Israel Update: Negotiation With Palestinians A Top Priority

Jerusalem – President Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah of Jordan met on Sunday and declared that the resumption of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians is a top priority.

King Abdullah’s interview with Time magazine made headlines in Israel today. During the interview, the king talked about implementing the Saudi Plan that was adopted in Beirut, Lebanon on March 30, 2002.

Israeli left-wing leader Yossi Beilin gave a speech in which he called on the Israeli government to “seize the opportunity being presented by Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, and to create a breakthrough in the peace process by accepting their peace plan instead of trying to scuttle it.”

Beilin, however, failed to acknowledge that the Saudi Plan recognizes the right of Arab refugees and their hundreds of thousands of descendents to “return” to the 531 Arab villages they vacated in 1948. Such a plan would effectively eradicate the state of Israel.

The Evening Bulletin asked Beilin if he knew that the Saudi Plan was based on the “right of return.”

Beilin did not respond. At the same time, however, Beilin’s position with the government of Israel was bolstered with the news that Beilin has been invited to make a tour of the United States on behalf of the Israel Bonds organization, where he will present his views to the American public with the surprising sanction of the Israeli government.

Terror Feared On Golan Heights

Syria is considering copying the model of Iran with Hezbollah, Director of Israeli Military Intelligence Major General Amos Yadlin revealed Sunday in the course of the weekly cabinet meeting.

Yadlin revealed that Syria is examining the possibility of establishing a terror organization that would attack the Golan Heights communities from within its territory, yet appearing unconnected to the Syrian administration. The idea behind the initiative would be to generate pressure on Israel similar to the pressure that Iran is creating on the northern border, without, ostensibly, giving Israel legitimacy to attack Syrian infrastructure in response. Yadlin added further, “in our assessment, the Syrians will think a thousand times before taking such a move, since the situation in Syria is not at all similar to the situation in Lebanon.” Yadlin was referring to the fact that the Lebanese government is weak, and incapable of coping with Hezbollah. However, top diplomatic and security officials in Israel are careful to constantly point out that the situation in Syria is different. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni recently stated publicly more than once that Syria can expect a particularly painful response on Israel’s part in case of aggression against Israel.

It should be noted that in the first days of the second Lebanon War, the Syrians significantly beefed up their troops on the Golan Heights. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Intelligence Branch relayed a report to the decision makers at the time, that this was a defensive array intended for a scenario in which Israel decides of her own initiative to bring Syria into the circle of combat on the northern front. A senior minister said Sunday, “unfortunately, the outcome of the war has caused Syria to move from the defensive to a possible offensive, and they have recently issued warlike statements.”

Terror Organizations In Gaza Have Shoulder-Launched Missiles

“The terror organizations in the Gaza Strip have shoulder-launched missiles, which as far as we know have still not been used,” Israeli Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter said Sunday.

Dichter added that the fact that there are shoulder-launched missiles in the hands of the terror organizations in the Gaza Strip “makes the IDF’s task more complex,” since the IDF acts against the terror organizations by means of helicopter gunships and other aircraft.

Dichter also attacked Egypt, charging that it is doing nothing to prevent arms and explosives from being smuggled into the Gaza Strip. He said that Egypt is breaching the commitment it made on this matter to Israel, the Palestinian Authority, the United States and Europe, despite the fact that Israel permitted Egypt to upgrade the force that is deployed along the border in the Gaza Strip and to man it with soldiers instead of policemen.

“We did this in the hope that there would be a significant change,” said Dichter, “but to our regret, the smuggling continues.” Dichter added that Israel, the U.S. and Europe must pressure Egypt to act more effectively to prevent the smuggling. “If the Egyptians were to decide to act against the smuggling as they would act if the smuggling were being done into Egypt, they would battle differently,” he said.

Planes That Brought Aid To Iran In Earthquake Were Used To Send Weapons To Hezbollah

Iran used the flights bringing humanitarian aid to the victims of the earthquake in southern Iran in December 2003 and January 2004 to transfer weapons to Hezbollah. This is revealed by a new report of the Information Center for Intelligence and Terror: www.intelligence.org.il

The report revealed that the elite Quds force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards used Iranian and Syrian cargo planes, which brought humanitarian aid to the victims of the earthquake, to transfer large quantities of equipment and weapons to Hezbollah on their way back to Syria.

The Quds force is an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guards and is the main group bringing aid to Hezbollah. It is led by Kassam Salimani, who is responsible for Iranian military activity and handling terror elements in Lebanon and other places worldwide. This force also handles Palestinian terror. Iranian aid to Hezbollah via the Quds force includes financial aid, nearly USD 100 million a year, training and instruction in Iran and Lebanon. The Quds force also provides Hezbollah with high quality weapons and intelligence about Israel.

Most of the weapons reach Lebanon via the Quds force land and aerial route. The weapons and equipment are taken by Iranian airplanes, which land at the international airport in Damascus. From there, the material is transferred by land to Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Syrians flatly ignore repeated requests by the United States, the international community and the United Nations to stop their territory from being used as a channel to provide weapons and ammunition to Hezbollah.

Iran also continued to dispatch weapons to Hezbollah during the second Lebanon war and afterward, under cover of humanitarian aid. Some of these attempts were thwarted by IDF activities. According to U.N. Resolution 1701, the Lebanese administration is supposed to act to prevent arms smuggling to Hezbollah with the aid of the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon (UNIFIL). The Syrians have said that they oppose the stationing of a UNIFIL force along their border with Lebanon.

Hezbollah’s budget is estimated at about USD 100 million annually, most of which is from Iran. This sum serves to finance Hezbollah’s terrorist military activities, including buying weapons, paying salaries to fighters, training fighters and transferring funds to terror infrastructures in Judea and Samaria. Iran transfers the funds to Hezbollah by means of the Revolutionary Guards (via the Quds force) and the Foreign Ministry (by means of its ambassadors in Damascus and Beirut). In addition, budgets are transferred to Hezbollah by semi-governmental Iranian bodies, including charity funds which have branches in Lebanon.

©The Bulletin 2006