CBC News wrote:Israel to release frozen Palestinian tax money
Sunday, December 24, 2006

The Israeli cabinet approved the transfer of $100 million US to the Palestinian Authority on Sunday, on the condition that the money bypass the Hamas-led government.

The tax revenues are normally collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. But for the past nine months, since Hamas took office, Israel has refused to transfer any of the money.

Canada, the United States and the European Union have frozen millions of dollars in aid to the Hamas-led government over its refusal to recognize Israel and renounce violence.

TotallyJewish.com, 12/28/06 wrote:
Israel Survey Results Shock

Nearly 70 percent of respondents to a survey conducted by a leading Christian publication believe in disinvestment from companies whose products are used by the Israeli government in the territories.

The poll of more than 2,800 people, conducted on The Tablet website, pointed to the widespread existence of anti-Israel sentiment among respondents and a suspicion of the Jewish State's actions.

Despite a reduction in terror attacks since the creation of the security fence, nearly 80 per cent felt the security fence was not needed to protect the population of Israel from suicide bombers and nearly as many advocated that Churches campaign for its dismantling.

Three quarters of people who answered the survey agreed that the churches should call for the removal of Jewish West Bank settlements and that the institution should support Palestinian calls for an "independent homeland within the borders that existed before the 1967 Arab-Israel war".

On the other hand, just 21.2 percent agreed that the churches should accept Israel "is engaged in a struggle for its survival and support its efforts toroot out its enemies".

And perhaps most worryingly, only 57.3 percent agreed that the Church should appeal for Palestinians to renounce violence and recognise Israel's right to exist.

Respondents to the survey included Christians from several denominations, Muslims and atheists, while 10 percent were Jewish.

Claiming the results revealed a "worrying trend", Alan Aziz, Executive Director of the Zionist Federation, told TJ:"These statistics are very distressing and it is sad that people don't understand that what the situation in Israel needs more than anything is positive dialogue and not retribution".

ZF President Eric Moonman said he was "disturbed that a magazine like The Tablet should perpetuate a survey which appears to be riddled with prejudice".

clocker bob wrote:The tone of this article is unbelievable. Zero consideration is given to the idea that these might be legitimate concerns for Americans.

rayj wrote: The state of journalism in our nation is deplorable. And yet, we all 'tolerate' it, or risk being seen as downers and cranks.

jerusalem post, january 21, 2007 wrote:A new proposal designed to solve Israel's Arab demographic concerns suggests offering a million Palestinian residents of refugee camps in Judea and Samaria incentives totaling as much as $50 billion to convince them to leave the area.

Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, head of the Ateret Kohanim Yeshiva in Jerusalem, and MK Benny Elon (National Union-National Religious Party) have joined forces to promote the proposed program, which they said would be funded by the state. The two men, who are next door neighbors in Beit El, propose paying the refugee camp residents $50,000 to $100,000 each if they agree to emigrate.

Aviner, a respected halachic authority, has written an article advocating the transfer-for-payment idea, which appeared this weekend in Be'ahava U'Be'emuna, a pamphlet that is distributed in thousands of synagogues across the nation every Shabbat.

"Arabs are busy killing Jews or providing aid, cover and legitimacy to terrorists," Aviner said in a telephone interview.

"There is no end in sight. I do not want to keep killing them to protect myself. So the best solution is to encourage them to leave," he said. "As soon as the word gets around that Israel is paying compensation to anyone who leaves, it will have a snowball effect."

Aviner quoted the Koran as well as the Bible to demonstrate that the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people.

Arabs who agreed to stop all terrorism against Israel and to accept second class citizenship, without voting rights, would be allowed to stay, Aviner said.

MK Ibrahim Sarsour (United Arab List-Ta'al) called the proposal "satanic," "fascist," and "nearly Nazi."

"Palestine is an integral part of Waqf-administered sacred Islamic land," said Sarsour, who is also the head of the Islamic Movement in Israel. "It belongs to the Muslim people. Benny Elon and others like him will have to trample over our dead bodies to remove us from this place."

Sarsour said "Islam" was willing to normalize relations with a sovereign Israel within the Green Line. He said all Jews living in the West Bank or eastern Jerusalem must leave their homes or renounce Zionism and agree to second-class citizenship, without voting rights.

The White House will inform Congress that Israel may have violated US arms export agreements by using US-supplied cluster bombs in south Lebanon last year, a newspaper reported.

Unless Congress takes legislative action, The New York Times said, President George W. Bush has discretion under US law about whether to impose sanctions on Israel, which US officials said would be unlikely.

Some State Department and Pentagon officials believe Israel used the cluster bombs in self-defense, while others contend they violated US law because they were used on populated areas, officials familiar with the debate told the newspaper.

"It is important to remember the kind of war Hezbollah waged," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told the Times.

"They used innocent civilians as a way to shield their fighters."

reuters, 3-30-07 wrote:Israel plans for massive summer offensive in Gaza

The Israeli military will soon launch a huge offensive in the Gaza Strip to crush Palestinian resistance groups, mainly Hamas, chief of staff Major General Gabi Ashkenazi said.

"The strengthening process of the terror organizations in the Gaza Strip will have to be confronted," Ashkenazi told the parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee.

Reacting to Ashkenazi’s threats, Palestinian resistance groups said they are ready to defend Gaza, which Israel evacuated in 2005, in the face of Israeli occupation forces.

haaretz 4-2-07 wrote:IDF, gov't preparing for possible Syrian strike on Golan Heights

Israel's political and military leadership has been preparing in recent weeks for the possibility of a Syrian attack on the Golan Heights that will start as a result of a "miscalculation" on the part of the Syrians, who may assume that Israel intends to attack them.

Israel, however, has delivered a calming message, and has no plans to attack its northern neighbor.

According to information Israel received, the Syrians are concerned that the United States will carry out an attack against Iran's nuclear installations in the summer, and in parallel Israel would strike Syria and Lebanon.

the completely cowering and lie-filled US media that is always filled with slanted news from the Middle East wrote:JERUSALEM - Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired two rockets toward Israel on Thursday, the army said, and Israeli officials warned they were losing patience as rising tensions threatened a five-month cease-fire.

One rocket landed in the Mediterranean Sea and the second in an open area in southern Israel, the army said. There were no injuries.

"Israel will not be restrained forever," said Miri Eisin, spokeswoman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. "We will defend our citizens and choose the time and place to respond."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that calm had returned to Gaza and he appealed for Israel to refrain from carrying out raids in the area.

"There is a truce between us and the Israelis, which was impinged on," he told reporters during a trip to Geneva. "We don't want ... to lay blame on who impinged on the cease-fire, but the important thing is that there is calm and there is nothing there to justify an assault on Gaza."

On Wednesday, Olmert ruled out a large-scale invasion of Gaza in response to a barrage of rockets fired by the Hamas militant group earlier in the week, giving a chance for the 5-month-old truce to regain hold.

ynet 11/08/06 wrote:Following a security consultation Wednesday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz expressed their regret over the death of 18 innocent civilians in the northern Gaza Strip town of Beit Hanoun, apparently as a result of inaccurate artillery fire by the Israel Defense Forces.