Westbank: Five killed in shooting attacks

Beide Fälle sind von gewisser Bedeutung, da es keine unbekannten trifft.

Two Israelis were killed and a third was wounded Friday in a drive-by shooting in the south Hebron Hills are of the West Bank. The two, who were on leave from the army, were hiking in the area of the Talam and Adura settlements with a female resident of Kiryat Arba when a group of four terrorists opened fire on them from a Jeep. [A large number of IDF forces raided a Palestinian hospital in Hebron Friday evening, Channel 10 reported. The forces were searching for terrorists wounded during an attack earlier in the day, in which two young Israeli men were killed.] The victims, named as David Rubin and Ahikam Amihai, managed to return fire, reportedly killing one of the terrorists. Both men were in elite units of the IDF, with Rubin serving as a sergeant in the Israeli Naval commandos and Amihai as a corporal in the Israel Air Force commandos unit. The victims, named as David Rubin and Ahikam Amihai, managed to return fire, reportedly killing one of the terrorists. Both men were in elite units of the IDF, with Rubin serving as a sergeant in the Israeli Naval commandos and Amihai as a corporal in the Israel Air Force commandos unit.

In einem zweiten Vorfall: Israel Defense Forces troops killed one of Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia's bodyguards on Friday during an arrest operation in Ramallah. On Thursday, Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia announced that peace talks would continue after a spat over Israeli settlements. But late Thursday, the Israeli military sent a team into a suburb of Ramallah, the seat of Abbas' government, to arrest one of Qureia's bodyguards, a member of the Palestinian security forces who the military said was implicated in armed activity against Israel and had provided weapons to other militants. [Ich bin beinahe versucht die Geschichte mit der Tötung eines Siedlers aus Shavei Shomron im November in Verbindung zu bringen.]

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he wants to be involved in any building expansion plan in order to ensure that it does not contradict Israel's Road Map commitments or understandings reportedly reached with United States' President George Bush. The prime minister met with Housing Minister Ze'ev Boim this week and the subject reportedly came up during their conversation. Olmert said he plans on changing the procedure for awarding building permits in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, in order to avoid international crises such as the one that occurred this week. The recent crisis broke out following the publication of a tender for the construction of 307 new homes in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Homa. +++ Rosner/Benn, "Whats the hurry?": The Annapolis summit and the efforts to revive the peace process have exacerbated the tension that already existed between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Olmert's personal charm doesn't work on Rice, and the Prime Minister's Office is anxious about her tendency to push ahead too quickly with political contacts. +++ Akiva Eldar, "Reconciliation begins in prison": "I came here today to extend a hand in peace to the Palestinian people and to our neighboring Arab states," the prime minister declared at the start of his speech at Annapolis on November 27. "I have no doubt that the reality created in our region in 1967 will change significantly," Ehud Olmert promised. He knows that "it will be as hard as Hell for some of those among us," but assured his listeners that "we are ready for it."

Eli Ashkenzai, "New version of old self-defense group guards Jewish farmlands"

The federal agency overseeing Russia's military exports on Friday denied
reports that the country is planning to deliver S-300 anti-aircraft missile systems to Iran.

The defense budget for 2008 will be NIS 51.3 billion, thereby setting yet another new record for defense spending. This figure represents over 16% of the entire NIS 314 billion state budget for next year, which the Knesset approved yesterday after passing the accompanying Economic Arrangements Law the day before. It also represents about 7% of gross domestic product. Of this sum, NIS 4.3 billion will go for pensions for those who have retired from the military, up from NIS 3.9 billion in 2007. Another NIS 1.2 billion is earmarked for the separation fence, and NIS 1.2 billion for bereaved families, widows and memorials for the fallen.

Tamar Rotem, "Interior Ministry ignoring High Court ruling on conversions" [Erneut ein "mahnendes Wort" nachdem Dorit Beinisch letzte Woche des defense Ministerium gerügt hatte, weil es Zeitvorgaben zur Vorlage von Daten in Sachen Gaza Strom-cut nicht einhält.]