David Bedein

Had it not been for the fact that an investigation commission concerning the conduct of the war last summer is coming out today, IDF Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi's appearance during yesterday's weekly cabinet meeting would have made banner headlines in Israel and abroad.

In the 1940s, Rabbi Levine, known as the Rabbi of the Jewish underground who fought the British in Palestine, fervently supported the struggle of those who blew the ram's horn, also known as the Shofar, near the Western Wall, an act which was deemed illegal under the oppressive statutes of the British occupation.

The Israeli forces, including reserves, have trained and are positioned for the Gaza invasion. Yet as preparations near completion, top Israeli policymakers assess that the diplomatic damage that will occur as a result will not serve Israel's interests.

Hamas, the ruling party in the Palestinian Authority, took responsibility for launching more than 80 missiles into the Israeli communities that border Gaza during Israel's Independence Day, which this year was observed yesterday, April 24. Hamas claimed direct hits on the city of Ashkelon, located just north of Gaza.

The two would only be released in exchange for the release of all Lebanese prisoners imprisoned in Israel, including the murderer of the Haran family from Nahariya, the terrorist Samir Kuntar. Israeli officials confirm that there are indeed significant talks, but say that a breakthrough is still far off.

During an Israeli army arrest operation on Saturday night in Nablus, Tanzim terrorist Amin Mahmoud Amin Lubadeh and Islamic Jihad terrorist Fahdel Muhammad Mahmoud Nur were killed in exchanges of fire with IDF forces during an attempt to arrest them.

One of the cardinal assumptions of Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was that the world would not recognize a government headed by Hamas. She had been proven wrong, because Mahmoud Abbas has successfully sold the idea to the world, since he is the figurehead leader of that government.

This coming Sunday marks Israel's memorial day, when the Jewish state marks 22,645 Israelis who were killed in battle or murdered by Arab terrorists since the genesis of the State of Israel in May 1948.

Widlanski quotes a source in Israeli intelligence, Brig. Gen. Shalom Harari, who estimates that 40 percent of the various Palestinian organizations were directly funded by Iran.