IDF kills Two and Hamas talks fail

Eine delikate Situation für die Regierigen in Israel dämmert morgen früh, da man sich im Falle des Scheiterns von Verhandlungen über eine Waffenruhe mit dem Gazastreifen militärtechnisch sehr weit aus dem Fenster gelehnt hat. Total deplatziert erscheint unser Freund Bernard Kouchner, seines Zeichens französischer Aussenmister mit der bei einem Besuch in den Territorien vorgetragenen Einschätzung: "There is this good atmosphere ... in Lebanon, as well as with Syria and also in Gaza." Am Nachmittag wird die gute Athmosphäre im Gazastreifen mit etwas Blei angereichert: Hamas-Demo am Karni-Crossing, ein Toter 17 Verletzte. Die IDF bezichtigt die Hamas eine Schießerei und des Steinewerfens und möchte in Notwehr zurück geschossen haben. Andere israelische Quellen berichten genau Gegenteiliges: "opend fire when demonstrators approached the border fence, believing the movement to be terror related". Daneben wird ein Scheitern berichtet: A bid by Egypt to broker a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel has faltered after the radical Palestinian group failed to secure a pledge to lift an Israeli-imposed siege on Gaza, Palestinian officials said Thursday. ... "We haven't decided yet the hour when cease-fire begins.", soll wohl ein Witz sein. Olmert möchte jetzt entscheiden und wenn er jetzt wieder den Schwanz einzieht verleiert er den Rest seiner Glaubwürdigkeit. Laberschnalla Livni gibt zum Besten: "The attempted attack this morning at the Erez crossing point should demonstrate to the international community that, while it demands that Israel take care of the situation in Gaza and open the crossing points, Hamas, which controls Gaza, is not interested in improving the lives of the population and doesn't take even minimal responsibility," a Foreign Ministry statement quoted Livni as saying. "The international community must continue to delegitimize Hamas." Die Maan-Quelle will higegen noch keine entscheidung erkennen: Hamas leaders said they would make announcement soon about the outcome of Egyptian-brokered ceasefire talks, after they returned to the Gaza Strip from a round of talks in Cairo on Thursday. The Hamas officials plan to hold internal discussions about the talks before making any announcement. Hamas spokesperson Isma'il Radwan said, "Even after the delegation returns to Gaza, we can not assume that the case is closed, so let’s wait for their response." Dabei packt die JPost bereits den kriegswichtigen Ammon Rubinstein aus, der kriegsvorbereitend den Leuten erklärt warum man die Hamas am Besten ... "The shahid is not only the individual, but the regime itself". [Selbstmörderisches Regime.] Roni sofer macht hingegen ein drittes Faß auf: Senior Defense Ministry official Amos Gilad will be traveling to Cairo Sunday on the invitation of Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman. Gilad is expected to receive the answer of Hamas and the other Palestinian groups regarding lull efforts in the Gaza Strip and Israel's demand that Gilad Shalit's release be included in the agreement. [Irgendwann werden sie sich einig darüber das die Hamas Njet gesagt hat, weil sie ganz offensichtlich nichts bekommt was sie nicht schon hat.]

Morgen ist jedoch eine Kriegsentscheidung zwischen 10 Uhr und 12 Uhr nicht möglich: Police investigators are scheduled to arrive at Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Jerusalem residence at 10 am Friday for yet another question session in connection with the bribery probe against the PM. Also entweder vor dem Frühstück, oder nach dem Mittagessen. Ich befürchte allerdings das das Grillen von Olmerts Kopf wieder so weit gehen wird das er sich hernach nicht mehr an das was er vor dem Grillen sagte erinnern kann: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert did not propose a U.S. naval blockade of Iran during talks with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat's office said on Thursday. [Das Dementi ist vollkommener Blödsinn. Erstens ist der Bericht von Olmerts Leibschreiber Barak Ravid und zweitens ist die Idee uralt und wird ständig von irgendwem gefordert, so das die Bedeutung der Forderung faktisch bei Null liegt. Am Besten aber ist das nach dem man im Artikel mehrere als Orginalzitat gekennzeichneten Äußerungen lesen konnte ein Sprecher Olmerts zitiert wird: An Olmert spokesman has declined to comment on the Israeli leader's meeting with the U.S. congresswoman on Monday in Jerusalem, calling it confidential.] [Related: The United States will aggressively impose more sanctions on Iran as long as it refuses to give up sensitive nuclear work and uses the world's financial system for "terrorism," U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday.] Nicht mehr verwunderlich ist das mittlerweile sogar Olmerts VIP-Service keinen Bock mehr hat: Several protestors interrupted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's speech at a Jewish Agency ceremony near Jerusalem Thursday evening after storming the stage area. The demonstrators, who were carrying "The Nation is with the Golan" signs, were reportedly encouraged by the crowd on hand. Olmert was forced to stop his address, as the protestors reached within a few meters of him. Das er daziwschen auch noch Zeit hatte mit Bernard Kouchner Mist zu quatschen ist nicht mehr erstaunlich: The prime minister emphasized that Israel aspired to reach peace with the Palestinians in the coming year and added that both his talks with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on this issue and the talks between the heads of the negotiating teams, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and PA negotiator Ahmad Qurei, were "serious and important." Entweder sind die Gespräche von Substanz dann bekommt er Frieden in drei Monaten, oder nicht dann vielleicht im nächsten Jahr. [Related: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's close associate, attorney Uri Messer, was questioned Thursday at the National Fraud Investigative Unit office in connection to a corruption probe being carried out against the premier.] Langsam verkommt dieser blog zum "Israels oberwichtigste Persönlichkeit" macht sich immer wichtiger - blog. :-)

Wenn schon Frieden, dann aber bitte auch langfristig und mit Power: The Israeli Defense Ministry submitted an official request to the Pentagon two weeks ago asking to purchase a squadron of F-35 stealth-enabled Joint Strike Fighters (JSF). Each plane is estimated to cost between $70-80 million. In addition to the 25 planes, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, the Defense Ministry also asked for an option to purchase 50 more. Already in September, the IDF announced its intention to purchase up to 100 JSF fighter jets over the next decade. Two weeks ago it finally submitted an official Letter of Request (LOR) to the Pentagon. The announcement of the Israeli request came as a high-level Syrian military delegation was in Moscow for arms talks with the Russian Defense Ministry. Syria is interested in purchasing advanced MiG fighter jets, S300 anti-aircraft missile systems and advanced submarines. [Related: The career path from the Pentagon to the nation's biggest defense contractors is a crowded one lined with potential conflicts of interest, a government watchdog said. In a report released Wednesday, the Government Accountability Office found that seven of the nation's largest defense contractors employed a substantial number of former Pentagon officials in 2006 and at least some of those employees may have worked on programs they once helped oversee for the military. ... The GAO report found that 52 government contractors employed 2,435 former Pentagon officials, including former generals, admirals, senior executives, program managers and contracting officers. Nearly 65 percent of those employees worked for seven major defense companies: SAIC Inc., Northrop Grumman Corp., Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., L-3 Communiations Holdings Inc., Lockheed Martin Corp., General Dynamics Corp. and Raytheon Co. The GAO estimates that at least 422 of those employees could have worked on programs related to their former Pentagon agencies and at least nine may have worked on programs they once helped oversee or make decisions on while at the Pentagon.]

The UN Security Council on Thursday welcomed a Lebanese peace deal brokered by Qatar, an agreement that may have averted a new civil war in the Middle East. The council said it "welcomes and strongly supports the agreement reached in Doha ...which constitutes an essential step towards the resolution of the current crisis, the return to normal functioning of Lebanese democratic institutions, the complete restoration of Lebanon's unity and stability." [...] Shlomo Shamir schäumt schauderlich: West backs Lebanese government's capitulation to Hezbollah. [...] Zuheir Kseibati: On the dawn of May 21, 2008, the Lebanese entity and republic were saved from a seemingly inevitable death, as the images of the civil war and its fires were revived in every house and street, but this time draped in a dreadful sectarian cloak. [...] In a stinging defeat for the U.S.-backed government of Lebanon, the Islamist group Hezbollah bolstered its political power in this volatile land on Israel's border. [Man kanns auch übertreiben...]

Palestinian businesses have put over 100 projects on display at a first ever Palestine Investment Conference (PIC) in Bethlehem, hoping to raise nearly US$2 billion from the private sector. Over one thousand investors, mostly Palestinians and other Arabs, have come to the West Bank town of Bethlehem for the three-day conference which started on 21 May, to see what Palestinians have to offer, and decide whether it is worth investing in the local economy - and if that investment would be akin to charity or lead to financial gain. [...] Israeli forces shot dead a Bedouin man from Egypt on Wednesday as he was trying to cross the border, police sources said. At the Awja crossing point in central Sinai on Thursday the Israelis handed over to the Egyptian authorities the body of the man, named as Ayesh Suleiman Moussa, 32, they added. An Israeli military spokesman said: "Border police fired at a group of people trying to infiltrate into Israel, killing one of them and wounding another". There were no further details about the wounded person. [Reuters]