The sonorous call of the ram’s horn – the Shofar – will herald the start of Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year on Wednesday evening, and nearly a month of holidays in the Hebrew month of Tishrei.

As always, IDF soldiers are among the first to heed the call.

Some 17,000 soldiers and their officers this year have attended Selichot services – the prayers asking G-d for forgiveness – conducted by the Military Rabbinate during the Hebrew month of Elul prior to Rosh HaShanah. The services were held in Jerusalem, Tzfat, Tiberias and elsewhere around the country.

Throughout the IDF, preparations are nearly complete for the upcoming holiday, with kitchens busily getting ready with a rich and varied menu for a special New Year’s dinner.

The IDF Food Center is gearing up with about 2.8 tons of honey, 28 tons of apples and 4.5 tons of pomegranates. To toast the New Year, the kitchens will be ready with some 7,000 bottles of grape juice, to be followed by a dinner for hungry soldiers that will include 6.5 tons of fish, 15 tons of chicken thighs, seven tons of beef and 22 tons of turkey. For dessert, army chefs are preparing seven tons of honey cake and three tons of dried fruit.

Special preparations are being made to serve those soldiers who are stationed in outposts, submarines, missile boats and Air Force command sites.

‘Three-Day Weekend Holiday’

This year the two days of the Rosh HaShanah holiday, Thursday and Friday, are followed by the Sabbath, creating a three-day weekend for Jews around the world.

Special foods are served at the holiday meal, including an apple dipped in honey to signify a sweet year. A selection of dishes is arranged on the table, symbolizing blessings for fertility, victory over our enemies, strength and being at the “head and not the tail” (“rosh” in Hebrew is head), among others.

Due to the Sabbath, the day-long Fast of Gedaliah, which traditionally follows the holiday, is delayed until Sunday. The fast commemorates the end of Jewish rule in the Land of Israel following the destruction of the First Holy Temple approximately 2,500 years ago.

10 Days of Repentance

Rosh HaShanah also kicks off the 10-day period known as the Ten Days of Repentance that ends with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, which this year begins on Friday evening, September 17.

The New Year in Judaism is not a time for parties, but rather is a time of great introspection, and taking inventory of one’s relationship with G-d and with one’s fellow.

Based on the commandment in Numbers 29:1, 100 shofar blasts are dramatically sounded throughout the prayers, “awakening” us to improve our ways.

The “tashlich” prayer is recited on the second day of the holiday over a body of “living” water in which fish are swimming, in which one asks G-d to “throw away” his sins.

Yom Kippur which this year falls on Friday night, September 17, is the only Jewish fast that is not postponed in deference to the holy Sabbath. The holiest day of the Jewish calendar, the Day of Atonement begins at sunset and ends Saturday at nightfall, a total of around 25 hours.

(IsraelNationalNews.com)

The family of Yitzchak and Talia Imas made a special pilgrimage up to the Temple Mount on Tuesday in lieu of the murdered couple, their parents, who traditionally made the trip on the eve of each holiday.

Temple Mount police commander Avi Biton accompanied the couple’s family and friends on their heart-wrenching journey. Also in attendance were Temple Mount activists Rabbi Yisrael Ariel and Yehuda Glick.

As always, all participants in the event first prepared themselves by immersing themselves in a mikvah, a ritual pool. The participants then followed up with prayers and Torah study.

Seven days ago, Yitzchak and Talia were brutally shot to death in a terrorist ambush on Highway 60 at the Bani Nayim junction in Judea, located between Pene Hever and Kiryat Arba/Hevron. Talia was nine months pregnant. In addition to the Imas couple, who left six children behind, Kochava Even-Chaim (who left behind a 10-year-old daughter) and Avishai Schindler, newly married, were also murdered. All were residents of nearby Beit Hagai. The 

Six members of the Hamas terrorist cell that murdered the four Beit Hagai residents were arrested by Palestinian Authority security forces, it was announced late Tuesday. The same terrorists were allegedly responsible for a second shooting attack that took place some 27 hours after the murder, also on Highway 60, near the Rimonim junction. The spot is located about 15 minutes north of Jerusalem, in the Binyamin region of Samaria. Rabbi Moshe Moreno was shot, but survived. His wife Shira, who was also in the car, was injured when the car overturned and landed in a ditch.

The Imas family vowed to continue the tradition of going up to the Temple Mount, despite the tragedy.

Israel news photos: courtesy of Yakir Bezalel

Gaza terrorists launched a mortar attack on children and their parents in southern Israel Wednesday, just hours before the start of Rosh HaShanah, the Jewish New Year.

One mortar exploded close to several kindergarten buildings in a Negev kibbutz, just half an hour before the children were set to arrive.

No one was wounded in the attack, which occurred in the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council district, but at least one of the buildings was damaged.

Miraculously, the shell landed between two of the buildings, according to one of the residents, who noted that things “could have ended very differently.”

The school building that was damaged by the explosion had a fortified roof – but no other part of the building is protected. Area officials have been discussing the issue with security personnel, asking for total reinforcement of the community’s public buildings.

Yenina, one of the mothers who brought her son to school not long after the attack explained, “We are continuing as usual – we have no other choice. It’s a holiday today. People’s faces look a lot less happy today, but the buildings are protected and parents are bringing their children to school.

“We heard the explosion – to our great sorry, it was a mortar, which doesn’t activate the Color Red system, the way a Kassam rocket does. So actually, it was the explosion that told us there had been an attack.

“This is the most frightening aspect of the situation, although in actuality, rockets can land anywhere. What’s important to note is that it is not quiet here. Almost every day a mortar or Kassam rocket lands. It happens all the time.”

Overnight, the western Negev was also struck by a Kassam rocket attack launched by terrorists. Those residents of Sderot and the Sha’ar HaNegev Regional Council district who were not cooking and otherwise preparing for the holiday, were rudely awakened by the scream of the Color Red air raid siren at about 2:00 a.m. Within 15 seconds, at least one rocket exploded in the area, but did not cause damage, and no one was wounded in the attack.

Local residents told Israel National News that attacks from Gaza have sharply escalated following Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s trip to Washington D.C. for direct talks with Palestinian Authority Chairman and Fatah Leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Home Front Command recommended Wednesday that kindergartens in the region be kept open in order to provide a safe indoor facility in which children can play for hours leading up to the holiday, which begins at sunset.

Judea, Samaria Crossings Closed

In other security news, the security crossings from Judea and Samaria were closed overnight for the duration of the Rosh HaShanah New Year’s holiday.

Although the holiday does not begin until sunset Wednesday, the crossings closed one minute prior to midnight Tuesday night, September 7, and will not reopen until September 11, one minute prior to midnight late Saturday night.

Per standard practice, persons in need of medical attention, will be allowed to pass through. The passage of humanitarian aid, as well as doctors, medical personnel, NGO members, attorneys and additional professionals will be coordinated by the Civil Administration.

“Additionally, special accommodations were made in light of the Muslim holiday of Eid ul-Fitr for the purpose of family visitations,” the IDF Spokesperson said in a statement.

Border Crossing?

Journalists have been warned by the IDF Spokesperson, who coordinates all statements with the Government Press Office (GPO), to prepare passports and visas as well as standard press credentials to pass through the crossings, in much the same way as one would for travel to a different country.

“In order to pass, media personnel with Israeli or dual citizenship are required to sign release forms prior to visiting the A areas and are encouraged to coordinate their passage in advance with the IDF Spokesperson’s News Desk,” the statement said.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has been talking of “creative solutions” lately, and some reports say he means Palestinian Authority rule over Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria.

Two days ago, addressing his Cabinet after returning from the first day of direct talks with PA leader Abu Mazen in Washington, Netanyahu said, “What’s needed is creative and new thought to solve the complex problems.” He said that in the past, “we have proved that we are ready to go far towards achieving peace, but this time, in order to succeed, we have to learn the lesson and to think in original terms.” He also said he is willing to work towards a “historic compromise,” while ensuring Israel’s security and other national interests. 

Aaron Klein of World Net Daily reports that the specific “creative new plan” under consideration is that the Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria will remain in place – under a form of Palestinian Authority rule.

“Officials in both Israel and the Palestinian Authority have confirmed the plan to this reporter,” Klein wrote, noting no names or level of authority.  He added that PA sources said they held a meeting last week to discuss it.

Abbas Has Often Objected
The PA chairman himself, Mahmoud Abbas, has often stated that he objects to any Jews living in a PA state – and has even announced that he would not accept Jewish soldiers in a NATO force sent to protect a future Israeli-Arab peace.

“I’m willing to agree to a third party that would supervise the agreement, such as NATO forces,” Abbas was quoted as saying by the PA Wafa news agency, “but I would not agree to having Jews among the NATO forces, or that there will live among us even a single Israeli on Palestinian land.” His aide later said that Abbas retracted his opposition to Jewish soldiers in a NATO force.

What the Rabbis Say
Security questions aside, some rabbis living in Judea and Samaria have said in the past that residence in the Holy Land is an important Jewish value no matter who is sovereign. Others feel that the full import of settling the Land can only be attained in a Jewish state – especially if the opportunity to do so exists at the time.

Huge storage depots at Bushehr reactor

Iranhas begun secretly moving some of its most sensitive nuclear research facilities and materials from North Tehran and the Arak heavy water plant to huge storage areas around the newly-fueled reactor at Bushehr, along with advanced missiles from the southern province of Khuzestan, debkafile’s military sources disclose.

The fueling of the Russian-built reactor since its inauguration on Aug. 21 has rendered the location safe from outside air or missile attack for fear of environmental radiation. Tehran is exploiting this advantage to conceal the forbidden facets of its nuclear and missile programs.

Already on Aug. 22, Iran’s National Security Council discussed exhaustively how best to take advantage of this immunity and the large storage depots the Russians had built around the reactor for their heavy equipment to hidie their most secret projects, weapons and materials. Their six-hour session produced a detailed plan which was submitted to supreme ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is commander-in-chief of Iran’s armed forces. He gave it the go-ahead on Aug. 26.

debkafile’s military sources report that the Bushehr nuclear reactor compound is accordingly in the process of transformation into one of the most important military facilities in the country. It is to be dedicated to four special functions:

1. The relocation of Iran’s clandestine nuclear weapons research center from North Tehran;
2. As hangars for storing advanced missiles, weapons and components the Iranians want to keep under wraps;
3. For research laboratories engaged in the research and development of new weapons systems;
4. Orders went out in the first week of September to start preparing the compound to accommodate Iran’s most advanced ground-to-ground missiles to be moved out of the oil-rich Khuzestan province.

Last week, our Iranian sources report, the work teams with top security clearance who had worked with the Russians on the nuclear reactor’s construction received new orders to start converting the two biggest storage areas to their new functions.

The Russian teams were told remove themselves with their equipment since the space they had occupied for 15 years was being fenced off and declared a closed military zone. Their departure was expedited by the posting of Revolutionary Guards special commandos around the temporary fence to prevent their access.

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As Jews around the world prepare for the Rosh HaShanah New Year’s holiday, North American families this year will have many more options for places to pray than ever before.

The High Holy Days, as the New Year and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement are called, often are a time for scrambling to ante up for the annual synagogue membership.

Paying for one’s synagogue seats can mean added stress after the recession has taken such a large bite out of the family coffers, and often less-than-observant Jews decide to skip the service.

This year, however, quite a number of congregations and Jewish community centers are offering “no-cost” services, or discounted seats for members of the general public. Many advertise in local Jewish newspapers, and some have even taken to issuing public service announcements on the local Jewish radio programs.

The Chabad-Lubavitch Chassidic movement always offers free High Holy Day services at numerous college and university campuses, and in most cities across North America. Locations can be found by clicking here.

A Hebrew University demography professor has announced there were more Jewish births in the past year in Israel than any other time in the history of the State. According to data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics on the eve of the Jewish New Year 5771, the State of Israel has now reached a population of 7.645 million.

Professor Sergio Della-Pergola,  who holds the Professor Shlomo Argov Chair in Israel-Diaspora Studies at the university, said that the a survey he conducted indicates the Jewish population has seen a moderate increase in fertility rates in the past year (2.9 children), with the largest number of births of Jews in the nation’s history.

Della-Pergola attributed the increase to various factors, including the high birth rate in the hareidi religious community and the increase in the general public due to “life satisfaction.” In addition, said the professor, despite the global economic crisis, Israel has enjoyed a relatively positive economic status compared with other countries, which impacts on the fertility rate both in Israel and abroad.

Moreover, immigration to the state is another factor affecting the increase in the population, he said.

“While in Israel this year we recorded an increase of 1.7% in the Jewish population, in the Diaspora there was a corresponding decrease of 0.2% in the number of Jews,” said Della-Pergola.

After the State of Israel, the largest concentration of Jews is found in the United States, with a population of 5.3 million, according to the CBS data. However, the professor notes, this depends on how one defines who is a Jew.

The number of Diaspora Jews in other countries is considerably less: France: 485,000; Canada: 375,000; Russia: 205,000; Argentina: 182,000; Germany: 119,000; Australia: 108,000; and Brazil: 96,000.

Two months after an attempt to break Israel’s naval blockade on Hamas ended in bloodshed, international “free Palestine” activists are at it again, this time planning a larger flotilla accompanied by an airplane, according to Channel 2 News.

The activists are collecting money in San Francisco to fund the new, bigger flotilla. The airplane is to carry aid in an attempt to portray the journey as a humanitarian mission, despite the fact that aid to Gaza can be transferred by land with Israel’s assistance.

The stated goal of the Free Palestine group is to force Israel to hand over Gaza and all land east of the 1949 armistice line to Arab control, and to give Arabs in those areas complete freedom of movement – including the freedom for Hamas in Gaza to bring in goods and people by sea and by air with no supervision.

Israel argues that Hamas would use such freedom to import weapons far more lethal than those it has used to date. Gaza terrorists have previously made efforts to smuggle in advanced weapons by sea, most notably using the ship Karin A, which was intercepted by Israeli troops.

Hamas has managed to smuggle many weapons into Gaza using tunnels from Egypt; those weapons have been used to carry out hundreds of terrorist attacks targeting Israeli civilians in the western Negev.

Israeli officials are said to be following the planned airplane journey with concern, and are readying diplomatic initiatives aimed at preventing the plane from ever taking off to Gaza.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)

The Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas on Saturday said that all Jews living in Judea and Samaria (the so-called “West Bank”) are legitimate military targets, regardless of whether they are men, women or children.

Hamas spokesman Azat al-Ghashek told the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat that it is “natural” to want to harm any Jew that is found in these areas, as they are “the reserve force of the occupation army on Palestinian land.”

Al-Ghashek was interviewed following last week’s brutal execution of four Jewish civilians near the Judean town of Hebron that left seven Israeli children without parents. Hamas claimed credit for that attack and organized street rallies in Gaza City to celebrate the slayings.

Palestinian terror groups have long argued that even killing Israeli women and children constitutes legitimate military activity since all Israeli Jews eventually serve in the army

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suggested to his cabinet on Sunday that he is ready to try something new in order to reach peace with the Palestinians, and hopefully the entire Arab world.

Freshly returned from Washington, Netanyahu briefed his ministers on the renewal of direct peace negotiations between himself and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Netanyahu and Abbas met for several hours last Thursday, and were accompanied by US President Barack Obama, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

Netanyahu said he came away from the meeting feeling like the Arabs had turned a corner, and were now genuinely ready for peace with Israel.

“There may be some important countries which have yet to stand up for a move of peace, but my impression from their willingness to reach peace despite the attacks reflects a feeling of maturity in the Arab world,” he told the cabinet.

Nevertheless, Netanyahu said Israel would need to learn the lessons of past failed peace efforts and “think outside the box” this time around.

“It’s time to move forward towards peace with the Palestinians and extend it to a wider circle. This feeling stems from my understanding of the meaning of the alternatives, as well as the recognition (of Arab countries) that an agreement with Israel is required,” the prime minister said.

Netanyahu did not elaborate on what new concessions or gestures Israel may be ready to make, but did say that for now his decision to end the self-imposed Jewish building freeze in Judea and Samaria on September 26 “remains unchanged.”

Abbas and the Palestinians have threatened to end the negotiations if Israel does not extend the building freeze indefinitely. They insist that ultimately, all Jewish towns in the so-called “West Bank” must be destroyed to make way for “Palestine.” However, Netanyahu is under immense pressure at home to not extend the freeze, considering that the Palestinians have yet to prove they are truly ready for a lasting peace, as evidenced by ongoing anti-Jewish and anti-Israel propaganda in the official Palestinian media.

Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren said Netanyahu is looking for other ways to keep Abbas at the negotiating table without jeopardizing the current Palestinian leadership.

“We know that President Abbas’s position can sometimes be precarious, and we are trying to find other means of incentivizing him to stay at the negotiating table,” Oren said without elaborating in a conference call with American Jewish leaders.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat gave cause for concern when he said that Netanyahu had agreed to resume negotiations where former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had left them. During his final months in office, Olmert offered to divide Jerusalem and withdraw from nearly all of Judea and Samaria.

Erekat said that Abbas and Netanyahu had decided to meet regularly and forgo the traditional series of meetings between committees representing the two leaders. The goal, said Erekat, is to make hard decisions fast and conclude negotiations up to the point of declaring an independent Palestinians state within 12 months.

Syrian ruler warned off terror by US

The Obama administration has sent Syrian president Bashar Assad a stern warning that he will be held personally accountable and face consequences if Israel and the Palestinian Authority are subjected to a terror campaign - whether by Hizballah or the Palestinian extremist groups based in Damascus, debkafile reports from Washington. The warning went out Thursday, Sept. 2, as Israelis and Palestinians sat down to talk in Washington in the shadow of threats from extremists sheltering under Syria’s wing and after two attacks on the West Bank.
The caution was put in Assad’s hands in Damascus by Fredric Hof, adviser to US envoy George Mitchell as  Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas met for the first time under the aegis of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and support of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan’s King Abdullah.
debkafile’s sources do not know exactly what was said at the interview but Saturday, Sept. 4, they confirmed the severity of the US message to the Syrian ruler.
Our military sources report that last week, Syria and Hizballah took joint steps against a possible Israeli strike against the sophisticated rockets which Hizballah is storing for safekeeping at Syrian bases close to the border and holding ready for immediate use. Hizballah militiamen have been visiting those bases to learn how to use the advanced hardware.
Assad is deepening his military partnership with Hizballah and advancing joint preparations for war under Iranian sponsorship. Last Sunday, Aug. 29, he urged Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri to stand solidly behind Hizballah when they met in Damascus.  The Syrian ruler stressed to Hariri “…the importance of supporting the resistance as the only way to preserve Lebanon’s strength and security against regional threats.”

Our sources report that the hands of Assad and the Iran-backed Hizballah are detected in fomenting terror in another part of the Middle East - Iraq, especially in Baghdad.

Report: US to Continue Supplying Lebanon with Arms

A video that was published on Sunday shows Hizbullah terrorists as they smuggle weapons from the arms cache in the city of Shehabiyeh which exploded on Friday.

The video, which was first broadcast on LBC News on Friday, shows aerial photos taken from above the site of the explosion. At first, thick smoke is seen rising from the weapons cache. Approximately 40 minutes later, Hizbullah activists are seen as they quickly hide weapons from the cache, and then another Hizbullah activist is shown examining the entrance to the cache.

The video then shows senior Hizbullah officials as they arrive on the scene, and then a final clearing of the cache from any weapons which were left in it is shown.

According to Hizbullah, there were no casualties in the explosion. However, media were not allowed near the site of the explosion.

UNIFIL troops in Lebanon said Saturday that they are waiting for the results of an investigation before they draw any conclusions from the occurrence.

Shehabiyeh, is a village located south of the Litani River east of the city of Tyre. This is an area where UNIFIL troops patrol as per the agreement which ended the 2006 Lebanon War

One of the investors in the proposed Islamic center and mosque near Ground Zero in New York once donated to a charity which was later shut down due to its connection to Hamas.

According to an AP report on Friday, Hisham Elzanaty, 51, is among the members of a real estate partnership that paid $4.8 million for the vacant clothing store that is planned to be torn down and replaced by the Islamic center and mosque. This information was confirmed by the developer leading the project.

Critics of the Ground Zero project have pointed to a donation made by Elzanaty to the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development in 1999. According to tax records, Elzanaty gave $6,050 to the foundation, which was the largest Islamic charity in the US at the time. The Holy Land Foundation raised millions of dollars from Americans in the 1990s. The money was supposed to fund schools, orphanages and social welfare programs.

However, in 2001, the US government froze the foundation’s assets and accused it of acting as a fundraiser for Hamas, which has been a recognized terrorist group in the States since 1995. Furthermore, in 2004, the foundation and some of its leaders were indicted on charges of supporting Hamas, and five were ultimately convicted.

During a 2002 interview with Newsday, Elzanaty mentioned his philanthropy activities involving PA Arabs: “When you see people surrounded by tanks and F-16s, you ask how can we help? But you don’t want years later to have a knock on the door and someone asking why did you donate money?”

AP also reported that besides Elzanaty, others also donated to the Holy Land Foundation in 1999, including NBA star Hakeem Olajuwon, the Microsoft Corp., and a medical equipment company owned by General Electric.

Newspaper stories questioning whether the Holy Land Foundation had ties to Hamas began to appear as early as 1993, AP added. Israel banned the foundation in 1997, but the US did not crack down on it until after the September 11 attacks.

Elzanaty’s lawyer told a reporter for WNYW on Thursday that his client had no knowledge of the foundation’s involvement with Hamas when he donated the money, and had intended the donation to go to an orphanage.

Sharif El-Gamal, the developer in charge of the ground zero mosque project said in a statement quoted in the Wall Street Journal: “Hisham is a major investor in the Park51 project. He is one of eight investors all whom agree with me that this project will not be funded in anyway from any country, terrorist organization or entity hostile to America or its values.”

While El-Gamal has so-far not revealed the names of his other financial backers, he has said that the group is diverse and includes Jews and Christians, Polish-Americans, Italian-Americans, and others. El-Gamal and Elzanaty are reportedly the only Muslims in the group.

Three months ago, it was also revealed that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, the cleric behind the proposed mosque, is a major donor to the pro-Hamas Free Gaza movement, which has been behind several attempts to break the Israeli sea embargo on Hamas, including sending the “Rachel Corrie” ship.

The project itself has been a source for controversy in the US, as protests both for and against it have taken place. While the project has been endorsed by politicians such as President Barack Obama as well as New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, others such as former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin have spoken out against the project.

A CNN poll conducted on August 11 found that 68 per cent of Americans oppose the Muslim center project in Ground Zero.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Anti-Israel racist hate groups are mushrooming on the Facebook social networking Internet website, with few controls being exerted to stem what is threatening to eventually become a possible riptide sponsored by and catering to anti-Semites and Muslims. At present there are nearly 200 such pages, with hundreds of thousands of members declaring their support in foul language for the trend.

One of the most recent, a  group entitled “F—k Israel” (expletive deleted –ed.) – self-categorized as a “Local Business” has been allowed to remain despite at least four complaints filed against it by Facebook members who say they find it offensive and abusive.

The group features numerous posts, most relating to Gaza or Judea and Samaria, and cursing the State of Israel and America. Also featured are posts from the official website of the military wing of the Hamas terrorist organization. Another post of note is the ridiculous accusation that “Israel did 9/11 … with all the evidence!!”

Under a photo album that depicts a Palestinian Authority Arab bride and groom allegedly getting married while under attack – presumably by Israeli Defense Forces – at least four comments are listed, all saying “F—k Israel” and “F—k Jew.” None have been removed or even flagged for offensive or abusive language.Four people “liked” the photo, which appeared to show a very young woman being wedded to a clearly much older man. The LIFE watermark logo appears in the lower left-hand corner of the photo, indicating that it has been reproduced from LIFE Magazine.

Another photo appears to depict a shower of white pellets raining down from the sky in from of a building with a basketball hoop set up in front., each being chased by a trail of white smoke. No soldiers, no bombs or other weapons are seen. The caption reads: “They cannot hide the truth about what happened, the picture shows the use of white phosphorus against children in UNRWA schools in Gaza. Who are the terrorists? It’s pretty obvious… !!!!!”

More than 46,200 have clicked on the “Like” button to indicate their support for the hatred on this blatantly anti-Semitic group’s page.

One of Many

Although an extreme example, the above is only one of the anti-Israel hate pages on Facebook.  

As a matter of fact, there are exactly 194 groups on Facebook with the name, “F—k Israel.”  This does not include groups with the “F” word misspelled.  Although many are small, with only a few hundred members, at least three boast more than 32,000 votes of confidence, and two have more than 46,000 supporters.

A similar group, “I DO hate ISRAEL!!” has thus far earned more than 49,120 votes of confidence on the social networking site. Another page, “We hate israel” (sic), has more – 163, 993 at last count – and lists itself as a “religious organization.” One group unashamedly calls for the outright destruction of the state – “Destroy Israel LAKNAT…Terbalikkan Buminya  YaALLAH”, which terms itself a club. This group, which posts in the Malay language, has so far won more than 5,225 supporters for its cause, to curse Israel and mourn Gaza.

On each Facebook page there is an option to confidentially report a violation of the site’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities. A list of reasons for the report from which one can choose includes:

Nudity or Pornography

Impersonating me or someone I know

Racist/Hate speech

Targets me or a friend

Direct call for violence

Excessive gore or violent content, and

Spam

Any member filing a report is asked to certify that they have reviewed the Statement of Rights and Responsibilities and the site’s guidelines, and that they believe the content they are reporting violates abuse standards of Facebook.

After filing a report, an auto-response indicates that the report will be read and reviewed by an administrator and an appropriate action, if needed, will be taken. However, no action has yet been taken by Facebook in the matter of F–k Israel, unquestionably racist/hate speech, which remains functional and available to all.

“It is hate filled garbage,” wrote Facebook member and leading public relations executive Stuart Schnee one week ago. “Please report this page,” he urged surfers with whom he made contact. 

A small handful of members responded that they had complied, but Schnee’s plea went largely unanswered,so far.

One week later, despite at least four formal complaints, the F—k Israel racist/hate speech site remains alive and well, along with the more than 194 others that are easily found on Facebook with a simple, one-click search.

Are you going to do something?
(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat expressed the hope Saturday that Israel will ultimately end up destroying Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria, as it has in prior pullouts from other regions.

“When Israel decided to strike peace with Egypt it tore down settlements in Sinai,” Erekat pointed out in an interview with Jordan’s al-Dustour newspaper, published Saturday. “When it decided on a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, it tore down settlements in Gaza.”

Many of the residents of Yamit — one of the Jewish communities destroyed in the pullout from Sinai — were re-traumatized a second time during their forcible expulsion from their homes in Gush Katif in 2005. Nearly 10,000 Jews were left homeless after the withdrawal, many of whom are still without permanent housing or jobs today, five years later.

Nevertheless, Erekat warned that nothing less would be demanded in any final status agreement reached on a new PA country. There are more than a quarter of a million Jews living in Judea and Samaria at present.

“I hope Israel knows that peace in the West Bank will demand it does so again. Peace and the settlements are two parallel lines that do not meet,” he said.

Erekat some pessimism about the future of the direct talks between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, accusing Israel of procrastination.

The PA negotiator also said that Abbas had so far rejected all proposals offered by Netanyahu. One of those, said Erekat, had been the formation of 12 committees which would each address a different issue of the peace process.

Israeli media adviser Nir Hefetz, however, denied in a statement that such a proposal had been made. “Nothing of the kind has been suggested,” he said. “On the contrary – Prime Minister Netanyahu offered the Palestinians to hold accelerated talks, once every two weeks, and in between, to have smaller, discreet meetings in order to seriously and responsibly pursue a peace agreement. The prime minister explicitly said that he believes what is necessary now is leaders’ decisions not a multitude of advisers.”

Netanyahu and Abbas are scheduled to meet a week from Sunday for a second round of direct talks, together with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Special Middle East Envoy George Mitchell.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)

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Obama, we’re not suckers

Op-ed: Obama may mortgage America’s future, but we won’t let him do the same to Israel  

Avi Trengo

Public Security Minister Yitchak Aharonovich has announced that security forces are closing in on the terror cell that was responsible for murdering four Jews last week on Highway 60.

The four residents of Beit Hagai were shot to death by Hamas terrorists who ambushed them as they drove past the Bani Nayim junction, located between the Jewish communities of Pene Hever and Kiryat Arba/Hevron.

At an event held Saturday in Holon, Aharonovich said that Israel “must fight Hamas in all possible ways. But we cannot change our policies after each terrorist attack. Police and security forces will give their full support to all political decisions.”

He added, “I cannot go into the details, but we are close to capturing the terrorists that carried out the attack last week.”

The minister added that the negotiations taking place in Washington D.C. Between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas are facing numerous obstacles, not the least of which are efforts by terrorists to sabotage the process.

“Like everyone, I want to believe there will be peace,” he said. “With that, we received several reminders last week about the difficult reality, with the terror attack and attempted attacks” — a reference to the second attack that followed Tuesday night’s murderous attack, a scant 27 hours later, Wednesday at approximately 11:00 p.m. A Jewish man and his wife were injured – the man seriously wounded – when Hamas terrorists attacked them in a second ambush on Highway 60 north of Jerusalem near the Rimonim junction, in the Binyamin region.

“We find ourselves in a complicated period, and there are forces that will try to impede our progress,” Aharonovich said.

Netanyahu and Abbas meanwhile agreed in Washington to resume direct talks a week from Sunday in Sharm el-Sheikh, together with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Special Mideast Envoy George Mitchell.

Netanyahu and Abbas agreed at the end of their talks in Washington to try to resolve all final status issues within one year. Sources said the prime minister did not rule out calling a general referendum to vote on any deal that might be reached at the negotiating table.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Four young civilians: human beings, fathers, mothers, one of whom was also pregnant, collectively the parents of seven children, were brutally gunned down by armed, masked terrorists. Their murders were openly celebrated in the streets by their attackers and by thousands of their supporters.

You would think that the world would recoil in horror—or that those who report the news, world-wide, would do so. Think again. These four precious souls were Israeli “settlers” and, as such, have already been so demonized that they are now seen as having provoked their bloody, pitiless deaths.

First, they came for the settlers. Then, they came for the secular Israeli pro-peace demonstrators in Jerusalem, Haifa and Tel Aviv. And then they came for….you and me.

Predictably, sadly, my three local area New York City newspapers present this tragic news in very different ways.

Tali and Yitzhak Ames with five of their children

Kochava Even-Chaim

Avishai Schindler

Allow me to first quote from the Bible of the intelligentsia aka The New York Times, which presents this incident on page 4, not on page 1; the early pages are usually reserved for all incidents in which Israelis fight back so that Israeli “evil” is seen immediately and framed as among the most “important” world news of the day. The accompanying Times headline? Unbelievably, it is this: “Killing of 4 Israeli Settlers on the Eve of Peace Talks Rattles Leaders on Both Sides.” It’s really not clear who killed the “settlers.”  What is clear is that “both sides” are “rattled.” The piece opens with a paragraph that made me see red, both literally and metaphorically. It reads as follows:

“The killing of four Israeli settlers, including a pregnant woman, in the West Bank on Tuesday evening rattled Israeli and Palestinian leaders on the eve of peace talks in Washington and underscored the disruptive role that the issue of Jewish settlements could play in the already fragile negotiations.”

Note: This opening paragraph literally blames the past and future peace failures on the Israeli settlements. The Times neither blames nor characterizes Hamas accurately. It does not say the Arab Muslim terrorist group, Hamas, the Palestinian version of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza, probably also backed by Iran and Hezbollah, and the group which is claiming responsibility for the attack—is also responsible for a deadly civil war with the not-so-moderate President Abbas, an Islamist war on Palestinian women, homosexuals, and dissidents; and a jihadic war against the Jews which began a long time ago and which will never stop until either such terrorist leaders and their propaganda are utterly vanquished militarily, or until the Jews have been driven out of the Holy Land once again.

On the contrary. The piece also positions President Mahmud Abbas as the “good” guy who, like his negotiating partner, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has “condemned” the attacks. Yes—even as Abbas is busy honoring the Palestinian terrorist who planned the Munich massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic games, Amin Al-Hindi, as well as the Palestinian terrorist, Omar Muhammad Ziyada, who murdered an Israeli civilian in a human bomb homicide in 2002.

The Gray Lady does not even tell us the names of the Israeli civilian victims, nor are they in any way humanized. Their histories are not presented. They are only “particularly militant settlers”: faceless, shadowy figures. We are not supposed to care about them. We do learn what Hamas said about the attack, namely that it was a “natural response to the crimes of the Israeli occupation and its settlers.” We also learn that “hundreds” of Hamas supporters “took to the streets…to celebrate the news of the attack.”

Shame on you, Isabel Kershner and Mark Landler (who share this byline of infamy), and shame on your editors.

As usual, The Wall Street Journal does better. Their headline reads: “Hamas Attacks Israelis on Eve of Talks.” At least they tell us who the perpetrators and who their victims are.  According to Charles Levinson, “multiple gunmen” were involved; the “victims” included “two men, ages, 25 and 40, and two women, also ages 25 and 40, one of whom was pregnant, according to Israeli officials.”

Why do Kershner and Landler consider such facts irrelevant to their piece? Are these facts too hard to find—or are these facts too dangerous because they would begin to humanize the Jewish, “settler” victims?

However, the august WSJ does not name the victims either. For that, I had to turn to The New York Post, which places the terrorist act on its cover with a picture of a fully head-and-face masked Palestinian gunman. The title? “Peace, Hamas Style: Terrorist fiends kill 4 Israelis on the eve of DC talks.” Their reporter, Andy Soltis, begins this way:

“Hamas terrorists yesterday murdered four innocent Israelis, one of them pregnant, in a twisted attempt to derail President Obama’s peace summit in Washington…the soulless thugs sprayed a car on the West Bank with dozens of bullets, leaving behind a gruesome scene on a blood-stained road.”

The Israeli media is filled with the facts which humanize this terrorist act but here, in my home town, I can only find such facts in The New York Post.

The victims were Yitzhak and Tali Imes, who had six children, including a year-and-a-half old infant; and Kochava Even-Haim and Avishai Schindler. One of the members of the Israeli rapid response medical team discovered that his own wife (!) Kochava was one of the victims. Kochava was a “married schoolteacher” who struggled for many years to have a child and finally succeeded. She leaves behind an 8-year-old daughter.

The victims’ funeral on September 1, 2010 (Reuters)

The Post also tells us that the terrorists may have videotaped the assault, that Hamas claimed responsibility for this “heroic” operation and that Hamas also “launched a sickening celebration that drew 3,000 people in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.”

I am purposely remaining silent about the “politics” involved.

My point here is simply this: If American journalists, professors, scholars, teachers, read and trust only the New York Times, they will continue to view “militant Israeli settlers” as more blameworthy than Islamist Palestinian terrorists. This view is confirmed by articles, editorials, and op-eds which appear in their pages almost daily, often two or three in each issue. In edition after edition, this point is made over and over again.

Worse: Those who read The Wall Street Journal and The New York Post are viewed as rabid, right-wing conservatives, racists, “Islamophobes,” non-intellectuals, anti-progressives, anti-feminists, etc., and their views, and the views of the WSJ and the NYP are easily dismissed—demonized—just as the “militant settlers” have been.

If I want to profile the recent and powerful conference on global anti-Semitism at Yale, in which I participated, if I cannot do so in the New York Times, or better yet, in the Times of London, academics will not take a word I write seriously. They will not even bother to read my words.

Quo vadis, my friends?
(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Dozens of Jewish supporters of Israel gathered across the street from the Israeli Consulate in New York City, on Thursday evening, September 2nd, to call upon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “just say no to demands for more concessions from Israel that will continue to endanger the lives of Jews throughout Israel.” Organized by Helen Freedman of Americans For A Safe Israel, the demonstration came at the end of the first round of direct peace talks between Prime Minister Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and US President Barack Obama at the White House.US Middle East envoy George Mitchell along with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Abbas and  Netanyahu met for 90 minutes, with the two leaders pledging to work together to maintain security and reiterating their goal of a two-state solution. The three-way meeting was “long and productive,” Mr Mitchell said, adding the leaders pledged to work in “good faith” and with “seriousness of purpose.” He said Mr. Netanyahu and Mr Abbas then went off on their own for a one-on-one meeting, which may be designed to build trust between the two leaders. There were no notetakers or translators in either of the meetings.
 
The US sponsored peace talks come on the heels of the heinous murder of four Jews in the Hebron region on August 31st. Talya and Yitzchok Imas, Kochava Even-Chaim and Avishai Shindler were gunned down in cold blood by Hamas terrorists at the Bani Naim junction just south of Hebron. This was followed by yet another drive-by shooting on Route 60 between the Rimonim Junction and the Jewish community of Kochav HaShachar in the Binyamin region of Samaria that left Rabbi Moshe Moreno and his wife Shira moderately wounded. A Fatah cell calling itself the Al-Namir cells of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack as did Hamas. 
 
“It’s all very well for the ‘Quartet’ led by President Obama to decide that ‘peace’ must come to the Israeli-Arab situation within the next year, but what are the Arabs saying? And what are they doing? Where is the control of anti-Israel terror and incitement”, said AFSI coordinator Helen Freedman. Hold aloft Israeli flags and signs saying, “No Negotiations With Terrorists: Just Say No”, “Bibi: Trust in Hashem, Not Them” and “No Palestinian State”, the demonstrators braved the oppressive 97 degree New York City heat as they chanted, “Jewish blood is not cheap” and “They kill and we build”.
 
“We need a president that understands the ideology of radical Islam” declared Madeline Brooks, the Manhattan chapter head of ACT for America, as she addressed the demonstrators. “These four innocent Jews were tragically murdered because there were no security checkpoints and that was ordered at the behest of President Obama. We need to seize the moment to educate our fellow citizens about the pernicious nature of jihad”, she said.
 
Also addressing the gathering was New York radio personality and long time Jewish activist, Charlie Bernhaut who said, “If you want to see a real terrorist up close, just look at Mahmoud Abbas. His links with Palestinian terrorist organizations are numerous and legendary. He is a Holocaust denier and rabid Jew hater. Clearly, the creation of a Palestinian state will represent an existential threat to Israel’s survival because it will become a terrorist state under the leadership of Hamas.”
 
Susan Kone, a GOP candidate for the congressional seat in New York’s 8th district said, “There is never a justification for the intentional murder of innocents and my deepest sympathies go to the families of the four Jews who were murdered by Hamas terrorists. These purported peace talks in Washington should not be taking place at this juncture because Israel cannot make peace with those whose ideology is predicated on wanton murder.”
 
“Why can’t we have a prime minister of Israel who is proud of being a Jew and who has a sense of honor?”, said Rabbi David Algaze of Forest Hills, Queens. “Who even entertains the notion of proposing territorial compromise and the division of the holy city of Jerusalem when four precious Jewish lives have been snuffed out?” he continued. Concluding on a sober note, he intoned, “No appeasements, no negotiations, no peace with those who seek our destruction and no to charades orchestrated by Washington.”

(IsraelNationalNews.com)

A new study in the US shows that American Jews are still attached.

“Still Connected: American Jewish Attitudes About Israel” is the title of the study, which was published in August by the Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Center for Jewish Studies at Brandeis University. Authored by Theodore Sasson, Benjamin Phillips, Charles Kadushin, and Leonard Saxe, it is based on a survey which was conducted among 1,200 individuals who were identified as Jewish in a large national panel. The study was done in response to suggestions by some media outlets that younger American Jews were being alienated from Israel due to factors such as the flotilla incident and the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza.

The study, however, found that 63 percent of American Jews still feel connected to Israel, and 75 percent said that caring about Israel is a significant part of their Jewish identity. This connection is true for both younger and older respondents.

In fact, no relation was found between political views and the strength of the attachment to Israel.

The survey also dealt with the US support for Israel, and found that 52 percent of respondents characterized the current level of US support for Israel as “about right”, 39 percent felt US support was too little, and  only 9 percent said it was too much.

In regards to the May 31 flotilla incident, 61 percent of respondents blamed “pro-Palestinian activists” for the incident, and only 10 percent blamed Israel.

The study also finds that direct experience with Israel affects younger Jews’ relationship to the country. Young adults who participated in a Birthright Israel trip were more likely to say they felt very connected to Israel, as were those who had visited Israel in any capacity.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Police lifted a gag order Tuesday and revealed they have arrested two Jerusalem Arab teens for allegedly murdering an elderly American tourist in Jerusalem two weeks ago. The vicim apparently refused them a cigarette. Police have not stated whether nationalist motives were involved.

The suspects are aged 13 and 15 and are from an Arab neighborhood in northern Jerusalem. The victim was identified as Lance Wolf, who was described as being 60 years old and living in the capital for approximately the last two years. His children in the United States have been notified of his death.

The youths initially denied they murdered Wolf, but later confessed. Security cameras in the Nahalat Shiva neighborhood located immediately behind the Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall caught the murder on camera.

They said they smashed his head with a wooden board after he refused their request for a cigarette in what they said was a rude manner. A short time before, Wolf had agreed to buy vodka for them, and police said the teenagers may have been under the influence of alcohol when they murdered him. They were charged with manslaughter.

Police said the suspects have no criminal record. After Wolf fell under their blows, the two Arabs fled without seeking help for the man, who died of his wounds in Hadassah Hospital several days later.

Most of Israel’s mainstream media did not identify the teenagers as Arabs. This follows a similar omission several weeks ago when American authorities arrested an Israeli Arab for serial murders in the United States as he was about to board a plane for Israel. At that time, most American media did the same and called him an Israeli citizen without using the word Arab.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Hollywood: Three Iranian Jews Murdered

MKs to Netanyahu: Come Home Now, This is Your Fault

The Palestinian Authority religious affairs minster, a week before peace talks in Washington, warned of war if Jerusalem is not “returned” to “its owners. And we are its owners.

With PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in the audience, Mahmoud Al-Habbash declared in his Friday sermon, “Jerusalem can ignite a thousand and one wars,” according to a translation supplied by Palestinian Media Watch.

Unless Jerusalem ”becomes the capital of the Palestinian people, there is no peace,” he warned. “The term ‘war’ will not be erased from the lexicon…as long as Jerusalem is occupied.

“If Jerusalem is dishonored, if Jerusalem is disgraced, if is lost, it may leave the door open to all possibilities of struggle, all possibilities of war.  

“Jerusalem is not just a city. Al-Aqsa is not just a mosque. Jerusalem is the key to peace…. Unless Jerusalem will be Palestinian, as it was throughout history, the capital of the Palestinian state and the capital of the Palestinian people, the place which is the object of heartfelt longing and which all Muslims aspire to reach; unless Jerusalem is like that way, there is no peace. There is no peace without Jerusalem. There is no stability without Jerusalem.”

U.S. President Barack Obama, who is scheduled to host Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Abbas this week, has gradually changed his position on Jerusalem. During his 2008 election campaign, he stated that the city is the “undivided” capital of Israel, but he backtracked the next day after Arab protests.

He explained that it was up to the PA and Israel to decide the borders of the city and later stated that he meant the city should not be divided by barbed wire, as it was during the Jordanian occupation between 1948 and 1967.

In his “reaching out Muslims’ speech in Cairo in June 2008, President Obama said he foresees the United Nations flag flying over the city.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Two Israeli Jewish families made the horrible error of accidentally driving into a Palestinian Arab town on Saturday, and nearly paid for it with their lives.

The families, driving in two separate cars, were returning from a bar mitzvah party when they took a wrong turn on the highway that enters Jerusalem from the north and instead headed into the Ramallah suburb of Qalandiya.

The drivers very quickly realized their error and tried to turn around, but by that time local Palestinians had noticed that Israeli Jews had dared to come into their midst and began pelting the cars with stones. In addition to the two couples, there were five children in the cars ranging in age from six-year-old to just 11-months-old.

Needless to say, both the parents and children were in a state of intense fear and panic.

“We already said our last prayers,” one of the parents told Israel’s Ynet news portal. “They had giant rocks and murder in their eyes. It’s not fear, it’s crazed horror one cannot imagine. I was afraid they’d yank the kids out of the car.”

The drivers knew they had to remain in motion or risk having their families dragged from the vehicles and lynched. But even their constant motion didn’t prevent the vehicles from being terribly battered. The drivers of one of the vehicles also failed to lock his doors quickly enough, and several local Arabs reportedly climbed inside the car in an attempt to grab family members.

One of the mothers said her children were saved by their decision to drop them to the floor. Moments later, a large stone smashed through the back window and landed on the 11-month-old child’s seat.

The murderous affair finally came to an end when a Palestinian gas station worker offered to help the families and spoke on the phone with Israeli army officers to let them know where the victims were located exactly.

The incident was yet another example of why any agreement signed between Israel and the Palestinians is not going to be a genuine peace because the Palestinian Authority has chosen to do the opposite of educate its population for peaceful coexistence.

The Alrai daily newspaper in Kuwait reported on Saturday that Israel is planning to attack Hizbullah weapons storage and production facilities in Syria. According to unnamed Western sources who were quoted in the report, the IDF has strengthened its troop presence in the Golan Heights and Galilee panhandle. European sources told the paper that Israel had sent unmanned aerial vehicles over Syria and Lebanon, which they see as a sign that a military operation in the area is in the works.

In September of 2007, Israel attacked and destroyed a nuclear reactor in Syria. The site of the bombing was an installation meant to produce plutonium, and was partially funded by North Korea. The CIA had said that Israel bombed the reactor before it attained its planned capacity to manufacture plutonium for nuclear weapons.

Syria did not respond to the 2007 Israeli attack. However, Alrai also cited sources who said that this time Syria would respond forcefully and quickly should it be attacked by Israel. The paper reported that the Syrian Army has deployed anti-aircraft missiles along the Israeli border and in other key strategic areas in the country, and is ready to respond to an attack.

Meanwhile, the Lebanese army claimed on Friday that Israel has begun to use hot air balloons above Lebanon’s skies. The balloons, said the Lebanese army, are equipped with camera and transmission capabilities.

Arab media reported that these hot air balloons had been spotted on Thursday over Baalbek, the villages of Nahla and Younin and the east Lebanon mountain ridge.  The Lebanese army said in a statement that Israel’s use of these balloons is “a new violation of Lebanese sovereignty.”

The reports regarding Syria and Lebanon come during a relatively tense time. On August 3, Lebanese soldiers opened fire on IDF soldiers while they were carrying out routine maintenance near the Israeli border with Lebanon. Lt.-Col. (res.) Dov Harari was killed during the exchange of fire.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), who conducted an investigation into the incident, said that the attack by the Lebanese soldiers was unprovoked by the IDF. UNIFIL said that although Lebanon has claimed that the Israeli soldiers had crossed the border into Lebanese territory, evidence found that the IDF troops had remained on the Israeli side of the international “blue line” border set by the United Nations.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said on Sunday that if upcoming direct talks between Israel and the PA will fail, Israel would be to blame if it continues to build in Judea and Samaria.

In a televised speech, Abbas said: “Israel alone will bear the responsibility of threatening these negotiations with collapse and failure if it continues settlement expansion in all its forms in all the Palestinian lands occupied since 1967.”

Abbas added: “I hope that we find a partner in Israel that will be able to make decisions and take a responsible stance on ending the occupation. That way we can achieve true security for both peoples, Israeli and Palestinian.”

The 10-month freeze announced by Israel on construction in Judea and Samaria is scheduled to end on September 26. The PA has threatened to pull out of the talks unless Israel extends the freeze. Last week, PA chief negotiator Saeb Erakat warned that Israel must choose between “settlements or peace” when direct negotiations resume, reported AFP.

Although both US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Quarter said that the direct talks, scheduled to begin this Thursday in Washington, will be held without preconditions including discussions on the extension of the freeze, US State Department Spokesman Philip Crowley has said that the building freeze will indeed be discussed during the direct talks.

“The issue of settlements, the issue of the moratorium… has been a topic of discussion and will be a topic of discussion when the leaders meet with Secretary Clinton on September 2,” said Crowley.

Meanwhile, Arab League chief Amr Moussa said during an interview with Reuters on Sunday that he is not optimistic that the direct talks will be successful.

“We are hoping that talks will succeed but we are all very pessimistic about the viability of the peace process because of the past experience. The only reason (for the hope in the success of the talks) is the sincerity of President Obama and his wish to achieve something good in his presidency,” said Moussa.

At the same time pressure continues on Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu from within his government to discontinue the building freeze after September 26. The Jewish Home / New NRP said Sunday that it will leave the coalition if the freeze is extended. Netanyahu on his part has made it clear that there is no change in the government decision regarding the freeze, and hinted that construction would be renewed at the date that was set for this.

MK Dan Meridor has proposed resuming construction only in the “settlement blocs” that Israel intends to keep in any future peace deal. Netanyahu, however, emphasized that Meridor’s position is his personal one and does not reflect the view of the government.
(IsraelNationalNews.com)