Jerusalem – Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s absence from Israeli negotiations may not be a coincidence. The latest public-opinion poll conducted by the Israeli Dahaf Polling Institute found only 6 percent of Israelis believe Mr. Olmert is worthy of his office. Only 12 percent of Israeli citizens trust Mr. Olmert, either fully or partially, as prime minister. This marks the lowest popularity point any Israeli prime minister, or for that matter any other democratically elected head of government, has ever reached.

Even former Israeli Prime Ministers Ehud Barak and Binyamin Netanyahu, on the verges of their defeats in their respective elections in 2001 and 1999, kept a minimal credibility rating of approximately 35 to 45 percent.

The cross-examination of businessman Morris Talansky, which was supposed to “crush” the witness who allegedly gave $150,000 in cash to Mr. Olmert, has actually damaged the prime minister.

For approximately 60 percent of Israelis, the prime minister’s legal team’s questioning of Mr. Talansky weakened their trust in the prime minister. They, however, view Mr. Talansky’s credibility as being three times higher than Mr. Olmert’s.

In briefings with the Israeli media over the past few days, Mr. Olmert attributed the collapse of the public’s trust in him to a plot hatched by Israeli police and the Israel State Attorney’s Office to “destroy him.”

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com. His Web site is www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com

Officials Say Hezbollah To Attack Israeli Air Force Planes

By David Bedein

The Bulletin

Jerusalem – Israeli security officials believe that Hezbollah will focus its efforts on attacking IAF plans in Lebanese skies.

Hezbollah’s current weaponry cannot attack airborne Israeli forces; however, it has begun equipping itself with more modern weaponry, capable of attacking those targets

The Bulletin has obtained an Israeli security analysis, indicating the organization will attempt to attack Israel over an issue that has broad credibility in Lebanese, such as the Israel Defense Forces’ violations of Lebanese sovereignty by air by sea.

“Hezbollah does not want to take the risk of an Israeli reaction, while on the other hand it is becoming stronger,” said Israeli security officials.

This factor IAF planes could be an appropriate target for them.

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com. His Web site is www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com

©The Bulletin 2008

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David Bedein
David Bedein
David Bedein is an MSW community organizer and an investigative journalist.   In 1987, Bedein established the Israel Resource News Agency at Beit Agron to accompany foreign journalists in their coverage of Israel, to balance the media lobbies established by the PLO and their allies.   Mr. Bedein has reported for news outlets such as CNN Radio, Makor Rishon, Philadelphia Inquirer, Los Angeles Times, BBC and The Jerusalem Post, For four years, Mr. Bedein acted as the Middle East correspondent for The Philadelphia Bulletin, writing 1,062 articles until the newspaper ceased operation in 2010. Bedein has covered breaking Middle East negotiations in Oslo, Ottawa, Shepherdstown, The Wye Plantation, Annapolis, Geneva, Nicosia, Washington, D.C., London, Bonn, and Vienna. Bedein has overseen investigative studies of the Palestinian Authority, the Expulsion Process from Gush Katif and Samaria, The Peres Center for Peace, Peace Now, The International Center for Economic Cooperation of Yossi Beilin, the ISM, Adalah, and the New Israel Fund.   Since 2005, Bedein has also served as Director of the Center for Near East Policy Research.   A focus of the center's investigations is The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). In that context, Bedein authored Roadblock to Peace: How the UN Perpetuates the Arab-Israeli Conflict - UNRWA Policies Reconsidered, which caps Bedein's 28 years of investigations of UNRWA. The Center for Near East Policy Research has been instrumental in reaching elected officials, decision makers and journalists, commissioning studies, reports, news stories and films. In 2009, the center began decided to produce short movies, in addition to monographs, to film every aspect of UNRWA education in a clear and cogent fashion.   The center has so far produced seven short documentary pieces n UNRWA which have received international acclaim and recognition, showing how which UNRWA promotes anti-Semitism and incitement to violence in their education'   In sum, Bedein has pioneered The UNRWA Reform Initiative, a strategy which calls for donor nations to insist on reasonable reforms of UNRWA. Bedein and his team of experts provide timely briefings to members to legislative bodies world wide, bringing the results of his investigations to donor nations, while demanding reforms based on transparency, refugee resettlement and the demand that terrorists be removed from the UNRWA schools and UNRWA payroll.   Bedein's work can be found at: www.IsraelBehindTheNews.com and www.cfnepr.com. A new site,unrwa-monitor.com, will be launched very soon.

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