Doc's Talk: Ya’alon: We won’t cease or rest until we find the abducted teens

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Ya’alon: We won’t cease or rest until we find the abducted teens

YAAKOV LAPPIN, TOVAH LAZAROFF, KHALED ABU TOAMEH

"Everything linked to Hamas is being targeted," says source; soldiers enter Balata and Awarta areas of Nablus; IDF says in protracted campaign to weaken Hamas.

Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon Photo: Ariel Hermoni, Defense Ministry spokesman

In a statement to the media on Tuesday evening, Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said that the IDF had the ability to target Hamas leaders, “anywhere and anytime.”
Ya’alon reassured the public that, in spite of the IDF’s general campaign against Hamas, its main mission was to find the teens.

“We won’t cease or rest until we have done this,” he said, while cautioning that the mission could take time. He urged the public to be patient.
The IDF is waging a stiff and protracted military campaign to weaken Hamas, Maj. Gen Nitzan Alon said as soldiers expanded their battle with the terrorist group beyond Hebron and into Jenin on Tuesday.
“We are fighting Hamas, a cruel terror organization. The operation against it is complicated and protracted. It didn't start today and it's not going to end anytime soon," said Alon who heads the IDF’s Central Command.
He spoke on the fifth day of Operation Brothers' Keeper to rescue three teens kidnapped by Hamas.
Early that morning, a thousand soldiers launched raids in Nablus's Balata and Awarta areas. A total of 200 suspects have been arrested since the start of the operation.

The IDF is targeting all aspects of Hamas’ organization, he told reporters who met briefly with him outside the Alon Shvut settlement.
"The heads of Hamas are feeling the hits and understand the message," Alon said. When the IDF’s military operation is over, Hamas will be a much weaker organization, Alon said.
Hamas abducted three teenagers from a hitchhiking post in the Gush Etzion region of the West Bank. One of them teens called the police almost immediately to say, “I’ve been kidnapped.”
Since then there has been no sign of life from the teens. Israel on Sunday said it has information showing that Hamas took the teens.
Hamas made a strategic error in carrying out the kidnapping just as it carried out strategic mistakes in Gaza and Egypt, a senior security source said. It failed to use the reconciliation with Fatah, he argued, adding that Hamas will now be harmed strategically "because it will be isolated. There were those who wished to make concessions to Hamas. Now it placed a sign on itself saying, 'I'm terror.'"

"Part of our power is based on our ability to wage this battle continuously. We are hurting the [Hamas] organizational infrastructure politically, financially, and in other ways. Even if this does not influence the next terrorist attack, it will have a long-term influence," the source said.
No fewer than ten army divisions are operating in the West Bank against Hamas, the source stated, adding that such number haven't been seen in years. "We're not passing over the other organizations, but Hamas is the main focus," he explained.
Institutions that transfer money to the families of terrorists are also being targeted, and Israel is preparing operational and legal systems to target more such bodies, he warned. The overall goal, the source said, is to secure "long-term security stability." The operations could extend into the Muslim Ramadan holiday which begin in a few weeks, he added.
The Palestinian population understands the IDF's actions are aimed at Hamas and not at it, he said.
"I don't see the leadership of the Palestinian Authority identifying with this act of terrorism [kidnapping]," he stated.
Late Monday night and early Tuesday morning, the IDF arrested some 40 Palestinian suspects, most of them Hamas members, in Nablus overnight Tuesday, expanding its operation to retrieve three abducted Israelis northwards from its epicenter Hebron.
On the fifth day of Operation Brothers's Keeper, a thousand soldiers launched raids in Nablus's Balata and Awarta areas. A total of 200 suspects have been arrested since the start of the operation.
In addition to the arrests, soldiers in Nablus on Tuesday seized guns, explosives, and grenades. A security source said a large quantity of weapons was recovered during the arrests, describing the raids as a large-scale counter-terrorism clean-up operation.
"Everything linked to Hamas is being targeted," the source stated, adding that this includes civilian organizations linked to the terrorist organizations, municipal figures, and the organization's military wing.
A senior military source from the Judea and Samaria Division said the raid on Balata caught the area's armed terrorists by surprise, adding that future raids may not pass off as peacefully.
The source said three Nahal battalions and additional support units entered the Balata refugee camp, home to 23,000 people, and operated in a "very challenging environment" to carry out a larger than normal, complex series of raids.
As a result, Hamas in Samaria sustained a blow in the area, he added.
"If we go to another area [in Samaria], it might look different," the source said. "These are highly skilled IDF units. The company commanders on the ground are fully able to deal with all manner of challenges, including gun attacks," he added. "These operations can be expanded significantly," the source said.
During the raid, members of Hamas and other terror groups were taken into custody, and soldiers seized three M-16 rifles, grenades, long-barreled firearms, and shut down a machine used to produce weapons. Cash was also seized in the raids.
"Hamas is sustaining a series of blows. They understand the price," he added. "There's a difference between what Hamas says internally and externally," the source continued.
"I hope everyone can make the calculation of what will occur if things escalate further. I'd say this type of operation represents a calculated risk," the source said.
Meanwhile, the IDF is maintaining its partial closure on the South Mount Hebron region. Palestinians in that area have not faced a military closure for seven years, and army sources said the measure is increasing the pressure on the local population to assist the IDF’s effort to recover the abducted Israeli youths.
There have been few significant clashes during the raids, a reflection of the fact that Palestinian areas have grown accustomed to nightly
IDF raids launched on a regular basis in recent years, according to the source. This contrasts with the situation ten years ago, when many raids in villages would turn turn into violent clashes.
Meanwhile, the air force bombed four targets in Gaza early on Tuesday, in response to Palestinian rocket fire on southern Israel the previous day. Targets included a terrorism base and a weapons storage site in southern Gaza, a weapons storage site in central Gaza, and an arms production facility in the north of the Strip.
"We are alert to developments in the southern [Gazan] arena at all times," the security source said. "We understand that these arenas are linked, and that one can set off the other."
The source spoke of an ongoing two-pronged effort in the West Bank. The first consisted of an investigation to track down the three missing youths, while the second targets Hamas throughout the whole of the West Bank, including Hamas members whose activity is designed to "portray Hamas as a government.”
The Palestinian government charged Tuesday that Israel was taking advantage of the abduction to step up its security crackdown on Palestinians in the West Bank.
It urged the international community, Security Council and United Nations General Assembly to intervene quickly to protect the Palestinians “and prevent the Israeli government from plunging the region into a cycle of violence and instability.

“Israel’s ongoing ugly crimes against our people proves to the world that the Israeli government continues to adhere to occupation, killings and settlements instead of peace,” the government said in a statement it issued after a Ramallah meeting.

The Palestinian government also called on Congress to ignore the Israeli government’s “incitement and false claims against our people and their leaders and government.”

The appeal came in response to calls by Congress members to US President Barack Obama to suspend American aid to the PA following the establishment of the unity government.
Masked gunmen belonging to ten Palestinian groups in the Gaza Stripe said Tuesday that they would welcome any effort to release Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
However, none of the groups claimed responsibility for the abduction of the three Israeli teenagers.

The gunmen were speaking at a joint press conference in the Gaza Strip. They included members of Hamas, Fatah and the Popular Resistance Committees.

The gunmen said that Israeli threats against Hamas and the Gaza Strip don't scare them. They also said they were prepared to confront any Israeli "aggression."

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The IDF’s Minorities in Numbers and Pictures

In honor of IDF Diversity Week, we present diversity through numbers and pictures. Each year, more and more Muslims, Christians, Druze, Bedouin and immigrants from around the world take on the responsibility of defending Israel.

MUSLIMS:

Muslim Arab Israelis are not required to draft in the IDF, but there are many who volunteer. In 2013, there were over 200 Muslims serving in the IDF and over 300 in the reserves.

Bedouins:

Bedouins are nomadic Muslims who were in Israel when modern borders were set in place and are now considered Israeli citizens. They are not required to draft but a growing number choose to enlist. In 2012, there were over 1,400 Bedouin Muslim soldiers doing regular IDF service and almost 1,500 in the reserves.

Read more:http://www.idfblog.com/2014/02/27/truth-idf-numbers-pictures/#more-34027

Are you aware that in 2013, Middle class taxes go up-significantly?

In January of next year, the federal income tax rate for middle-class taxpayers is scheduled to rise from 25 percent to 28 percent, and the payroll tax is scheduled to rise from 13.3 percent to 15.3 percent… This drives the marginal tax rate based on the aforementioned three taxes to 48.12 percent. Add in state and local property, corporate, excise, and other state and local taxes, and the percentage of each additional dollar that is taxed hovers around 50 percent… When half of each additional dollar earned is taxed away, taxpayers experience a disincentive to start businesses or expand existing ones. This leads to fewer jobs being created.

Why is HAMAS Inside Tampa Schools?

Clare Lopez

Kelly Miliziano, who teaches history classes at Steinbrenner High School in the Tampa, Florida area apparently thinks it’s perfectly OK to invite a senior official of a HAMAS-affiliated organization into her classroom to discuss Islam with her students. According to local media reports, not only has this been going on for years, but in spite of the civil and criminal proceedings that could result from such reckless negligence, the Hillsborough County school superintendent, Mary Ellen Elia, and the chairman of the school board, Candy Olson, also expressed approval for students under their responsibility to be exposed repeatedly to guest speaker, Hassan Shibly, who is the Executive Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in the Tampa area.
More...

Did You Know... Ignoring the Call to Islam will Bring Jihad

‘Conquest through Da’wa [proselytizing] that is what we hope for. We will conquer Europe, we will conquer America! Not through sword but through Da’wa.’
-- Yousef al-Qaradawi , Muslim Brotherhood spiritual leader The Arabic word ‘Da’wa’ means the “call to Islam.” But do not think that Da’wa is the same thing as an invitation to an optional holiday event. The classical Islamic doctrine of jihad mandates that enemies must be given the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay the jizya tax before it is permissible to attack them.
Clare M. Lopez

Who is being discriminated-facts tell the truth

Religious bias

Hate crimes motivated by religious bias accounted for 1,409 offenses reported by law enforcement. A breakdown of the bias motivation of religious-bias offenses showed:

65.4 percent were anti-Jewish.
13.2 percent were anti-Islamic.
9.5 percent were anti-other religion, i.e., those not specified.
4.3 percent were anti-Catholic.
3.8 percent were anti-multiple religions, group.
3.3 percent were anti-Protestant.
0.5 percent were anti-Atheism/Agnosticism/etc.

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/hate-crime/2010/narratives/hate-crime-2010-incidents-and-offenses.

On March 31, 1977, the Dutch newspaper Trouw published an interview

with PLO executive committee member Zahir Muhsein. Here's what he said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct "Palestinian people" to oppose Zionism.

For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

In March 1977, Zahir Muhsein, a PLO executive, said:

"The Palestinian people does not exist. The creation of a Palestinian state is only a means for continuing our struggle against the state of Israel for our Arab unity. In reality today there is no difference between Jordanians, Palestinians, Syrians and Lebanese. Only for political and tactical reasons do we speak today about the existence of a Palestinian people, since Arab national interests demand that we posit the existence of a distinct Palestinian people to oppose Zionism."

"For tactical reasons, Jordan, which is a sovereign state with defined borders, cannot raise claims to Haifa and Jaffa, while as a Palestinian, I can undoubtedly demand Haifa, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva and Jerusalem. However, the moment we reclaim our right to all of Palestine, we will not wait even a minute to unite Palestine and Jordan."

The Arab Apartheid

Ben-Dror Yemini
In 1948, the Arab countries refused to accept the UN partition proposal and they launched a war of annihilation against the State of Israel which had barely been established. All precedents in this matter showed that the party that starts the war - and with a declaration of annihilation, yet - pays a price for it. Between 550,000 and 710,000 Arabs fled because of the war and a larger number of 850,000 Jews were expelled or fled from Arab countries (the "Jewish nakba").
Population exchanges and expulsions were the norm at that time, occurring in dozens of other conflict points and affecting about 52 million people. In all the population exchange precedents that occurred during or at the end of an armed conflict, there was no return of refugees to the previous region, which had turned into a new national state.
Only the Arab states acted completely differently from the rest of the world. Instead of assimilating the refugees, they crushed them despite the fact that they were their coreligionists and members of the Arab nation - instituting a regime of apartheid. So the "nakba" was not caused by the actual dispossession, which had also been experienced by tens of millions of others. The "nakba" is the story of the apartheid, oppression, abuse and denial of rights suffered by the Arab refugees at the hands of the Arab countries. (Maariv)

International Law and Military Operations in Practice - Col. Richard Kemp

"Islamist fighting groups study the international laws of armed conflict carefully and they understand it well. They know that a British or Israeli commander and his men are bound by international law and the rules of engagement that flow from it. They then do their utmost to exploit what they view as one of their enemy's main weaknesses. Their very modus operandi is built on the correct assumption that Western armies will normally abide by the rules, while these insurgents employ a deliberate policy of operating consistently outside international law. "

Lost Historical Moments

What Rabin’s last Knesset speech really said:repudiation of a Palestinian state

Rabin ruled out a fully sovereign Palestinian state :

“We view the permanent solution in the framework of State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority.”

Rabin ruled out a total withdrawal from Judea and Samaria and thus a return to the pre-June 1967 borders :

“The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.”

Rabin ruled out withdrawing form the Jordan Valley:

“The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.”

Rabin ruled out uprooting settlement blocs, like the Gush Katif bloc in Gaza (which was subsequently uprooted by former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon):

“The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif.

AND

Rabin ruled out removing any settlement before coming to a full peace agreement with the Palestinians:

“I want to remind you: we committed ourselves, that is, we came to an agreement, and committed ourselves before the Knesset, not to uproot a single settlement in the framework of the interim agreement, and not to hinder building for natural growth.”

Rabin insisted on Israel retaining full security control of the borders with Egypt and Jordan, contrary to Israel’s relinquishment of the Philadelphia Corridor on the border with Egypt:

“The responsibility for external security along the borders with Egypt and Jordan, as well as control over the airspace above all of the territories and Gaza Strip maritime zone, remains in our hands.”

Correcting Oslo Myths-Part 2

3) Kuttab laments that the post-1993 Oslo process resulted in a Palestinian Authority "whose ministers and legislators are not guaranteed passage between Gaza and the West Bank ...."

Before free passage or other perquisites, PA leaders were obligated, among other things, to eliminate the terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, end anti-Israeli, antisemitic incitement in schools, mosques, and communications media, and resolve all outstanding issues through peaceful negotiations. They met none of these commitments, sometimes bolstering terrorism and greatly increasing incitement.

4) Kuttab complains that under Oslo the PA got "lightly armed police ---- but no real sovereignty over the land or contiguity between our communities in Gaza and the West Bank."

Oslo agreements repeatedly were revised, regardless of Palestinian non-compliance, until the authorized number of police grew from 8,000 to 40,000. Though they were to be the only armed forces in the territories, Israeli estimates early in the second intifada put the number of gunmen - police, "security services," terrorists, and armed gangs - at 85,000. Their armament reportedly included not only heavy machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades, but also anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles.

Sovereignty was to be negotiated in the envisioned 1998 "final status" talks - after a five-year period of confidence-building. Palestinian leadership chronically undermined the process. Palestinian terrorism made the 1993 - 1998 Oslo period more deadly for Israelis than the 15 years preceding it.

The United States doesn't have contiguity between the lower 48 states and Alaska and Hawaii; territorial contiguity between the West Bank and Gaza Strip - that is, through the 20 miles of Israeli territory between them - was never promised and would destroy Israeli contiguity.

5) "Palestinians have been made to endure hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank, an eight-foot wall deep in our territories, and tight Israeli control over borders."

The security barrier is not "deep in Palestinian territories," but rather encompasses less than 8 percent of Judea and Samaria, and is mostly a fence, rarely a wall; the land in question is not "our [Palestinian] territories" but disputed territory to which, according to the authors of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, Jews as well as Arabs have claims; and there are no international borders, only the 1949 armistice lines with Jordan. Under 242, borders remain to be negotiated. As for checkpoints - like the security barrier and "tight Israeli control" - Palestinian Arabs precipitated these measures themselves. No terrorism and there would be no fence or tight Israeli control and few checkpoints - like before the first intifada.

Correcting Some Oslo Myths

1) In Oslo "Israeli, Palestinian and other world leaders promised that ... Palestinian sovereignty would be solidified."

No, they didn't. The 1993 Declaration of Principles and subsequent Oslo agreements outlined a process by which final status negotiations about the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be reached. The process required an end to anti-Israel terrorism and incitement and a commitment to peaceful negotiations. The PA, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and other terrorist groups, sabotaged the process from the start.

2) "The reality is that, in defiance of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, which states that it is inadmissible to occupy land by force, Palestinian territories are still under foreign military occupation."
Wrong again. Resolution 242 (1967) does note "the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war." It also affirms the right of every state in the area "to live in peace with secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." There were no "Palestinian territories." Jordan occupied the West Bank, Egypt controlled Gaza. Israel did not have "secure and recognized boundaries," so retention of some of those territories was possible under 242. Israel is not a "foreign" military occupier in the West Bank but, pending final negotiations, the lawful military administrator as a result of a successful war of self-defense.

Doc's Talk