Broad news about Israel

The articles in this newsletter (with the exception of Israeli Government statements) reflect the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Consulate General of Israel to the Midwest.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs website - Click for the latest news, official statements, videos, and presentations relating to the current conflict as well as views of the Israel behind the headlines.



Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and Gaza

Al-Qaeda Groups Active in Gaza after Year under Hamas - Nidal al-Mughrabi (Reuters)
Analysts believe al-Qaeda-allied radical groups like Jaysh al-Ummah (Army of the Nation) have benefited from the Hamas takeover in Gaza to expand their membership.
In addition, there has been an increase in attacks on Christians in the past year, apparently by Islamists not content with the extent of Hamas' "Islamization" of Gaza.

A "Black Year" for Palestinian Human Rights (AFP)
Palestinian Mazen Shahin, 41, says the torture he suffered in a month in Mashtal prison in Gaza as a prisoner of the Islamist Hamas was worse than the several years he spent in Israeli jails.
The Mashtal underground prison is a former PA intelligence center where members of Hamas were themselves locked up and tortured in 1996.
In the 12 months since Hamas seized power from Fatah, Shahin says he has been detained six times - and on each occasion he was badly thrashed. He recalled the first time he was picked up "by 50 masked men." He had the soles of his feet beaten with heavy electric cables and his captors shaved his head and beard.
"It's been one of the blackest years for human rights in two decades," said Raji Surani, director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.



Qassam Attacks Continue

Palestinians Rain 65 Mortars and Rockets on Israel - Shmulik Hadad (Ynet News)
An Israeli woman was wounded in the Yad Mordechai area on Thursday as Palestinian terror groups launched a barrage of mortar shells and Kassam rockets against Israeli communities near the Gaza border. At least 40 mortars and 25 Kassam rockets landed in Israel. In addition, a Grad missile landed near Ashkelon.

No Large-Scale Israeli Action Expected in Gaza - Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff (Ha'aretz)
No large-scale military offensive is expected in Gaza in the coming months, absent a hit by a "strategic" Kassam rocket that exacts many casualties in Israel. According to the most optimistic IDF assessments, it would take many months of physical presence on the ground in parts of Gaza to bring about a significant decrease in attacks on the communities in the Gaza envelope. The army is not certain whether the public or the government can muster such patience, when it is obvious that the prolongation of any fighting will cost the lives of many soldiers. We can occupy parts of the territory, says a senior officer, with the aim of gradually reducing the rocket fire and preventing the strengthening of Hamas, which relies on weapons being smuggled in from Sinai. "However, under what arrangement will the territory be transferred into responsible hands? An answer of 'It'll be okay' will no longer suffice in this round."


Iran

Iran and the Problem of Evil - Michael Ledeen (AEI/Wall Street Journal)
The world is simmering in the familiar rhetoric and actions of movements and regimes - from Hizbullah and al-Qaeda to the Iranian Khomeinists and the Saudi Wahhabis - who swear to destroy us and others like us. More often than not, we downplay the consequences of their words, as if they were intended for internal consumption. Why are we failing to see the mounting power of evil enemies? It is unpleasant to accept the fact that many people are evil, and entire cultures can fall prey to evil leaders and march in lockstep to their commands. The writer is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.

Iran Building Seven Refineries to End Petrol Imports (Fars News Agency-Iran)
Iran has launched construction of seven oil refineries in an effort to boost its crude and gas refining capacity and achieve energy self-sufficiency.


The Source of Instability

Iran's Brutal Morality Police Are Growing in Power - Anne Penketh (Independent-UK)
Zahra Bani Yaghoub was sitting on a park bench chatting to her fiancé when Iranian religious police arrived and arrested the couple.
The fiancé was released but the body of Ms. Bani Yaghoub, a 27-year-old doctor, was delivered to her family two days later.
According to Shirin Ebadi, a Tehran-based lawyer who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, "Ms. Bani Yaghoub's family believes she was tortured and died as a result. That's my reading, too."
Under President Ahmadinejad, Iran's feared morality police have been acting with renewed vigor against what they consider to be unIslamic behavior.

Sanctions Continue

EU, U.S. Ready Crackdown on Iranian Banks
(Reuters)
The EU and the U.S. will warn Iran at a summit in Slovenia on Tuesday that they are ready to go beyond agreed UN sanctions, raising the possibility of a crackdown on Iranian banks. "We will continue to work together...to take steps to ensure Iranian banks cannot abuse the international banking system to support proliferation and terrorism," said the final draft of the communique to be issued at the meeting. Diplomats said the EU is preparing an asset and funds freeze on Iran's biggest bank, state-owned Bank Melli.

See Also: Ahmadinejad Orders Iran's Banks to Move Assets to Beat EU Freeze - Con Coughlin (Telegraph-UK)


Syria

Syrian Economy Requires a Peace Deal with Israel - Sami Moubayed (Gulf News-Dubai)
Many Syrians believe a peace deal with Israel would undoubtedly encourage investment in Syria, and end the financial hardships imposed on Syria since relations soured with the U.S. back in 2003.
State coffers are empty, and the Ministry of Finance lifted the state subsidy on some fuels in May, with the price of fuel rising by a staggering 350%.

Report: Assad's Brother-in-Law Attempted Coup (Ynet News)
Die Welt reports that Syrian military intelligence chief Assaf Shawkat, Assad's brother-in-law, attempted to seize power by force in February, but was arrested after Hizbullah leader Imad Mugniyah informed Assad of the plot.
Shawkat was detained along with a hundred other Syrian intelligence officers. Mugniyah was assassinated in Damascus days later.


Business News

Shekel Goes International - Tal Levy (Ha'aretz)
The Bank of Israel announced Sunday that the shekel has joined the international clearing system and can be converted to any of 16 major currencies.

Israel Economy Grows by 5.4% in Q1 (Reuters)
Israel's economy is showing little sign of slowing despite a global downturn, growing at an annualized rate of 5.4% in the first quarter, the Central Bureau of Statistics said on Sunday.
The economy grew at a 5.8% rate in the fourth quarter and 5.3% for all of 2007.

Unemployment Hits 13-Year Low - Moti Bassok (Ha'aretz)
Israel's unemployment rate hit a 13-year low in the first quarter of 2008, and now stands at 6.3%.



Israel - A Light Unto the Nations

IsraAID Provides Relief in Myanmar - Sheri Shefa (Canadian Jewish News)
The presence of Israeli relief teams is still being felt in Myanmar (Burma), as IsraAID recently dispatched a third team of medical and relief professionals to offer aid to the victims of the May 3 cyclone.
The Israel Forum for International Humanitarian Aid (IsraAID) - an organization that represents 15 NGOs in Israel - sent a small team of doctors, nurses and water specialists to Myanmar just four days after the cyclone hit. One month later, Israelis are still working in the field to try to help survivors.
IsraAID has already shipped 10 tons of relief supplies, including food, water, mattresses, buckets and clothes to distribute to the survivors.
"They are not used to dealing with massive natural disasters, so our teams went into a couple of hospitals in Yangon (Rangoon) and trained them on how to deal with massive casualties, [sharing] the expertise that our doctors gain in Israel because of suicide bombings," said Shachar Zahavi, the director of IsraAID.

New Negev Research Center to Test Solar Technology - Stephanie Rubenstein (Jerusalem Post)
The newly built Negev-based Solar Energy Development Center is on track to move forward the initiative of a U.S.-Israeli company to build the world's largest solar plant in California's Mojave desert.
The site features more than 1,600 glass mirrors, known as heliostats, which track the sun and reflect light onto a 60-meter-high tower. The concentrated energy is then used to heat a boiler atop the tower to 550 degrees Celsius, generating steam that is piped into a turbine, where electricity can be produced.

Israeli Company Develops System to See Through Walls - Guy Griml (TheMarker-Ha'aretz)
Camero's unique radar utilizes Ultra Wide Band (UWB), a technology that has only come of age in recent years, and with the use of special algorithms can process data picked up by the detector to give a reasonable image of anything behind that wall.


Culture

Sderot Hosts Southern Film Festival Amid Qassam Threat - Merav Yudilovitch (Ynet News)
Cinema South Film Festival held in Sderot concludes with cash prizes awarded to students and alumni from city's Sapir College during festive awards ceremony, held despite daily rocket threat.