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Jewish World Review July 6, 2007 / 20 Tamuz, 5766 Don't worry, be happy!? By Caroline B. Glick
News that you may have missed A region in need of leadership better wake up fast
http://www.JewishWorldReview.com |
Any doubt that Hamas is an Iranian proxy was dispelled this week by a little
snippet on the Middle East Media Research Institute's blog.
MEMRI reported: "An article in the Iranian weekly Sobh-e Sadeq,
circulated among the Revolutionary Guards, states that Fatah documents
captured by Hamas have revealed that Egypt played a role in instigating the
clashes which led to the Hamas takeover of Gaza. The article added that this
is the second time Egypt has betrayed the Palestinians, the first being [the
slain Egyptian president Anwar] Sadat's betrayal at the Camp David summit."
So Hamas is sharing the treasure trove of intelligence it captured during
the course of its takeover of Gaza with Iran. In the greatest intelligence
victory ever accomplished by a jihadist organization, Hamas (and Iran) now
possesses the files of all of the Palestinian security apparatuses, and the
personal papers of Fatah leaders such as Yassir Arafat, Mahmoud Abbas and
Muhammad Dahlan.
Hamas sources claim that Fatah's abject surrender of the information should
come as a surprise to no one. They brag that in the months leading up to
their putsch, Fatah operatives were happy to sell them all the weapons and
intelligence information they asked for.
Iran's use of the Fatah files against Egypt demonstrates that the emergence
of Hamastan in Gaza endangers not only Israel, but regional security as a
whole. Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Lebanon, the US and Israel can all
expect for reports to surface which will, in the best case, cause them deep
embarrassment. Their governments may be destabilized and their security
operations may be compromised. No doubt this state of affairs was central in
causing the Egyptians, Saudis and Jordanians to all tell Palestinian
Authority Chairman and Fatah chief Abbas not to clash with Hamas but to try
to forge a new accord with it.
And so Hamas's position improves by the day. On Sunday, just after
Israelmade its first payment of $120 million to Salam Fayad's Fatah
government,
Fayad announced that the money will go to paying salaries of PA employees in
Gaza. This tells us two things. First, it shatters the illusion of two
separate PAs — one that is bad and one that is good. By paying PA employees
in Gaza, Fayad showed that from Fatah's perspective, there is only one PA,
not two.
Second, his move exposes as a lie Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's claim that
the money was going only to Fatah. Indeed, it showed that Israel is funding
Hamas. After all, if Fayad weren't using Israeli money to pay the Gazans,
Hamas would have to pay them out of its own pocket.
BBC reporter Alan Johnston's release on Wednesday was another win for Hamas.
After Johnston's release, Britain's new Foreign Minister David Miliband —
whose mother, a Holocaust survivor, is a member of the radical anti-Zionist
organization "Jews for Justice for Palestinians" and whose late father was a
Communist — gushed over Hamas. Miliband said that Hamas leaders "denounced
the hostage takers and demanded Alan's release. I fully acknowledge the
crucial role they have played in securing this happy outcome." In comments
to Parliament Miliband left the door wide open to the possibility of Prime
Minister Gordon Brown's government recognizing the Hamas government.
Rather than chide the British for their embrace of a movement driven by
barbaric hatred for Jews and bent on Islamic global domination, the Israeli
government lavished praise on the British for successfully negotiating
Johnston's release and tried to make nice with Hamas. Olmert coyly
suggested, "As is known, Hamas members holding [IDF soldier Gilad Schalit]
are — in effect — preventing the release of Palestinian prisoners as has
been agreed upon."
By thus framing the issue of Schalit's release, Olmert signaled to Hamas
that Israel is interested in cutting a deal and has already accepted the
Iranian-proxy's control over the outskirts of Ashkelon and Ashdod.
Hamas has other new friends — al Qaida for instance. While just last March
al Qaida was condemning its fellow Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization
for signing the Mecca agreement with Fatah, in the al Qaida video
disseminated this week, the group's deputy commander Ayman al-Zawahiri
praised Hamas and called for Muslims to join the terror group.
In his words, "We tell our brothers, the Hamas mujahadin, that we and the
entire Muslim nation stand alongside you, but you must redress your
[political] path. Muslims must join Hamas ranks and we will back them by
facilitating the passage of weapons and supplies from neighboring
countries."
The Olmert government's refusal to take the Hamas-Iranian threat in
Gazaseriously fits well in its overall refusal forge any coherent
policies for dealing with any of the mounting threats that Israel faces.
Last week, the Syrians celebrated the thirty-third anniversary of the
"liberation" of Quneitra on the Golan Heights which Israel ceded to Syria in
the ceasefire agreement which ended the Yom Kippur War. In government
ceremonies, ministers in Bashar Assad's government emphasized the dictator's
commitment to "liberating" the Golan Heights.
It was also reported that in honor of the anniversary, the Syrians opened
the Damascus-Quneitra road to civilian traffic for the first time since
1967. If true, it would appear that the Syrians are setting the conditions
for terrorist infiltration of the Golan Heights.
Radio Damascus reported Wednesday that the Syrian regime views IDF exercises
in the North as a threat. This announcement can only be seen as a Syrian bid
to develop a pretext for starting a war against Israel.
And what sort of war awaits us? A missile war.
While the Olmert government argues over the relative merits of overhauling
and upgrading the National Security Council, and bolsters our national
security by appointing Ruhama Avraham — the women of many hair colors and
stylish outfits — to the cabinet, the main lesson of the Second Lebanon War
is being systematically ignored.
The war showed that Israel's enemies' primary target is the home front. This
understanding was supposed to propel the government to secure civilian
population centers nationwide since Syrian missiles are capable of hitting
every square centimeter of the country. But one year later, even Sderot has
not been reinforced and the bomb shelters in the North remain neglected. It
took the Finance Ministry eleven months to release funds to purchase gas
masks for the public even though it is well known that Syria has chemical
weapons.
Although Olmert said that for him the last war is but "a distant memory," in
Lebanon it is living history. Hizbullah is rearming so massively that even
the UN has taken notice. Last week, UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon
reported to the Security Council that the Syrian-Lebanese border is
completely breached and that shipments of Iranian and Syrian arms transit
the country without the slightest difficulty.
On Monday outgoing Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh effectively told
Israel Radio that the government is neglecting the security needs of
Israelby starving the IDF of the funds necessary to adequately equip
its forces and secure the home front ahead of a possible war with Hizbullah, Syria and Hamas. He also accused the government of mishandling the Iranian nuclear
threat.
Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, and Ministers Avigdor Lieberman and
Shaul Mofaz all lull the public into complacency by claiming that the UN
Security Council sanctions against Iran are effective, and that Israel and
the US are closely coordinating their policies on dealing with the Iranian
nuclear weapons program. In his interview, Sneh called their bluff.
Sneh argued that the sanctions have not prevented Iran from advancing its
nuclear program and stated outright that "there is no coordination on the
operational level between the Israeli and US militaries on Iran." Sneh added
that the governmental under-funding has left the military bereft of good
options for attacking Iran's nuclear installations on its own.
On the other side, Teheran is mobilizing all of its resources for a war
against the US and Israel. Risking its own destabilization, the regime last
week instituted gasoline rationing. And this week President Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad announced that the government will soon begin rationing
electricity.
Intent on ignoring the dangers, the government has opted to attack those who
warn of them. Case in point is its treatment of former US Ambassador to the
UN John Bolton. Last week Bolton told The Jerusalem Post that the Bush
administration's Iran policy has failed.
In his words, "The current approach of the Europeans and Americans is not
just doomed to failure, but dangerous. Diplomacy and sanctions have
failed …[So we have to look at: 1, overthrowing the regime and getting in a
new one that won't pursue nuclear weapons; 2, a last-resort use of force."
Bolton added that there might not be enough time to bring down the regime
before the Iranians acquire nuclear weapons.
Israeli officials, snug in their bubble reacted to the interview by
attacking Bolton. One official dismissed Bolton by calling him America's
"Avigdor Lieberman." Another patronized "It is possible that his comments
were meant to expedite the process. We would all like to see more aggressive
diplomacy."
But as Sneh made clear, not only were Bolton's remarks accurate, thanks to
the Olmert government, Israel lacks the means to independently address the
threat of its own annihilation, and has no military coordination on the
matter with the US.
To their credit, the ministers responsible for dealing with Iran are very
busy with pressing concerns. Last week Lieberman took a trip to Europe where
he tried to advance his idea of bringing Israel into the anti-Israel EU. And
in light of UNIFIL forces' stunning accomplishments in preventing Hizbullah
from rearming, Israel's "Strategic Affairs" Minister also used his time to
push his idea of deploying NATO forces to Gaza.
Wednesday Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met with her Moroccan counterpart.
Livni praised Morocco for its participation in the Saudi Peace Plan which
has been disavowed by the Saudis.
Olmert the peacemaker concluded a peace accord this week between his cronies
Roni Bar-On and Haim Ramon. He also negotiated a temporary ceasefire with
his political rival Meir Sheetreet. Most critically, Olmert ensured Israel's
long term security by appointing Ruhama Avraham a minister without portfolio
in his Lilliputian government.
The local media organs, all of which moronically ignore the emerging
threats, keep promising the public that the Olmert government will fall as
soon as the Winograd Commission issues its final report on the Second
Lebanon War, sometime in the next few months. But there is no guarantee that
this is true.
In the best case scenario, the report will just tell us what has been clear
for the past year: With or without a restructured national security council,
our political leaders are incompetent boobs whose only concern is their
personal political survival regardless of the consequences for the nation's
security.
But really, why worry? After all, Shas is happy. Lieberman is satisfied.
Olmert is rock solid. And Ruhama is moved to tears. Perhaps we too should be
crying.
JWR contributor Caroline B. Glick is the senior Middle East Fellow at the Center for Security Policy in Washington, DC and the deputy managing editor of The Jerusalem Post. Comment by clicking here.
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