Israeli President Shimon Peres harshly criticized U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during their Wednesday meeting in New York.

The meeting took place against the backdrop of Mr. Ban’s personal behavior during last month’s Durban II conference and the U.N.’s recent report criticizing Israeli conduct in Gaza four months ago.

Addressing the Durban II conference, Mr. Peres told Mr. Ban he should have taken his entourage to visit Auschwitz instead of sitting by idly as Mahmoud Ahmadinejad delivered a speech devoted to the denial of the Holocaust.

Unlike the European representatives, the U.N. secretary-general listened attentively to the entire speech and did not leave the hall.

“I am ashamed,” Mr. Peres said.

Mr. Ban, in response, tried to tone down Mr. Peres’ harsh statements and said, in his defense, Mr. Ahmadinejad had misled him.

The secretary-general said he had sat with Mr. Ahmadinejad and drafted a moderate statement with him for an hour prior to his speech at the Geneva, Switzerland-based conference.

However, Mr. Ahmadinejad went up to the stage and ignored their agreement, delivering a speech denying the Holocaust instead.

Mr. Ban said his position as secretary-general prevented him from leaving the hall, but Mr. Peres rejected his explanation.

Mr. Peres said he felt a great shame that the U.N. had chosen Holocaust Memorial Day, the worst day in the Jewish consciousness, to give a platform to such a despicable man.

After their discussion about the Durban II conference, the meeting continued to be tense because of the U.N. report on the Israeli operation in Gaza, among other reasons.

Mr. Ban said he had attempted to tone down the report and had softened many problematic parts and extracted clauses that deviated from the report’s original purpose.

The Israeli president gave Mr. Ban a sharp rhetorical question, inquiring if the U.N. expected Israel to sit idly by, since more than 4,000 rockets were fired on Israel in the past three years.

He lambasted the report’s ignorance of Hamas’ activities, such as planting bombs in kindergartens, buildings and even U.N. facilities.

The secretary-general responded by saying the U.N. would not begin another inquiry into Operation Cast Lead, as the Gaza incursion is referred to by Israel, without the Jewish state’s consent.

Mr. Peres admitted Israel made some mistakes in the course if the operation and said Israel did not intend to deliberately kill civilians; however, he also said the Arabs who fire from Gaza do.

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

Israel’s leading daily paper, Yediot Ahronot, ran a stinging editorial yesterday, on the eve of the Papal visit.

The editorial attacked Pope Benedict XVI for his involuntary service in the Hitler Youth and German Wehrmacht during World War II as well as the mistakes surrounding lifting the excommunication of Richard Williamson, a Holocaust-denying bishop, earlier this year.

The Pope joined the Hitler Youth as he was legally bound to do under German law at the time, but according to his book Salt of the Earth, he did everything he could to get out and was allowed to leave because he desired to enter seminary. The book also recounts how the then-Joseph Ratzinger served in the German army under an anti-Nazi officer who allowed him to desert his unit.

The editorial said: “Pope Benedict XVI will arrive [today] for his historic visit to Israel… Under this dark shadow, the Pope will visit Yad Vashem [today] at noon, a visit whose importance cannot be exaggerated.

“The Holy See, the head of the Catholic Church, the same church whose Pope, during World War II, did nothing to save Jews from the gas chambers, will meet there with those who survived that hell and succeeded in establishing a state here. The meeting will be too difficult for some concentration camp survivors who do not understand why they should host Pope Benedict XVI so nicely.”

However, six survivors of the Nazi horrors have volunteered to greet the Pope at the Yad Vashem Memorial for 6 Million Jews.

Gita Calderon, 83, is one of them.

“I feel that I am my people’s emissary to the Pope,” Ms. Calderon, whose entire family was killed in the Holocaust, said over the weekend. “If I could, I would tell him that the wound of the Holocaust has never healed for me. The wound is painful and bleeds all the time.”

Ms. Calderon is aware of Pope Benedict XVI’s past, but thinks that one should look ahead.

“I know that in his youth, the Pope was in the Hitler Youth and in the German army,” she says. “I hope that he did so because he was too young to understand. I hope that he also regrets it. The actions of the Nazis can never be forgiven. But we must demand of the Pope that he agree to rectify the errors that he made when he was young.”

Dan Landsberg, 70, will also shake the Pope’s hand today. Unlike Ms. Calderon, he claims that he is not excited by the occasion.

“I know that the Pope is a very important person, but I don’t look at this whole meeting from a personal perspective,” he said. “I was chosen to be a representative of the state and of my people, and all I need to do is to try to represent my people honorably.”

The Pope will also shake the hand of survivors Ed Mossberg, Yisraela Har-El, Avraham Ashkenazi and Ruth Bondy, and the hand of a “Righteous Gentile” Ivan Varantich who saved Jews during the war.

Other survivors politely refused the invitation to the historic event. Among them was former Member of Israel’s Knesset, Shmuel Halpert.

“I think that the Pope never should have been invited to the State of Israel,” Mr. Halpert told Yediot Ahronot. “Pope Benedict XVI was a member of the Nazi movement, and as a Holocaust survivor I cannot participate in ceremony honoring such a man, who was part of the war against the Jewish people. Everybody knows about the thundering silence of Pope Pius XII during World War II. Pope Pius XII and his people could have saved at least hundreds of thousands of Jews, but did not.”

These contentions, however, are disputed by world-renowned Jewish scholar, Rabbi David Dalin, whose research claims Pius XII saved more Jews during the Holocaust than Oskar Schindler, Raoul Wallenberg and other notables who saved Jews from the Nazis.

Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, who survived the Bergen Belsen concentration camp as a small child and who now serves as the rabbi of Tel Aviv-Jaffa and as the head of Yad Vashem’s board, said that despite the “stumblings” of the Pope, his visit to Israel should not be rejected “in order not to give Israel’s enemies an occasion to speak.”

“I expect that during the Pope’s speech at Yad Vashem, he will make statements that will dispel the fog around his relationship with Judaism and strengthen the bridge that his predecessor built,” he said.

Rabbi Lau recalls that, over the past several weeks, many people contacted him about the meeting with the Pope.

“Some asked for an opportunity to shake the Pope’s hand, while others wanted to give him notes or other souvenirs. Still others said that their families had been in contact with the Pope’s family, the Ratzingers, and wanted to reminisce with him. He must be received politely and with respect, but we must not be obsequious toward him.”

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

Israel’s Minister of Tourism, Stas Misezhnikov, has informed the media that he plans to take advantage of the Pope’s visit to Israel and focus his ministry’s marketing on bringing pilgrims to the country.

He says he intends to bring in Catholic pilgrims and Evangelical Christians to Israel.

“Past tourism ministers made a mistake when they tried to market Israel as a vacation destination by showing Israel’s beaches and beautiful young women.

“Ministers who focused on photographing models, or on being photographed with them, thought that this would bring tourists to Israel.

“But their mistake was that our neighbors also have pretty young women and beaches, and we can’t compete with them in terms of the prices that they offer for vacation packages,” the minister said.

Mr. Misezhnikov was referring to the recent disastrous campaign of the Israel Ministry of Tourism that featured Israel’s bathing beauties, some of whom gave extensive interviews to the international media where they expressed their lack of patriotism to the State of Israel.

Meeting more than 100 reporters who have come to Israel to cover the Papal visit, Mr. Misezhnikov said: “What Israel needs to do is focus on what we have and others don’t, or, in other words, the Holy Land. Israel is sacred to Judaism, Christianity and also to Islam, and the Tourism Ministry’s current focus is to market Israel as the Holy Land. I hope that the Pope, who will be… visiting Israel soon, will call upon Catholic believers to come to Israel, and I intend to do everything I can to take full advantage of this visit. In addition, the Ministry of Tourism will work together with Evangelical communities all over the world in order to increase the number of their visitors to Israel.”

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

Arguments behind the scenes have preceded Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Israel.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked to speak at the reception for the Pope at Ben-Gurion Airport, but the Vatican politely refused.

The Vatican argued only heads of state give speeches at such receptions, and the Pope’s counterpart in Israel, the Vatican said, was President Shimon Peres, not Mr. Netanyahu.

Mr. Netanyahu, Vatican officials said, was the counterpart of the Vatican’s prime minister, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. The Vatican officials also said this was a “religious visit without political aspects.”

At a certain stage, Vatican officials agreed to permit Mr. Netanyahu to speak, but only at the state reception in the President’s residence.

However, since Mr. Netanyahu has to leave immediately after the state reception at Ben-Gurion Airport for his meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, he will not be attending the reception at the President’s residence in Jerusalem.

A likely compromise would allow Mr. Netanyahu to speak at Ben-Gurion Airport alongside Cardinal Bertone.

The two parties disagreed not only about Mr. Netanyahu’s speech, but also about the meeting between the Pope and the prime minister.

According to protocol, the Pope, owing to his diplomatic status, does not need go to the Prime Minister’s Bureau to meet with the Israeli premier.

Instead, the Israeli premier is supposed to come to see him. When the previous Pope visited Israel in 2000 Ehud Barak, who was prime minister at the time, went to meet with Pope John Paul II at the Mount of Beatitudes in Northern Israel.

Mr. Netanyahu believes the appropriate place to meet the Pope, if not in his office, is at the Prime Minister’s Residence, but the Vatican refused to follow his wishes.

Now, talks are being held in an attempt to change the venue of the meeting away from Nazareth, where it was originally planned, to Capernaum.

A number of problems cropped up with respect to the festive celebration being planned for the Pope by Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat in the Tower of David in the Old City.

According to the plan, Mr. Misezhnikov, who is the cabinet minister responsible for the trip, and Mayor Barkat are supposed to speak at the event and to welcome the members of the Vatican.

But Vatican officials have demanded that Mr. Barkat not be permitted to speak at

the event because the Vatican does not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over the Old City of Jerusalem.

Israel was forthcoming with the Vatican on this issue and removed symbols of the State of Israel and the Jerusalem municipality from the invitations. But Israel staunchly refused the Vatican’s demand that Mayor Barkat not be permitted to speak at the event.

Mr. Misezhnikov informed the Vatican representatives he invitations had already been sent, and they explicitly said Mr. Barkat would speak.

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

An Israeli soldier, identified as Sgt. Noam Adin Rechter Levi, 20, was killed on Wednesday night.

The soldier was shot during a patrol in the village of Birzeit, near Ramallah.

Since April 2002, the Israeli army has resumed patrols in all Arab villages in the West Bank.

These daily Israeli army patrols have succeeded in stopping almost all potential terror attacks from the West Bank over the past two years – more than Israel’s security fence has.

During the operation, the Duhifa Battalion of the Kfir Brigade was engaged in a confrontation between Israel Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers and armed Palestinians. During the confrontation, Sgt. Levi was killed by a gunshot.

The security forces arrested several Palestinians, and the incident is being investigated.

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

Next Thursday, May 14, Pope Benedict XVI will visit Nazareth and appear at the Church of the Annunciation.

The Muslims of Nazareth are split in their reactions, but some have responded viscerally.

Multiple Islamic signs, in both Arabic and English, with some bearing the image of the Dome of the Rock, have been hung in the large plaza outside of the church in anticipation of the Pope’s arrival.

One such sign reads: “And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers.”

While another sign reads: “In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful Say (O Muhammad): He is Allah, (the) One and Only Allah, the Eternal, Absolute. He begetteth not nor was He begotten And there is none Like unto him,” in a quote attributed to the Quran.

As The Bulletin reported on April 21, Islamists in Nazareth have handed out thousands of flyers denouncing the Pope and stating that he is unwelcome.

“We announce from Nazareth that we are oppose to the Pope’s visit. A person who cursed the prophet, who stood at the head of the effort to convert Muslims in Darfur, Indonesia and the Muslim world, attacked Islam, praised America and drew near and fraternized with the butcher of Gaza is unwanted here,” the flyer read.

There has been no action on the part of the municipality to remove these signs prior to the Pope’s arrival.

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

The Middle East Newsline reports Iran has reached an agreement intended to turn Venezuela into a major defense client.

Iran and Venezuela have signed several agreements meant to bolster defense and military cooperation. The accords call for Iran to train Venezuela’s military, as well as for Iran to export missiles and other weapons systems to the South American state.

“This is a long-term plan,” Iranian Defense Minister Mustafa Najar said.

On April 29, Mr. Najar concluded a three-day visit to Caracas where he met government and military leaders. Officials said Mr. Najar led a large delegation from his ministry as well as the Iranian military.

“Cooperation with Venezuela has experienced a leap that we’re seeking to accelerate in this visit,” Mr. Najar said.

Relations between Iran and Venezuela have developed rapidly over the last three years under President Hugo Chavez.

Iran has sent military delegations as well as Defense Ministry staffers to brief Venezuela on the latest weapons developed by Tehran.

Iran has reported defense exports to about 55 nations. Officials said the exports included that of missiles, mortars, armored vehicle platforms and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

An overwhelming number of rabbis, reporters, pundits, journalists and academics in Israel have joined forces to welcome the Pope Benedict XVI on his scheduled visit to Israel.

Israel’s official radio and TV stations have gone out of their way to present hourly updates concerning the Papal visit.

However, dissenting voices to the official welcome are now being heard in diverse circles.

General (res.) Giora Eiland, the former head of the Israel National Security Council, wrote a guest editorial in Israel’s largest daily newspaer, Yediot Aharonot, titled “Harmful Groveling.”

In his article, he wrote: “It would have been better for this visit not to take place, and contrary to conventional wisdom, it will cause diplomatic harm to Israel rather than benefit.”

Gen. Eiland reminded the Israeli public that Pope Benedict XVI had served as a conscript in the German army, the Wehrmacht, which played a major role in the mass murder of Jews during World War II.

He also criticized the Pope’s desire to beatify Pope Pius XII, who served in the Vatican during World War II.

He wrote: “There are dozens of reports documenting Church representatives, the Cardinals of Holland, Austria and Ukraine, who sent letters to the pope reporting murderous acts by the Nazis, with dates, places and numbers of victims… Pope Pius XII opted to disregard this”

Gen. Eiland also reminded the public that “there were senior Catholic figures who asked him to issue a clear statement, which, even if it did not deter the Nazis, would at least give rise to hesitations among Catholic collaborators in Poland, Ukraine and other countries,” yet “the Pope refused.”

Gen. Eiland also raised questions about the Pope’s desire to visit the State of Israel and raised the fear that “He wants to come here because the holiest sites to Christianity happen to be under Israeli sovereignty.”

Yet from Gen. Eilan’s point of view, the unkindest cut of all was when “The [P]ope voiced support for the Durban II conference” along with his visit to the Palestinian Authority in an United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) refugee camp near the security fence next to Bethlehem, “so that Palestinian refugees and the fence will provide a fine backdrop for his message.”

Given this background, Gen. Eiland questioned Israel’s willingness to host the Pope and to cover the full $10 million in costs from Israeli taxpayer money, with more than 80,000 police officers assigned to the task at hand.

In conclusion, Gen. Eiland wrote: “Groveling before the pope is a shameful act, and contrary to conventional wisdom, it bears no diplomatic benefit. Just as an unnecessary confrontation can harm the state’s standing, so too can unnecessary groveling be harmful. If we were to say to the Vatican that ‘the time is not right for a visit,’ we would be doing something both justified from a Jewish standpoint and wise from a diplomatic standpoint.”

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com

Plasan Sasa, an Israeli military armaments manufacturer, plans to deploy armor it has developed with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Its subsidiary, Plasan North America, has developed an armor system for the MRAP all-terrain vehicles, produced by Oshkosh Defense.

Three M-ATV vehicles underwent testing at the army’s Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland this month as part of a competition. The M-ATV was likely designed to meet the U.S. military’s requirement for a well-protected vehicle that could operate in Afghanistan’s rugged and mountainous off-road terrain.

“In addition to meeting these mobility demands, the Oshkosh M-ATV provides the superior crew protection that military forces need by incorporating an armor system from Plasan North America, which developed the armor system in use on more than 5,000 current MRAP vehicles and for the Armored Cab Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacements in Iraq and Afghanistan,” Oshkosh announced last week.

The U.S. military has been mulling the procurement of up to 10,000 such vehicles.

“The vehicles we delivered today meet the urgent need requirement for a well-armored vehicle that excels in moving our soldiers and Marines forward in Afghanistan’s harsh environments and dangerous operations,” Oshkosh Vice President Andy Hove said. “The Oshkosh M-ATV is ideal and unique in this competition because it boasts MRAP-level protection on a mobile and proven vehicle chassis.”

Plasan has delivered armor suites for a range of trucks and related vehicles produced by Oshkosh for the U.S. military. M-ATV was based on the Oshkosh MTVR chassis, deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries.

David Bedein can be reached at dbedein@israelbehindthenews.com