http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?ed...rticle_id=75893
Israeli minister says war may resume
Compiled by Daily Star staff
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Israel's national infrastructure minister said on Tuesday that war with Hizbullah might restart in a few months, and called for an enhancement of the Israeli Army's capacities. Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told Israeli public radio that the deployment of the Lebanese Army along the border with Israel "will not ensure safety for Israel" and that Hizbullah still presents a threat to the Jewish state.
Meanwhile, Britain-based Jane's International Defense Review reported that Hizbullah received direct intelligence support from Syria during the month-long Israeli offensive on Lebanon, using data collected by listening posts jointly operated by Russian and Syrian crews.
Hizbullah was also fed intelligence from new listening posts built on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights, which are operated jointly with Iran, it claimed.
Israel has also alleged that Russian anti-tank missiles procured by Syria were reportedly transferred to Hizbullah and used during the war.
Syria's centrality to the collection and transfer of intelligence to Hizbullah is based on separate agreements Damascus signed with Moscow and Tehran on intelligence cooperation, the Haaretz report said, adding that the deal with Russia is much older than the one with Iran, which was signed earlier this year.
The intelligence cooperation agreement between Syria and Iran is part of a broader strategic cooperation accord that was achieved in November 2005 and confirmed during Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinjead's visit to Damascus in January 2006, Haaretz said.
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According to the Jane's report, in its agreement with Syria, Iran insisted that no Russian intelligence officers should be allowed access to the new listening posts, in spite of the long-standing deal between Damascus and Moscow.
The Russian Embassy in Beirut was not available for comment. A Hizbullah spokesperson said his party had no comment.
In another development, Hizbullah held a funeral on Tuesday for one of its Lebanese fighters, who was also an American citizen.
Radwan Saleh, 35, was killed in July during the early days of fighting. Hizbullah members found Saleh's body on Sunday in the village of Maroun al-Ras, one of the last areas Israeli troops left in line with a UN resolution to end the war.
His wife and four children, who live between Lebanon and the United States, flew in from the US for his funeral.
Hizbullah sources said that Saleh joined the resistance in 2000. He lived in California with his wife and children until 1998 before moving back to Lebanon. - Agencies
Full Version: Israeli minister says war may resume
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West Bank settlements grew during Lebanon war by Jean-Luc Renaudie
Tue Oct 3, 9:00 AM ET
With media attention focused on the Lebanon war, Israeli wildcat settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank have mushroomed in recent months, a watchdog group has said.
Some 31 outposts sprang up in the West Bank as work on developing infrastructure, access routes as well as the installation of new mobile homes has steamed ahead in violation of the internationally backed roadmap for peace, the anti-settlement Peace Now watchdog said Tuesday.
"In the past months, the government of Israel has continued to evade its responsibility to evacuate the unauthorized outposts in the West Bank," a report said.
"It appears that the summer of 2006, marked by the fighting in south Lebanon, provided a golden opportunity for the settlers to deepen their hold on the land without the media being available to cover it," it said.
In 12 illegal outposts, the construction of permanent homes has likewise continued without hindrance from the authorities, it said.
"The extremist settlers took advantage that attention was concentrated on the Lebanon war to entrench themselves," Dror Etkes, the author of the report, told AFP.
"The situation in Lebanon has likewise furnished the government with an alibi that it didn't need to proceed with the evacuation of wildcat outposts and to proceed with the development of other settlements," he said.
The report was slammed as "lies" by the main settler organization, the Settlers Council in Judea and Samaria, the biblical name by which the West Bank is called in Israel.
"This report is full of lies," Emily Amrussi, a spokeswoman for the group, told AFP. The report, which was published a day before US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due in Israel, was aimed "at creating a diplomatic crisis out of nothing."
Washington, Israel's main ally, has repeatedly called on the Jewish state to dismantle illegal outposts in the West Bank.
Amrussi also vehemently denied that settlers took advantage of the war in Lebanon, saying "it is mostly the settlement cemeteries that increased (during the offensive) with the death of 11 (settler) soldiers" out of a total 121 troops killed.
Separately, the nation's second-largest daily Maariv reported that, contrary to declared government policy, the army plans to guard all illegal outposts in 2007.
National Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told public radio that he was not aware of the outposts. "If that's the case, we have to react in the quickest possible manner and dismantle them, since their existence cannot but complicate things," he said.
During the first nine months of 2006, the government has invited bids for construction of 952 new units in illegal settlements, compared with 235 such bids solicited in the year-earlier period.
According to official data, there are 105 wildcat outposts in the occupied West Bank.
Under the terms of the roadmap, Israel was meant to freeze all settlement construction in the West Bank. The plan, however, has made no progress since its launch three years ago, and Israel says it will not be bound by its commitments until the Palestinians put a halt to attacks.
The number of Israelis living in the occupied West Bank, excluding annexed east Jerusalem, has increased by 2.7 percent to 260,042 during the past six months, according to statistics published by the interior ministry last month.
Israel dismantled all 21 settlements built in the Gaza Strip and withdrew all its troops and settlers from the territory in 2005.
In late June, however, troops were initially returned to the territory at the start of a prolonged offensive to stop militants firing rockets and recover a captured soldier. Israel also continues to hinder traffic in and out of Gaza.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France Presse.
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West Bank settlements grew during Lebanon war by Jean-Luc Renaudie
Tue Oct 3, 9:00 AM ET
With media attention focused on the Lebanon war, Israeli wildcat settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank have mushroomed in recent months, a watchdog group has said.
Some 31 outposts sprang up in the West Bank as work on developing infrastructure, access routes as well as the installation of new mobile homes has steamed ahead in violation of the internationally backed roadmap for peace, the anti-settlement Peace Now watchdog said Tuesday.
"In the past months, the government of Israel has continued to evade its responsibility to evacuate the unauthorized outposts in the West Bank," a report said.
"It appears that the summer of 2006, marked by the fighting in south Lebanon, provided a golden opportunity for the settlers to deepen their hold on the land without the media being available to cover it," it said.
In 12 illegal outposts, the construction of permanent homes has likewise continued without hindrance from the authorities, it said.
"The extremist settlers took advantage that attention was concentrated on the Lebanon war to entrench themselves," Dror Etkes, the author of the report, told AFP.
"The situation in Lebanon has likewise furnished the government with an alibi that it didn't need to proceed with the evacuation of wildcat outposts and to proceed with the development of other settlements," he said.
The report was slammed as "lies" by the main settler organization, the Settlers Council in Judea and Samaria, the biblical name by which the West Bank is called in Israel.
"This report is full of lies," Emily Amrussi, a spokeswoman for the group, told AFP. The report, which was published a day before US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due in Israel, was aimed "at creating a diplomatic crisis out of nothing."
Washington, Israel's main ally, has repeatedly called on the Jewish state to dismantle illegal outposts in the West Bank.
Amrussi also vehemently denied that settlers took advantage of the war in Lebanon, saying "it is mostly the settlement cemeteries that increased (during the offensive) with the death of 11 (settler) soldiers" out of a total 121 troops killed.
Separately, the nation's second-largest daily Maariv reported that, contrary to declared government policy, the army plans to guard all illegal outposts in 2007.
National Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told public radio that he was not aware of the outposts. "If that's the case, we have to react in the quickest possible manner and dismantle them, since their existence cannot but complicate things," he said.
During the first nine months of 2006, the government has invited bids for construction of 952 new units in illegal settlements, compared with 235 such bids solicited in the year-earlier period.
According to official data, there are 105 wildcat outposts in the occupied West Bank.
Under the terms of the roadmap, Israel was meant to freeze all settlement construction in the West Bank. The plan, however, has made no progress since its launch three years ago, and Israel says it will not be bound by its commitments until the Palestinians put a halt to attacks.
The number of Israelis living in the occupied West Bank, excluding annexed east Jerusalem, has increased by 2.7 percent to 260,042 during the past six months, according to statistics published by the interior ministry last month.
Israel dismantled all 21 settlements built in the Gaza Strip and withdrew all its troops and settlers from the territory in 2005.
In late June, however, troops were initially returned to the territory at the start of a prolonged offensive to stop militants firing rockets and recover a captured soldier. Israel also continues to hinder traffic in and out of Gaza.
Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AFP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of Agence France Presse.
Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
Questions or Comments
Privacy Policy -Terms of Service - Copyright/IP Policy - Ad Feedback
Olmert appoints right-wing deputy BBC News, Jerusalem
Israel's prime minister has signed a deal to bring right-wing politician Avigdor Lieberman into his coalition.
Political survival
But the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, has decided he needs to broaden his coalition in the wake of the debacle in Lebanon. Mr Lieberman will become one of several deputy prime ministers and he will also be the minister in charge of dealing with strategic threats. Avigdor Lieberman wins much of his support from Israel's big Russian community. He sees himself as a strongman, the sort of authoritarian leader he believes Israel needs. For the Israeli government, this will be a significant move to the right less than seven months after the general election seemed to strengthen the centre of Israeli politics. But there is no immediate sign this will bring a change of policy. The main focus for Ehud Olmert at the moment is just ensuring his political survival.
By Jon Leyne
Israel's prime minister has signed a deal to bring right-wing politician Avigdor Lieberman into his coalition.
Many see Lieberman's appointment as a government shift to the right
The deal is expected to be approved by the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, later this week. Mr Lieberman's inclusion in the Israeli government will be controversial. He advocates the transfer of some Arab towns out of the state of Israel. He also recently accused some Israeli Arabs of treason for speaking to Palestinian militant group, Hamas. One Israeli Arab leader has described Mr Lieberman's party as being "fascists".Political survival
But the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, has decided he needs to broaden his coalition in the wake of the debacle in Lebanon. Mr Lieberman will become one of several deputy prime ministers and he will also be the minister in charge of dealing with strategic threats. Avigdor Lieberman wins much of his support from Israel's big Russian community. He sees himself as a strongman, the sort of authoritarian leader he believes Israel needs. For the Israeli government, this will be a significant move to the right less than seven months after the general election seemed to strengthen the centre of Israeli politics. But there is no immediate sign this will bring a change of policy. The main focus for Ehud Olmert at the moment is just ensuring his political survival.
By Jon Leyne
Katsav 'should halt his duties' BBC News
Israel's president should halt public duties while allegations over sexual offences - including rape - are resolved, the attorney-general says.
'Public expectations'
"Given the special position of the head of state, who symbolises the sovereignty of the state, it is necessary that the president suspend himself during this affair, so that it reflects what public opinion expects from the institution of the presidency," Attorney General Menachem Mazuz was quoted as saying. He also suggested that if Mr Katsav failed to step aside, parliament should act as it is "the only body that can pronounce itself on the end of the president's mandate." There was no immediate comment from Mr Katsav's office. The father-of-five was elected for a seven-year term in 2000. He has rejected calls to quit. He has said he is the victim of a "public lynching without trial or investigation". Correspondents say that while Mr Mazuz's opinion does not mean the embattled president has to resign, it piles further pressure on him to do so.
Israel's president should halt public duties while allegations over sexual offences - including rape - are resolved, the attorney-general says.
Katsav says he is the victim of "public lynching"
His non-binding legal opinion follows a request from the supreme court. The government does not have the power to remove Mr Katsav, 60, from his largely ceremonial position. Mr Katsav has denied any wrongdoing and has vowed to clear his name. The allegations against him were made by a number of female employees. Two weeks ago, Israeli police said they had enough evidence to charge Mr Katsav with rape, wire-tapping and other crimes. The following day, he decided not to attend the opening of parliament. A final decision on whether to bring charges is expected in a matter of weeks.'Public expectations'
"Given the special position of the head of state, who symbolises the sovereignty of the state, it is necessary that the president suspend himself during this affair, so that it reflects what public opinion expects from the institution of the presidency," Attorney General Menachem Mazuz was quoted as saying. He also suggested that if Mr Katsav failed to step aside, parliament should act as it is "the only body that can pronounce itself on the end of the president's mandate." There was no immediate comment from Mr Katsav's office. The father-of-five was elected for a seven-year term in 2000. He has rejected calls to quit. He has said he is the victim of a "public lynching without trial or investigation". Correspondents say that while Mr Mazuz's opinion does not mean the embattled president has to resign, it piles further pressure on him to do so.
Sharon admitted to intensive care BBC News
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been moved to intensive care after developing an infection, the hospital treating him has said. Mr Sharon, 78, has been in a coma since suffering a major stroke in January. "Sharon contracted an infection that is affecting his heart and will receive intensive treatment to combat the infection," the hospital said. "At this point, his condition is stable," added the statement from the Sheba Medical Center, near Tel Aviv. Mr Sharon has not regained consciousness since undergoing brain surgery. His condition has fluctuated throughout the year. For several months Mr Sharon was treated by the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, where he was rushed for emergency treatment in January. After several operations on his brain, he was moved from Jerusalem's Hadassah hospital in May to a specialist centre for long-term care. He subsequently developed pneumonia, and has also undergone kidney dialysis.
Lengthy career
Mr Sharon was first elected to the Knesset in 1973 and held a number of cabinet positions before he became prime minister in 2001. A former army commander, as defence minister he masterminded Israel's disastrous invasion of Lebanon in 1982. He served as housing minister in the early 1990s, expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but as prime minister he forced through the 2005 withdrawal of settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip. But while prime minister, he went on to push through Israel's 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the northern West Bank, despite opposition from within his right-wing Likud party. He also presided over the building of the controversial West Bank barrier. Amid growing dissent, Mr Sharon left Likud in November last year to found a new party, Kadima (Forward), which scored a narrow win in the March parliamentary election under Mr Olmert.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been moved to intensive care after developing an infection, the hospital treating him has said. Mr Sharon, 78, has been in a coma since suffering a major stroke in January. "Sharon contracted an infection that is affecting his heart and will receive intensive treatment to combat the infection," the hospital said. "At this point, his condition is stable," added the statement from the Sheba Medical Center, near Tel Aviv. Mr Sharon has not regained consciousness since undergoing brain surgery. His condition has fluctuated throughout the year. For several months Mr Sharon was treated by the Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem, where he was rushed for emergency treatment in January. After several operations on his brain, he was moved from Jerusalem's Hadassah hospital in May to a specialist centre for long-term care. He subsequently developed pneumonia, and has also undergone kidney dialysis.
Lengthy career
Mr Sharon was first elected to the Knesset in 1973 and held a number of cabinet positions before he became prime minister in 2001. A former army commander, as defence minister he masterminded Israel's disastrous invasion of Lebanon in 1982. He served as housing minister in the early 1990s, expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but as prime minister he forced through the 2005 withdrawal of settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip. But while prime minister, he went on to push through Israel's 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the northern West Bank, despite opposition from within his right-wing Likud party. He also presided over the building of the controversial West Bank barrier. Amid growing dissent, Mr Sharon left Likud in November last year to found a new party, Kadima (Forward), which scored a narrow win in the March parliamentary election under Mr Olmert.
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