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[JP]'Iran already enriched enough uranium to make atomic bomb'

2009-04-13T02:37:41Z

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'Iran already enriched enough uranium to make atomic bomb'

Feb. 20, 2009
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

Experts say a recent report by the UN nuclear watchdog which states that Iran has slowed down its uranium enrichment program neglects to underscore the fact that Teheran already has enough fissile material to produce an atomic bomb.

The recent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) report states that inspectors uncovered 209 kilograms of low-enriched uranium that the Iranians had failed to declare, which brings the total amount that Teheran has so far enriched to over a ton, enough, with additional purification, to produce a nuclear weapon, officials told the New York Times Thursday.

Independent weapons experts told the paper that they were surprised by the figures and criticized the IAEA for conducting inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities only once a year.

"It's worse than we thought. It's alarming that the actual production was underreported by a third," said Gary Milhollin, the director of the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control.

"You have enough atoms" to make a bomb, a senior UN official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The IAEA report, which was made public Thursday, stated that the new assessment of the total amount of uranium enriched by Iran factors in 171 kilograms of newly-produced material and 839 kilograms of old production. In the past, however, the agency had only reported 630 kilograms of old production.

The discrepancy between the two figures, 209 kilograms, brought the total amount of uranium enriched by Iran to over a metric ton.

UN officials were quoted by the Times as saying that the inconsistency could be accounted for by the fact that the Natanz enrichment facility was new, which could make it harder for Iran to make an accurate assessment.

The officials rejected the possibility that the gap in the numbers meant Iran could smuggle enriched uranium out of the plant for further processing at a secret location.

"We're sure that no material could have left the facility without us knowing," the senior United Nations official said, admitting, however, that inspectors only made the inventory rounds once a year. "It's only at that moment that we have our own independent data."

The report also updated the figures for the number of centrifuges in place in Natanz, bringing the total figure to 5,600, up from a count of 3,800 working centrifuges in the IAEA's November 2008 report.

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[JP]Foul play in the Gulf

2009-04-13T02:36:48Z

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Foul play in the Gulf

Feb. 19, 2009
, THE JERUSALEM POST

In yet another egregious instance of Arab men cutting off their noses to spite their faces, copies of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue featuring Israel's stunning Bar Refaeli on the cover have been removed from Dubai magazine racks.

And, after intense pressure from the Association of Tennis Professionals, Dubai has reluctantly granted an entry visa to Andy Ram to play in next week's Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships - after barring Shahar Pe'er from playing in the Women's Tennis Association tournament, affecting her earnings, if not her ranking.

International response to such anti-Israelism by the United Arab Emirates (of which Dubai is the commercial center and a self-governing city-state) has been understated. The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal were critical, and the Tennis Channel cancelled plans to broadcast the Dubai women's tournament. Pe'er's fellow players, hearing about her exclusion at the 11th hour, were sympathetic but decided to go ahead and compete rather than forfeit millions of dollars in sponsors' support.

Sadly, anti-Israel frenzy has reached such proportions that in Malmö, Sweden, where Muslim immigrants comprise 25 percent of the population, the Davis Cup tennis first round tie against Israel next month will be played in an empty stadium.

Back in the UAE, the first ever "Emirates Airline International Festival of Literature," set for next week, is becoming a real page-turner owing to official censorship of Geraldine Bedell's novel The Gulf Between Us featuring a homosexual relationship set in a fictional Gulf emirate.

The Emirates, where fewer than 20 percent of the 4.4 million residents are citizens, likes to be perceived as a tolerant, pro-Western oasis. And, to be fair, the Saudi-controlled, Dubai-based satellite news channel Al-Arabiya makes a stab at modifying Al-Jazeera's radicalism. Still, public antagonism toward Israel and Western values is getting ever harder to cloak.

QATAR plays an even more duplicitous game, presenting itself as cosmopolitan while shilling for the Islamists. Back in 1996, it hosted the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations and seemed to be moving incrementally toward staking out a moderate position in Arab affairs. Indeed, as late as last year, Qatar allowed Pe'er to play in a WTA Tour tournament.

But at this week's three-day annual US-Islamic World Forum in Doha, co-hosted with the Brookings Institution's Saban Center, some Arab participants echoed a refrain commonly heard from Indonesia - where US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton just visited - to the Gulf States: If the US really wants to move closer to the Arab world, it will have to abandon its "near-blind" support for Israel and "overcome the veto power" of the Zionists on Washington's decision-making.

Qatar, which has the highest per-capita income in the world, has lately adopted a radically pro-Hamas foreign policy; in January, it suspended low-level diplomatic ties with Israel. Controlled by the family of Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, Qatar has the peculiar distinction of being 75-percent male thanks to its outsized expatriate workforce.

Sheikh Hamad is the main financial backer of the Doha-based Al-Jazeera. While Al-Jazeera's English-language website and television take a mild tone, the main, Arabic, enterprise aligns itself with the Hamas-Iran-Syria-Hizbullah bloc. For instance, it identifies those killed in the Gaza fighting as shahids. The Muslim Brotherhood has long been a presence in Qatar, and Al-Jazeera serves as a popular, attractive platform for spreading its extremist views throughout the region.

During Operation Cast Lead, Qatar hosted a meeting of radical Arab states, plus Iran, to mobilize support for Hamas and also pledged millions of dollars for Gaza's reconstruction. The al-Thani family also played a key role in facilitating Hizbullah's incremental ascendency in Lebanon.

But Qatar is shrewd enough to hedge its bets by hosting bases of the US military's Central Command, which oversees American operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The State Department considers both Qatar and the UAE - two of the world's richest countries - as friendly states.

HOW HAS Qatar, which promotes the Muslim Brotherhood and bankrolls the poisonous al-Jazeera station, succeeded in maintaining its image as a friend of the West? And how is Dubai, with its on-off boycott of Israel, able to sustain its own moderate image?

The answer is money. Lots of it. To win friends, influence people, and manipulate perceptions.

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304831357&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

[JP]Jewish groups call for sanctions over Pe'er snub

2009-04-13T02:29:36Z

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Jewish groups call for sanctions over Pe'er snub

Feb. 18, 2009
TORI CHEIFETZ , THE JERUSALEM POST

In response to the United Arab Emirates's refusal to issue a visa to Israeli tennis star Shahar Pe'er, top American Jewish organizations have joined in the chorus of those calling for sporting sanctions against both the UAE and the Barclays Dubai Championships, in which Pe'er was slated to play.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Alan Solow, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, called on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) to impose sanctions against the UAE.

"We find the United Arab Emirates's decision to deny a visa to Ms. Pe'er because of her nationality offensive, discriminatory and unacceptable," the statement said.

The Conference of Presidents also called for sanctions against the Dubai tournament.

It urged its sponsors, Barclays and Sony Ericsson, to withdraw their support, and that the tennis championships be cancelled in 2010 "unless and until appropriate corrective measures are taken."

Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents, compared the UAE's actions to the Arab boycott against Israel.

"We all hoped this was a thing of the past, especially in regard to sporting events," Hoenlein said.

"To discriminate as the UAE did against one player in this way smacks of bigotry and racism," he continued.

"This must be declared unacceptable by the WTA and all international sporting associations. As we learned in the past, failure to condemn such actions and take corrective measures proves destructive to international sporting competition."

The Association of Tennis Professionals is waiting to hear whether Israeli doubles player Andy Ram will be issued a visa to the UAE, enabling him to play in the Dubai men's tournament, which begins this Monday.

In an interview with the BBC, Ram suggested what should be done if he's refused a visa.

"Maybe cancel the tournament or sanction them with money or something else," he said. "But something should be done to make sure this situation does not develop again next year."

Anticipating a refusal for Ram, the Simon Wiesenthal Center called for Barclays to "immediately drop its sponsorship" of the tennis series

"If they're going to bar Israelis, why not just rename it the 'Dubai Apartheid Tournament'?" said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Wiesenthal Center, in a statement issued Wednesday. "What Dubai is doing is not only harmful to sports, but... an embarrassment to Barclays."

When asked about Pe'er and whether Ram will be granted a visa, tournament organizers have cited security concerns due to anger over Israel's recent military operation in Gaza.

Hoenlein called this "spurious," adding that a country "that cannot assure the security of all players in a tournament should not be allowed to host it."

In its statement, the Conference of Presidents lauded decisions by the Tennis Channel and the European edition of the Wall Street Journal to boycott the tournament.

In an interview with The New York Times, Ken Solomon, chairman and chief executive of the Tennis Channel, called the network's move "an easy decision to come by."

"Sports are about merit, absent of background, class, race, creed, color or religion," Solomon said.

"They are simply about talent. This is a classic case, not about what country did what to another country. If Israel were barring a citizen of an Arab nation, we would have made the same decision."

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304820013&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

[JP]Knesset newbies learn the do's and don'ts of the House

2009-04-13T02:28:04Z

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Knesset newbies learn the do's and don'ts of the House

Feb. 19, 2009
Rebecca Anna Stoil , THE JERUSALEM POST

It may be a while before the 31 new MKs get their first opportunity to address the Knesset plenum, or even find their assigned seat on the floor, but on Thursday at least they had the opportunity to look around their new digs.

The mood seemed a bit like a college orientation day, with the soon-to-be MKs wearing name tags milling about around refreshments at break time, some meeting their future coworkers for the first time and others catching up with old friends who now represent rival parties.

Parliamentary correspondents, newly-minted spokespeople and unemployed Knesset hacks looking for possible employment with the incoming class rounded off the guest list at the event.

Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik, who - following Kadima's announcement that it plans to retreat to the opposition - is likely to leave her post after next Tuesday's official opening of the 18th Knesset, greeted the incoming class with remarks in which she spoke almost sentimentally about her love for the legislative institution.

"There is an adrenaline here that there isn't in any other place in the world," said Itzik.

She expressed her hope that the new members would appreciate and enjoy the work carried out. But Itzik's address was not all about appreciation for the Knesset.

In tones recalling her pedagogic past, Itzik discussed the importance of the House dress code, one of her contributions during her tenure as speaker, and emphasized that MKs should be aware of the cameras filming them in almost every part of the building.

She also warned them to beware of the press, and to keep in mind that, despite her attempts to restrict entrance to the MKs' dining room, the area was trolled by journalists seeking headlines. "Keep in mind that whatever you say can be used," she reminded them. "There's no such thing as 'I didn't mean that seriously' or 'just between you and me'."

Both Itzik and the Knesset's most senior member, Michael Eitan, encouraged incoming MKs to frequently attend plenum sessions, both in order to gain experience as well as in light of public criticism of low attendance during debates and even key votes on the floor.

"The public does not like to see empty seats," Itzik admonished the newcomers. But empty seats were already visible by the early afternoon, as some of the newcomers drifted away from the lecture hall.

After attending the morning sessions, and even taking notes, incoming Likud MK and former IDF chief of general staff Moshe Ya'alon disappeared.

By the second half of the day - the part that contained the lecture on ethics - a full third of the seats reserved for new MKs were empty.

Some of the fresh faces, including ex-general Yossi Peled (Likud) and former reporter Daniel Ben-Simon (Labor), demonstrated a marked familiarity with the building, chatting with Knesset staff and reporters.

But even for those familiar with the building, many uncertainties remain. Without a coalition agreement, the seating arrangement in the plenum has yet to be determined, and with the two biggest parties bickering over the largest room, even the factions' offices are still unclear. Individual offices in the new wing have not yet been assigned to the incoming class. Nevertheless the new MKs were taken on a tour of the maze-like building, including the locations of MKs' offices and the committee rooms.

In addition to the tour, the incoming MKs will faced a five-hour battery of lectures on topics ranging from the nuts and bolts of the legislative process to the services offered by the Knesset Research Department.

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304832031&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

[JP]Uri Bank's Knesset future in the balance

2009-04-13T02:27:11Z

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Uri Bank's Knesset future in the balance

Feb. 19, 2009
Gil Hoffman , THE JERUSALEM POST

The National Union Party's chances of joining the coalition increased on Thursday when Israel Beiteinu endorsed Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu to form a government that Kadima said it would not join.

National Union leader Yaakov Katz is expected to be appointed a minister in such a government, representing the four-MK faction in the cabinet. In a deal reached among the parties making up the National Union on December 28, Katz committed himself to resign from the Knesset if he became a minister in order to allow the fifth candidate on the list, American native Uri Bank, become an MK.

"If the list wins four mandates and an MK is appointed a minister, the minister will immediately quit the Knesset to allow Uri Bank to enter," the agreement signed by Katz says.

But he appeared inclined to violate the deal on Thursday.

"The public voted for the National Union because of Ketzaleh," he said, referring to himself by his nickname. "If we were to leave the coalition, we wouldn't want to disappoint the public that wanted me to represent them."

Katz said he "did not want Bank to be harmed" and that a decision would be made "by consensus, in an organized and responsible way." Hinting at the role of faction manager, he said Bank "would fill an important role in the faction."

Bank said that Katz called him and promised to keep his word when it became clear that the National Union had won four seats. "I commend him for calling me at his own volition to say that he remembers the agreement and would keep it," Bank said. "I am sure that when push comes to shove, Ketzaleh will live up to his signed commitment."

National Union MK Arye Eldad said that if and when Katz becomes a minister, he expects him to honor the deal unless Bank agrees to forego a Knesset seat.

"I don't see someone as upright as Ketzaleh violating such a clear agreement," Eldad said. "If Ketzaleh becomes a minister, Uri will have to decide whether to ask Katz to quit the Knesset or whether to accept another role."

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304832037&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

[JP]Israel Beiteinu has no contingency plan for Lieberman indictment

2009-04-13T02:26:22Z

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Israel Beiteinu has no contingency plan for Lieberman indictment

Feb. 19, 2009
Yaakov Lappin , THE JERUSALEM POST

It is an event which could rock a future government to its core: an indictment of Israel Beiteinu chairman Avigdor Lieberman by state prosecutors.

The scenario appears somewhat distant at this stage, as the National Fraud Unit continues to complete lines of inquiry and has not yet questioned Lieberman in person, but the high-profile police investigation into the Cypriot bank accounts police suspect were used by Lieberman to launder funds has placed a question mark over the ability of the party leader to complete a full term in government.

Nevertheless, Israel Beiteinu has made no contingency plans for the event of a future indictment of Lieberman, two of its members have told The Jerusalem Post.

"No way. This has never come up," said former deputy police commissioner and the occupant of the fourth place on the party's list, Yitzhak Aharonovitch.

"There is no contingency plan or anything resembling that," said former ambassador to the US and Israel Beiteinu's No. 7 Danny Ayalon.

In theory, if Lieberman were indicted, his second in command, Uzi Landau, would be slated to inherit the throne.

For the time being, however, the party's lack of a "Plan B" appears to be in line with estimations by former law enforcement sources, such as former senior National Fraud Unit investigator Dep.-Cmdr. (ret.) Boaz Guttman, who believes that years could pass before state prosecutors manage to overcome all of the complex hurdles needed to serve Lieberman with an indictment.

Such obstacles include a drawn-out legal hearing designed to give defendants the right to challenge an indictment before it is served, and an attempt to strip Lieberman of his parliamentary immunity.

Meanwhile, the Justice Ministry angrily denied a Channel 2 report aired on Wednesday night which claimed that police had asked Mazuz for permission to question Lieberman in the next few weeks during a meeting between the two sides.

In a statement, the Justice Ministry said "such reports are inaccurate, and have no place at this stage," adding that Wednesday night's meeting had been set for a long time, and that the meeting was one of several scheduled encounters designed to update prosecutors on the Lieberman investigation, as well as other investigations.

"Regarding the timing of the interrogation of Knesset Member Lieberman, a decision has not yet been taken, and it will be taken when the right time comes, and in consideration of all of the [relevant] circumstances," the statement added.

Rebecca Anna Stoil contributed to this report.

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304832583&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

[JP]Sparse left-wing bloc to go into opposition

2009-04-13T02:25:37Z

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Sparse left-wing bloc to go into opposition

Feb. 19, 2009
Shelly Paz , THE JERUSALEM POST

Labor chairman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak announced on Thursday that his party would go into the opposition rather than negotiate to join a government that includes Israel Beiteinu. He stressed that he planned to remain party chairman.

"The public spoke up loud and clear and under these circumstances it is clear that we are going to the opposition," Barak said at the beginning of a Labor faction meeting in Tel Aviv on Thursday.

During the meeting, Labor members decided against recommending anyone to form the next government.

"Any recommendation would be seen as interfering in the coalition negotiations, where we don't want to set foot," Labor MK Shelly Yacimovich said as her party's delegation arrived at Beit Hanassi to consult with President Shimon Peres. "We considered recommending Livni but decided against it when she agreed to almost all of [Israel Beiteinu leader Avigdor] Lieberman's demands."

"The current picture is complicated and troubling because, of all the parties, Israel Beiteinu led by Lieberman will be one that makes kings and decides who the next prime minister will be," said Barak in Tel Aviv. "This reality leaves us one choice only - not to recommend any of the candidates for the premiership."

Barak admitted that both he and Labor had made mistakes, but said it would be wrong to eulogize them.

"We all must lend a shoulder to rehabilitate and rebuild the Labor Party," he said. "Labor has a long tradition and heritage, and deep roots of working people. Above all, we have the possibility of bringing the Labor Party back to where it deserves to be, the center of the political map."

Barak played down speculation that he was planning to resign the party chairmanship to open the way for a cabinet appointment.

Later on Thursday, Barak announced that he would appoint Welfare and Social Services Minister Isaac Herzog to oversee the logistics of going into the opposition.

Labor joined Meretz and Hadash in deciding not to recommend anyone for forming the next government. Both had declared earlier this week that they would be a "fighting opposition" to what they expected would be an "extreme right-wing government," and would not negotiate to enter a coalition with Lieberman.

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304832595&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

[JP]Procession of party chiefs calls on the president

2009-04-13T02:24:47Z

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Procession of party chiefs calls on the president

Feb. 19, 2009
Greer Fay Cashman , THE JERUSALEM POST

President Shimon Peres had a very long day on Thursday. After consulting in the capital with 10 of the 12 party factions that will constitute the 18th Knesset, he had to go to Yad Eliahu in Tel Aviv to present the State Cup to the nation's top basketball team. That was probably the highlight of his day because there, he had no difficult choices to make. The scoreboard did it for him.

On the previous evening Peres met with the Kadima and Likud factions. Of all 12 factions, only Kadima, with its 28 MKs, recommended that Peres designate Kadima leader Tzipi Livni to form the next government.

The Likud, Habayit Hayehudi, Israel Beiteinu, Shas, National Union and United Torah Judaism (a total of 65 MKs) recommended that the mandate be given to Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu, while Meretz, Balad, Labor, Hadash and the United Arab List-Ta'al refrained from recommending anyone.

Peres had initially planned to hold the meetings over three days, but decided to conclude them on Thursday evening in response to requests from party factions that emphasized the need to stitch together a new, stable government as quickly as possible.

Only on completing his round of meetings, he said, would he be in a position to know precisely what each party wanted. "I cannot rely on what is written in the newspapers," he said. "Both from a legal and a logical standpoint, I have to hear out the delegations."

What the pro-Netanyahu delegations wanted was for Kadima to join his coalition, which is why Peres is holding separate meetings with Netanyahu and Livni on Friday morning.

Habayit Hayehudi was the first delegation to meet with the president on Thursday morning. Chairman Daniel Hershkowitz told Peres explicitly that while his party supported all options under a Netanyahu-led government, it favored a broad coalition.

Asked whether Habayit Hayehudi could serve in the same government as Israel Beiteinu, Hershkowitz replied that one of the characteristics of his party was to live in peace with everyone, and he was confident that Habayit Hayehudi would find ways to be active in any constellation.

The Meretz delegation arrived with a gift for Peres, a jar of jam made from roses processed by MK Ilan Gilon. "This is a socialist jam. That's why it's made from red roses," Gilon said as he brandished the jar.

After the meeting, Meretz chairman Haim Oron said that they had not recommended anyone to Peres. Netanyahu's policies contradicted those of Meretz, and the party doubted that Livni would be able to form a government, he said.

"The strange tango between Tzipi Livni and Avigdor Lieberman is a reason not to support Livni's efforts to form a government," said Oron, adding that Meretz could not fully or partially support any government that included Israel Beiteinu.

Balad chairman Jamil Zahalka declared that neither Netanyahu nor Livni deserved to be prime minister, because neither had brought about peace, both had promoted increased discrimination against Arabs, and neither had done anything to relieve economic hardship among the weaker sectors of the population.

Haneen Zuabi, the first Arab woman to be elected to the Knesset as a member of an Arab party, when asked whether as a woman she did not identify with Livni, was adamant about not wanting to identify with someone "who can oppress my people." Other than the fact that they were both women, "We have nothing in common," she said.

When a journalist asked Zahalka whether he considered himself to be a loyal citizen of Israel, he said it was difficult for him as a Palestinian "to swear loyalty to a nation that rose on the ruins of my people."

While he could not swear loyalty, he continued, he respected and obeyed the law. He would not swear loyalty to any country that he lived in, he said, because he regarded such a demand to be fascist.

Just as Balad left, its nemesis Israel Beiteinu arrived, with chairman Lieberman sporting a brilliant scarlet silk tie that proved that red is not exclusively for socialists.

Instantly besieged by media - with a large Russian-language representation - who demanded to know whom he would recommend for prime minister, Lieberman turned toward veteran Peres aide Yona Bar-Tal and said: "I'll recommend Yona."

In the final analysis, it was Netanyahu, and Lieberman also suggested a triumvirate made up of Likud, Kadima and Israel Beiteinu, because too many small parties haggling over their demands would make the work of the government impossible.

The large Shas delegation led by chairman Eli Yishai had announced during the campaign that it would recommend Netanyahu, and stuck to its word.

Yishai impressed upon the president the urgency for coalition negotiations to be conducted as quickly as possible, because there was no point in dragging them out in the face of so many essential issues, not the least of which was the need to reduce unemployment.

In view of Israel Beiteinu's intention to press for civil unions, Yishai was also asked whether Shas would be willing to sit in a government with Israel Beiteinu. The ideal option as far as Shas is concerned is a government comprising Likud, Shas, Kadima and Labor, "but we have not disqualified any party from joining the government," said Yishai.

On the issue of civil unions, Yishai made the point that the Jewish people had survived in the Diaspora because it observed Torah Law. "Otherwise it would have disappeared," he said.

MK Eitan Cabel explained that Labor had not recommended either Livni or Netanyahu "because we do not want to be partners in the process and have no intention of supporting a government led by Netanyahu. We have no alternative but to go to the opposition."

"Netanyahu is an ideological rival whom we respect, but we cannot sit in his government," said MK Ophir Paz-Pines.

MK Muhammad Barakei of Hadash echoed the Balad chairman, saying his party could not support either candidate, because neither had brought about peace and equality, nor did they fight against racism or seek to help the poorer sectors of society.

"We don't know which is worse or which is worst," said UAL-Ta'al MK Ahmed Tibi of the two contenders. Equality was a burning issue for the Arab community, said MK Taleb a-Sanaa of the same party, adding that neither Livni nor Netanyahu had done anything in that direction.

National Union chairman Ya'akov Katz declared that the election results had shown a shift to nationalism, Zionism and a love of the Land of Israel. While some people referred to his party as right wing, "we call it authentic Eretz Israel," he said.

Katz had no objection to Kadima joining the coalition, providing that "Tzipi Livni returns to her [Herut/Likud] roots."

"We want a stable government that includes Kadima, but under the leadership of Binyamin Netanyahu, and we want it to serve a full term," UTJ leader Ya'acov Litzman told Peres. MK Moshe Gafni stressed that it should be a broad coalition, because a 55-member opposition could seriously impact on the government's stability. MK Meir Porush emphasized the importance of Kadima being in the coalition rather than in the opposition.

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304832589&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

[JP]The year for 'Bashir'?

2009-04-13T02:23:52Z

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The year for 'Bashir'?

Feb. 19, 2009
Hannah Brown , THE JERUSALEM POST

For many Israelis, there's only one Oscar category that counts this year: Best Foreign Language Film. That's because Ari Folman's Waltz with Bashir is one of the five nominees, and many are predicting that Israel will win its first Oscar. The prizes will be awarded in Los Angeles on Sunday in a ceremony that will be broadcast live at 3 a.m. on Monday morning in Israel.

Waltz with Bashir, a distinctive documentary that uses an animated format to explore soldiers' memories of the first Lebanon War, has racked up prizes and critics' awards around the world, including the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film, the Writers Guild Award for Best Documentary Screenplay and Best Picture (rather than Best Foreign Film) from the National Society of Film Critics, a US organization. All of these wins make an Oscar victory more likely.

Its main competition is Laurent Cantet's The Class, a documentary-style look at a multicultural French classroom, which beat Waltz with Bashir for the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival. The other films vying for Best Foreign Language Oscar are The Baader Meinhof Complex, a German film about the terrorist group; Revanche, an Austrian film about a lonely criminal; and Departures, a Japanese movie about a musician who gets a job preparing bodies for burial.

Last year, Israel also garnered a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar nomination, for Joseph Cedar's drama Beaufort, which lost to The Counterfeiters, an Austrian movie about the Holocaust. The nomination for Beaufort was Israel's first in 24 years. Previous Israeli Foreign Film Oscar nominees were Sallah Shabati (1964), The Policeman, aka Hashoter Azoulai (1971), The House on Chelouche Street (1973), Operation Thunderbolt (1977) and Beyond the Walls (1984).

Ari Folman, along with the other directors of the nominated Foreign Language films, will participate on Saturday in Los Angeles in the Foreign Language Film Award Nominees Symposium, a free event which is open to the public.

This is a year for quirky, hard-to-categorize films, since Slumdog Millionaire, a drama about slum children in Mumbai with no stars and a third of its dialogue in Hindi, is predicted to win Best Picture. Danny Boyle, Slumdog's Scottish director, is expected to win Best Director, and the film is predicted to get Best Adapted Screenplay as well. Kate Winslet, who plays a former Nazi guard in The Reader, is expected to take home her first Oscar, while Sean Penn is the frontrunner for his performance as openly gay San Francisco politician Harvey Milk in Milk for Best Actor.

Heath Ledger, who died shortly after playing the Joker in Dark Knight, is expected to win Best Supporting Actor for that film, while Penelope Cruz leads the Supporting Actress pack for the Woody Allen drama Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

This article can also be read at http://www.jpost.com /servlet/Satellite?cid=1233304823290&pagename=JPArticle%2FShowFull

[JP]'Kosher' GPS device gets official launch

2009-04-13T02:23:07Z

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'Kosher' GPS device gets official launch

Feb. 18, 2009
Etgar Lefkovits , THE JERUSALEM POST

It lists thousands of kosher restaurants and includes the Book of Psalms, the three daily prayer services, the Traveler's Prayer, a Hebrew calendar, and two versions of Grace After Meals.

Welcome to the "kosher" GPS device.

The state-of the art electronic gadget geared to the religious public will be unveiled Thursday morning at a Tel Aviv press conference in the office of the city's Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, who will "give his blessings" to the device.

The device, which was developed over the last year by Mio Technology, will also list thousands of other points of interest in Israel, including holy sites, synagogues, cemeteries, and ritual baths.

In keeping with the strictest religious sensitivities, the device, aptly dubbed Mio Ma'amin ("Mio Believer"), will use only a man's voice and does not have telephone functions or allow Internet access.

Some of the device's attractions will only be available in either Hebrew or English, while the blessings and prayers are currently only in Hebrew.

"These are new tidings for millions of mitzva-observant people in Israel who are looking for suitable solutions for their lifestyle," said Guy De-Piccotto, director general of Ronlight Digital, the exclusive marketer of Mio Technology products in Israel.

"It has already been proven that you can use the most advanced technologies for a traditional lifestyle, and we have done so again with this GPS."

The price of the kosher GPS starts at NIS 990.

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[JP]If only Tzipi would follow Gore's example

2009-04-13T02:22:15Z

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Analysis: If only Tzipi would follow Gore's example

Feb. 19, 2009
Gil Hoffman , THE JERUSALEM POST

When then-vice president Al Gore won the popular vote for the US presidency by a margin of 543,895 ballots, but lost in the decisive Electoral College, he challenged the results in the state of Florida and only conceded defeat fully 37 days after the election, having gone all the way to the Supreme Court.

But then Gore respectfully accepted the outcome and vowed to work to heal the rifts in the nation caused by the divisive campaign and the legal aftermath of the close race.

"For the sake of the unity of the people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession," Gore said. "Let there be no doubt that while I strongly disagree with the court's decision, I accept it. I accept the finality of this outcome."

Likud chairman Binyamin Netanyahu can only wish that Livni would act like Al Gore and let him return to the Prime Minister's Office in peace and quiet.

When Livni won the premiership in the popular vote by 28,978 ballots, but lost in the decisive coalition process, she decided to join the opposition and do everything possible to bring a Netanyahu government down.

"I will not serve as a fig leaf for a government of paralysis," Livni said Thursday on a tour of Sderot - in which, ironically, she was accompanied by US Sen. John Kerry, a man who, like Gore, knows what it's like to lose an election.

In America, Gore's name has become synonymous with coming in striking distance of power but never quite achieving it.

Livni has earned the same reputation here after having failed to form a government in October and again four months later.

Now she believes that the best way to advance herself politically is to go to the opposition and wait for the downfall of the right-wing government that she left Netanyahu no choice but to form.

The woman who said over and over during her campaign that she would put the country ahead of herself and her party will reject Netanyahu's offer to defend Israel's policies internationally as his foreign minister, and will instead head the opposition and likely join Israel's critics in inevitable Bibi-bashing to boost herself politically.

"I don't want to be Netanyahu's international stain remover," Livni said.

It is now up to President Shimon Peres to try to convince Livni to change her mind.

He no doubt will remind her that he served as former prime minister Ariel Sharon's foreign minister despite their differences of opinion, and never complained about being a "stain remover."

That's the difference between a statesman and a politician.

Peres and Gore might be losers, but they both are Nobel Prize winners who took steps to unite their nations later in their careers.

Gore galvanized his people and the world to prepare for the threat posed by global warming. Israel is facing a threat to its existence from Iran.

Livni could have helped Netanyahu present a unified front in the face of that threat by joining his government.

But now that she has made a firm decision to remain in the opposition, it is up to her to behave responsibly, let Netanyahu govern, and offer support of key decisions on Israel's security.

If she can do that, she might be given another chance to not only win an election, but also take office.

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[JP]Turkey's shift toward Iran, Syria is no short-term blip

2009-04-13T02:21:12Z

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Analysis: Turkey's shift toward Iran, Syria is no short-term blip

Feb. 19, 2009
JONATHAN SPYER , THE JERUSALEM POST

Last weekend, a conference held under the title "Gaza the victory" took place at hotel near Istanbul's Ataturk airport. The conference brought 200 Sunni clerics and activists together with senior, Damascus-based Hamas officials.

Closed meetings held after the main conference sessions focused on the creation of a "third jihadist front" against Israel - the first two being Iraq and Afghanistan, in the view of the conference delegates. The gathering was addressed by Muhammad Nazzal, a top Hamas official from Damascus.

In an echo of the attempts by Islamists across the Middle East to pressure Egypt during the recent Gaza operation, Nazzal called on regional governments to "open the borders and let the fighters through."

The gathering in Istanbul is significant for two reasons. First, it showcases the continued efforts by Islamist movements to present the Gaza events as a watershed dividing the path of "resistance," which they favor, from the path of "collaboration" that they accuse leading Arab states of following.

Second, and perhaps more important, the location of the conference is a further indication of the move of the Islamist AKP government in Turkey toward a more and more open alignment with anti-Western and anti-Israeli forces in the region.

The conference organizers themselves were aware of the significance of the event's location. One of them told a BBC journalist attending the event, "During the past 100 years relations [between Arabs and Turks] have been strained, but Palestine has brought us together."

Speakers at the conference made constant reference to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's decision to storm off the stage in protest during a recent debate in Davos, Switzerland, on the Gaza operation.

The current Turkish government's willingness to engage with and host regional and Palestinian Islamist forces is not new. Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal made a controversial trip to Ankara less than a month after Hamas's victory in Palestinian Legislative Council elections in January 2006. Interestingly, Mashaal was asked to come directly by the AKP government, after the more secular-minded Turkish Foreign Ministry refused to extend an invitation to him.

At the time, some analysts sought to present the invitation to Mashaal as a one-off gesture without deeper significance for the Israeli-Turkish relationship. Subsequent events have disproved this interpretation.

Turkey's response to the Gaza offensive has highlighted a deep rift in relations. Erdogan in the course of the operation questioned Israel's UN membership. The atmosphere in Turkey during Operation Cast Lead became deeply charged against Israelis and Jews - with a number of ugly incidents recorded across the country. Erdogan attended the emergency summit in Doha on January 16 that was convened by Syria and Qatar to offer support to Hamas.

Turkey's courting of Hamas and hosting of Islamist gatherings form part of a more general regional policy pursued by the AKP government in Ankara. The AKP seeks to build Turkey's regional "strategic depth" - in its preferred phrase - by building up relations with Syria and Iran. This is presented as a desire to counter-balance, rather than replace, Ankara's already deep links with the West.

However, in the current situation of sharp polarization and cold war in the region, it is becoming increasingly unfeasible for countries to maintain close relations with both the US-led and the Iranian-led camps. The prospect of Turkey moving toward the Iranian-led alliance can no longer be dismissed as fanciful.

Turkish analysts have noted the rise of a "Muslim nationalist" orientation in the country, of which the political dominance of the AKP over the last half decade forms the political expression.

From this perspective, a regional policy which stresses alliances with other Muslim governments and movements across the region is a natural choice. Growing warmth in Turkey's relations with Iran and Syria, and the sympathy shown their key client organization Hamas last weekend in Istanbul are all elements of this emerging policy.

Of course, it is much too soon to write off the relationship between Turkey and Israel. There are powerful forces within the country which oppose the AKP's "strategic depth" orientation. Nevertheless, Turkey's position on recent events has brought great cheer to the Iranian-led camp, and is leading to corresponding new efforts at courtship from Teheran.

Senior Iranian officials praised Turkey's stance during the Gaza crisis, and called for a strategic alliance between the two countries. Yahya Safavi, former commander of the Revolutionary Guards and now security adviser to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, said earlier this month that "Erdogan's... courageous words at the Davos summit against the war crimes of the Zionist regime... are evidence of the Islamic awakening among the Turkish people - a result of the influence of Iran's Islamic Revolution."

Majlis speaker and former nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani visited Turkey during the Gaza crisis, holding closed talks with Erdogan. Following the meetings, both men called to enhance the already extensive economic links between Iran and Turkey.

Where is Turkey heading?

What can be said with certainty is that Ankara's long-maintained policy of equidistance between Israelis and Palestinians has been dispensed with by the current leadership. The AKP government is aligning itself not only with the Palestinians, but with Hamas. In the longer term, this may portend a slow shift toward greater alignment with the Iranian-led regional alliance. Such a shift, if it occurs, will be of primary significance to the strategic balance in the region.

(Translations of comments by Iranian officials by Memri.)

Jonathan Spyer is a senior researcher at the Global Research in International Affairs Center, IDC, Herzliya.

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[JP]'European MPs met with Hamas leaders'

2009-04-13T02:20:05Z

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'European MPs met with Hamas leaders'

Feb. 19, 2009
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST

Two French senators met with exiled Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in Damascus at the beginning of February, according to a Thursday report in The Independent.

According to the British newspaper, Mashaal told the French delegation that "the most difficult issue" facing Hamas was Palestinian unity. An unnamed source connected with the talks was quoted as saying, "Mashaal said the Palestinian Authority no longer represents anything," and that Hamas was "convinced that the Arab street is with them."

An unnamed European diplomat was quoted by the paper as saying, "Far more people are talking to Hamas than anyone might think... It is the beginning of something new - although we are not negotiating."

The Jerusalem Post could not immediately confirm the veracity of the report.

The international Quartet for Middle East peace, which consists of the US, the EU, the UN and Russia, has blacklisted Hamas as a terror organization, due to its failure to recognize Israel and renounce violence. Quartet states are therefore banned from political contact with the Islamic group.

The Independent also reported that two British parliamentarians had traveled to Beirut to meet with Osama Hamdan, a top Hamas official based in Lebanon. The Independent quoted Hamdan as saying that MPs from Sweden and the Netherlands, as well as three other Western European countries, had also met with Hamas officials in recent months.

A British Foreign Office spokesman appeared to confirm the meetings in The Independent report, with a spokesman quoted as saying that the MPs who visited Beirut "were not engaged in back channel or officially sanctioned talks."

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[JP]In Gaza, US lawmakers push for progress

2009-04-13T02:18:41Z

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In Gaza, US lawmakers push for progress

Feb. 19, 2009
Herb Keinon , THE JERUSALEM POST

Three US lawmakers, including Sen. John Kerry, visited the Gaza Strip on Thursday, the first trip there by US congressmen in eight years and an indication, according to Rep. Brian Baird, of a change in the US approach to Gaza.

Baird (D-Wash) toured Gaza in the morning together with Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn), Congress's first Muslim member. They were followed in the afternoon by Kerry (D-Mass), who heads the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee.

The visits, which were coordinated with Israel, were organized by the United Nations. Except for rare occasions, US embassy and consular officials have been prohibited by Washington from entering Gaza since the 2003 killing of three US security contractors.

None of the lawmakers met with representatives of Hamas, which the US has placed on its list of terrorist organizations.

CNN quoted Baird as saying the visit marked a change in attitude and approach to Gaza under newly-elected President Barack Obama.

But Kerry countered Baird.

"Let me make this clear, there is no change in policy," the Massachusetts senator said in Gaza. "I am here to listen with the UN personnel on the ground to hear their assessment and to make personal judgment."

He added that it would be necessary "to improve the situation in the region."

Kerry toured the ruins of an American-style school destroyed in an IAF bombing, and visited a neighborhood in northern Gaza where dozens of homes had been flattened. He also spoke with local residents, including Shaarhabel Alzeem, a prominent attorney.

"We highly appreciate your visit here and hope you can talk to your colleagues and say that we want peace with Israel," Alzeem told the senator. "But we also need to live respectable lives."

Kerry responded by saying that Alzeem should look to Palestinian leaders.

"Your political leadership needs to make it clear how it is willing to move to make peace," Kerry said, "and those decisions have not been made yet. Your political leadership needs to understand that any nation that has rockets hitting it for many years, threatening its residents, is going to respond."

Prior to going to Gaza, Kerry toured Sderot with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Baird and Ellison are scheduled to visit Sderot on Friday.

"The amount of physical destruction and the depth of human suffering here is staggering," AFP quoted Baird as saying in Gaza in a statement issued jointly with Ellison. According to the report, Baird said the situation was "shocking and troubling beyond words."

Ellison, according to AFP, said, "People, innocent children, women and non-combatants, are going without water, food and sanitation, while the things they so desperately need are sitting in trucks at the border, being denied permission to go in."

Together with Baird, Ellison spent some nine hours with relief workers and civilians in Gaza.

"The stories about the children affected me the most," the Minnesota Democrat said. "No parent, or anyone who cares for kids, can remain unmoved by what Brian and I saw here. The personal stories of children being killed in their homes or schools, of entire families wiped out, and relief workers prevented from evacuating the wounded, are heart wrenching."

Ellison told his hometown newspaper, The Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune, that he was not there to assign blame but had found the civilian devastation hard to understand.

"I've always believed we need to resolve this thing by diplomacy," Ellison said. "I'm even more convinced of that now."

Israeli officials downplayed the importance of the visits, saying they signaled no change in US policy toward Hamas. However, one diplomatic official said that while the visits did not necessarily presage a change of policy, they did signal a different attitude, reflecting Obama's philosophy that it is necessary to "go to different places and talk to many different people."

AP contributed to this report.

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[JP]Yemenite family makes aliya in secret op

2009-04-13T02:17:50Z

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Yemenite family makes aliya in secret op

Feb. 19, 2009
Abe Selig , THE JERUSALEM POST

Stepping off their plane and into the bright lights of Ben Gurion Airport on Thursday afternoon, the Ben-Yisrael family was on the final leg of its journey from one world to the next.

The latest immigrants from the Yemenite community of Raida - a town fraught with tension between its Jewish and Muslim residents in recent months - the Ben-Yisraels, accompanied by another young man from their community, arrived in a special aliya operation, shrouded in secrecy, organized by the Jewish Agency and Yemenite Jewish Federation of America.

As they stepped into the arrivals hall, the Ben-Yisraels looked as if they had walked through a time warp. "Thank God, I'm happy to be here," said family patriarch Said Ben-Yisrael, clad in a felt yarmulke and long black side curls as he stood in front of his wife and seven children.

Greeted by a Yemenite rabbi who lives in Israel, Ben-Yisrael recited the "Sheheheyanu" prayer, which is said upon arriving at a particularly festive or joyous occasion. The crowd of reporters and cameramen who swarmed around the family as they entered the arrival terminal answered "Amen!"

But the transition from old-world Yemen to the modern and fast-paced Israel proved to be daunting for the family, even in their first moments on the ground.

The plane ride had been the family's first, and the shiny marble floors and bright fluorescent lights of the airport were no doubt a stark contrast to their former life in the developing Muslim country.

Ben-Yisrael's wife and young children - the girls clad in traditional Islamic clothing and the boys in suits and ties - milled around, smiling nervously as reporters attempted to speak to them in Arabic.

"We just locked up our house and left," said one of Ben-Yisrael's daughters, Esther, as she marveled at the flashing cameras and jostling news crews in front of her.

Several weeks ago, Islamic extremists threw a hand grenade into the Ben-Yisraels' courtyard, which exploded but caused no injuries. Said hurriedly took his family and went to live in the Yemeni capital city of Sana'a, before departing the country for Israel.

"I don't have much to say," Ben-Yisrael said, smiling. "We're tired, but it's good to finally be here, it's good to be home."

When the family left the airport - bound for Beit Shemesh, accompanied by a Jewish Agency team - the young children sat outside on a bench as their parents loaded luggage into a waiting taxi van.

Passersby, intrigued by the new arrivals, began to inquire about their trip.

"Can you sing a Shabbat song?" David Girafi, a cab driver from Herzliya, asked the children in Arabic. Girafi explained that his parents had immigrated from Yemen before he was born, and after witnessing the scene that unfolded at Ben Gurion Airport on Thursday, Girafi said it brought him back to the photographs that had once hung on the walls of his family's home.

"They remind me of my parents," he said, before breaking into song, as Esther, clad in her black hijab, joined him in a Yemenite rendition of "Ki Eshmarei Shabbat".

"It's very emotional," Girafi said.

While Yemenite Jews enjoy the special protection of Yemen's president, Ali Abdullah Salah, there has been an increase in the harassment of Jews by Islamic extremists in recent years.

The tension boiled over last December when Moshe Yaish Nahari, a father of nine, was murdered by a local Arab. Threats against Yemen's Jewish community also rose following the recent military operation in the Gaza Strip.

The Ben-Yisrael family are the first Yemenite Jews to leave for Israel since Nahari's murder.

Jewish Agency officials on hand Thursday were all smiles, beaming at the family as they entered the terminal, and reflected on months of hard work against a backdrop of secrecy.

"It's very exciting," said Moshe Vigdor, the Jewish Agency's director-general, as he stood in the background, watching the family arrive.

"But we also hope that this is the beginning of more to come. We're following the situation of the community in Yemen very closely, and this is in no way the end of our work there."

Eli Cohen, the director-general of the Jewish Agency's Aliya and Absorption Department, said that his agency was constantly working to help the Yemenite Jewish community and hoped to bring to Israel most of the Jews in Yemen who wished to immigrate.

The new immigrants will receive special assistance from the JA, including a grant of NIS 40,000 per family.

"This was a delicate operation, both because of the situation in Yemen and because of the family's special [religious and cultural] needs," Cohen said.

"But when I first saw them, I'll tell you, my heart was pounding. This is what we do, this is our goal, and once again, we've brought Jews to live in Israel."

About 280 Jews currently reside in Yemen, 230 of whom live in Raida in the Omran province, with the other 50 in Sana'a. The Jews now in Sana'a fled there from their homes in Sa'ade province about a year ago due to harassment by the Huthi, a terrorist group connected to al-Qaida.

Most of the Jews of Yemen immigrated to Israel during Operation Magic Carpet in 1950. Several hundred Jews immigrated in two subsequent smaller waves - in the mid 1960s and in the beginning of the 1990s.

Dozens of Yemenite Jews have moved to the US and London in recent years, brought there by Satmar Chassidim who object to their immigration to Israel due to concerns that they might abandon their religious observance.

The Satmar are ideologically opposed to the formation of a Jewish state before the Messiah's arrival. When representatives of the sect initially entered Yemen, their message was welcomed by the anti-Israel Yemenite government.

The Satmar sect has expressed its concern for preserving the ancient Jewish community, and recently its leader, the Satmar Rebbe, wrote a letter to US President Barack Obama asking for assistance to enable Yemenite Jews to emigrate to the United States.

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