Israeli Developments – Part 1 What did the Arabs read on Israel in the last month? Threats of a military strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, the speech by Benjamin Netanyahu – and Barack Obama – at the annual meeting of the Israel lobby (AIPAC), rockets from Gaza and Israeli assassinations – especially the targeting of the Islamic Jihad and the fragile truce that ensued – , and perhaps also the gasoline prices which Benjamin Netanyahu decreased to halt the decline in his popularity. There are other news stories worth reading, and I shall attempt today and tomorrow to present to the readers some of these, while bypassing the details of the stories above which I believe the Arab readers are probably already familiar with. I chose to start with President Mahmoud Abbas in Doha. Indeed, his agreement with Khaled Mashaal, the head of Hamas's Political Bureau, has angered all of Israel, so much so that the war criminal Netanyahu has asked Abbas to choose between Hamas and Israel, or in other words, to choose between his own people and his people's enemy and the enemy of all of humanity. Abu Mazen said that Israel wants to build the Temple of Solomon atop the ruins of the Aqsa mosque, and that Israel is seeking to undermine the Arab, Islamic and Christian identity of Jerusalem. Regarding the statement of the Palestinian President, the daily newspaper Israel Hayom said that it is difficult to stoop any lower than that. But I find that the real low lies in stealing a country from its native people, and killing people, occupying their lands and engaging in destruction on the grounds of biblical myths and false prophets. On the eve of Netanyahu's visit to Washington, there was much talk in the Israeli press about possible gains Israel may extract from Washington, in addition to confronting the Iranian nuclear program. I was struck in this context by a new campaign for the release of the convicted spy Jonathan Pollard, who handed staff in the Israeli embassy in Washington briefcases full of official American secrets. The campaign is being championed by the venal Congressmen who allow Israel to spy against their country, and other politicians like the former secretaries of state Henry Kissinger and George Shultz. But I say that everyone who partook in this campaign is in fact an Israeli spy. There was another campaign, this time targeting Salim Jubran, the judge in the Israeli Supreme Court, because his lips remained shut while the Israeli national anthem was played…in other words, the same gang wants the Palestinians of 1948 to chant the lies of Israel and its biblical claims to their country. My friend Dr. Ahmed Tibi rushed to Jubran's defense, and called his attackers fascists. On the other hand, the brothel bouncer who became the Foreign Minister of Israel, i.e. Avigdor Lieberman, attacked Palestinian MKs like Dr. Tibi because they defended Khader Adnan, the prisoner affiliated with the Islamic Jihad, and who went on a hunger strike for around two months and lost 29 kilograms until he was finally released. Lieberman said that those who defended Khader Adnan are supporters of terrorism. But I say that Lieberman was conceived in terrorism and hypocrisy, being a refugee from Moldova who is claiming to have a right to be in Palestine. Now, Hana Shalaby's hunger strike has entered its second month, and we are all Hana. When it comes to Israel, there seems to be a financial or sexual scandal taking place every day, and at all levels, from President Moshe Katsav who is serving a jail sentence after he was convicted of raping a female soldier, to Ehud Olmert who is on trial in a corruption case, and the rest. Meanwhile, scandals always surround Netanyahu and his wife Sara, who is a former air stewardess. This time, Natan Eshel, the Prime Minister's chief of staff, and one of Netanyahu's closest advisers, has resigned. This happened after he was proven to have harassed a female employee who was referred to in the court by only her initial R. Eshel had taken pictures of her in secret and sent them to colleagues. Yoaz Hendel, Israel's National Information chief, also resigned, but all I understood from the affair is that he had not lied enough to keep up with Netanyahu, so the latter lost his confidence in him. There were two other officials who were on the brink of resigning, and they are Zvi Hauser, Government Secretary, and Major-General Yohanan Locker, a military official in the government, because they did not defend Eshel strongly enough to save him. Does the reader want to know about more scandals surrounding Netanyahu's government, which have been exposed only in one month? I read that the Disciplinary Court in the Civil Service Commission is currently investigating irregularities committed by three employees in Netanyahu's office. Maybe tomorrow we will learn whether the charges are financial, sexual, or both, when they are brought before the courts? I shall continue tomorrow. [email protected]
