Cronyism has a surname: "My friend Ehud"

An annual report by State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss released Monday finds that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert helped to secure millions of shekels in government aid for a member of the Likud party's central committee, during the former's stint as the Likud minister of industry, trade and labor. According to the report, Olmert, who joined former prime minister Ariel Sharon's exodus from Likud to Kadima in 2005, was involved in obtaining funds for Likud activist Rahamim "Ramu" Ben Shushan. Lindenstrauss' report says Olmert was also aided in this effort by Oved Yehezkel, then a senior aide at the ministry, and Ra'anan Dinor, who was at the time the ministry's director-general. Dinor now holds the post of director-general of the Prime Minister's Office. Dispersal of funds in this way is in contravention of the Law on Encouragement of Capital Investment and goes against ministry norms. The funds amounted to NIS 7.67 million in total. Ben Shushan reportedly used at least NIS 2.326 million of the sum. [Zur Info: Im Februar 07 hatte Lindenstrauss ein förmliches Ermittlungsverfahren eingeleitet. Nett von ihm das er vor Annapolis damit fertig wurde. Der eigentliche Bericht enthält mehr Zündstoff: State Comptroller slams illegal dumpsites, faulty tax collection.]

Exakt fünf Tage zu spät [oder vielleicht haben die Wochen bei der israelischen Regierung 12 Tage?]: The state on Monday supplied the High Court of Justice with the data on which it has based its claim that planned fuel cuts to the Gaza Strip will not lead to a humanitarian crisis, Army Radio reported. The Gisha Legal Center for Freedom of Movement, whose petition against the state's plan has lead to the current High Court discussions, responded by saying that the state's use of two-year-old data invalidated its claims. At the beginning of November, the state informed the court that the amount of gasoline allowed into Gaza had been cut from an average of 350,000-400,000 liters per week to 300,000 liters. The government is also considering a further, gradual reduction. Diesel exports were cut from 1.4 million liters per week to 1.2 million liters. The state added that "according to government estimates, "the amount of fuel necessary to fulfill the Gaza Strip's humanitarian needs does not amount to more than 50 percent of the amount supplied today, and this is a conservative estimate which provides a significant safety margin." The state added that the export of diesel for use in Gaza's power station had been reduced from an average of 2.2 million liters to 1.75 million per week. It said that in September, the Palestinians in Gaza had added a third turbine to provide additional power. When only two turbines operate, the power station produces 55 megawatts of electricity. When the third one functions, supply goes up to 63 megawatts. [Zur Info: Die Gisha-Organisation ist nur federführend für eine Latte an Organisationen, die gegen die Veranstaltung der IDF klagen. Weitere Informationen hier.]

Tony Blair hat nach einem 500 000 US$-Trip nach China und einem 9-Millionen-Vorschuß für ein noch zu schreibendes Buch über sein Leben als Kriegsgewinnler es für notwendig erachtet vor Annapolis der Welt den Plan zu schenken. Und der geht so: Da er sich selber nichts einfallen läßt, bzw keine Zeit hatte klaut er sich alte Einheiten zusammen und "enthüllt" uns diese, respektive das er googeln kann. Beispiel: Blair unveiled plans for the Agro-Industrial Park in Jericho, which will help Palestinians export goods to the European Union. The project will be funded by the Japanese government. Dumm nur das der Plan schon unveiled ist: As a confidence-building round of peace talks drew to a close in Tokyo on Thursday, Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian officials announced their intention to participate in a joint agro-industrial park in the West Bank as some point to the future. The plan calls for the complex to be built near the town of Jericho, with a large portion of the funding coming from Japan. So gehts mit jedem enthüllten Projekt. So, jetzt reichts. Der Mann bekommt eine zweistellige Summe an Aufwandsentschädigungen jeden Monat. Der Mann bekommt als Residenz eine Villa in Jerusalem. Der Mann bekommt frei Kost und freie Flüge. Und überall zu seinen Ehren einen Popanz. Und das ist dieses faule und wertlose Stück gerade mal fähig die Pläne anderer Leute zu klauen. Das nächste Mal bewerbe ich mich, denn DAS kann ich auch!

Murdock ist wieder dick im Geschäft: In a mutually advantageous partnership of media titles, The Jerusalem Post is taking over printing, distribution, sales and marketing efforts in Israel for the Wall Street Journal Europe (WJSE), aimed at driving sales of the Journal Europe in Israel, it was announced on Monday. [Ob das auch zum Bliar-Plan gehört?]

Brutale Unlogik: EU pledges to back any Israeli-Palestinian peace deal with aid. [Da es keinen gibt, kann man ihn auch nicht unterstützen.]

Über den "jüdischen Charackter" des Landes Israel wird ja viel diskutiert. Stimmt aber die Kohle dann ist es damit nicht mehr weit her, wie dieser Artikel zeigt.

Derweil ist das letzte Treffen zwischen Ehud the Cronyist und Mahmoud the Fraudist extrem ergebnisoffen verlaufen: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas met on Monday to break a deadlock in preparations for an international peace summit expected to take place next week in Annapolis, Maryland. Israel sees the conference primarily as a ceremonial launching pad for new peace efforts, while the Palestinians want a more detailed plan for how post-conference talks will proceed.

In der Westbank kommt es soeben zu einem Feuerüberfall auf eine israelischen Staatsbürger in der Nähe einer Siedlung. Details werden folgen. Eben wird vermeldet, das er gestorben ist. Ich denke das ist der Auftakt zur "Mitsprache" radikaler Zellen im Annapolisprozeß. Update: A 29-year-old Israeli civilian was killed Monday night in a shooting attack near the West Bank settlement of Kedumim. The man, a resident of Kedumim, was driving toward the settlement of Karnei Shomron in the northern West Bank, when gunmen in a passing vehicle opened fire, critically wounding him.

Weiterhin aktiv, aber insgesamt unklar ist diese Aktion: A standoff between Palestinian Authority forces and fighters affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) has stretched into a second day in a West Bank refugee camp near Nablus, a PFLP official said. Gestern kam es erneut zu einer Gängelung ramallahnischer Unterhändler: sraeli authorities denied passage blocked prominent Fatah leader Ahmad Hillis from leaving the Gaza Strip for the West Bank on Sunday, although other Fatah leaders were permitted to pass.

Noch zwei Kommentare: Gideon Levy, "What do you mean, when you say no?" und Yossi Beilin, "Its better to stay home."