GPL MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM . JULY 26 NO 125

OLMERT MAY QUIT AND NAME MOFAZ AS PM TO WEAKEN LIVNI : : by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is considering suspending himself and naming Transportation and Road Safety Minister Shaul Mofaz (Kadima) to replace him, Israeli media reported Saturday night July 26. Taking the action before Kadima’s September leadership primaries would diminish the chances of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in her bid to become the next Prime Minister

LAEST PA LIBEL EXPOSED :”ISRAEL DESPATCHES ANTI-ARAB RATS”: by Hillel Fendel
Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) reports that two Arab newspapers in the Palestinian Authority are accusing Israelis of unleashing bands of rats against Jerusalem’s Arab population. According to the PA papers, the Israeli-Jerusalem rat is: 1. Immune to rat poison 2. Aggressive and larger than usual 3. Unafraid of cats and able to scare them away 4. Highly fertile, with females giving birth to 140 young rats a year, four times the normal average 5. Highly selective, as Jewish residents of Jerusalem apparently are not affected by these rats. “Creating libels against Israel,” PMW reports, “is a pivotal aspect of the Palestinian Authority’s incitement to hatred against Israel and Jews.”

DIMONA TERROR CELL, EX-INMATES OF ISRAELI PRISONS LIQUIDATED : by Hillel Fendel
IDF soldiers killed the mastermind behind a suicide terrorist attack in which a Dimona woman was killed in February. The two suicide terrorists and their dispatcher had all been jailed in Israel - and released - for terrorist activity in the past. The IDF spokesman’s office reported that Border Guard Police, Shin Bet (security service) and special IDF Yamam forces surrounded the house, and demanded that he give himself up. He refused to do so, and instead, shots were fired from inside. Explosions could also be heard from inside the house, believed to be from bombs stored there. After an extended gun battle, an army bulldozer arrived and flattened the house, crushing the Hamas terrorist in the rubble.

ISRAEL: AHMADINEJAD BLUFFING ON NUMBER OF CENTIFUGES : by Ze’ev Ben-Yechiel
The Iranian President’s weekend announcement that his country has 6,000 centrifuges working to enrich uranium has been called a bluff by an Israeli official. The official, who is responsible for monitoring Iran’s nuclear development program, says that Ahmadinejad was probably lying when he claimed that number.

HAMAS CRACKDOWN ON FATAH IN GAZA AFTER BLAST KILLS 6 : : by Gil Ronen
Tensions between Fatah and Hamas are running high in the aftermath of a blast near a Gaza beach on Friday July 25, that killed five Hamas gunmen inside a car and a 6-year-old girl standing nearby. According to one report, the bomb was planted near parking places which usually serve the Hamas police. The dead terrorists were in their late 20s and early 30s, and were veteran members of the Hamas terror group.

OLMERT ADMITS PEACE DEAL WITH PA UNLIKELY IN 2008 :
FM Livni resists US push for document by UNGA in September
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday July 28, that it is unlikely a peace deal will be achieved with the Palestinian Authority by the end of 2008.

DISKIN WARNS EAST JERUSALEM IS HAMAS BREEDING GROUND :
House demolitionss and deporting to West Bank not enough to deter terror
Yuval Diskin, head of the Shin Bet security agency, warned the Israeli cabinet at its weekly meeting on July 27, that Hamas is quickly taking over east Jerusalem neighborhoods on the “other side” of the security barrier, making security throughout the West Bank much more “problematic.”

McCAIN PLEDGES TO MOVE U.S. EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM :
US Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain said on Friday July 25,he will promptly move the US embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv if elected president.

SYRIAN AMBASSADOR : ‘LET’S END THE STATE OF WAR’ :
Israel’s Army Radio aired a recorded statement on Monday July 28, of Syrian Ambassador Imad Mustafa, a close confidant to President Bashar Assad, telling Americans for Peace Now, “Here’s the grand thing on offer [to Israel]: Let us sit together, let us make peace, let us end once and for all the state of war.” But Mustafa stressed that peace between Syria and Israel will only take place once Israel commits to ceding the Golan Heights, reported The Jerusalem Post.

ISRAEL FEARS EUROPEAN SHIP MAY SAIL TO GAZA TO ‘BREAK SEIGE’ :
Israel is concerned about reported plans by left-wing activists from Europe to set sail on a ship from Cyprus to Gaza on August 5 in an effort to ‘break the Israeli siege’ on the crowded coastal Strip. The activists will reportedly include three members of the European Parliament, a Holocaust survivor, and a number of Palestinian refugees attempting to ‘return to Palestine.’ The Carter Center, headed by former American President Jimmy Carter, and South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu are sponsoring the trip, designed to create negative publicity against Israel.

A THIRD OF BRITISH MOSLEM STUDENTS JUSTIFY KILLING FOR RELIGION ; by Hana Levi Julian
A new report released Monday July 28 by the London-based Center for Social Cohesion reveals that British Muslim students are not far behind their Middle Eastern peers in their social values, especially those who are members of on-campus Islamic societies. The report, entitled “Islam on Campus: A Survey of UK Student Opinion,” reveals that approximately a third of those surveyed supported the idea that one can kill in the name of religion, a finding that has raised alarm bells.

ISRAEL HOLDS DRILL FOR MASS ROCKET OR SHELLING ATTACK: Yaakov Lappin
The IDF Home Front Command conducted a drill on Sunday July27 of a mass rocket attack and shelling of southern cities and communities.

HAMAS TAUNTS FATAH, ‘ONLY ZIONISTS KEEPING YOU IN THE WEST BANK’ :
In the latest exchange of blows between rival Palestinian factions, Hamas officials threatened Fatah on Tuesday July 29, with future retaliation in the West Bank, saying the only thing keeping the militant group from seizing power from Fatah there was the “protection of the Zionists.”

PA “WE ARE ON THE BRINK OF BANKRUPTCY” :
PA complains Arab states reneging, shortfall undermines peace process
The Palestinian Authority will be forced to close down several government institutions and lay off more than 150,000 public servants as a result of a deepening financial crisis due to the failure of donor countries, particularly Arab states, to transfer funds pledged to the Palestinians.

IDF BEGINS USING ANTI-MISSILE LASER SYSTEM NEAR GAZA :
While continuing development on its Iron Dome anti-missile program, the Israeli armaments company Rafael is also rushing ahead with developing an innovative solid laser in the US that will be able to intercept short-range rockets like Kassams and Katyushas. The IDF Southern Command is already using a proto-type to detonate explosive devices planted along the Gaza border from a safe distance. “With the laser, there is no need to send troops across the border to destroy the bomb,” said one IDF official. The Defense Ministry is also tracking the progress of the Laser Air Defense System (LADS), a laser beam system being developed by Raytheon that the US has recently ordered to help protect its soldiers from short-range rockets and mortar shells in Iraq and Afghanistan. Development of solid laser systems was expected to take up to five years, but Rafael and Raytheon have reportedly made great strides in their programs over the past six months. If the LADS is functional before the Iron Dome is operational, then Israel may buy it to help protect against short-range rockets and mortar shells as well from within Gaza, said Israeli defense officials, reported The Jerusalem Post.

FOR. MIN. ‘LIVNI : I’M QUALIFIED TO BE PRIME MINISTER’:
According to Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Tuesday July 29, she will win the upcoming Kadima primary to replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and would beat Olmert if he chooses to run.

ISRAEL TO DEVELOP WATER TECHNOLOGIES : by Hillel Fendel
While the Israeli government plans to implement a program to develop new water technologies in the years 2009-2011 it is reported that desalination, the solution of choice for the water shortage, leads to water pollution. It has been learned that desalination - the most popular choice for solving Israel’s water problems - has its price as well. The plant in Ashkelon, Israel’s largest, sends 400 tons of iron into the ocean each year, endangering fish and plants and coloring the water red.

MASTER-MIND OF ZE’EVI ASSASSINATION CONVICTED : by Hillel Fendel
he Jerusalem District Court convicted Majdi Rahima Rimawi on Tuesday morning July 29, of masterminding the October, 2001 terrorist murder of Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze’evi. Rimawi, in addition to his conviction for dispatching the terrorists, was responsible for a series of other attacks in Israel, including car bombs and shoooting attacks. Two of Ze’evi’s murderers have been sentenced to life in prison for the crime, and another terrorist was convicted of being their accomplice.

OIL EXPORTS FROM NORTHERN IRAQ RISE SHARPLY : - Sabrina Tavernise (New York Times)
The Office of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction said in a report released Saturday July 26, that oil exports through a northern pipeline to Turkey rose more than tenfold The increased exports were worth $8 billion. To protect the pipeline, berms, fences and guardhouses were built, and American soldiers patrol its 60-mile length while Iraqi guards monitor its perimeter.

HAMAS WARNS OF REVOLT AGAINST THE P.A. : by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri warned Tuesday July 29, that the Fatah crackdown on the rival Hamas terrorist party in Judea and Samaria could spark a revolt. A Fatah leader dismissed the threats as being made by “irresponsible people.” Fatah has arrested hundreds of Hamas members and leaders and is closing down businesses, schools and institutions associated with Hamas.

PRESIDENT SHIMON PERES PROMOTES DIVISION OF JERUSALEM : by Hillel Fendel
President Shimon Peres, following Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Vice Prime Minister Chaim Ramon, has become the latest mainstream politician to intimate that Jerusalem must be divided

OLMERT READY TO GIVE AWAY THE GOLAN : by Ze’ev Ben-Yechiel
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has told Damascus that he is prepared to cede the Golan to Syria in exchange for Syria’s agreement to enter into direct talks with Israel, according to sources in the Knesset. The sources from the opposition parties told Army Radio Wednesday morning July 30, that Olmert is wiling to make “painful concessions” in order to promote negotiations between the two countries. The sources did not specify what, if anything, Olmert asked the Syrians to sacrifice on their part. According to the report, Olmert promised Damascus that Israel would withdraw from the Golan Heights on the sole condition that the Syrians would agree to direct talks between the two governments, including a discussion on cutting ties with Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas.