DE UPDATES VAN GPL… HET MIDDEN-OOSTEN VAN. 27 MEI…. Nr 114

DE SPRONGEN VAN DE ECONOMIE VAN ISRAËL, DE DUIKEN VAN DE DOLLAR: door Hillel Fendel
Israel’ s het Bruto binnenlands product (het BBP) groeide door een op jaarbasis berekende 5.4% in het eerste trimester, aangezien de dollar tegen shekel blijft vallen, die nu een internationaal erkende munt is. De centrale Dienst van Statistieken meldde verder deze week dat het bedrijfsproduct met 6.1% in het eerste trimester van dit jaar toenam. Ondertussen, vanaf deze week, Israëlische is shekel internationaal wettelijke offerte geworden, nu Israël tot een officieel lid van het internationale CLS (ononderbroken verbonden regeling) ophelderingssysteem is gemaakt. Israëlische shekels kunnen nu in overzee handel op markten worden gebruikt, banken de wereld over shekels in andere munten kan omzetten, en de Israëlische bedrijven en de firma's kunnen betalingen in shekels of door controle of bankoverdracht aan hun customers’ regelen; rekeningen overzee.

DE RAKETTEN VAN GAZA KUNNEN ISRAEL’ BEREIKEN; S VIJFDE GROOTSTE STAD: door Nissan ratzlav-Katz
Het hoofd van de Algemene Diensten van de Veiligheid (Shabak), Yuval Diskin, vertelde het kabinet op Zondag 25 Mei dat de Palestijnse terroristen van de Instantie in Gaza reeds uitgerust met raketten geschikt om de haven van Ashdod en Kiryat Gat te raken zijn. Volgens Diskin, moet de vijand in Gaza onmiddellijk worden verslagen als een grotere escalatie moet worden vermeden.
IRAANSE SPION DIE IN ISRAËL WORDT GEVANGEN: door Hana Levi Julian
Een Iraans-Geboren Israëlische burger werd gearresteerd bij de Internationale Luchthaven van Ben Gurion op 8 Mei op lasten van het spioneren voor de Islamitische Republiek, volgens een aanklacht die in Tel Aviv Magistrate’ wordt ingediend; s Hof. Volgens hofdocumenten, kwam de naamloze man overeen om Iraanse intelligentie van informatie te voorzien over Israel’ s veiligheidsonderneming. Hij is belast met het contacteren van een buitenlandse agent, het aflossen van informatie aan een vijandelijke staat, diefstal en frauduleus het verkrijgen van goederen.

DE TWEEDE STEENGROEVE VAN DE PERIODE VAN DE TEMPEL ONTDEKTE: door Shauna Naghi
Dr. Gerald Finkelstein, die nieuwe archeologisch leidt graaft in Jeruzalem, eist om de eigenlijke steengroeve ontdekt te hebben die stenen leverde die duizenden jaren geleden worden gebruikt om Jerusalem’ te bouwen; s Westelijke Muur, die ook als Kotel wordt bekend. Het aardewerk van de periode Herodian door de vernietiging van de Tweede Tempel werd gevonden bij de uitgravingsplaats. Deze vondsten, die met het type van steen in paren worden gerangschikt, stelden verder quarry’ voor; s de verbinding aan de bouw van de ondersteunende muren die de Tempel omringen zet, met inbegrip van Kotel op.

HIZBULLAH WENDT SCHOK EN AWE IN BEIROET AAN: VERLIEST 12 VECHTERS: - Borzou Daragahi (de Tijden van Los Angeles)
In its takeover of West Beirut earlier this month, Hizbullah employed the tactic of “shock and awe,” using tremendous and disproportionate firepower to quickly subdue the enemy. Hizbullah quickly went after its enemy’s media outlets, snipping key cables at Hariri’s television station to keep it off the air for at least a few days. But the conflict also revealed Hizbullah’s limits. Going after the more hardened and more motivated fighters in the Druze mountain villages proved a disaster, and Hizbullah lost a dozen fighters without gaining any territory.

LEBANON PRESIDENT PRAISES HIZBULLAH’S FIGHT AGAINST ISRAEL:
Gen. Michel Suleiman, 59, speaking after being elected president of Lebanon Sunday, praised Hizbullah’s fight against Israel. He also said he would seek friendly relations with Syria, Lebanon’s former powerbroker which backs the opposition. (Telegraph-UK)

HAMAS “VERY DISTURBED” OVER SYRIAN-ISRAELI PEACE TALKS: - Khaled Abu Toameh
Hamas leaders in Syria were “extremely disturbed” when they heard about the Israeli-Syrian negotiations, Hamas representatives in Gaza said over the weekend. “Hamas is unhappy with the latest developments on the Israeli-Syrian track,” said a Hamas official. A report on May 26 says that Iranian leaders appear to have overcome their initial ’shock’ at last week’s announced renewal of Israeli-Syrian peace talks, with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad expressing his certainty that Damascus would continue its traditional anti-Israel stand and honor its ’strategic alliance’ with Tehran

‘JERUSALEM OFFERS 91 % OF WEST BANK’ :
Abbas says Olmert probes, US elections distracting from talks
According to Palestinian officials close to the peace negotiations, Israel has presented a revised map showing a proposed withdrawal from all but 8.5 percent of the West Bank, offering a larger land concession than an earlier map but still less than what the Palestinians are demanding.

EX-PRESIDENT CARTER…..ISRAEL HAS 150 NUCLEAR WEAPO NS:
Already angered by Jimmy Carter’s meeting with exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Damascus one month ago, Israeli officials are now upset with the former US President for telling the London Times that Israel has 150 nuclear weapons. Carter alluded to Israel’s assumed nuclear weapons arsenal as evidence that it will be nearly impossible for Iran to make nuclear weapons undetected.

TALANSKY TESTIFIES: OLMERT REQUESTED CASH: by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
American Jewish philanthropist and businessman Moshe Talansky testified before the Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday May 27, that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert requested contributions in the form of cash to his various political campaigns.

SERIOUS CONTACTS WITH HIZBULLAH FOR CAPTIVES RETURN: By Hillel Fendel
A deal for the two IDF soldiers taken captive by the Lebanon-based Hizbullah terrorist organization nearly two years ago is closer than ever. No sign that they are alive has ever been received, yet Hizbullah child-murderer Samir Kuntar is likely to be among those released in exchange for the two. This ‘brave’ Moslem, Samir Kuntar, was convicted of the brutal 1979 killing of a four-year-old Israeli girl and her father in an attack in Nahariya. He first shot the man as his daughter watched, and then murdered her by smashing her head with his rifle butt. Police officer Eliyahu Shachar was also murdered in the attack. Kuntar vows that if released he will return to terrorism immediately!

MK ELDAD: DEATH PENALTY FOR GOLAN LAND CONCESSIONS: by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
Quoting from Israel’s criminal legislation at a meeting of the Knesset Golan Lobby on Monday May 26, Knesset Member Aryeh Eldad (National Union-National Religious Party) said that relinquishing territory to Syria is a crime that entails the death penalty. He read part of the Israeli law….Section B: Treason 97 (b). A person who, with intent that any area be withdrawn from the sovereignty of the state or placed under the sovereignty of a foreign state, commits an act that has the potential to bring this about is liable to life imprisonment or the death penalty… More than 70 out of the 120 Knesset Members oppose withdrawal from the Golan Heights. Among the Israeli public, Katz claimed, 70% oppose concessions on the Golan.

HAMAS LEADER: WE WILL NEVER RECOGNISE ISRAEL: (Tehran Times-Iran)
Hamas political chief Khalid Mashaal told a conference at Tehran University on “The Decline of the Zionist Regime” that “We will never recognize Israel.” “When the United States cannot even defend its own troops in Iraq, how does it propose to protect the Israeli regime from collapse?” he added

PA DAILY: ARABS CAUSED THE REFUGEE PROBLEM: - Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook (Palestinian Media Watch)
The Arabs who became refugees in 1948 were not expelled by Israel but left on their own to facilitate the destruction of Israel, according to a senior Palestinian journalist writing in a Palestinian daily. Jawad al-Bashiti wrote in Al-Ayyam on May 13, 2008: “The Arab Salvation Army came and told the Palestinians: ‘We have come to you in order to liquidate the Zionists and their state. Leave your houses and villages, you will return to them in a few days safely. Leave them so we can fulfill our mission (destroy Israel) in the best way and so you won’t be hurt.”

SHEKEL GOES INTERNATIONAL: - Tal Levy (Ha’aretz)
The Bank of Israel announced Sunday May 25 that the shekel has joined the international clearing system and can be converted to any of 16 major currencies.

“IRAN PAID INSURGENTS TO KILL UK SOLDIERS” : - Sean Rayment
Iran has secretly paid Iraqi insurgents hundreds of thousands of American dollars to kill British soldiers, according to a leaked government document. Jaish al-Mahdi (JAM) Twenty-seven soldiers died and dozens were seriously injured in southern Iraq between November 2006 and May 2007, the period covered in a report.

IDF CONSIDERING BUFFER ZONE FOR GAZA: - Yaakov Katz and Khaled Abu Toameh
The IDF is planning to move the Gaza crossings several kilometers deeper into Israel and away from the border, defense officials said Monday May 26. There are currently four crossings into Gaza - Karni, Erez, Kerem Shalom, and Sufa. “We want to create a sterile area between the crossings that would reduce the risk of car bombs and other attacks against the crossings,” said a defense official working on the project. (Jerusalem Post)

KNESSET MOVES TO BLOCK GOLAN GIVEAWAY: Knesset moves to block Golan giveaway
A majority 61 Knesset members have signed onto a bill this week that would require the approval from two-thirds of the Israeli parliament (80 MKs) for the government to cede any part of the Golan Heights in a peace deal with Syria. The signers come from across the political spectrum

AMERICAN SAYS OLMERT TOOK ENVELOPES OF CASH: (By Griff Witte, The Washington Post)
An American businessman at the center of a corruption probe targeting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert testified Tuesday May 25 that he had repeatedly given Olmert cash-stuffed envelopes and that he believed some of the money was used to fund Olmert’s taste for lavish living.

BARAK CALLS ON OLMERT TO STEP ASIDE: by Hillel Fendel
Defense Minister Ehud Barak dramatically called on May 28, for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to remove himself from office. Barak heads Labor, the government coalition’s second-largest party. His announcement followed a long meeting between Olmert and Barak, called by the Prime Minister. Barak said that if Olmert does not step down, “we will act to advance the elections.” He did not specify a date, and said, “We are not standing with a stop-watch, but it should happen very soon.”

IDF STRIKE KILLS 2 ROCKET LAUNCHING TERRORISTS: by Ezra HaLevi
An IDF air strike killed two Hamas terrorists Wednesday morning May 28, following fierce gun battles in southern Gaza. Earlier in the morning, at least 14 mortar shells were fired at soldiers operating in Gaza, near the Sufa Crossing. IDF Shaked and Givati Brigade soldiers, backed by tanks and helicopters, searched the area for terrorists and weapons. The soldiers reportedly made 15 arrests among local Arab terrorists. Once IDF troops on location identified the source of the mortar fire, an air strike targeted the source, killing the two Hamas terrorists. A second air strike an hour later hit another rocket launching cell preparing to fire mortar shells, wounding six.

THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION STACKED AGAINST ISRAEL: by Ezra HaLevi
In elections held last week at the UN, Islamic nations increased their hold in the Human Rights Council.
“The Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) increased its grip on the UN Human Rights Council,” reported Eye on the UN, a watchdog group that monitors the democratic nature and adherence to its mandate of the international body. “By electing Pakistan, Bahrain, Burkina Faso and Gabon, the OIC won an increased majority of seats in the African and the Asian regional groups taken together, which account for over half of the Council membership.” Only 22 of 47 of Council members are now fully free democratic states,” . “Human rights abusers will therefore continue to dominate the UN’s primary human rights body.”

LIVNI OPENS KADIMA REBELLION AGAINST DEFIANT OLMERT:
Knesset appears headed to early elections
Seriously wounded this week by testimony in the Talansky affair, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is vowing to stay in office, but the Knesset is already discussing whether to replace the tarnished premier with another Kadima minister or go to new elections.

USA: HIDDEN NUCLEAR SITES IN SYRIA:
The Bush administration is concerned that Syria’s covert nuclear program extends beyond the reactor built with North Korean assistance that Israel reportedly destroyed last September. The US is currently appealing to the United Nations to send inspectors to search for at least three suspected nuclear facilities hidden in Syria.

JERUSALEM BECOMING WORLD-CLASS BIO-TECHNOLOGY CENTRE: by Hillel Fendel
Ron Tuttnauer, Chairman of the Manufacturers Association in the Jerusalem District, says that Jerusalem is quickly becoming a world-class center for bio-technology. Tuttnauer predicted that the forecasted arrival of two leading bio-technological companies would increase the number of employees in this field to 4,000 within five years, making Jerusalem a world center

EGYPTIAN’S BID FOR UN POST IN DOUBT AFTER CALL TO BURN ISRAELI BOOKS:- Benny Avni
UN diplomats said Egyptian Culture Minister Farouk Hosni’s candidacy to become director-general of UNESCO may now be doomed, after he told the Egyptian parliament that if any Israeli books were found in Egyptian libraries, he would burn them. Simon Wiesenthal Center, Shimon Samuels, said in a letter. “An aspirant book-burner, who threatens to wield culture as a weapon, cannot head the intellectual arm of the United Nations.”

OLMERT CONSIDERING KADIMA PRIMARIES AS A ‘GRACEFUL EXIT’ :
PM’s response to leadership challenge could come on Sunday
Recognizing that his political career has suffered irreparable damage in the Talansky affair, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is considering accepting a proposal by senior Kadima ministers that would allow the party to prepare for early elections while he leaves office in a dignified manner, sources close to Olmert said on Thursday May 29.

ISRAEL THE WORLD’S FOURTH LARGEST DEFENCE EXPORTER: (AP/Ha’aretz)
Yossi Ben-Hannan, chief of export sales at the Defense Ministry, said Thursday May 29, that Israeli defense manufacturers have signed overseas sales contracts worth around $10 billion over the past two years, with the U.S. and India as the biggest clients. Israel said last year that with $4.3 billion in sales in 2007 it had become the world’s fourth largest defense exporter, behind the U.S., Russia and France and ahead of Britain. Ben-Hannan said every billion dollars in new contracts creates another 20,000 jobs. Israel exports mostly radar systems, drones and anti-tank missiles.

ISRAEL’S ECONOMY GROWS BY 5.4 %: (Reuters)
Israel’s economy is showing little sign of slowing despite a global downturn, growing at an annualized rate of 5.4% in the first quarter in 2008, the Central Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday May 25. The economy grew at a 5.8% rate in the fourth quarter and 5.3% for all of 2007.