OLMERT

Middle East briefs

By JTA

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Police conduct raids in Olmert probes

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israeli police raided government offices as part of three probes against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Investigators from the fraud squad searched the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Jerusalem municipality, Israel Lands Administration, Postal Authority and several other premises Nov. 11 for potential evidence against Olmert.

Olmert is under criminal investigation for his allegedly discounted purchase of a Jerusalem home shortly after he stepped down as the city’s mayor. He is further accused of crony-ism and bid rigging during his term as industry and trade minister in the government of Ariel Sharon. Olmert has denied any wrongdoing. Accountant General Yaron Zelekha, who made a name for himself as Israel’s anti-corruption watchdog by calling for the prime minister to be investigated, announced he would be stepping down. Zelekha said he was resigning as his job was done, but Israeli pundits noted that his tenure at the finance ministry had not been renewed.

Annapolis dates unclear

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel and U.S. sources are offering conflicting dates for this month’s peace summit in Annapolis. Jerusalem sources said on Nov. 12 that the U.S.-hosted Israeli-Palestinian peace conference will take place Nov. 27 and be held over one day.U.S. sources are saying the conference in the Maryland capital will be Nov. 26. Expectations had been that the conference would last two or three days.

The shorter scheduling provided by the Jerusalem sources suggests that there will not be extensive talks on the prospects for Palestinian statehood. Further lowering expectations, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that at Annapolis he would seek to lay the groundwork for future peace negotiations with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.”It is a meeting; it is not a negotiating session,” Olmert told his parliamentary faction. “But it is a certainly a meeting intended to provide an opportunity for generating a diplomatic process between us and the Palestinians.”

Hamas rounds up Fatah activists

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Hamas paramilitary police rounded up scores of Fatah activists in the Gaza Strip. The Nov. 13 detentions followed violence at a Fatah rally in Gaza the day before in which six Palestinians were killed, the worst single incident of interfactional bloodshed since the sides fought a brief civil war in June. Hamas, which controls Gaza, put the number of those detained at approximately 50 and said they were suspected of sedition. Fatah said about 400 people were rounded up and accused Hamas of trying to cement its rule by fear.

Israel, P.A. to form industrial zone

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel and the Palestinian Authority agreed to set up a new joint industrial zone. Israeli President Shimon Peres and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas signed an agreement Nov. 13 under which a joint industrial zone will be created in Tarkumiya, on the West Bank’s boundary with the Jewish state.The signing ceremony in Ankara was hosted by Turkish President Abdullah Gul. Peres has long championed economic cooperation as the best way to bring together Israelis and Palestinians. A joint industrial zone in Erez, on the Gaza-Israel boundary, became largely defunct after Hamas Islamists came to power in the Palestinian Authority last year.

Palestinians resist recognition demand

JERUSALEM (JTA)—The Palestinian Authority took issue with an Israeli demand that it recognize Israel as a Jewish state. Saeb Erekat, a top Palestinian Authority negotiator, came out Nov. 12 against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s demand that Israel’s constitutional makeup as a nation-state be recognized so peace talks can progress. “It is not acceptable for a country to link its national character to a specific religion,” Erekat said in remarks
carried by Israel Radio. “Besides, 20 percent of Israel’s population is Palestinian,” Erekat added, alluding to Israeli Arabs. Jerusalem officials said Israel sees the two-state peace formula as predicated on Israel being recognized as a Jewish state and the future Palestine as a Palestinian state. Erekat’s remarks looked likely to add to disputes that have overshadowed preparations for the upcoming Israeli-Palestinian peace conference in Annapolis, Md.

Hamas threatens West Bank takeover

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Hamas says it will take over the West Bank if Israel evacuates. In a statement that contradicts that of the Palestinian prime minister, Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar said Nov. 9 that Hamas would take over the West Bank as it did Gaza if Israel moves out, according to a report on Army Radio cited by the Jerusalem Post. The comments contradict those of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, who said his group has no intention of repeating the Gaza takeover in the West Bank.

Hamas notes Shalit talks

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Hamas announced the resumption of indirect negotiations with Israel on the return of a soldier held in the Gaza Strip.Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said in an interview published Nov. 13 that Egyptian mediators who quit Gaza during interfactional fighting there in June have returned, allowing for a resumption of negotiations with Israel about Sgt. Gilad Shalit. Shalit was abducted to Gaza in a June 2006 cross-border raid led by Hamas. The dominant Palestinian Islamist group has demanded that Israel free hundreds of security prisoners in exchange for Shalit, but the Olmert government has long balked at the asymmetry of the proposed swap. Speaking to Kuwait’s Al-Jarida newspaper, Abu Zuhri said Israel has submitted new proposals for an exchange but did not provide details. Israeli officials had no immediate comment on the report.

Dimona security tighter

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel stepped up security measures at its main nuclear reactor in Dimona. Military officials told Israeli television that new anti-aircraft batteries have been stationed around the Dimona reactor due to heightened security alerts. According to Britain’s Nov. 11 Telegraph, the precautions come amid concern that Syria could retaliate for Israel’s airstrike on its territory in September with an attack on Dimona. Israeli warplanes are widely assumed to have bombed a nascent Syrian nuclear reactor.

Israeli military chief at NATO summit

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel’s top general is attending a NATO summit.Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, commander of Israel’s armed forces, flew to Brussels Nov. 13 for a two-day convention of international military chiefs at NATO headquarters.Israel has only a limited partnership with NATO under a “Mediterranean Dialogue” program initiated in 1994. But the looming threat of a nuclear-armed Iran has raised calls in Israel for a fuller defense pact with the Western-oriented alliance.