Middle East briefs

By JTA

Gates backs Israeli nukes

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Robert Gates defended Israel’s nuclear program. The U.S. defense secretary was asked during a Bahrain conference Dec. 8 whether he believes that Israel’s nuclear program threatens Middle East stability.

He answered, “No, I do not.” He added, “Israel is not training terrorists to subvert its neighbors. It has not shipped weapons into a place like Iraq to kill thousands of innocent civilians covertly,” alluding to Iranian actions. “It has not threatened to destroy any of its neighbors. It is not trying to destabilize the government of Lebanon.”

Israeli forces raid Rafah

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israeli forces launched a major raid in the southern Gaza Strip. At least three local gunmen were killed and four Israeli soldiers were wounded in clashes early on Dec. 11 after troops backed by dozens of tanks and helicopter gunships fanned out around Rafah. The town on Gaza’s border with Egypt sees regular arms smuggling by Palestinian terrorist groups. Palestinians said it was the biggest Israeli raid on Rafah in two years.

Bush to visit Israel, P.A.

JERUSALEM (JTA)—President Bush will likely visit Israel and the Palestinian Authority Jan. 9-11. Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat provided the dates on Voice of Palestine radio Dec. 8. The trip would be the first for Bush as U.S. president. Bush is expected to encourage Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas to follow up the Annapolis peace conference with serious negotiations. Some have speculated also that Bush’s visit is timed to show solidarity with Israel after a U.S. intelligence report claimed that Iran froze its nuclear weapons program in 2003, a view disputed by Jerusalem.

Iran report disputed

JERUSALEM (JTA)—An Iranian dissident group is disputing U.S. intelligence that Iran shelved its nuclear weapons program in 2003. The National Council of Resistance of Iran, an exiled opposition group, said Dec. 11 that the Dec. 3 intelligence report from the United States on Tehran’s atomic ambitions appeared to have drawn on false information. “We announce vehemently that the clerical regime is currently continuing its drive to obtain nuclear weapons,” said council spokesman Mohammad Mohaddessin. The resistance council, which in the past has provided reliable information on Iran’s secret nuclear program, said its current assertions were based on sources within the Islamic Republic.

Palestinians expand rocket range from Gaza

JERUSALEM (JTA)—A quarter-million Israelis will be in range of Palestinian rockets next year, according to intelligence assessments. Ma’ariv quoted Israeli military intelligence Dec. 10 as saying that in 2008 Palestinian terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip will have expanded the range of their rockets to as much as eight miles. Among potential targets is Ashkelon, a coastal city with a major electricity plant. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has resisted calls to fortify homes in Israeli towns and villages around Gaza, a project that would cost some $1.3 billion, saying it would project weakness. Israel also has held off on invading Gaza to crush Palestinian rocket crews. According to Ma’ariv, contributing to the holdup has been the concern that Hamas could harm an Israeli soldier it is holding captive, Sgt. Gilad Shalit.

Sderot hit again

SDEROT—The Arutz Sheva news service reported Dec. 12 that the mayor of the beleaguered Israeli city of Sderot announced his resignation after a barrage of 18 Kassam rockets struck the city that day. Three people reportedly were wounded while several others were treated for shock. Arutz Sheva said Mayor Eli Moyal’s  resignation “was spurred on by the (Israeli) security cabinet’s decision just beforehand not to carry out a major offensive in Gaza to halt the Kassam rockets fired by Hamas terrorists.” Moyal has been the mayor of Sderot for just over nine years, and the city has been battered by an estimated 6,300 rockets over the past six years.

Settlers reject move

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Most Israeli settlers living east of the West Bank security fence do not want to relocate, a poll found. Left-wing Israeli lawmakers tabled legislation that would offer residents of 18 settlements located east of the fence as compensation if they moved voluntarily, but a Ma’ariv survey indicated there is little interest in the initiative. Eighty-four percent of settlers said they would not relocate in exchange for compensation equivalent to the value of their homes, while 11 percent said they would and 5 percent were undecided. Asked if they would move in exchange for compensation equivalent to double the value of their homes, 76 percent said no, 17 percent said yes and 7 percent were undecided.    

Adm. Mullen in Israel

JERUSALEM (JTA)—The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen arrived in Tel Aviv on Dec. 10 for a 24-hour visit aimed at showing solidarity in the face of Iran’s nuclear program and other regional threats. Mullen met Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and attended top-secret intelligence briefings. Israel and the United States have found themselves at odds over Iran since an intelligence assessment published by Washington Dec. 3 claimed that Tehran shelved its military nuclear program in 2003. Israel believes an Iranian bomb is imminent.

Great find in Silwan

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israeli archaeologists uncovered a mansion believed to be the 2,000-year-old home of a queen. Diggers at the site in the Silwan neighborhood of Jerusalem unearthed remains of a building including storerooms, living quarters and ritual baths. The home is believed to be that of Queen Helene of Adiabene, whose clan ruled a region now in northern Iraq. The find, until recently buried under a parking lot, is by far the largest and most elaborate structure discovered by archaeologists in the area.

Two-shekel coin new

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel introduced a two-shekel coin. The coin, which is about the size of an American nickel, came off the Bank of Israel’s mint Dec. 9 as part of a drive to reduce transaction costs incurred to businesses by having to handle large amounts of one-shekel coins. The two-shekel coin has a picture of a pomegranate flanked by two cornucopias, a symbol used on currency during the reign of the Hasmonean King John Hyrcanus in the second century B.C.E.

Olmert decries anti-Ethiopian racism

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Ehud Olmert decried racism experienced by Ethiopian immigrants in Israel. The Israeli prime minister opened his Dec. 9 Cabinet meeting with grave remarks in response to a newspaper expose about a religious school in Petach Tikvah where girls of Ethiopian descent are segregated from their peers. Olmert described “a feeling of general hardship on the part of Ethiopian children and the community as a whole within Israeli society.” Petach Tikvah authorities said the school segregation was prompted by differences between the religious upbringing of the Ethiopian girls and the others.
   
Britain pledges $500 million to P.A. for peace

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Britain pledged to give the Palestinian Authority $500 million in aid if it makes peace with Israel. Douglas Alexander, the British secretary of state for international development, said Dec. 10 that his government would pledge $500 million over three years if positive results come out of the Annapolis conference. Alexander met with P.A. President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli officials in separate meetings. His offer came days before a Paris donor meeting on Dec. 17 to raise $5.5 billion over three years to help the Palestinians as negotiations over a state progress. A

Help for Israelis applying to U.S. colleges

JERUSALEM (JTA)—A new initiative will make it easier for Israelis to apply to universities in America. The special on-line portal is a project of the Tel Aviv Embassy’s U.S. Commercial Service, in conjunction with the Israeli Fulbright program, the Jerusalem Post reported. The portal will be launched at the end of December at an event hosted by U.S. Ambassador Richard Jones. About 3,500 Israeli students are currently studying in the United States, more than half in graduate programs. Providing higher education to foreign students is a big money-maker for the United States, about $13 billion a year.
     
‘Green’ Israel touted in San Francisco

JERUSALEM (JTA)San Francisco will see the “green” face of Israel on posters. BlueStarPR, a public relations firm based in the city, has plastered the downtown area with posters declaring, “Who makes the greenest energy? Israel.” Founder Jonathan Carey says this marks the start of a new ad campaign for his 4-year-old firm, which promotes Israel in a city that is not always friendly to the Jewish state. “From the start, our PR goal has been to use issues that people already care about, like women, the LGBT community and the environment, and relate that to Israel,” Carey said.
Sixteen large posters are now hanging at bus stops and high-density shopping locations in San Francisco. A second poster focusing on Israel’s solar technology as a way of helping America reduce its dependence on foreign oil will go up shortly, Carey said. That poster notes that Israeli solar power plants in Southern California already produce 90 percent of the world’s solar thermal power. Previous ad campaigns have focused on Israel as a diverse, open and democratic country where gays serve openly in the military and Arab women have the right to vote, among other things. The campaigns, which take place largely in the San Francisco Bay Area, involve posters and billboards, as well as handouts on college campuses and videos on YouTube.

British Midland to fly to Israel

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Britain’s second-largest airline will begin flights to Israel next year. British Midland announced it would begin a daily flight between London’s Heathrow Airport and Ben Gurion Airport in March. British Airways and El Al already offer several London-Tel Aviv flights a day. Since last month, Britain’s low-budget carrier Thomson has been offering flights three times a week to Ben Gurion from Luton Airport.

Gore book available in Hebrew

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Al Gore’s book “An Inconvenient Truth” is now available in Hebrew. The Hebrew version of the former U.S. vice president’s celebrated global-warming manifesto came out in Israel on Dec. 10, hours before he was scheduled to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. The book uses recycled paper and dye from vegetable extracts, a first for Israeli publishing. Gore is expected to visit Israel next year for a conference on the environment convened by President Shimon Peres.
   
Mekel named foreign ministry spokesman

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Arye Mekel has been appointed spokesman for Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Mekel most recently served three years as the consul general in New York. At the foreign ministry he replaces Mark Regev, who was named recently as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s foreign press and public affairs adviser.
   
Shin Bet eyes recruits with new Web site

JERUSALEM (JTA)—The Shin Bet revamped its Web site. The mid-December overhaul appeared to be a bid to draw potential recruits to Israel’s internal security service. The site www.shabak.gov.il, which was launched two years ago, now features dramatic testimonials by Shin Bet operatives about thwarted Palestinian terrorist attacks, historical footage of the agency’s operations and press statements. English- and Arabic-language pages are under construction.

Security sources said the Shin Bet, Israel’s equivalent of the American FBI or British MI-5, is keen to broaden its recruit pool given intense competition from private high-tech firms. The shadowy intelligence agency, which until recently did not even reveal the name of its director, has felt some pressure to establish a more public profile following revelations on the broad scope of its involvement in controversial practices like wiretapping.
   
Olmert cousin in Australian Cabinet

JERUSALEM (JTA)—A relative of the Israeli prime minister has been appointed a secretary to the Cabinet of the new Australian government. Col. Mike Kelly, who is married to Ehud Olmert’s cousin, was appointed parliamentary secretary for defense by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Rudd was elected Nov. 24, ousting John Howard after 11 years of conservative rule. Kelly served in Iraq but supported Labor’s policy to withdraw Australia’s small contingent of troops from the war-torn country.

Boim rebuffs Rice on Har Homa

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel’s construction and housing minister rebuffed U.S. criticism of a plan to build new homes in an eastern Jerusalem neighborhood. Ze’ev Boim issued a tersely worded statement Dec. 8 after U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the planned construction of 300 new residential units in Har Homa “doesn’t help to build confidence” that Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, revived at the Annapolis conference, have a future. “Secretary of State Rice should be congratulated for her efforts in relaunching the peace process,” Boim said. “But this cannot constantly be linked to the cessation of construction in Jerusalem. “Har Homa is within Jerusalem’s municipal borders, where Israeli law applies,” Boim added.

High Court: Lesbian couple both mothers

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled that the interior ministry must recognize two women as the mother of a child. One member of the lesbian couple is the child’s biological mother; the other adopted the child in San Francisco. The nine-member High Court panel upheld a court order from 2000, which ordered the interior ministry to recognize both women as the mother of the child, who is now 11. Same-sex families have no legal standing in Israel.
   
Israel firm on Iran estimates

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israel stood firm in its estimate that Iran could procure nuclear weapons by 2010. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert convened his Security Cabinet on Dec. 9 to discuss a U.S. intelligence report that reported Iran had frozen its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and could be as much as eight years away from producing enough highly enriched uranium for a bomb. Olmert said there was no change to Israel’s assessment that Iran could be as little as two years away from making a bomb and that his government would press the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency to expose Tehran’s plans.
   
Israel keeps up pressure on Iran

JERUSALEM (JTA)—Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni said she has no doubt Iran is still pursuing nuclear arms. In Brussels on Dec. 7 for a meeting with NATO officials, Livni said Iran is close to crossing a technological threshold that will allow it to produce nuclear weapons without help from outside sources. “The time to reach a decision is near,” she said, according to reports. Livni was in Europe to rally leaders there to keep up pressure on Iran despite the release earlier of a National Intelligence Estimate by the United States that found Iran halted its nuclear program in 2003. Israel says Iran is still working toward acquiring atomic weapons.