Monday 15 September 2008

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Wall St. Crisis Shakes Israel

The financial woes of two major Wall Street firms and the shaky status of an American insurance giant threaten to shake the shekel in Israel.





  1. Wall St. Crisis Shakes Israel
  2. Tuesday Talks on Fate of Capital
  3. Court to Police: Let Jews In
  4. Mofaz Predicts Kadima Victory
  5. Jewish Boy Faces Terrorist
  6. Leftist Draft Dodgers Probed
  7. Sderot, Judea/Samaria Targeted
  8. Ministers Oppose Ramon Plan
  9. 'Voice of Israel' Slams Settlers
  10. Olmert: ‘Forget Greater Israel’
  11. Film Maker: US Becoming Fascist




1. Wall St. Crisis Shakes Israel

by Hana Levi Julian

The venerated securities firm of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. announced early Monday morning on its website it will file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, stunning Wall Street and rattling financial markets around the world. Not least among them was the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, which opened with sharp losses as it echoed the news.

 

Lehman was one of the first international investment banks to open its doors in the State of Israel, and businesses across the country are going to be affected by what is taking place on Wall Street.

 

Lehman has invested in numerous institutions in Israel , among them Bank Leumi, Psagot, the Clal group, Menorah and Harel Financial Services. All told, Lehman Brothers Inc. has invested more than NIS 850 million in Israeli institutions.

 

The company’s stock, which provides investment banking services to corporations, institutions, high-net worth individuals, municipalities and governments around the world, dropped by 93.88 percent since the beginning of this year, trading at $3.65 per share at the end of the day on Friday.

 

Although one of the smallest of Wall Street’s major players, with only 25,000 employees, Lehman Brothers has been a heavy hitter in the mortgage market.

 

The renowned investment bank began its most recent descent in the morass of the mortgage market crisis in the summer of 2007.

 

Lehman Brothers reported in June a second-quarter loss of $2.8 billion, far greater than had been expected by analysts and the harbinger of a general malaise in the market.

 

In September, the US government announced its takeover of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage finance companies, and two days later, Lehman Brothers announced its next expected loss of $3.9 billion,.It said it spinning off its commercial real estate holdings into a new public company.

 

Not far behind Monday’s morning’s blues was the gloom predicted by financial experts who eyed the next possible crash, that of major US insurance company, American International Group A.I.G.

 

The New York Times reported Monday that the insurance giant has asked for a $40 billion loan from the Federal Reserve to pull it through the current crisis; without that crucial support, the newspaper reports, the company might not survive.

 

A.I.G. provides insurance products – including general and life insurance as well as retirement services, financial services and asset management to individuals and businesses throughout the United States and abroad.

 

As with Lehman, the government has refused to provide a financial guarantee for purchases of subsidiaries of the firm by other companies, thus making the deal much less attractive to potential bidders.  Ratings agencies have threatened to downgrade the insurance giant’s credit score on Monday if it does not raise the $40 billion by the end of the day.

 

A.I.G. maintains a large presence in the State of Israel, offering mutual funds, retirement services and a wide array of insurance products for individuals and businesses.  The company’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, as well as the stock exchanges in Ireland and Tokyo .

 

A.I.G. officials in Israel said its operations would not be directly affected because it operates relatively independent of the parent company. Nonetheless, the shakiness of the political situation has raised eyebrows at the Standard & Poor financial assessment firm, which is studying whether to downgrade Israel's debt rating as fears of a recession continue to mount.

 

Another major New York securities firm, Merrill Lynch agreed Sunday to sell itself to the Bank of America for approximately $50 billion in a last-ditch attempt to save itself from the same kind of financial crisis that just sank its competitor.

 

Merrill Lynch, with 60,000 employees, is actually comprised of two companies, a wealth management company and a bond trading firm. It is one of the largest firms in the financial services industry, run by some 17,000 brokers who manage the portfolios of its hundreds of thousands of high-net clients.

 

As with Lehman Brothers, the crash of the housing market and the rise in foreclosures has taken its toll, eating away at the value in high-risk, high-return securities backed by subprime home mortgages. 

 

However, unlike Lehman, Merrill Lynch is also a household name in smaller markets across America as well, making it a more likely candidate to be tossed a lifeline by the Bank of America.  Most of Lehman’s clients were major institutions.

 

The new conglomerate formed by the marriage of Bank of America’s “wealth advisers” and Merrill Lynch’s brokers will be called Merrill Lynch Wealth Management. The deal brings the bank to the top of the brokerage houses and consumer banking franchises.

 

For Lehman Brothers, the end came when the government refused to absorb any of its losses on some of its trouble real estate assets, as it had in the past with other firms that went belly-up. The law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges has been retained to manage the bankruptcy proceedings and liquidation, an ignominious end for so prestigious a firm.

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2. Tuesday Talks on Fate of Capital

by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas will met Tuesday to discuss the future of Jerusalem and the PA demand that millions of foreign Arabs move to Israel, Channel Two television reported. The Prime Minister's Kadima party will vote the following day on a successor to lead the party and try to form the next government.

Prime Minister Olmert may step down immediately, if one of the four candidates in the Kadima primaries wins 40 percent of the vote on the first round. However, Olmert is going ahead with a "business as usual" approach. Channel Two said that he, and not Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, is talking with the PA about the future borders of the capital.

The Shas party has consistently said it will leave the coalition and presumably topple the government if senior negotiators, meaning Foreign Minister Livni, were to discuss the possibility of dividing the capital so that the PA can control part of it and claim it is as the capital of a new Arab country. She has repeatedly denied that she has spoken with PA negotiators on the matter, but Abbas has insisted the issue has been discussed.

The Israeli position on Jerusalem has continually softened in the past year, especially since American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice declared several months ago that the Har Homa neighborhood, near Gilo in southern Jerusalem, is a "settlement," putting it on par with all Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. By definition, all of the neighborhoods added to Jerusalem after the Six-Day War in 1967 have the same status as Har Homa. These areas include French Hill, Gilo, Ramot, Pisgat Zev and East Talpiot, among others.

According to Channel Two, Olmert has now expressed willingness to surrender over 98.1 percent of Judea and Samaria to Arab control, even more than the 94-96 percent he had previously offered.  On top of other land concessions, Abbas has asked Olmert for the large Jerusalem suburb of  Ma'aleh Adumim which is located on the edge of the Judean desert and is home to approximately 36,000 Jews, as well as Givat Ze'ev, named after Zionist leader Ze'ev Jabotinsky, located north of Jerusalem and home to approximately 11,000 Jews, including Karlin-Stoliner Rebbe Boruch Yaakov Meir Shochet.  Abbas still wants to discuss the possibility of commandeering the large Jerusalem neighborhoods of Gilo and French Hill.

Israel also has softened its stance on the issue of "refugees," the common term that refers to approximately five million Arabs in foreign countries who claim to be descended from Arabs who fled Israel during the wars in 1948 and 1967.

The issue once was a "red line" that no political leader was willing to cross, but Prime Minister Olmert, several months ago, quietly agreed to make several hundred "exceptions" for Arabs from outside of Israel to move to Judea and Samaria. The number later increased to several thousand, during subsequent meetings with Abbas, and now stands at 5,000, with Israel willing to absorb a thousand Arabs per year for 5 years.  Abbas has rejected this number, telling Olmert that Israel should accept even more.

One driving force behind Prime Minister's determination to reach an outline of an agreement with Abbas is to satisfy the determination by American President George W. Bush that a deal will be made before the next president takes office next January.

An Olmert-Abbas pact will not have any legal standing without Cabinet or Knesset approval but will be able to be used by the American government and the European Union (EU) as a tool to force the next Israeli government to use it as a base for further Israeli concessions.

Abbas also wants an agreement in order to bolster his claim that his mandate can be extended for another year. He has arranged to meet with President Bush in Washington next week, possibly with an agreement in hand.

Both Israel and the PA have said there is no chance of concluding a pact this year on the final status of a new Arab state within Israel's current border.

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3. Court to Police: Let Jews In
by Hillel Fendel
Jerusalem reclamation activist Aryeh King was abruptly detained by police on Sunday - but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise: Jerusalem Magistrates Court Judge Malkah Aviv ordered the police to stop preventing him from entering his property.

The property in question is located in what is known as the Shuafat slum, just outside Jerusalem's Pisgat Ze'ev neighborhood in the direction of Maaleh Adumim.

The archived video below gives some of the background on the piece of property.
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Police Fear Disturbances
King works to ensure that Jewish lands in the capital remain, or become again, Jewish. Nearly two weeks ago, police arrested him, and several others, when they tried - not for the first time - to enter the property in question. Though King is the legal representative of the Jewish owners, and the property is legally in his name, the police evicted some 30 Jews who came with him to actualize the Jewish claim. At the same time, they allowed an Arab squatter to remain there. The police said the Jews' presence there was liable to lead to disturbances and riots.


The judge said that the police claims of "feared violence" appears to be just a "life raft" for the police to justify their otherwise-unjustifiable actions against King.

On Sunday, the police asked King to appear at a police station for "completion of the investigation." He refused their demand to sign that he would not enter the property without police consent, and he was therefore taken to the Jerusalem District Court for remand.

Welcome Surprise for King
The results of the hearing were a welcome surprise for King, and a defeat for the police, whose claims the judge overwhelmingly dismissed.

Judge Aviv ruled that it is the job of the police to ensure the safety of citizens wherever they are, and that they may not prevent a citizen from actualizing his right of acquisition by claiming that this right presents too heavy of a burden for them.

King expressed satisfaction with the ruling, but told IsraelNationalNews, "We don't have that much time. We have to get to work. We plan to go up there today, and start work for the agricultural farm that the area is zoned for. The zoning classification permits us to build a building for the farmer, and another for the guards, etc., so we have work to do."

Just Like in 1874
"Though the police sometimes make illegal claims and act according to them," King said, "we see that we cannot give up. If we would have lost in court yesterday, we would have gone all the way to the Supreme Court."

King said his activities require faith: "Just like when Eliyahu Cohanim bought this property back in 1874, when there was no French Hill and no Pisgat Ze'ev and no N'vei Yaakov [Jewish neighborhoods of northern Jerusalem - ed.], because he had faith that the Jewish People would return - we, too, must know that even though the situation is hard, we have faith that the destiny of the Jewish People and Jerusalem is one."

The police claimed that when King or his people arrive, Arab disturbances can be feared. King responded that it is precisely the presence of the police on the scene that leads to the disturbances. He added that when he is not there, the Arabs throw garbage, attempt to build there, and otherwise attempt to prevent the Jews from actualizing their rights.

King also said that when he attempted to coordinate a time to enter with the police, as the police demanded, they refused to cooperate.

Judge Aviv ruled, "King's activities are not a provocation, and his entries to the property are for the purpose of actualizing his rights to use the property and to prevent others from infiltrating... When he arrived without police, no violence occurred against him or those who accompanied him... Just like the Supreme Court has ruled that PA Arabs must be allowed to reach their fields without restrictions and under IDF protection, the same is true in this case as well for King."

She said that King need not obtain police permission before entering, but that he must inform them in advance.

"The burden [of protecting citizens] placed upon the police is not a reason to prevent or restrict a person from using his private property," the judge stated. She added that the police claims of "feared violence" appears to be just a "life raft" for the police to justify their otherwise-unjustifiable actions against King.

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4. Mofaz Predicts Kadima Victory

by Hillel Fendel

The drama is mounting in the Kadima party in anticipation of its nationwide primaries for party leader on Wednesday. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni leads in the polls, but Transportation Minister Sha'ul Mofaz is confident he will win.

The other two candidates are Public Security Minister Avi Dichter and Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit, both of whom are not expected to receive more than a handful of percentage points of the vote.

If any of the four candidates wins at least 40% of the vote in the first round, s/he will be pronounced the winner. If no one reaches this threshhold, the top two candidates must face off in a second round a week later.

Mofaz Predicts Exact Margin of Victory
Mofaz made an unprecedented announcement on Sunday, predicting that he will win the first round of voting with 43.7% of the vote.  Analysts chided him, but he grabbed many headlines and much attention with the declaration.

The 114 polling stations in 93 locations across the country will be open from 10 AM until 10 PM, with some 74,000 members eligible to vote.  Slightly more than a quarter of the members are considered "ideological members," with the remainder having been mass-canvassed by various "vote collectors."

This is the first time Kadima is holding primaries; its first leader, Ariel Sharon, founded the party, and incumbent Prime Minister Ehu Olmert took over when Sharon suffered a stroke.  Sharon has been in a coma since early 2006.

Hawk vs. Dove
The race between Mofaz and Livni is shaping up to be one between a hawk and a dove.  Livni promotes, and has been heavily involved in, the negotiations with the Palestinian Authority over the formation of a PA state, the future division of Jerusalem, and the entry of Arab refugees or their descendants into Israel.

Mofaz, on the other hand, has taken a more hawkish stance.  He said recently that if elected, he plans to renew the policy of striking directly at terrorist leaders. Islamic Jihad released a response stating, "We take Mofaz's threats seriously, and we have hundreds of rockets ready to hit the Zionist settlements and turn the residents' lives into hell."

A top Mofaz aide has also said that peace with the Palestinian Authority cannot be achieved so fast, and that "whoever runs towards peace, ends up falling."

The Polls Show
A poll taken last week by Teleseker of an unspecified number of Kadima members found that Livni enjoys nearly a 19% lead over Mofaz, 46.4% to 27.6%.  Mofaz is assumed to have a stronger infrastructure in "getting the vote out," however.

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5. Jewish Boy Faces Terrorist
by Baruch Gordon, IsraelNN TV

The nine-year-old Jewish boy stabbed by an Arab terrorist on Saturday in the town of Yitzhar put up a fight, according to neighbor Revital Ofan.

The story began at 6:30 a.m. when an Arab terrorist reached the outskirts of Yitzhar, located 22 miles east of Herzliya, and set fire to the Ben Shlomo residence. The family was out of town celebrating the grandmother's birthday, at the time of the arson.

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Next door neighbor Revital Ofan woke up to the crackling of the flames, and to the sound of the Arab terrorist trying to prow his way through the plastic blinds on her bedroom window. She shut the blinds from inside the house, and secured the front door. In the meantime, the nine-year-old neighbor Tovia came running to her house to wake her family and warn them of the approaching fire.


Nine-year-old Tovia in his hospital bed next to his father

But, before Tovia could reach the Ofan's door, he met the terrorist.

In the above video, Mrs. Ofan tells of the brave fight that he put up, before being stabbed 5 times by the Arab and thrown over the balcony. 

Yitzhar's Security Chief Moshe Shimon says that the Jewish town has suffered attacks over the last ten years from neighboring Arabs. As recent as last week, the Arabs torched an adjacent field, and the flames almost reached one of the houses on the western side of Yitzhar. In that incident, a mob of 100 Arabs came to destroy Jewish property and throw rocks, and the IDF stood there instead of dispersing them with force.

In the video, Shimon tells of the feeling of the Jewish residents in light of the lack of a determined response by the IDF.

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6. Leftist Draft Dodgers Probed

by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

The IDF requested the investigation against the New Profile organization, which explains to potential soldiers how to act to prove they are unfit psychologically to serve in the armed forces. Reports the past few years have showed that secular Jews, and not hareidi religious Jews who study Torah, are a fast growing sector that avoids the draft.

New Profile leader Sergei Sandler insisted the group's activities are legal. He is an activist and a former conscientious objector who was jailed for a brief period more than 15 years ago for refusing to serve in the IDF.

New Profile lists several peace and feminist activists groups as co-sponsors as well as the Bread for the World group, a collective Christian voice that states its charter is to fight hunger and poverty. Other cooperating organizations are the Quakers of Britain and the Coalition for Women for Peace.

Its charters states, "We, a group of feminist women and men, are convinced that we need not live in a soldiers' state…. While taught to believe that the country is faced by threats beyond its control, we now realize that the words 'national security' have often masked calculated decisions to choose military action for the achievement of political goals.

"We are no longer willing to take part in such choices. We will not go on enabling them by obediently, uncritically supplying soldiers to the military which implements them….  We regard Israeli conscription law as discriminatory and non-democratic."

Sandler said that the probe is "contains an element of persecution."

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7. Sderot, Judea/Samaria Targeted

by Hillel Fendel

Palestinian terrorists in Hamas-run Gaza fired a rocket at Sderot on Sunday, causing a fire and one injury.  Arab rock attacks increase in Judea and Samaria.

For the first time in two weeks, Arab terrorists in Hamas-run Gaza fired a rocket at the Negev city of Sderot.  The Color Red warning alarm sounded on Sunday afternoon, frightening many residents but giving them 15 seconds to take shelter. The rocket landed in a field in town, setting a fire and sending one person to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon to be treated for trauma.

Meanwhile, IDF sources say that there has been a worrisome rise in Palestinian terrorism against Jews in Judea and Samaria - as well as a rise in Jewish disturbances.  The IDF spokesman said that both sides are involved in "very violent" activity.  The army said it views all such activity of this sort in a most grave manner, and will enforce the law to the utmost in every such incident.

Incidents of Arab Molotov firebomb attacks and rock-throwing at Jewish-driven cars have increased over the past several days.  Sunday afternoon, several such incidents were recorded: outside the village of Sinjil, near Shilo, where a car was damaged; at three buses just north of Jerusalem; and at a bus south of Hevron.

Beit El, in Binyamin, was attacked with several firebombs over the weekend and on Sunday; no one was hurt and no damage was caused.  An Arab was apprehended shortly after infiltrating Kedumim last week, and a similar terrorist attempt in Kfar Etzion the week before ended with no injuries.

Late Saturday night, three residents of the hareidi-religious city of Elad were injured when Arabs threw rocks at their car on the Kvish-Shesh toll-road highway.  A year ago, a driver was injured in the same area by a shooting emanating from the western Samaria Arab city of Kalkilye - though the shots may have been fired accidentally.

Over the weekend, two female tourists were lightly injured when their bus was stoned near Tekoa, in eastern Gush Etzion. On Friday, an IDF force was attacked with rocks by an Arab mob, as was an Egged bus slightly to the north.

 

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8. Ministers Oppose Ramon Plan

by Maayana Miskin

Senior ministers slammed Vice Premier Chaim Ramon's proposal to convince Jewish families to leave Judea and Samaria, shortly before the plan was to be discussed during the weekly cabinet session on Sunday. Ramon's plan would give NIS 1.1 million to families that agree to abandon their homes east of the partition fence, and additional money to those willing to move to the Negev in the south or the Galilee in the north.

Ramon claims that 18 percent of those living east of the separation barrier—over 11,000 people—would be willing to accept the offer, making it easier for the government to clear the area of Jews completely in the event of an agreement with the Palestinian Authority. Community leaders in Judea and Samaria have warned that any houses abandoned under the Ramon plan would be immediately given to new families.

Public Security Minister Avi Dichter warned that the plan “will only weaken, not strengthen, Israel.” The timing of the proposal is problematic, he said. Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit criticized Ramon's timing as well, saying, “As long as there is no peace settlement, I am opposed to clearing out even a single house.” The Palestinian Authority has not yet made any compromises for the sake of peace, he added.

Shas party head Eli Yishai criticized the plan as well, saying, “The Jewish people has not yet recovered from one accursed expulsion, and there are those who plan new expulsions.” Shas will do whatever possible to prevent the plan, Yishai said.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed support for the plan, and strongly criticized those who believe that Jews should remain in the entire biblical Land of Israel. “Greater Israel is finished; there is no more such thing,” Olmert said. “Whoever talks that way is just fooling himself.”

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9. 'Voice of Israel' Slams Settlers

by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

Voice of Israel government radio, which officially has a mandate to be non-partisan, launched a broadside attack Sunday against Jews in Judea and Samaria who attack Arabs following terrorist attacks.

The two-hour noontime news program opened with quotes from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who said, "We have security forces who know how to take care of terrorists." He added that the government will not allow the "violence and brutality" of Yitzhar residents who attacked Arab villages after an Arab terrorist set fire to a house with the intent of murdering a family and then stabbed a nine-year-old boy. The residents were incensed to learn that the terrorist fled while ignoring a soldier's shouts to stop.

Central Command head Gadi Shamni told military correspondent Carmela Menashe that the IDF's prime mission is to prevent terrorist attacks. She immediately asked him that "even if we are talking about a small group who take the law in their own hands, how can you protect settlers in this situation?"

He took the lead and responded that it is difficult to explain to soldiers they are defending Jews but also have to defend Arabs who are attacked by Jews.

Menashe persisted, "But there are the police--aren't you too forgiving on the settlers?" The commander responded that the number of police charges against Jewish residents in Judea and Samaria doubled during the past year, but the interviewer again asked, "How much of this behavior interferes with the army to carry out its missions?"
But there are the police--aren't you too forgiving on the settlers?

He again took the lead and agreed it is a big problem and then called on rabbis and nationalist political leaders to calm down what he called a small group, adding that most Jews in Judea and Samaria are "excellent" people.

Menashe returned to her theme, asking how it was possible that Jews rioted and no one was arrested even though it is known which two men took their rifles and fired at the Arab village.

Shadmi said the army still is investigating and is waiting for reports from Arabs on damage and injuries.

The Voice of Israel government radio military correspondent persevered, "The same thing has happened before and generals sat by quietly."

Shadmi answered, "I do not know what you are talking about."

News anchorwoman Anat Davidov then took over, scolding national leader Benny Katzover that the violence against Arabs "happens time after time." When he tried to bring up the matter of the terrorist attack, which he said was far more grave, Davidov responded, "Shadmi says their mission is to fight terror, I am asking you if this ' does not interfere with soldiers trying to stop terror…. This is not the first time?"

Katzover explained that the rioters saw they had no choice because of the fact that the army did not prevent a terrorist from entering the community, setting fire to a house, stabbing a boy and then letting the terrorist flee.   

He refused her challenge to denounce the rioters, and Katzover added that he did not see any pictures in the major newspapers of the aftermath of the fire that destroyed the house and its belongings and refused to denounce the residents' reactions. "They had no choice but to defend themselves because Prime Minister Olmert wants to expel them," he insisted.

Davidov repeated parts of the interview on the midnight news program and interviewed Labor minister Ami Ayalon, who has consistently taken a stand against the existence of most of the Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. He denounced nationalist leaders as being weak by not denouncing the rioters.

Davidov tried to speak by phone with an Arab from the village where the terrorist is thought to be living, but faulty phone communications prevented the interview.

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10. Olmert: ‘Forget Greater Israel’

by Ze'ev Ben-Yechiel

"The notion of a Greater Israel no longer exists, and anyone who still believes in it is deluding themselves," said Ehud Olmert, in what is likely to be his last cabinet meeting as Prime Minister.

"Forty years after the Six Day War ended, we keep finding excuses not to act. This isn't doing Israel any good,” said Olmert to the members of his cabinet.

Olmert warned that unless Israel gives up more land, it will face pressure from overseas to grant all PA Arabs citizenship in a single state of two nationalities. “The international community in starting to view Israel as a future binational state. We can prove that we have been more creative than the other side through the years, and that they have been more obstinate, but as usual, we will win the debate by not losing sight of what's really important.”

The Prime Minister warned that “time is not on Israel’s side, not because our cause isn’t just, but because time has its own repercussions.” Olmert did not specify what those repercussions were, nor did he explain why he believed that Israel was incapable of dealing with them.

Olmert was once known as a hawkish politician reluctant to give up land.  "I admit – this hasn’t always been my position. In the past I've said that what he agreed to in Camp David was wrong.” Olmert he confessed in the meeting that he used to believe in a Greater Israel.
Olmert referred to Judea and Samaria, the heartland of Biblical Israel, as “a hill here or there.”

"I used to believe that everything from the Jordan Riverbank to the Mediterranean Sea was ours. After all, dig anywhere and you'll find Jewish history. But eventually, after great internal conflict, I've realized we have to share this land with the people who dwell here – that is if we don’t want to be a binational state," said Olmert.

The Prime Minister called to attention the strength of Israel, and refuted the notion that a smaller Israel, created by withdrawal from Jewish land liberated in 1967, would increase the threat to Israel’s security.

"No other nation is as strong and no other nation in the Middle East can rival us. The strategic threats we face have nothing to do with where we draw our borders.

"We can argue about every single detail, but when we finally hash out an agreement we may find we no longer have the international community's backing, or a partner for that matter. We'll be left with nothing but the feeling that once again, as for the past 40 years, we were right.”

Olmert continued that it would be better off dealing with the threats that he admits will exist “across the security fence” than “cementing the notion of a binational state in the international community's mind," hinting at his support for total withdrawal to west of the fence, as well as his belief that the international community has the power to decide Israel’s future.

Olmert referred to Judea and Samaria, the heartland of Biblical Israel, as “a hill here or there.”

“We have to ask ourselves is losing a hill here or there, is worth forfeiting the chance to achieve something. This is why I say that this is the time to discuss the evacuation-compensation . We have to keep pushing it, and eventually bring it before the government,” he noted, referring a proposal put forth by Chaim Ramon, former Minister of Injustice and current Vice-Premier.

Olmert’s comments to the cabinet came after heated discussion on Ramon’s bill, in which the government would offer Israeli families living in Judea and Samaria 1.1 million NIS to abandon their houses and live elsewhere in Israel. Ramon, now Minister-Without-Portfolio with responsibility for state policy, resigned three months after being appointed by Olmert as Minister of Justice in 2006 following his indictment on charges of sexual assault.

The Prime Minister felt confident that sooner or later every Israeli will come around to share this view.

“A day will come, probably sooner than some are willing to admit, that all of us will be willing to embrace the same solutions that some of us are rejecting right now.”

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11. Film Maker: US Becoming Fascist

by IsraelNN Staff

Only one year after releasing his film that explored the potential illegality of the U.S. Government demanding an 'income' tax from its citizenry, Hollywood producer Aaron Russo passed away, but not before being interviewed on "The Tamar Yonah Show".

Aaron Russo was an award winning film-maker who produced blockbuster hits like "The Rose" and "Trading Places". 

Russo later became active in politics and went on to make a ground breaking documentary, which he planned to title, "April 15th, The Real April Fools Day". The film was to focus on whether or not there existed a law requiring Americans to pay an income tax, or if the tax was in fact, a fraud. Through extensive research, he decided that the IRS was just a symptom of a much bigger problem, and renamed his documentary  "America: Freedom to Fascism" after concluding that America is turning into a bona fide police state.

Russo shared stories of the U.S. government using power and authority to control the American people in a 2006 interview with IsraelNationalRadio's Tamar Yonah. Yonah and Russo discussed Patriot Act-related phone tapping, secret searches of private homes and offices without the provision of a search warrant, freezing of personal funds and assets, secret watch lists, private bank account and personal computer screenings as some of the actions U.S. authorities can conduct against American citizens. Alleged US governmental plans for biometric ID cards, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips and governmental power to vaccinate Americans with untested vaccines, against their will are some rumors that have begun to circulate, causing concerns among some U.S. citizens.

The interview ends with reflection on the U.S. Government's policy, through the Patriot Act, of telling Americans that their rights will be protected by taking them away.

To hear Tamar Yonah's controversial interview with Aaron Russo, click HERE

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