If you ask me, there have been too many "accidents" and screw-ups over the last few months for the world and the Arabs to believe the artillery fire on a residential building in Beit Hanun was an innocent mistake.
The real accident, from a historical perspective, is that the country was dragged into a war on two fronts by a prime minister and a defence minister devoid of military understanding. Moreover, appointing an airman as chief of staff was a grave mistake from the word go. Dan Halutz may know the way to Tehran, but he is clearly clueless when it comes to land operations.
When you've got an arrogant chief of staff who is cocksure that the battle with Hezbollah can be won from the air, it's no wonder that Israel's second incursion into Lebanon ended up the way it did, with one million Israelis sitting in bomb shelters for 33 days.
Ehud Olmert, who knows more about real estate than military strategy, and Amir Peretz, who has made an egg-on-his-face career switch, caved in to pressure from Halutz and gave the green light to befuddled military manoeuvres.
On the eve of Olmert's trip to Washington, the political commentators of several newspapers reported that Olmert was "back to his old self."
He exudes brash self-confidence," they wrote. "He has quick answers and projects a sense that he doesn't give a hoot about all the investigators breathing down his back."
These accounts show that the old scheming Olmert is back. Not only did he dodge a state commission of inquiry, but he deflected public criticism away from himself and onto the generals. When he visited the North, he proclaimed that Hezbollah had been beaten and would not be firing any more missiles into Israeli territory. This is the kind of arrogance that calls to mind Yigal Allon's claim that the Syrian plane capable of crossing Israel's border hadn't been invented yet. The next day, a lone Syrian jet created a sonic boom over Haifa.
Olmert's words look like soap bubbles in light of the intelligence predictions that Hezbollah, backed by Iran and Syria, might surprise us next summer with a reprisal attack all across the northern border. It seems that Hezbollah is not going to wait for the conclusions of the Winograd Commission anymore than Hamas is going to sit quietly in the face of humiliation, starvation and attacks by Israel. It won't be long now before Gaza becomes a mini-Lebanon and a launching pad for suicide bombers.
Israel has an illustrious history of leaders who pulled surprises. Menachem Begin, who was elected on a "not-an-inch" ticket, was the one who gave up all of Sinai. Yitzhak Rabin, who was elected as a military toughie, signed the Oslo Accords. Ariel Sharon, who came to power as the settlers' pet, was the one who sent the dream of a Greater Israel to the deep freeze.
Olmert pledged to continue Sharon's path, but he has not kept his word. He is just not built of the stuff of historical leaders. Bringing in Avigdor Lieberman as a strategic minister of strategy, in itself a world first, proves he's not such a smart cookie after all.
In the absence of a leader capable of talking to the Palestinians, what we need now is an emergency government and a reshuffling of the ministerial deck. Move Peretz over to social affairs, for example, and install Ehud Barak in his place. Utilize Shimon Peres' experience in the cabinet instead of making him president. Bring in Benjamin Netanyahu, a man who knows the ropes, and Dan Meridor, the greatest expert around on the Iranian nuclear threat.
This country is tired of playing war games and being the butt of seething hatred. We need a peace agenda.
Sderot
Jerusalem Post, November 16th - “Kassam rocket fire costs industry NIS 40 million” by Avi Krawitz - …Over 100 workers have already left the factories and approximately 14 percent of the businesses are planning to relocate because of the attacks, the Manufacturers Association of Israel said …
The survey revealed that that 93% suffered from worker absenteeism because of the Kassams, 64% of the factories said customers were not arriving because of the attacks…
Furthermore, 60% had suffered a slowdown in productivity and said that mistakes were being made in production because of the added strain on workers.
Haaretz, November 17th - a few titles -
-Sderot strikes: Quassam attacks kill 1, wound 2 in Sderot.
-IDF: no magic bullet: Hamas, Islamic Jihad claim attack, vow to carry on firing rockets at Israel.
-Teachers, kids anxious at schools.
-Beit Hanum and Sderot, two miserable towns. This reality of mutual misery and mutual intimidation is turning into a dead-end situation.
-Peretz blasts tycoon for funding free vacation for Sderot residents: “The state of Israel does not allow rich men and philanthropists to gin control from the distress of citizens” said Peretz….Peretz ordered the defense establishment and the Sderot municipality on Thurdsay to evacuate hundreds of children from the city and other towns in the Gaza envelope for a few days’ respite in Givat Olga on behalf of the Association for the Welfare of Israeli soldiers.
World Jewish Congress - Spanish senator criticizes anti-Jewish sentiment - November 15th - Juan José Laborda, a veteran member of Spain’s upper house of parliament, the Senate, has criticized political media, and Spain’s population in general for harboring anti-Zionist, anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic attitudes. “ These attitudes, and justification of the Holocaust are a way of life in Spain” Laborda said during an appearance at Madrid’s Conservative synagogue. A member of the ruling Socialist party, Laborda has served in the Senate since it was established in 1978 after Spain returned to democracy. He told an audience of several dozen people at the small synagogue that anti-Jewish bias was rooted in Spanish history, from the expulsion of Jews in 1492 to the Franco dictatorship which was pro-Arab. He also linked the anti-Semitism to an “infantile ideological anti-Americanism” in Spain and accused anti-Israeli leaders of caring more about opinion polls than about European history. Laborda conceded that his position puts him at odds with most members of his political party, and with the Spanish left in general.
“Munich welcomes new synagogue” - Der Spigel, November 10th - On the anniversary of the 1938 pogroms that terrorized Germany’s Jewish community, a new synagogue was opened in the heart of Munich. A symbol of unity indeed, but Germany still struggles with anti-Semitic undercurrents.
November 9 is a loaded date in German history. It’s the day Germany was declared a Republic in 1918, and it’s the day the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. It’s the day German police squashed Hitler’s 1923 coup attempt in Munich, and it’s the 1938 Night of Broken Glass when Nazi Germany attacked Jews across the country, ransacking their homes, stores and synagogues.
One of the most symbolic casualties of the 1938 pogroms was Munich’s synagogue, which Hitler deemed an “eyesore” and ordered destroyed. Sixty eight years later to the day, the site of destruction was made a symbol of November 9th’s brighter historical connotation: unification. This time, between Germany and its Jewish community.
Thursday, the newly constructed Ohel-Jacob Synagogue was opened in the heart of Munich. Charlotte Knobloch, holocaust survivor and president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, said “This is the symbol of November 9, 2006: we Jews are again a part of this country.”
“Munich says Shalom,” writes the conservative daily Die Welt.
Water: Sharing the Tigris River - Der Spiegel, October 30th - “Iraq worried about Turkish dam” - …The so-called Ilisu Dam’s 300 square kilometer reservoir would be a significant source of hydroelectric power, and Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at an opening ceremony on August 5th that it “will bring big gains to the local people.” But, in Iraq, health officials are concerned that these gains will come at the expense of their own people:
“There is no doubt that this will lead to a significant deterioration of the water quality in Iraq” said the Minister of Water Resources. Iraq is also concerned that the new dam project could hamper the flow of water into the country via the I, 900 km long Tigris River. The River begins in Turkey and flows into Iraq through the south-eastern Turkish town of Cizre.
The Ilisu Dam is part of the larger Southeast Anatolia Project, a 21-dam plan to expand hydro-electric energy production in the under-developed and largely Kurdish southeast. But it’s a project that is no stranger to international criticism with the Ilisu Dam attracting particular attention. In 1999, the Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP) revealed that its completion would result in the flooding of Hasankeyf, an ancient city of particular cultural import to the Kurdish minority. Criticism has only grown since construction started in August…
Government officials on Friday said that Ankara would need to guarantee the minimum water levels for neighboring Iraq before it would approve exports credits. But WEED spokeswoman Heike Drillish urged the government not to support the initiative: “The complaints from Baghdad show that international standards and human rights are being ignored” she said.
Meanwhile, the Turkish Foreign Ministry reacted with indignation to the accusations. It played down the Iraqi complaints, asserting that Iraqi delegates have not even mentioned the issue in direct talks with Turkey. A spokesperson for the Turkish government gave assurances that minimum water levels would be maintained for Iraq, and that the government is open for talks.
