Watchman Newsletter

Netanyahu to Clinton: No apology to Turkey

YNet News (Link) - Attila Somfalvi (August 17, 2011)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that Israel will not apologize to Turkey over the 2010 flotilla incident, despite an earlier demand by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to do so.

Clinton spoke with Netanyahu, asking Israel to apologize to Turkey for killing nine of its citizens aboard the Gaza-bound Mavi Marmara ship in May 2010. However, Netanyahu made it clear that given the current situation in the Middle East, Israel will not issue an apology.

Later on Wednesay, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said it would be impossible for Turkish-Israeli ties to improve unless Israel apologised and paid compensation for the killing of the nine Turks.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told a news conference in Istanbul that “if the Palmer Report does not contain an apology, both sides and the United States know what we will do.” He did not elaborate.

“Israel is facing a choice: deeper relations with Turkey or open a gap with the Turkish state that will not be overcome very easily,” he said.

Re-Examining the Arab Spring

Stratfor Global Intelligence (Link) - George Friedman (August 15, 2011)

On Dec. 17, 2010, Mohammed Bouazizi, a Tunisian street vendor, set himself on fire in a show of public protest. The self-immolation triggered unrest in Tunisia and ultimately the resignation of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. This was followed by unrest in a number of Arab countries that the global press dubbed the “Arab Spring.” The standard analysis of the situation was that oppressive regimes had been sitting on a volcano of liberal democratic discontent. The belief was that the Arab Spring was a political uprising by masses demanding liberal democratic reform and that this uprising, supported by Western democracies, would generate sweeping political change across the Arab world.

It is now more than six months since the beginning of the Arab Spring, and it is important to take stock of what has happened and what has not happened. The reasons for the widespread unrest go beyond the Arab world, although, obviously, the dynamics within that world are important in and of themselves. However, the belief in an Arab Spring helped shape European and American policies in the region and the world. If the assumptions of this past January and February prove insufficient or even wrong, then there will be regional and global consequences.

Palestinians set date for UN statehood bid

YNet News (Link) - AFP (August 13, 2011)

The Palestinians will present their bid for membership of the United Nations on September 20, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Malki told AFP on Saturday.

“Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will personally present the request to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon... at the opening of the sixty-sixth session,” on September 20, Malki said.

Abbas “will insist on this historic initiative and Ban Ki-moon will present the request to the Security Council,” the foreign minister added.

Malki noted that the Palestinian Authority chose September because Lebanon, which will hold the presidency of the Security Council, would be in a strong position to push the bid forward.

“Lebanon will hold the presidency of the Security Council in September and this will help us because the president of the council has special prerogatives, which is crucial,” he said.

‘Palestinians set date for statehood showdown at UN’

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Gil Shefler (August 13, 2011)

The Palestinians set September 20th as the date for the much-anticipated vote over Palestinian statehood at the United Nations, according to AFP.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki informed UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will ask the international community to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state on the first day of the annual opening gathering at UN headquarters in New York.

“Abbas will personally present the request to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon... at the opening of the sixty-sixth session,” he was quoted as saying by the French news wire. “[Abbas] will insist on this historic initiative and Ban Ki-moon will present the request to the Security Council.”

The announcement cast aside speculation that the Palestinians might quietly step back from their bid for statehood in response to mounting international pressure against it.

Roman-era Sword Uncovered in Ancient Ditch in Jerusalem

The Media Line (Link) - Arieh O’Sullivan (August 8, 2011)

Like a postcard sent from the battle ground, a Roman sword, still in its leather-bound wooden scabbard, was unearthed in a Jerusalem ditch where it had apparently lain since the revolt that destroyed the Second Temple almost 2,000 years ago.

Archaeologist Eli Shukron told The Media Line it was a rare find and the only one that could definitely be linked to the Great Revolt by the Jews against the Romans in August 70 A.D.

The discovery was even more symbolic for the archaeologists since it came just a day before Jews mark the destruction of the Temple on the 9th of the Jewish Month of Av, which falls on August 9.

The iron sword was discovered in a dig carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority in Jerusalem’s ancient drainage channel that ran from the site of the ancient Temple through the City of David to the Siloam Pool.

Turkey absent again from naval drills with Israel, US

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Yaakov Katz (August 4, 2011)

Israel and the United States started their annual joint naval exercises in the Mediterranean Sea this week again without the participation of the Turkish navy, in another sign of Jerusalem’s deteriorating ties with Ankara.

Called Reliant Mermaid, the annual exercise was started over a decade ago and included the Israeli, Turkish and American navies. The objective of the exercise is to practice search-and-rescue operations and to familiarize each navy with international partners who also operate in the Mediterranean Sea.

The exercise was last held with all three partners in the summer of 2009 but following the Israeli navy raid on the Mavi Marmara last May, Turkey pulled out of the 2010 drill.

The IDF had expected Turkey would not participate this year as well.

The Battle for Syria

The Trumpet (Link) - Robert Morley (August 2, 2011)

When the United States government and al Qaeda agree on something, you know that can’t be a good thing.

In this case, they both want Syrian President Bashir Assad to step down. Bizarrely, that’s not all they agree on. On July 11, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, “President Assad is not indispensable. … Our goal is to see that the will of the Syrian people for a democratic transformation occurs” (emphasis added throughout).

Responding to America’s overtures to the anti-government protesters, al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri warned the pro-democracy activists not to deal with America. America would only corrupt them, he said. He called Assad, however, a “leader of criminal gangs,” an “aggressor,” an “oppressor,” and a “traitor” to his people. He applauded the pro-democracy activists’ efforts to teach Assad a “lesson.” And he hailed Syrian protesters as “mujahideen,” or holy warriors.

Both America and al Qaeda are pushing for democracy in Syria. Yet for all the talk, that is mostly all it is. Neither group has much influence in Syria.

Israel ‘ready to negotiate borders with Palestinians’

The Telegraph UK (Link) - Adrian Blomfield (August 1, 2011)

The offer, which emerged tonight appeared to represent a major climb-down by Mr Netanyahu, who has consistently refused to discuss specific borders of a future state.

A government official in Jerusalem told The Daily Telegraph the offer was dependent on the Palestinians dropping their campaign for statehood at the United Nations next month and accepting Israel as a Jewish state.

The offer appears to cross Palestinian red lines, and it seemed likely to be rejected — although the onus is now likely to be placed on the Palestinians to present a counter offer.

Mr Netanyahu reacted angrily when the 1967 proposal was made by Barack Obama in May but was now said to be offering to trade Israeli territory on its side of the line for West Bank land where its main settlements were located.

UNIFIL: IDF troops didn’t cross border

YNet News (Link) - Hanan Greenberg (August 1, 2011)

UNIFIL said Monday that Lebanese fire on IDF troops earlier in the day was uncalled for, and that the latter had not crossed into Lebanese territory, as the country’s army had claimed. The facts did not stop the Lebanese president from rebuking Israel for “provocation,” however.

On Monday morning Lebanese soldiers opened fire on Israeli soldiers patrolling the border, who returned fire. Lebanese news agencies reported at first that a Lebanese soldier was hurt during the exchanges of fire, but UNIFIL Spokesman Neeraj Singh later refuted the claims.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman praised the army for its conduct. Suleiman blamed Israel for repeated aggression and provocation against his country. “The Israeli enemy tried again to revert back to attacks and provocations in the Wazani region, but you stood guard,” he told the troops.

A preliminary investigation by UNIFIL, which was forwarded to the IDF, shows that Lebanese forces opened fire because they thought the IDF soldiers had crossed the border.

But IDF sources are insisting that the Israeli troops remained on their side. They say a Paratroopers force was on vehicular patrol when suddenly they were fired upon, and returned fire with their rifles.

Iran new Hamas commando brigade in Gaza

DEBKAfile (Link) (July 31, 2011)

A team of Iranian Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) officers has just finished setting up Hamas’ first commando unit especially trained to combat any Israel military force entering the Gaza Strip, DEBKAfile’s military sources report. The new “Al Qods Brigades” unit of 400 men is to be the first of three. A week ago, July 23, the first unit held a passing-out parade and leave-taking ceremony from its two Iranian instructors.

DEBKAfile’s intelligence sources report that the pair arrived in the Gaza Strip in the latter half of May on Iranian passports which gave their cover names as Morteza Rahban and Hojjat Safar-Zadeh.

Their journey took them from Sudan through Egypt and Sinai where they were led by Bedouin smugglers to the contraband tunnels accessing the Gaza Strip. They went back to Tehran by the same route.

The two officers were members of the IRGC’s notorious Al Qods Brigades which undertakes overseas terrorist and covert activities on behalf of the Iranian regime. For the Al Qods commander Gen. Qassem Suleimaini, setting up a Hamas commando force in Gaza was a high and immediate priority.

Rare Ancient Golden Bell Discovered in Jerusalem

Bridges For Peace (Link) - BFP Israel Mosaic Radio - Joshua Spurlock (July 25, 2011)

A small golden bell—that was apparently originally sown on to the clothing of a high official in Jerusalem roughly 2000-years-ago and bring to mind the Biblical priestly garments—has been discovered in an archaeological excavation. According to an Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) press release, the rare gold bell has a small loop on its end and is presumed to have come from the edge of a garment. In the Bible, Exodus 28:33 describes the robe of the high priest: “Upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around.”

The IAA press release said of the possible connection of the discovered bell to the priesthood, “It is impossible to know for certain if the bell did indeed belong to one of the high priests; however, the possibility should not be entirely discounted.”

The bell itself was discovered during an archaeological excavation of a drainage tunnel that runs from the Shiloah Pool (Pool of Siloam beneath the City of David) to near the Western Wall. In the region of the excavation, back during the Second Temple Period (first century AD), there was a main road above the channel, which was linked with a bridge, known today as Robinson’s Arch, that led up to the Temple Mount.

Erdogan’s ‘Plan B’: Downgrading Israel ties

YNet News (Link) (July 25, 2011)

Turkish newspaper Hurriyet on Monday reported that Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is considering moving to a “Plan B” which will see relations with Israel suffer further by downgrading the level of Turkey’s diplomatic staff in Israel.

On Sunday, Erdogan said that he still expects an apology from Jerusalem. “We will wait for the Israelis’ decision a certain period. If they don’t apologize by this time we shall move to plan b,” he said.

According to Hurriyet, “Plan B” means cooling down relations with Israel. One of the most significant steps will be downgrading the level of Turkey’s embassy staff in Israel. Ankara recalled its ambassador following last year’s flotilla event. It is also possible Turkey will not approve an Israeli ambassador to replace Gaby Levy.

On Sunday, the Turkish newspaper reported that the Palmer report has ruled that IDF soldiers boarded the ship with “the intent to kill.”

According to the report, Israel is considering compensating the families of the nine people killed aboard the ship, and intends to issue a statement regretting the loss of life - regardless of Turkey’s demand for an official apology. †

As U.S. Steps Back, Europe Takes Bigger Role in Mideast Peace Push

The New York Times (Link) - Mark Landler (July 20, 2011)

It is a truism of Middle East peacemaking that the United States is the pivotal player — the most credible broker between the Israelis and the Palestinians. But with talks at a standstill, the Obama administration now finds itself on the sidelines, and Europe is emerging as the key diplomatic actor.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, have crisscrossed the Continent in recent weeks, trying to woo leaders who are weighing whether to support a Palestinian bid for statehood at the United Nations in September. Neither man has visited Washington since the spring.

That may suit the administration just fine. The White House, several officials said, has deliberately kept a low profile since President Obama’s speech on the Middle East in May, in which he tried unsuccessfully to break the stalemate by proposing a starting point for negotiating the contours of a Palestinian state.

Europe’s rising role stems not only from American fatigue with a seemingly intractable problem, but also from the peculiar dynamics of the Palestinian campaign at the United Nations. With more than 100 countries, most in the developing world, expected to support Palestinian recognition — and the United States almost certain to oppose it — Britain, France and Germany are viewed as influential swing votes.

Found! King Solomon’s Wall

The Trumpet (Link) - Brad Macdonald (July 19, 2011)

Around the world, people love to have their minds stirred by humanity’s ancient edifices. Be it the Parthenon in Greece, built 2,400 years ago for the goddess Athena, China’s Great Wall, Rome’s famous Coliseum, the Vatican’s Basilica of St. Peter or the Taj Mahal, these iconic structures capture imaginations and have become gateways into history.

In June, another imagination-stirring edifice was added to that list.

This structure is not only older, but more remarkable and more inspiring than any of the others. Situated just outside the Old City in Jerusalem, the Ophel City Wall site sits between the City of David and the southern wall of the Temple Mount. Now open to the public, the Ophel Wall features ancient artifacts dated to the 10th century B.C., a period during which the ancient kingdom of Israel experienced extraordinary expansion under King David and his son and heir, Solomon. Among the Ophel discoveries is an impressive edifice—a 70-meter-long and 6-meter-high wall—constructed during King Solomon’s reign.

Unfortunately, Solomon’s towering wall hasn’t captured enough imaginations. Not yet anyway.

Our World: Israel’s only two options

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Caroline Glick (July 18, 2011)

Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas is in Europe this week seeking to convince the Spanish and Norwegian governments to support the Palestinian bid to sidestep negotiations with Israel and have the UN General Assembly recognize Palestinian sovereignty over Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem in addition to Gaza.

The Palestinians know that without US support, their initiative will fail to gain Security Council support and therefore have no legal weight. But they believe that if they push hard enough, Israel’s control over these areas will eventually unravel and they will gain control over them without ever accepting Israel’s right to exist.

Fatah’s UN gambit, along with its unity deal with Hamas, makes clear that the time has come for Israel to finally face the facts: There are only two realistic options for dealing with Judea and Samaria.

Either the Palestinians will take control of Judea and Samaria, or Israel will annex them.

If the Palestinians take control, they will establish a terror state in the areas, which – like their terror state in Gaza – will use its territory as a starting point for continued war against Israel.

Israel and Palestinian sources to Haaretz: U.S. peace efforts have failed

Haaretz (Link) - Barak Ravid (July 12, 2011)

The intensive U.S. efforts to create an agreed outline for renewed negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians have failed, Israeli and Palestinian sources have told Haaretz. The sources said the Palestinian leadership is more determined than ever to pursue the recognition of an independent Palestinian state at the United Nations in September.

An Israeli source who was close to talks held by the U.S. administration with both Israeli and Palestinian officials told Haaretz the Americans was unable to find a formula that both parties could accept and take to the negotiating table. He said the Americans were working on a formula that would combine President Barack Obama’s speech at the State Department on May 19 and his speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee on May 22. Such a formula would offer the Palestinians the 1967 border with territorial exchanges while promising Israeli recognition of Israel as the national home of the Jewish people.

Both parties raised numerous objections to Washington’s proposal, leading the administration to conclude that neither was ready to resume talks. The Americans therefore decided to settle for a generic Quartet statement containing only a single bit of real news - announcing the dispatch of a team of senior diplomats to hold another round of talks in Jerusalem and Ramallah and report back to Obama personally.

Steel On Steel Persecution Update

Steel on Steel - Donald McElvaney (July 11, 2011)

1. Muslim Mobs in Egypt Attack Christian Homes, Threaten Priest

2. Chinese Authorities Expel Shouwang Church Member from Beijing

3. Beleaguered Chinese Church to Provide Legal Aid to Members

4. Messianic Christian Couple in Israel Accused of Converting Minor

5. Pastor’s Father Beaten Unconscious in Attack in Rajasthan, India

6. Pakistan’s Christian Sanitation Workers Swept into Societal Gutter

7. Cuban Pastor, Family Arrive in U.S. after Suffering under Regime

8. Imprisoned Lao Pastor ‘Extremely Weak,’ Family Says

Ships and Planes of Fools Pick Wrong Target

Hudson New York (Link) - Alan M. Dershowitz (July 11, 2011)

The recent attempts by anti-Israel extremists to break Israel’s naval blockage of Gaza and to flood Israel’s airports with troublemakers have failed.

The ships of fools, knaves hypocrites, bigots, and supporters of terrorism that tried to sail from Greece have now apparently been run aground. Most of the hard-left extremists have gone home following a decision by the Greek government to prevent the boats from leaving Greek ports. And those who tried to flood Israel’s airports are being deported. The resulting fiasco, which was designed to discredit Israel, has succeeded only in discrediting the Israel bashers on the boats and planes by exposing their true purpose.

The alleged purpose of the ships was to feed the starving Arabs of Gaza. The problem is that the Arabs of Gaza are not starving. Nor are they in need of outside help.

According to reporting by The New York Times, Gaza has been thriving recently. Luxury hotels are being built; stores are stocked with food; beaches are filled with children; and life is far better than in neighboring Al Arish, which is across the border in Egypt.

U.S. recognizes Muslim Brotherhood

Politico (Link) - Tim Mak (June 30, 2011)

The U.S. has decided to formally resume contact with Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood group - which does not recognize Israel – in a move that could further alienate some Jewish voters already skeptical of President Barack Obama, it was reported.

One senior U.S. official said the Brotherhood’s rise in political prominence after the forced departure of former President Hosni Mubarak earlier this year makes the American contact necessary.

“The political landscape in Egypt has changed, and is changing… It is in our interests to engage with all of the parties that are competing for parliament or the presidency,” said the official, who confirmed the news to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

The Muslim Brotherhood - founded in 1928 to promote a conservative version of Islam in politics, culture and society – has previously had some communication with the U.S. through Brotherhood Members of Parliament who had been technically elected as independents. U.S. diplomats had been instructed only to deal with Brotherhood members in their role as Members of Parliament.

PM: We’ll aggravate Hamas prisoners’ conditions

YNet News (Link) - Ronen Medzini, Attila Somfalvi, Ahiya Raved, Elior Levy and Omri Efraim contributed to this report (June 24, 2011)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Thursday a plan aimed at pressuring Hamas into releasing captive soldier Gilad Shalit two days before the five-year anniversary to his abduction. Netanyahu said he has decided to change Israel’s policy towards terrorists incarcerated in the country.

The prime minister said that Israel has no other obligations beyond adhering to Israeli law, international law and international treaties. Speaking at the Presidential Conference in Jerusalem he said that the State will put an end to the Hamas prisoners’ excessive conditions.

He did not specify the steps the government will take to alter confinement conditions but noted that he has canceled the “absurd” protocol allowing terrorists to enroll in academic studies. “There will be no more doctorates of terror,” he said, “This party is over.”

In March 2009, a committee headed by then Justice Minister Daniel Friedmann recommended worsening Hamas prisoners’ conditions. No other decisions were made since. The committee recommended limiting family visits and denying physical contact, banning television, radio and newspapers and changing legislation to prevent administrative release and lawyer visits.

FAA investigation demanded of Delta’s Saudi ‘no-Jew’ deal

WorldNet Daily (Link) - Bob Unruh (June 24, 2011)

The Federal Aviation Administration has been asked to investigate, the Saudi Arabian government is denying it discriminates against Jews, and Delta Air Lines is getting incinerated by critics on its own website as the dispute over the airline’s plans for a cooperative program that would ban Jews from certain flights heated white-hot today.

WND reported two days ago on the plan to have Saudi Arabian Airlines join the SkyTeam Alliance with Delta, a move that would require the American carrier to ban Jews and holders of Israeli passports from boarding flights from New York or Washington bound for Jeddah.

Now at least two legal organizations are reviewing the possibility of legal action, and Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., reported he wrote to FAA Administrator J. Randolph Babbit requesting an investigation to determine “whether Delta violated American law.”

“I request your investigation into this matter to determine whether Delta Air Lines violated U.S. law or regulation and to ensure no U.S. citizen is denied their right to fly solely on the basis of their religion,” Kirk told the agency. “Since a core mission of the FAA is to promote civil aviation, I would expect the FAA to use its full statutory and regulatory power to ensure that America’s civil airways are not restricted for persons regardless of faith.”

Hizbullah May Attack Israel to Take Spotlight off Syria

Israel National News (Link) - Gavriel Queenann (June 22, 2011)

Lebanese terror organization and political force Hizbullah is preparing for a possible war with Israel as a means of shifting Western pressure away from the regime of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, the Lebanon Daily Star reported Wednesday.

The report comes as IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz says he does not expect war in Israel’s near future and IAF commander Major General Ido Nehoshtan says the region has entered ‘a frantic arms race.’

Citing sources close to the radical Shiite terror organization, which has a powerful militia armed by Damascus and Iran, the Star said Hizbullah is watching the unrest in Syria with alarm and is determined to prevent Assad, their ally and protector, from being ousted from power.

Hizbullah supported pro-democracy movements that toppled Western-backed leaders in Tunisia and Egypt as a means of furthering radical Islam, but officials close to the movement say it will not stand idly by as international pressure mounts on Assad to yield to protesters.

“This is a battle for existence for Hizbullah and it is time to return the favor of Syria’s support. It will do that by fending off some of the international pressure [on Syria],” A Lebanese official close to the movement recently told Reuters.

Israel served as ‘main course’ at EU dinner, official says

The Jerusalem Post (Link) - Herb Keinon (June 22, 2011)

Quartet envoys are expected to meet in Brussels at the end of the week amid increasing concern in Jerusalem that the EU hopes to avert a Palestinian statehood bid at the UN in September by, as one senior Israeli official said on Wednesday, “giving something” significant to the Palestinians.

According to the official, the concern was that the EU is pushing for the adoption of US President Barack Obama’s formula of restarting negotiations using the pre-1967 lines with mutually agreed land swaps as a baseline, but without pressing the Palestinians to elaborate on security arrangements of any future accord with Israel.

The official also said the Palestinians wouldn’t be pressed to acknowledge Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people as a baseline for negotiations.

Many in Europe feel that something significant must be given to the Palestinians to get them to back down from their bid to get the UN General Assembly to recognize Palestinian statehood, the official said.

HRC keeps clause dedicated to Israel

YNet News (Link) - Yitzhak Benhorin (June 17, 2011)

Israel demanded Friday a UN vote and called on members to vote against a Human Rights Council agenda for the next five years, which will keep Israel as the only permanent state to be targeted out of 192 member-states.

The agenda in its current form ensures a continuing and skewed focus on Israel while ignoring other dictatorships and blatant human rights violations.

Israel requested a vote in order to prevent the automatic approval by the UN General Assembly, and in order to allow the state to express its objections.

The US, Canada, and Palau are the only countries that joined Israel in objecting to the agenda, which passed with an automatic approval of 154 states.

Ron Prosor, who just days ago officially assumed the position of Israel’s UN ambassador, told Ynet the agenda was absurd.

Report: Egypt’s al-Karama party wants to cancel peace treaty with Israel

Haaretz (Link) (June 16, 2011)

The Egyptian al-Karama party, whose leader plans to run in the upcoming presidential elections, has said the cancellation of the Camp David Accords is its top priority, according to a report by the Egyptian newspaper Al-Masry Al-Youm on Thursday.

Al-Karama party representative Amin Iskander said the party wishes to cancel the agreement “immediately because it’s not in Egypt’s interest.”

Iskander continued, saying “we befriend those who want to befriend us, and become enemies of those who want to turn us into an enemy,” the report said.

The al-Karama party plans to field its leader Hamdin Sabbahy in Egypt’s next presidential elections.

A recent poll by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center indicated that more than half of all Egyptians would like to see the 1979 peace treaty with Israel annulled, while only 36 percent of Egyptians are in favor of maintaining the treaty. †

Official: Netanyahu fears third intifada

YNet News (Link) - Attila Somfalvi (June 16, 2011)

Jerusalem officials told Ynet Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fears a third intifada this summer ahead of a planned Palestinian declaration of statehood in September.

“Netanyahu fears he will not be able to stop (what will happen in) September,” a top official told Ynet. “The prime minister is making an effort to convince European states that if riots begin after the declaration of statehood responsibility will not fall on Israel.”

The defense establishment presented decision-makers with a number of possible summer scenarios recently. Officials say that violent clashes may take place between security forces and Arabs and Palestinians.

“There is one scenario in which many thousands, or possibly tens of thousands, begin a march that becomes riots and serious conflicts with the IDF,” the official said.

Soros Frontman Pushing for Muslim Brotherhood

WorldNet Daily (Link) - Aaron Klein with research by Brenda J. Elliott (June 15, 2011)

A former Jordanian diplomat widely quoted in news media in recent months calming fears about the Muslim Brotherhood is a Mideast specialist for a peace institute funded by philanthropist George Soros.

WND previously reported the International Crisis Group, or ICG, led in part by Soros has long petitioned for the Egyptian government to normalize ties with the Muslim Brotherhood. The ICG includes on its board Egyptian opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei, as well as other personalities who champion dialogue with Hamas, a violent offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Also, WND reported on the numerous ties of Soros initiatives, including the philanthropist’s own Open Society Institute, to the revolutions sweeping the Middle East and North Africa.

Since those revolutions first started in Tunisia in January, news media have widely quoted Marwan Muasher, a former Jordanian foreign minister and deputy prime minister, as a Middle East analyst.

Muasher has roundly championed the revolutions while calling for Arab countries to include Islamist groups in a new democratic system based on an open society.

Lebanon PM: New government to liberate land under occupation of ‘Israeli enemy’

Haaretz (Link) - Reuters (June 13, 2011)

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced on Monday a long-delayed new government dominated by allies of Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which is likely to cause alarm among Western powers.

Mikati was appointed to form a government after Hezbollah and its allies toppled Western-backed former premier Saad al-Hariri’s coalition in January over a dispute involving the United Nations backed tribunal investigating the assassination of statesman Rafik al-Hariri, Saad’s father.

“Let us go to work immediately according to the principles and basis that we have affirmed our commitment to several times, namely ... defending Lebanon’s sovereignty and its independence and liberating land that remains under the occupation of the Israeli enemy,” Mikati said at the Baabda Presidential Palace.

Political wrangling had held up the formation of the cabinet, including disagreements over sensitive posts.

Netanyahu to France: Thanks but No Thanks on Talks with PA-Hamas

Israel National News (Link) - Chana Ya’ar (June 5, 2011)

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu thanked France for doing its best to help Israel and the Palestinian Authority reach a final status agreement but said no thanks to talks with a PA government that includes a non-repentant Hamas.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, who arrived in Jerusalem on Wednesday, has invited the prime minister and PA officials to attend a Paris peace conference in late June.

PA Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas has accepted the French proposal to attend talks “about President [Barack] Obama’s vision... in which he spoke about a [Palestinian] state with the ‘67 borders with borders with Israel, Egypt and Jordan.”

Netanyahu praised the French foreign minister for his efforts in the service of peace but was not quite so quick to leap into the net. It is impossible to negotiate, much less reach a peace agreement, he reminded, with an entity devoted to the destruction of its “peace partner.”

‘Absolutely sure’: 2nd Jewish Temple ‘waiting to be unearthed’

WorldNet Daily (Link) (June 5, 2011)

One of the most prominent Israeli archaeologists declared today that remains from the First and Second Jewish Temple period – including the Second Temple itself – lie underneath the Temple Mount surface, just waiting to be excavated.

Dr. Eilat Mazar of Hebrew University accused the site’s Islamic custodians of destroying Jewish artifacts while attempting to turn the Temple Mount into a “giant mosque.

“I think we will find all the remains starting from the First Temple period and remains of the Temple itself,” said Mazar, a third-generation archeologist. “I mean, no one took it out, it’s there.”

Mazar said she is “absolutely sure” remains from the First and Second Temple periods, including “the Second Temple itself,” as well as later remains from the Byzantine and early Islamic periods, are just under the surface of the Temple Mount.