GPL M/ EAST UPDATES FROM . SEPT 9 NO … 133

RUSSIA PREPARING TO LAUNCH IRAN’S BUSHEHR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT :
The Russian state-run company building Iran’s first nuclear plant at Bushehr said on Monday September 1, that preparations for the reactor’s launch had entered their final stage. Atomic export chief Leonid Reznikov said that by year’s end the company will take steps that will make the launch of the Bushehr plant “irreversible,” likely meaning that fuel rods will be inserted in the reactor core. Iran is paying Russia more than $1 billion to build the 1,000-megawatt light-water reactor.

NASRALLAH NO LONGER TOP COMMANDER OF HIZBULLAH :
Iran asserts greater control over proxy militia
Senior Israeli defense officials have assessed that Iran is tightening its control over Hizbullah, wresting control over the terror militia’s ranks from top Hizbullah cleric, sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.

CHENEY : RUSSIAN ARMS SOLD TO DAMASCUS NOW IN HIZBULLAH HANDS :
After paying a solidarity visit to embattled Georgia late last week, US Vice President Dick Cheney charged on Saturday that “Russia has sold advanced weapons to the regimes in Syria and Iran [and] some of the Russian weapons sold to Damascus have been channeled to terrorist fighters in Lebanon and Iraq.”

PM OLMERT : “OLIM ARE THE ANSWER TO ANY THREAT” :
In his first public appearance since police advised indicting him, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert greeted 235 olim [new immigrants] from North America September 2 at Ben Gurion Airport. “You come from a great country, but you have come to the greatest country in the world,” Olmert told the newcomers. “It’s true that we face dangers and threats, but they cannot harm the State of Israel. The State of Israel will live forever as a Jewish state in the Land of Israel. The olim are the answer to any threat.”

ENTICEMENT TO ABANDON YESHA : by Hillel Fendel
A proposal by Vice Premier Chaim Ramon to offer compensation to Jews who wish to leave their homes in “isolated” Yesha communities has been aired. . Ramon, formerly of Labor and now of Kadima, has been accused of adopting policies of the far-left Meretz party. The daily Yediot Acharonot newspaper reported that Ramon’s plan offers one million shekels ($280,000) to each family that agrees to leave - plus more for agricultural or commercial land, and more if it moves to the Negev or the Galilee.

DISGUSTING MOSLIMS DEFILE PATRIARCH’S CAVE : by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Muslims converged on the Cave of Patriarchs in Hevron Friday September 5 for Ramadan prayers, urinated next to Torah scrolls and left behind Hamas flags The Cave of the Patriarchs is the tomb of the biblical founders of the Jewish faith, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their wives, Sarah, Rivka, and Leah. The desecration occurred on one of the 10 days during the year that the holy site is open only to Moslims and is closed to Jews.

BARAK SHOCKER! : Barak Shocker!
Aaron Klein, Jerusalem Bureau Chief for WorldNetDaily.com, reports that Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak conceded on Al Jazeeera that some neighborhoods in Jerusalem could become the capital of a future Palestinian state as part of an agreement with the Palestinian Authority. “We can find a formula under which certain neighborhoods, heavily-populated Arab neighborhoods, could become, in a peace agreement, part of the Palestinian capital that, of course, will include also the neighboring villages around Jerusalem,” Barak said when asked whether he envisioned the future division of Jerusalem.

POLICE : INDICT OLMERT : by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz
The National Fraud Investigations Unit of the Police Department announced Sunday evening September 7, that they have decided to recommend that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert be indicted on multiple charges of bribery, fraud, breach of trust and other offenses. The recommendations were delivered to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, who will have the final say as to whether or not to file charges against the Prime Minister.

HAMAS ON THE TEMPLE MOUNT: by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Hamas’s Al Aqsa television network has been exclusively broadcasting nightly Ramadan prayers from the Temple Mount the past week, according to Aaron Klein, who writes for WorldNetDaily.

‘MOSSAD COULD CAPTURE AHMADINEJAD’ : ‘Mossad could capture Ahmadinejad’
According to the German magazine Der Spiegel on Tuesday, former Mossad agent and Pensioners Minister Rafi Eitan alluded to the possibility that the vaunted intelligence agency could kidnap Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and drag him to the International Criminal Court in The Hague. .” Eitan added that those who “spread poison” and hoped to wipe out another race had “to expect such consequences,”

U.S. MONITOR TO ARRIVE IN ISRAEL TO DRAFT SECURITY PLAN :
The US security planner for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Gen. James Jones,visited Israel on Tuesday night September 9 in likely his last attempt to draft a stable security plan for the region. Israeli security sources said that drafting such a document before US President George W. Bush is replaced does not seem likely. The sources added that Washington wants to finish a security document whether or not a parallel Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic deal is reached, reported Haaretz.

CROATIA REPORTEDLY SELLS IRAN THE S-300 AIR DEFENCE SYSTEM:
According to a Zagreb newspaper this week, Croatia has sold Iran high-tech, Russian-designed S-300 missile batteries, a cutting edge anti-aircraft system that Israel hoped Iran would not acquire.

CRIMINALISING CRITICISM OF ISLAM: - Elizabeth Samson, Wall Street Journal Europe
There are strange happenings in the world of international jurisprudence that do not bode well for the future of free speech. In an unprecedented case, a Jordanian court is prosecuting 12 Europeans in an extraterritorial attempt to silence the debate on radical Islam

U.S. TURNS DOWN ISRAELI REQUEST FOR “BUSTER-BUSTERS” & AN AIR CORRIDOR TO IRAN:
Fearing it might facilitate an Israeli attack on Iran’s nuclear sites, the Bush Administration has rejected key elements of a recent security request from Jerusalem that included a large quantity of ‘bunker-buster’ bombs, refueling planes, and clearance to use a corridor to Iran over Iraqi air space. The United States has turned down Israeli requests for military assistance in attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities. This will hamper the tiny Jewish state in facing off alone against the much larger Islamic Republic which is equipped with some of the latest military technology from Russia. As compensation, the U.S. has agreed to bolster Israel’s missile defense system.

‘NO PEACE IN MIDEAST IF ISRAEL EXISTS’ :
Hizbullah chief sheikh Hassan Nasrallah declared on Thursday September 11, that as long as there is an Israel, then there will never be peace in the Middle East. “As long as Israel exists and its eyes are honing in on the territories of other states, the world will not know peace in the Middle East,” Nasrallah told the Iran broadcaster IRIB.

PAYBACK TIMES AT THE U.S. : - Michael Freund, The Jerusalem Post
The war in Lebanon may have ended two years ago, but that hasn’t stopped the UN from exploiting the conflict to besmirch Israel. In a move that harks back to the bad old days of UN hypocrisy and double standards vis-à-vis the Jewish state, Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon is reportedly set to demand that Israel reimburse Lebanon and Syria for damage caused during the war against Hizbullah. Yes, you read that correctly. The UN wants Israel to pay for having the gall to defend itself…

IRAN-CHINA SATELLITE POSES NO THREAT: - Yaakov Katz (Jerusalem Post)
A satellite jointly launched by Iran and China on Sunday September 7, has no military applications and can’t collect intelligence on IDF installations, said Tal Inbar, a senior researcher at the Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies.

TERROR GROUPS DEVELOPING “DIRTY-BOMB” : - Con Coughlin (Telegraph-UK)
Islamist terrorists are exploiting the political chaos in Pakistan in a bid to acquire nuclear material for a “spectacular” attack. At least one plot has been uncovered involving Pakistani-based terrorists planning to use nuclear material against a major European target. The most likely terror device using nuclear material is a “dirty bomb,” where conventional explosives are fitted with radioactive material.
RUSSIA WEIGHS INCREASING NUCLEAR AID TO IRAN : - Mark Franchetti
Russia is considering increasing its assistance to Iran’s nuclear program in response to America’s calls for NATO expansion eastwards and the presence of U.S. Navy vessels in the Black Sea delivering aid to Georgia. The Kremlin is discussing sending teams of Russian nuclear experts to Tehran and inviting Iranian nuclear scientists to Moscow for training, according to sources close to the Russian military. (Times-UK)

IRAN SOLIDIFIES CONTROL OVER HIZBULLAH : - Yaakov Katz
Iran is consolidating its grip on Hizbullah and instituted a number of structural changes following the Second Lebanon War, under which Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah no longer enjoys exclusive command over its military wing, top Israeli defense officials have revealed. Nasrallah now has to receive Iranian permission prior to certain operations.

CANADA TO REPLACE FRENCH UAV’s WITH ISRAELI CRAFT: (Strategy Page)
Canada’s decision to replace its French Sperwer UAVs with Israeli Herons and Skylarks has upset many Canadian politicians because Canada has spent over a quarter billion dollars on Sperwer in the past five years. According to the military, the Herons will give Canadian troops in Afghanistan better support than the Sperwer UAVs they had been using. Troops were envious of superior UAV types they saw in use by other nations. India has bought fifty of the Israeli-built Heron and used them successfully along the border with Pakistan in terrain and weather similar to Afghanistan.

U.S. APPROVES $330 MILLION IN ARMS PURCHASES FOR ISRAEL: Andrea Shalal-Esa
The U.S. government on Tuesday September 9, said it had approved up to $330 million in three separate arms deals for Israel for bombs, Patriot missile upgrades, and anti-armor weapons. Sources tracking a much bigger deal for 25 F-35 Joint Strike Fighter jets, plus an option for at least 50 more, said that agreement could be approved later this month. The Pentagon is solidly backing Israel’s request for the fighter jets, which are being designed by the U.S. and eight other countries to replace the F-16.

IRAN HIDING ENOUGH ENRICHED URANIUM FOR SIX NUCLEAR BOMBS :
Atomic experts monitoring Iran’s nuclear program have discovered that over 50 tons of enriched uranium has been diverted away from the Isfahan enrichment facility lately, enough to build up to six nuclear warheads, indicating Tehran is once again in full pursuit of atomic weapons

ISRAELI LEADERS FURIOUS OVER CONSUL’S COMMENTS ON JERUSALEM :
Mofaz: Livni making ’strategic mistake that could be a tragedy forever’
Netanyahu: Walles’ remarks shows government’s incompetence
Israeli leaders across the political spectrum expressed outrage on Thursday to US Consul General Jacob Walles’ comments to the Arabic daily Al-Ayyam that Israel has agreed to begin discussing the fate of Jerusalem with the Palestinians, some in opposition to such a move and others because he leaked to the public.

VIOLENCE LIKELY AS ABBAS NEARS END OF TERM :
In recent weeks the IDF has been carrying out a series of training drills in preparation for a likely outburst of West Bank violence due to a growing dispute between Hamas and Fatah over whether Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s must leave office in January. Abbas’s term of office ends on January 9, 2009, Hamas insists, but Fatah claims he has one extra year due to a 12-month extension adopted by the Fatah-ruled Palestinian legislature on the eve of the last elections.

OLMERT : “I WILL IMMEDIATELY STEP DOWN AFTER KADIMA PRIMARY” :
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert repeated his promise on Thursday September 11, to immediately resign after next week’s Kadima primary to replace him as party chairman, but his comments did not rule out the possibility he could linger on for months as head of a caretaker government if the primary winner is not able to form a new coalition.

FACING THE STORM : Ari Shavit, Haaretz
Regardless of their worldview, strategic observers all concur on Israel’s strategic situation: There are dark clouds on the horizon. Iran’s nuclear program, Syria’s agreement-or-confrontation policy, Hizbullah’s increasing strength and Hamas’ entrenchment surround Israel with a tightening noose of threats. There is a high probability that in 2009 or 2010, Israel will face a national test.

U.S. JEWS READY FOR IRANIAN PRESIDENT: . by Hillel Fendel
Iran’s President Ahmedinajad is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly in two weeks - and Jewish groups are planning to greet him with a massive “Stop Iran Now!” rally. The protest will take place at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, outside the UN building, on Sept. 22. Malcolm Hoenlein, long-time executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said, “We cannot remain silent when someone threatens to destroy the United States and Israel.”

PA AND MUSLIMS PERSECUTE CHRISTIANS : by Gil Ronen
The Muslim Fatah-controlled authority in Judea and Samaria is encouraging a “sharp demographic shift” in Bethlehem, where the Christian population went from a 60 percent majority in 1990 to a 40 percent minority in 2000, to about 15 percent of the city’s total population today. It is estimated that, for the past seven years, more than one thousand Christians have been emigrating from the Bethlehem area annually and that only 10,000 to 13,000 Christians remain in the city. International human rights lawyer Justus Reid Weiner, who teaches at Hebrew University, told the Jerusalem Institute for Global Jewish Affairs that, under the PA-Fatah regime, Christian Arabs have been victims of frequent human rights abuses by Muslims.

BUNKER BUSTER BOMBS TO ISRAEL : U.S. CHANGES ITS MIND :
Despite reservations in Washington regarding a possible Israeli strike on Iran, the American administration will supply Israel with sophisticated weapons for heavily fortified targets, the U.S. administration announced.
The U.S. Department of Defense announced it would sell the Israel Air Force 1,000 new smart bombs, rumored to significantly enhance the IAF’s military capabilities. The deal was approved amid public and secret messages from Washington, with the Americans expressing their reservations about a possible Israeli strike against the Islamic Republic’s suspected nuclear sites. During demonstrations, the GBU-39 - labeled by the manufacturer, Boeing, as a Small Diameter Bomb (SDB) - has successfully penetrated more than 1.8 meters of thick reinforced concrete with a 23-kilogram warhead. The GPS-guided weapon is said to have a 50-percent probability of hitting its intended target within 5-8 meters.

IRAQI MP VISITS ISRAEL :
An Anti-Baath Iraqi MP Mithal Alusi has been called a “traitor” for again visiting Israel. After his first visit during Saddam’s reign, his sons were murdered. A Shiite MP called the current visit “an act of treachery against the Iraqi nation.”

ARAB STABS BOY AND JEWS RETALIATE : by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
An Arab terrorist stabbed a nine-year-old Jewish boy at the Shalhevet neighborhood in Yitzhar in Samaria on the Sabbath, torched an empty house and tried to set fire to a second building. The terrorist threw the boy four meters down off of an outdoor porch, into an area filled with construction material - yet he landed on the only bush in the area. He was treated in a nearby hospital and was said to be in light condition. Dozens of residents of Yitzhar retaliated and attacked the adjacent Arab village of Asira al-Kabaliya, where it is suspected the terrorist resides. Villagers claimed that the Jews rioted in the village, destroyed houses, overturned vehicles and shot at least two Arabs. Arabs threw rocks and stones at the Jews until IDF soldiers arrived, broke up the riots and slapped a curfew on the village. The troops arrested one suspect in the stabbing.

U.S. TO ‘ GUARANTEE PA ‘ :
U.S. to ‘Guarantee’ Palestinian State; Obama Not Credible on Israel
Aaron Klein, Jerusalem Bureau Chief for WorldNetDaily.com, reports that the U.S. is planning to issue a letter guaranteeing the country will back agreements reached during current Israeli-Palestinian negotiations aimed at creating a Palestinian state before President Bush leaves office in January. Also, Dr. Michael Goldblatt, author of numerous articles covering the Middle East, questions Obama’s commitment to Israel and exposes the Democratic nominee’s inner circle as virulently anti-Israel.