Triumvirate of Netanyahu, Ya'alon, and Ganz Oversees Israel's Gaza Campaign Trying to Repair Problem Dating Back to 1993 Oslo Deal

Israel Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon just told Israel Radio that Hamas will rue the day it started the latest round of fighting with the Jewish state.

We can only hope so.

That depends on Israel keeping up the pressure on Hamas without being drawn into a premature land operations.

Ya'alon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and IDF Chief of Staff Binyamin "Benny" Gantz are the triumvirate who are conducting Israel's Operation Protective Edge against Hamas in Gaza.

By law, Netanyahu must also consult with a six-member security cabinet which he expanded to eight participants.

The security panel has met at least once daily since the conflict began on July 8^th. The members are Netanyahu, Ya'alon, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch, Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, Finance Minister Yair Lapid, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, and Communications Minister Gilad Erdan.

The security cabinet must authorize military operations.

Netanyahu has also occasionally invited other cabinet members including Yuval Steinitz, a former strategic affairs minister and Yaakov Perry, a former Shin Bet chief to participate in the deliberations.

Military and intelligence officials brief the security cabinet, usually Gen. Aviv Kochavi, chief of the military intelligence, Shin Bet head Yoram Cohen, and Mossad chief Tamir Pardo.

Netanyahu has also taken pains to brief the Knesset (parliament) Foreign Affairs and Security Committee and the heads of the main opposition factions, including the official opposition leader, Labor Party chairman Isaac Herzog.

At the July 13 meeting of the full cabinet, Netanyahu defined the goal of Operation Protective Edge as "the restoration of quiet for a long period while inflicting a significant blow on Hamas and the other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip."

The Gaza Strip was turned over to the Palestinian Authority as part of the 1993 Oslo Accords between Israeli premier Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat in 1993. Arafat arrived in Gaza in 1994. While Israel withdrew from most of the Strip in 1994, it retained security control and a string of civilian settlements until 2005 when premier Ariel Sharon unilaterally pulled out of the territory.

Rockets began slamming into Gaza's Jewish settlements from PLO-controlled Gaza long before the disengagement. 

In other words, even under the PLO -- the area was not demilitarized.

In August 2007, Hamas ousted Arafat's successor Mahmoud Abbas from the Strip. According to its http://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hamas.asp charter, the Islamic Resistance Movement is committed to the destruction of Israel.

Muslim-on-Muslim -- Arab on Arab -- bloodletting: Sunni Jihadis in Iraq Carry Out Biggest Atrocity in Recent Memory Against Shiites

In what may be the worse expression of Muslim-on-Muslim -- Arab on Arab -- bloodletting that has wracked the Middle East in recent years, Sunni extremists in Iraq say they have massacred 1,700 unarmed Shiite soldiers, The New York Times reported.  

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) carried out the slaughter in Tikrit— Saddam Hussein's former base— posting photographs on its Twitter feed and warning that more killing was to come.

Saddam was Sunni ruling over a majority Shiite population.

The mass murder could unleash a wave of Shiite reprisals against Sunni civilians elsewhere in Iraq.

Twitter is now blocked in Iraq and people are largely unaware of what happened in Tikrit.

ISIS has taunted the U.S. to come to the aid of the Shiites "Soon we will face you, and we are waiting for this day," the group's leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi said in a statement aimed at Washington.

The Sunni jihadis captioned photos of the atrocities they committed to ridicule Shiites: "The filthy Shiites are killed in the hundreds," read one. "Look at them walking to death on their own feet," read another. A third said: "The liquidation of the Shiites who ran away from their military bases." Yet another warned: "This is the destiny of Maliki's Shiites."

Nuri Kamal al-Maliki is the Iraqi prime minister.

None of the pictures posted showed more than 60 victims in a frame and the 1,700 figure is unconfirmed.

The BBC reported that some photographs showed large numbers of Shiite men being transported "away" in trucks.

Shiite Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani had previously called his followers to arms to block ISIS but instructed them to "exert the highest possible level of self-restraint" – presumably a message not to engage in the wholesale slaughter of Sunni non-combatants, according to the Times. 

The Shiite-led Iraqi security establishment has played down reports of the atrocity or denied it altogether, the Times reported. But one senior government official said, "I don't doubt they are real, but 1,700 is a big number. We are trying to control the reaction."

ISIS aims to create a Sunni caliphate across the entire Middle East in part by inflaming sectarian tensions. The group was inspired by al-Qaida but Baghdadi no longer accepts the authority of al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, The Daily Telegraph reported. 

Who stands in the way of ISIS? The Islamist Persian regime in Iran which espouses its own brand of Shiite extremist Island and the Arab Shiites in Iraq.

It would be a mistake to see the concurrence of interests between Tehran and Washington to stop ISIS as a channel to find common ground. 

Naturally, we can expect President Barack Obama to get this wrong.

But the US remains the Great Satan to Iran even if the ISIS is the near term threat to their hegemonic regional designs.

This will not end well. Netanyahu: Hamas has Kidnapped Three Teens in the Gush Etzion Area

Israel Mobilizing Reserves as Fears Grow for Missing Teens

After an extraordinary government cabinet meeting at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv on Sunday morning, the Israel Defense Forces announced that it was ordering a partial call-up of reserves. 

The troops will augment units that have been shifted from their regular duties to "Operation Return Our Sons," the intensive search for three Israeli high school students kidnapped by Palestinian Arab terrorists late Thursday night, Israel Radio reported.

One of the missing boys is believed to have dual Israeli and American citizenship.

Israeli authorities have placed the onus for the kidnapping on Hamas.

"Those who carried out the abduction of our boys were members of Hamas," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"This will have severe consequences," he added.

The boys, Eyal Yifrach, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Frenkel, 16, were taken captive while hitchhiking in the Gush Etzion area of the West Bank just south of Jerusalem, The Times of Israel reported.

Given erratic public transportation connecting Jewish communities in the West Bank hitchhiking is a way of life for many young people.

Hamas recently joined a Palestinian Authority unity government headed by Mahmoud Abbas. While Netanyahu did not mention the Obama administration by name, he did denounce "elements" in the "international community" that continued to back Abbas despite his coalition with Hamas.

Israeli security officials say that the Palestinian Authority is now cooperating in the search for the missing youths, according to Israel Radio.

No one is suggesting that Abbas wanted this to happen. The kidnapping complicates his position. But his so-called unity government has boosted Hamas and covers the expenses for Hamas employees in the West Bank. It also helps the legitimacy of the group which openly calls for Israel's destruction --whereas more moderate Arab groups are prepared to see Israel destroyed in step-by-step phases.

No Palestinian Arab group from the most moderate to the most extreme recognizes the right of the Jewish people to a national homeland anywhere in the Middle East -- within any boundaries. 

By early Sunday morning, Israeli security forces in the West Bank had arrested 80 Palestinians among them senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives.

Most of these are "political" as opposed to "military" operatives.

Claims by several jihadi groups that they—and not Hamas— carried out the kidnappings have apparently been discounted by Israeli authorities.

Israel is sealing off the West Bank from Jordan and from Gaza to ensure the boys are not moved out of the country,  the Times reported.

By Sunday afternoon, the search had narrowed to a number of "villages" south of Hebron.

Security in Judea and Samaria -- or the West Bank -- has steadily deteriorated. 

Under U.S. and European Union pressure all internal checkpoints in the territory have long been abandoned to ease Palestinian civilian life and to strengthen the political standing of Abbas.

Israeli analysts say that a series of prisoner releases has contributed to insecurity and strengthened radical Palestinian groups.

In October 2011, Israel released 1,027 convicted prisoners in exchange for soldier Gilad Shalit. More recently, over 100 convicts were set free to entice Abbas to the negotiating table.

Both releases were carried out by the Netanyahu government.

A hunger strike by some of the 200 Hamas and PFLP prisoners being held under administrative detention has been the focus of recent West Bank demonstrations.  

These are dangerous men who have not been formerly tried but whose imprisonment has been reviewed by several levels of the Israeli justice apparatus. 

The post-Zionist Haaretz newspaper has championed their release.

Israel Channel 2's Arab affairs reporter Ehud Ya'ari said that Hamas operations in the West Bank are now being coordinated from Istanbul, Turkey, by one of the prisoners released in the Shalit deal.

News of the kidnappings was welcomed by many Palestinians with some women handing out sweet pastries to celebrate.

Meanwhile, in protest to the kidnappings, Israeli settlements in the West Bank have told Palestinian employees not to report for work until further notice.

Special prayers were offered at synagogues throughout Israel on Saturday and at many Orthodox schools on Sunday.

There is mounting concern that the boys may already have been murdered.

Security sources tell journalists they expect to solve the case in a matter of days but that does not necessarily mean there will be good news at the endgame.

Incidentally, Netanyahu has cancelled most of his scheduled Sunday appointments except a memorial for those killed by Haganah forces on orders of David Ben-Gurion in their attack on the Irgun boat Altelana (see for details on that tragedy http://elliotjager.blogspot.com.tr/2011/06/altalena-irgun-and-ben-gurion.html)

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Memorial Day May 5 - Israel's 66th Independence Day May 7

The State of Israel began a somber Memorial Day at sundown Sunday night with a one-minute nationwide siren at 8 PM that ushered in a nationally-televised memorial service at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City. 

President Shimon Peres and IDF Chief of Staff Benny Ganz were the featured speakers.

The audience was comprised mostly of the loved ones of the fallen.

The wall is a remnant of the Second Temple destroyed by Roman legionnaires in 70 A.D.

During the following 24 hour period most restaurants and places of entertainment are closed. Israeli television and radio stations will broadcast mostly solemn music and programming, including documentaries about the pre-state underground fighters, Israel Defense Forces soldiers, and intelligence operatives who died for their country. Civilians who lost their lives at the hands of terrorists are also remembered.

On Monday at 11 AM a second siren will blast for two minutes commencing a memorial ceremony at the main military cemetery on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. Over a million and a half Israelis are expected to pay their respects at military cemeteries across the country.

Israeli newspapers devoted the front pages of their Sunday editions to Memorial Day coverage.

Since the birth of the founder of modern political Zionism, Theodor Herzl, in 1860, some 23,169 fighters have fallen in creating and defending the Jewish state.

The country makes an abrupt transition from mourning to celebration at sundown on Monday with 24 hours of festivities marking 66 years of independence. 

The highlights include the awarding of the annual Israel prizes and a youth bible contest.

On the eve of Independence Day, Israel's bureau of statistics announced that the country now has 8.2 million residents of whom 75 percent, or 6.1 million, are Jewish and 21 percent, or 1.7 million are Arabs. 

This figure does not include the Palestinian Arab population in the West Bank, also known as Judea and Samaria, whose numbers are in dispute. Palestinian officials absurdly claim 2.72 http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Palestinian-population-in-W-Bank-Gaza-about-45-million-319569 million Arabs live in the disputed territory while some Israelis put the number as low http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.532703 as 1 million.

Former Israel PM Ehud Olmert Convicted of Bribery Having Rope-a-Doped Other Scandals For Years

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert was convicted of bribery committed while he was mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003, Israel Radio reported.

Those were the years of the second intifada -- which took 1,000 Israeli lives.

The case involved construction of a grandiose housing development known as Holyland. It is an eyesore of a complex sitting above Begin Highway in the southern section of the city.

In 2010, businessman Shmuel Dachner, turned state's witness and implicated Olmert in the scandal. Dachner died in 2013 after a long illness.

Olmert denigrated Dachner -- but to no avail. 

In his ruling, Tel Aviv District Court Judge David Rosen -- there are no jury trials in Israel -- said Olmert lied to the court. 

Olmert also paid the legal expenses of his trusty former office manager who had – until last week – refused to testify against him.  

The judge said the aide, Shula Zaken, would nevertheless have to pay the price of her refusal to testify. She would not get points for changing her mind when it was too late.

Among those convicted in the scandal was Uri Lupolianski, who succeeded Olmert as Jerusalem mayor.

This actually saddens me. Lupolianski was the city's first ultra-Orthodox mayor. His family founded Yad Sarah which is a social service network that, among other things, provides free medical equipment to those in need.

Olmert was separately convicted in 2012 of breach of trust in another case involving financial irregularities while he was a cabinet minister. He was fined and handed a suspended sentence.

But he dodged conviction on several other cases, in large measure I'm assuming, because Shula Zaken kept "sthum."

Olmert became premier after Ariel Sharon was felled by a stroke. Elected in his own right he served from 2006 to 2009 including during the mismanaged Second Lebanon War against Hezbollah, and Operation Cast Lead against Hamas in Gaza.

It was under Olmert that Gilad Shalit was taken prisoner in 2006. Neither Olmert nor his defense minister Ehud Barak were able to locate Shalit who was being held within driving distance of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv.

Instead they both made bombastic threats against Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Olmert has been making speeches since leaving office. He's criticized Netanyahu for not seducing Mahmud Abbas into making peace with Israel -- even though he couldn't either.

Rather than siding with Israel while he was abroad and with the Israeli government against foreign governments -- ex-PM Olmert has waged a campaign against Netanyahu from the left.

Given Olmert's reputation for integrity, former chief of staff Dan Halutz's reputation for single-minded focus on his work, and ex-Mossad director Meir Dagan reputation for keeping his mouth shut, I was not surprised that the three of them recently went into business together. 

A sentencing hearing is set for April 28 in the Holyland case.

Olmert faces a possible prison term. He would be the first ex-prime minister to be sent to prison in Israel's history. Former president Moshe Katsav is currently serving a sentence for rape.