make humous out of Hamas.
  
  This is no joke.
  
  Israel is not only tempting God with its own future with its policy of national surrender, it is endangering the rest of the world, encouraging the Islamo-fascists whose ultimate goal is a global khalifate.
  
  I know Israel has faced tremendous pressure from the U.S. and the rest of the world. I know. I've been there defending Israel and indicting the rest of the world all along. But, at some point, as this generation of Israelis needs to understand, if the Jews of Israel don't care about their nation, if they don't care about paying for territory more than once with Jewish blood, if they don't care about the future viability of a Jewish state, no one else can be expected to care.
  
  I still do care. For the life of me, I can't stop caring. In fact, the Bible commands me to care. I only wish the people of Israel had the same faith in those Hebrew prophets that I have.
  
  
  * Joseph Farah is founder, editor and CEO of WND and a nationally syndicated columnist with Creators Syndicate. His latest book is "Taking America Back." He also edits the weekly online intelligence newsletter Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, in which he utilizes his sources developed over 30 years in the news business.
  

• 62 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 17, 2006 at 2:30 am

  Updates from Israel at War
  News Analysis
  
  "I told you so, you stupid bastard, but you wouldn't listen! Now get into the damned bomb shelters!"
  
  For nearly a decade and half, the 'peace camp' has been shoveling its manure down the throats of Israelis, trying to convince the country with cries of false peace, using the media, the jails, the government and everything else at its disposal to push a program of national suicide down our throats.
  
  The creation of the PA, bringing back Arafat, withdrawal from Lebanon, expelling Jews from their homes in Gush Qatif and Northern Samaria, and now "convergence." As the missiles fall on Haifa and all points south of Haifa (including the rich suburbs of Tel Aviv) get war alerts for the first time since 1949, we see the failure of the traitors of the 'peace camp'.
  
  So now its time for us to rub everyone else's noses in their own manure, and to holler "I told you so, you stupid bastard, but you wouldn't listen! Now get into the damned bomb shelters!"
  
  Caroline Glick, who writes for the Jerusalem Post, wote this article on 31 May 2006. Part of it reproduced below.
  -------------------------------------------------
  May. 31, 2006 22:58 | Updated Jun. 2, 2006 4:30
  FullColumn One: Israel's premeditated market failure
  
  
  ...Events on the northern front and in Gaza over the past few days demonstrated that Israelis are denied a free flow of accurate information
  regarding their national security. On Monday, Ha'aretz reported darkly, "Iran has transferred to Lebanon rockets that reach Beersheba." The report stated that the Iranians recently provided their proxy Hizbullah with Zelzal-2 rockets capable of hitting every major city in Israel.
  
  Yet while this report is true, it is neither startling nor earth-shaking for anyone who has been closely observing developments in south Lebanon over the past few years. The recent shipment of Zelzal missiles does not constitute a departure from well-formed Iranian, Syrian or Hizbullah policy patterns.
  
  The first time that a shipment of Iranian Zelzal rockets to Hizbullah was reported was in early 2003. Just as this week it took the media one day to forget about this Zelzal shipment, in 2003, the reports received almost no attention. At the time the Israeli media and the government were busy convincing the Israeli public to support the road map which was then being
  written by Yossi Beilin and Tony Blair. Like the 2003 report before it, the meaning of this week's report is clear. Iran today is perched on Israel's northern border.
  
  Against the backdrop of Iran's nuclear weapons program and its ballistic missiles capabilities, Iran's presence on the northern border dramatically impacts Israel's national security posture. If before the IDF's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in May 2000 Hizbullah and its state sponsor constituted a challenging, bloody tactical threat to Israel, today they are
  a strategic threat. In short, this week's story about the Zelzal missile shipment reveals what a terrible mistake Israel's retreat from south Lebanon was.
  
  But the Israel media - which was the engine behind the Barak government's decision to retreat from south Lebanon six years ago - have no interest in informing the public of the magnitude of its error. So rather than provide
  any context for Sunday's Katyusha rocket attacks on northern Israel, our media luminaries argued among themselves about irrelevancies such as whether the Iranian puppet Islamic Jihad or the Iranian puppet Hizbullah fired the rockets on Sunday morning.
  
  If the media had any interest in serving their primary function of informing the Israeli public about its current situation, they could ask why Israel is sitting back and allowing Hizbullah to acquire the means to attack all of Israel's major cities. If we know that the missiles were delivered, why didn't we blow them up at the airport or in their silos?
  
  Since the 1950s, Israel's military doctrine has dictated that the IDF is responsible for ensuring that our enemies do not acquire the means to cause us strategic damage. This was the rationale that stood behind the Sinai Campaign in 1956, the Six Day War in 1967, the strike at the Iraqi nuclear reactor at Osirak in 1981 and countless other operations throughout the
  years.
  
  But rather than receiving context or meaningful debate, the public is fed a diet of empty-headed drivel. Our media know-it-alls idiotically inform us that far more IDF soldiers were killed in Lebanon when the IDF was deployed in Lebanon than have been killed in Lebanon since the IDF withdrew from Lebanon. No one bothers to explain that in the future many more soldiers will likely be killed in Lebanon to neutralize the strategic threats that have emerged in that area because soldiers who prevented the Lebanese
  tactical challenge from becoming the current strategic threat were removed from the country six years ago.
  
  
  
  

• 63 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 17, 2006 at 4:26 am

  Updates from Israel at War
  
  This came in to IMRA just a little bit ago from the IDF. I received from IMRA and Dr. Aaron Lerner.
  
  July 17th 2006
  IDF SPOKESPERSON ANNOUNCEMENT
  
  Karni opened as IDF operation in northern Gaza continues
  
  In the past day, the Karni crossing facilitated the transfer of 115 truckloads and 24 containers of food items and supplies into the Gaza Strip.
  The Nahal Oz terminal facilitated the transfer of 700,000 liters of Diesel, 100,000 liters of gasoline and 175 tons of natural gas.
  
  IDF infantry, engineering and armored forces are continuing their activity against terrorist infrastructure in the area of Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip.
  
  · The IDF carried out an aerial attack against a vehicle carrying terrorists near Bait Hanun.
  · The IDF carried out an aerial attack on a cell of gunmen who fired an anti-tank missile at forces near Beit Hanun.
  · The IDF carried out an aerial attack on armed gunmen who were identified planting explosives in the area of Beit Hanun.
  . The IDF carried out an aerial attack on an armed gunman in the northern Gaza Strip.
  · IDF ground forces identified an armed gunman in the area of Beit Hanun, fired at him and confirmed a successful strike against the target.
  · IDF forces carried out an aerial attack on a tunnel near Kissufim road that was intended to be used to smuggle terrorists into Israel to carry out attacks against civilians.
  
  The IDF will continue to act with determination against terrorist organizations and terror infrastructure in order to create the conditions
  for the return of Cpl. Gilad Shalit and to stop terror attacks and the launching of rockets towards Israel.
  
  
  

• 64 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 17, 2006 at 4:59 am

  Updates from Israel at War
  The Inevitable Horrors of War
  
  I pulled this article from The Star off of Google. it deals with what many like to politely call "collateral damage," the deaths of innocents due to accident from or proximity to military attacks.
  
  This stuff inevitably happens in war and it stinks. In the instant case, a family of emigrants goes to Canada, builds a life there and comes to Lebanon for vacation - and is handed a shovel to bury its dead.
  
  HizbAllah chose war and we are fighting that war. The distinction to be borne in mind, for those who will inevitable accuse of of war crimes, between what the Israel Air Force has done and between what an Arab terrorist did killing 25 people eating a Seder meal in Netanya some years ago, is that the terrorist intended to kill innocents. Our air force did not.
  
  In law, that is the difference between murder, and negligent homicide, or manslaughter.
  
  Residents of south Lebanon were warned by the air force to evacuate, but not all were able. This is not said in excuse, but to prove the issue of intent. Nothing will bring back these seven killed in war, nor any other innocents who have been killed.
  
  May they go to their eternal reward, and rest in peace.

• 65 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 17, 2006 at 5:55 am

  Updates from Israel at War
  Effects of the Conflict on Arab Markets and the Arab League
  
  These are excerpts from two articles, one from Arab News, a Saudi source, and another from the Daily Star from Lebanon.
  
  Both were received from IMRA.
  
  Excerpts: ME Stock markets drop. Arab States dilemma. 17 July 2006
  
  +++ARAB NEWS (Saudi) 17 July '06:"ME Violence Batters Stock Markets" by
  Khalil Hanware, Input from Reuters
  QUOTES FROM TEXT:
  "Out of 81 stocks traded ... 73... declines"
  "Middle Eastern markets also tumbled"
  -------------------------------------------------EXCERPTS:
  
  JEDDAH, 17 July 2006 - The Saudi stock market continued its plunge yesterday. After falling over nine percent on Saturday, the Tadawul
  All-Share Index (TASI) dropped another 2.92 percent to close at ... down 314.35 points.
  Out of 81 stocks traded, six were higher while shares of 73 companies declined yesterday. ... .All the sector indexes were down yesterday. . . .
  
  Middle Eastern stock markets also tumbled yesterday as investors worried that escalating violence in Israel and Lebanon could trigger a wider regional conflict.
  
  Egypt's exchange suspended trading after the benchmark index plummeted...to an 11-month low while Qatar's main index closed... its sharpest one-day decline on record.
  
  ..Qatar's ...decline was the sharpest since the stock market widened the band in which the index could move in a single day to 10 percent from 5
  percent. Qatar Shipping, seen as particularly vulnerable to any regional conflict, dropped almost the maximum 10 percent allowed in a day.
  
  Dubai touched a new 19-month low yesterday. Dubai's main index closed 0.03 percent down even
  though second-quarter earnings of the market's largest company, Emaar Properties, easily beat forecasts, something that would normally have
  sparked a major rally.
  
  Emaar, which announced its results after the market closed on Saturday, ended just 0.44 percent up at 11.35 dirhams. Emaar shares are trading around nine times 2006 earnings, according to Reuters data, having lost about half their value this year as markets
  tumbled across the region. Among Gulf markets, only Kuwait ended in the black, regaining some ground from Saturday when it suffered its heaviest losses since a region-wide crash early this year.. . .
  
  With input from Reuters
  --------------------------------------------------
  +++THE DAILY STAR (Lebanon) 17 July '06:"'Don't ask me what to do,' Arab
  League chief says", Jailan Zayan, Agence France Presse (AFP)
  QUOTES FROM TEXT:
  "crisis has exposed deep divisions within the Arab world"
  "huge rift between ... Egypt and Jordan and radical states like Syria"
  "Yemen ...cut all ties with the Jewish state"
  -------------------------------------------------EXCERPTS:
  CAIRO: The spiraling Middle East crisis has exposed deep divisions within
  the Arab world and forced its leaders into a frank admission of helplessness. ..."Don't ask me what to do," the League's secretary general,
  Amr Moussa, told reporters after the meeting.
  Analysts said the huge rift between Western allies such as Egypt and Jordan and radical states like Syria had proved impossible for diplomats to bridge.
  
  "The main structure of the Arab League is the idea of consensus, so meetings always come up with the lowest common denominator," said Nadim Shehadi, a Middle East specialist with the London-based Royal Institute of International Affairs.
  
  Saturday's meeting "was a bit more revealing," he said. "There are real divisions at this time especially to do with relations with Iran on the one hand and with the United States and Israel on the other."
  
  Western allies, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have all tempered condemnation of the scale of the Israeli reprisals with criticism of the
  "adventurism" of Hizbullah in seizing two Israeli soldiers last Wednesday.
  
  Jordan's King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned on Friday of the risk of "the region being dragged into adventurism that does not serve Arab interests." Saudi official media have also used similar
  language.
  
  But for states like Yemen, the crisis should force countries like Egypt and Jordan to cut all ties with the Jewish state. . . .
  =================================================
  Sue Lerner - Associate - IMRA
  
  
  
  
  --------------------------------------------
  

• 66 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 17, 2006 at 6:23 am

  Updates from Israel at War
  
  After checking Haaretz, I saw incoming news...
  
  Below are mewsflashes from Haaretz on-line which can be accessed from the home page of the site. I can't stand their editorial stances, but they are quick to get news.
  
  13:11 Initial reports: Several lightly hurt in Katyusha strike on Carmiel house (Haaretz)
  13:08 Katyusha hits Carmiel house in latest barrage on town; injuries reported (Israel Radio)
  13:05 Two rockets land in Upper Galilee; no casualties or damage (Israel Radio)

• 67 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 17, 2006 at 6:40 am

  Updates from Israel at War
  War in Gaza - 22 Qassams strike Israel
  
  This was picked up from IMRA. The source of the story is Ynetnews. Shmulik Haddad reports.
  =================================================
  While media attention focuses on northern front, Qassams continue to land in southern communities. Rockets hit Sderot and Kibbutz Nahal Oz Monday morning, two people hurt by shrapnel. On Sunday evening, rocket lands near
  strategic site in Ashkelon. IDF official: Conflict in north encourages Hamas.
  
  No remission of rockets in the southern front: Twelve rockets landed in the western Negev Monday morning - three of them falling in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, one in the yard of a Sderot house, and the rest apparently in open areas.
  
  The morning's rockets joined eight other Qassams that landed within two hours Sunday evening in Ashkelon and Sderot, and another two that landed in other areas in the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council.
  
  Two people were injured from shrapnel as a rocket landed outside a Sderot house - one injured in his leg and the other hurt by shrapnel in his back. The two were evacuated to the Barzilay Medical Center.
  
  Magen David Adom teams arrived at the area and attended to several people who suffered from shock. A nearby road suffered damage and the electricity supply to the neighborhood was cut off after the rocket hit a wire.
  
  Another two rockets landed in open areas - one in the Nativ Ha'asara hothouses and one in Asheklon's southern industrial zone - and did not cause any injuries.
  
  One rocket landed Monday morning near a dairy barn in Kibbutz Nahal Oz, killing one of the calfs. Four people suffered from shock and cars in the area suffered from damage. A second rocket landed in the yard of a house in
  the kibbutz, damaging an external wall. Several people, including children, suffered from shock and were treated by MDA teams.
  
  A mortar shell landed in a parking lot in the kibbutz, damaging about 10 cars parked in the area.
  
  "It was a difficult night," a resident of Kibbutz Nahal Oz told Ynet. "All night we heard very loud blasts, and because the system wasn't working people were once and again shocked to hear the explosions."
  
  "Unfortunately, we suffered damages and people suffered from shock, and this is a harsh reality in the area of the kibbutz and the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council. Quite a few rockets have been landing in the council's
  territories recently, and a great disaster could have occurred tonight," he added.
  
  Sunday evening: Rockets near strategic facility, petrol station One of the rockets on Sunday evening landed near a strategic facility in
  Ashkelon, miraculously failing to hit the structure.
  
  Two other rockets landed in open fields in Karmiya and Mavki'im. Later Sderot was hit by three Qassams, one landing in a babies' clinic, which caused some people to suffer anxiety. Another rocket dud landed in a park and third by officials' estimates landed in a Palestinian territory, near the border.
  
  Earlier on Sunday two other rockets landed near Shaar Hanegve Regional Council and another one near kibbutz Nahal Oz. In some communities the
  residents were asked to go into shelters. On Sunday morning two Qassam rockets landed in Sderot, one landed in a school and other in near
  synagogue.
  
  Sderot residents are following closely the escalation in the north and ask repeatedly not to forget that fighting for Sderot has also claimed lives.
  
  "We know that the fighting in the north is very difficult and our hearts go out for them, but also here the Qassams continue and it's only a miracle that no one was hurt," said a resident of Zikim.
  
  Community leaders continue their efforts for reinforcement of schools and other educational facilities and fear that because of the situation in the north, the reinforcement of constructions will be halted. "They should
  remember that we have been suffering this situation for five years," said an
  official in the area.
  
  Lately the Red Dawn alert system has been working intermittently, and this morning for example it was not activated. IDF officials explained that the system is undergoing an upgrade and its name will be officially renamed to Color Red.
  
  IDF operating in the south
  
  Meanwhile the operation in the Gaza Strip continues. The IDF reported that in the past week some 90 terrorists have been killed. On Sunday afternoon Palestinians fired an antitank missile on IDF Armored forces operating in
  areas in Beit Hanun, in the northern Strip. There were no reports on injuries or damage.
  
  Also on Sunday morning the IAF attacked two gunmen cells and blasted a tunnel in southern Strip. A vehicle carrying terrorists on their way to fire Qassam rockets was also hit. "The fighting is ongoing around the clock simultaneously here and in the north," an official in the Southern Command told Ynet. "We are following up on events unfolding in the other front, but we are concentrating our attention on Gaza. We intend on continuing 'Summer Rain' and attack terror infrastructure."
  
  
  IDF officials said that there is certain decrease in the number of Qassam fired on Israel as a result of the operations carried out in the past two weeks. "They still fire Qassams, partly because of their participation in the overall escalation and keeping the southern front in the news," said a senior officer. We must remember that the Hamas does not need any excuses in
  order to carry out terror acts or fire Qassams, but the conflict in the north only encourages them."
  
  Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said during today's situation analysis meeting that the forces will continue operating against the Qassams and to push for the return of the abducted soldier Gilad Shalit.
  
  First Published: 07.16.06, 23:35
  Latest Update: 07.17.06, 10:39
  ==================================================
  
  Qassam missiles had been falling daily on S'derot even befor the capture of Cpl. Shalit and the beinning of military operations in Gaza. But the media paid not attention whatever. S'derot is a working class city and the rich elites of North Tel Aviv don't give a damn about the folks there.
  

• 68 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 17, 2006 at 8:05 am

  Updates from Israel at War
  Missile Attack on Haifa Taking Place Now
  
  This quotes the site of Prof. Steven Plaut, a fellow I do not much care for. But just 'cause it's a skunk that tells me that the dam up-river is busted doesn't mean I'll ignore him.
  
  From my friend Sergio Tezza,
  
  Missiles are falling NOW on Haifa, Carmiel, Meron, Tsfat, Afula and quite a few other villages in the North.
  
  Begin forwarded message:
  
  From: Steven Plaut Date: 17 July 2006 14:09:23 GMT+03:00
  Subject: No, those booms 5 minutes ago were not summer lightning
  
  Haifa was hit by katyushas again a few minutes ago. You will be happy to hear that the headquarters of the Israeli Communist Party in the Hadar neighborhood were not hit.
  
  1. Pity the Left:
  
  2. Juan Cole, the anti-Semitic professor of Middle East studies at the University of Michigan, has been cheering on the Hezbollah on his web site juancole.com . Every attack by Israel is a human rights atrocity, every katyusha is a "response" to an Israeli aggression.
  
  3. The OTHER crime of Ehud Barak: This system could have made this war moot, had we been permitted to continue its development. (System that downs katyushas). Barak claimed the danger had passed.
  
  4. MK Matan Vilnai: Israel could not deal with rockets until hit by them
  
  Aaron Lerner Date: 16 July 2006
  
  Labor MK Matan Vilnai explained in a live interview on Channel Two
  Television this afternoon that Israel knew about the dangers of the rockets.
  
  5.
  Israeli leftist general tells the world off:
  
  6. Haifa University has been closed for the katyusha duration but I have proposed to the university chiefs that Ilan Pappe, Yuval Yonay, Avraham Oz, and other leftist anti-Zionist faculty members, be left on campus, perhaps chained to the lamp-posts, as human shields. I am waiting for their reply.
  
  The residents of Sderot offered residents of Haifa shelter there if they want to get away from the katyushas. I am staying put though; after all, who would feed the cats?
  
  7. The Israeli Moonbatocracy, filled with leftist professors, declared war yesterday ... on Israeli imperialism: Bombing that demonstration would have done more to stop the war than bombing Beirut.

• 69 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 17, 2006 at 8:15 am

  Updates from Israel at War
  Headlines From Haareta on-line
  
  14:52 Another rocket salvo hits Haifa (Haaretz)
  
  
  * Blair, Annan call for int'l force in southern Lebanon Israel: Int'l force would hinder future IDF operations
  
  * Rockets hit Haifa, Safed, Tiberias, southern Golan
  
  * Residents of north ordered into shelters; at least six hurt in earlier strikes; IAF chief: Hezbollah still has large cache of rockets. 13:54
  
  * IDF says army leveling 1km of territory inside south Lebanon
  Objective is to prevent return of Hezbollah posts; IDF chief: We don't intend to send in ground troops. 14:53
  
  * At least 21 killed Monday in more than 60 IAF strikes on Lebanon
  
  * Jets bombed port, gas tank in Beirut; at least 6 Lebanese soldiers killed in strikes on northern coast. 14:54
  
  * Blair: Only way to end violence is to stop attacks on Israel
  
  * UN chief calls on sides to leave civilians out of firing line; French PM to visit Beirut in show of solidarity. 15:01
  
  * Soldier killed in Nablus; police foil attack in Jerusalem
  6 other soldiers hurt when Palestinians throw bomb during arrest raid. 15:01
  

• 70 - Dawn

  Jul 17, 2006 at 8:30 am

  Did I just read that French PM was to visit Beirut in show of solidarity? Who the fuck are they showing solidarity to. I will wait for more info to respond, but if it's what it looks like, then maybe once and for all France can get what is deserves too.
  
  

• 71 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 17, 2006 at 8:54 am

  Updates from Israel at War
  Sending in an International Force?
  Report and Analysis
  
  Bloomberg News Reports
  
  UN Seeks to Build Mideast Force; Blair Gives Backing (Update1)
  July 17 (Bloomberg) -- United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan pressed the five permanent UN Security Council members to contribute to a force that would quell the escalation of violence in the Middle East.
  
  U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair, who met with Annan this morning at the Group of Eight summit in St. Petersburg, Russia, said he would support the UN's goal and that such a force was necessary before fighting involving Israel, Hezbollah guerrillas and Palestinian militants could be halted.
  
  "It isn't going to stop now, unless we can create the situation where there can be a cessation," the British prime minister said at a joint press conference with Annan. "The only way that's going to happen is the deployment of an international force that can stop the bombardment."
  
  The move puts pressure on the U.S., China and Russia to contribute to a force that would curtail clashes that started six days ago when Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border attack. Today, Israeli artillery and planes struck at 60 targets in Lebanon, retaliating after Hezbollah rockets struck Haifa, Israel's third-biggest city.
  
  U.S. officials hesitated to embrace the UN effort ahead of a Security Council meeting that Annan said may happen later this week. Sending in an armed force "may be a tad premature, although it is a distinct possibility," said White House spokesman Tony Snow.
  
  EU View
  
  The European Union also wasn't ready to endorse the force. "It could be that the EU, the United Nations might have a peacekeeping role, but that's not where we can start," Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja told reporters before chairing a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels. "The immediate solution is to get an end to the violence."
  
  Annan said he had a team in Lebanon drawing up suggestions for how such a force might be deployed. That team will report back to the Security Council later this week.
  
  "Several countries here are key members of the Security Council," Annan said. "I expect them to work with us. We are extremely concerned about this situation. We need to find ways of bringing this to a halt. I appeal to all parties to spare civilian life and civilian infrastructure."
  
  G-8 leaders yesterday blamed "extremists" for the escalation of violence in the Middle East. Before the events in Lebanon, another Israeli soldier was captured in the Gaza Strip by militants linked to Hamas.
  
  Violence "Will Continue"
  
  "The situation is very difficult and has been escalating," Blair said. "People feel threatened. The violence will continue, and the only way you can change all that is to change the dynamic."
  
  The fighting sent the price of crude oil to a record $78 a barrel in New York and London on July 14. From the perspective of the U.S. and Britain, the seizures and rocket attacks pushed Israel into a counter-strike, derailing the prospect of coaxing Hamas, the Islamic movement that controls the Palestinian government, away from violence and into a political dialogue.
  
  "You have to remember where we were before this started," Tom Kelly, a spokesman for Blair, said yesterday. "`We were on the verge of talks between Israel and the Palestinians. That is what is being disrupted by this crisis. There are underlying issues that have to be addressed."
  
  Israel's air raids today struck Hezbollah bases, including houses in the eastern city of Baalbek, an army spokeswoman said. Beirut's port was also hit, the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz reported.
  
  Olmert Statement
  
  Hezbollah has fired about 1,400 rockets into Israeli territory since the conflict began, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said yesterday. He said in a statement that his nation isn't fighting Lebanon "but the terrorist element there."
  
  Israel is carrying out its largest military operation in Lebanon since 1982, with warplanes striking targets across three quarters of the country. Rockets have forced residents in northern Israel into shelters and brought life to a standstill.
  
  Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi spoke to Iran's nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, last night to ask Tehran to use its influence to encourage Hezbollah to release captured Israeli soldiers and cease its rocket attacks, the G-8 Web site said, citing Italian officials. Larijani was cited as telling Prodi that Iranian diplomats were working to resolve the crisis.
  
  
  Analysis
  
  
  I've put several items in the text in bold because it is there that I find my analysis of this piece.
  
  All of them refer to forceful means of ending this conflict - not boys in blue helmets who flirt with the local girls - soldiers who will enforce a policy with real weapons. That is the implication of the speakers in this article.
  
  The American view - sending in troops is definitrly on the table but it's a little premature
  
  The European view - berfore we get to peacekeepers, we need to get to stopping the violence...
  
  This is not a bunch of boys from Fiji going to the mountains of Lebanon to learn about the ruins of Baalbek. These are soldiers sent to enforce a UN mandate negotiated by the G8.
  
  Some American soldiers, but largely a European force with some Russians to shut them up, and maybe some Chinese too. And once they are thre why not go into the Golan, and Judea and Samaria and Gaza. Remember, these are not peacekeepers.
  
  Go up and look at comment #52. It doesn't take much to get from an armed international force to a force that overthrows the sovereignty of Israel "for the good of world peace."

• 72 - Jet in Columbus

  Jul 17, 2006 at 3:47 pm

  Ruvy, forgive me but I'm not clear as to what you do there. Are you in the milatary and if so in what capacity?

• 73 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 17, 2006 at 4:09 pm

  I'm a writer, Jet, not in the military. I'm part of the police auxiliary. But over the time I've been here I've gotten to meet lots of interesting prople, largely through being the master of ceremonies for the Root & Branch English Lecture Series in Jerusalem.
  
  On this coming Sunday, between 16:00 or 16:40 my time, or 09:00 to 09:40 your time, I'll be on Israel National Radio, www.israelnationalradio.com, doing a brief PSA for the lecture on 27 July.

• 74 - Jet in Columbus

  Jul 17, 2006 at 4:49 pm

  Will the be broadcasting on Short wave?

• 75 - Ruvy in Jerusalem

  Jul 17, 2006 at 5:22 pm

  I see I'm misleading you, Jet. I'm sorry. I won't be on for forty minutes, I'll be on for about a minute or two in the time period I mentioned.
  
  The broadcast will be on your computer. You can go there right now if you want. This is internet radio. That is the reason I gave you the website. This is the Arutz Sheva you keep seeing me refer to as a news source - Israel National Radio - the ONLY independent news broadcaster in the entire Middle East.