Britannia Radio

1. UN Vote May Squeeze Bibi
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu

The United Nations Security Council is planning to pass a resolution on Tuesday that would call on the next Israeli government to continue negotiating "core issues," meaning the status of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Authority demand for the immigration of Arabs to Israel. Pre-election polls show that Likud chairman and former Prime Binyamin Netanyahu has a commanding lead and will form the next coalition government.

The U.N. resolution has the backing of all Security Council members and, if passed, will be the first time in five years that the council has adopted a resolution calling for collective peace in the Middle East.

The text of the draft was drafted by American Ambassador to the U.N. Zalmay Khalilzad in cooperation with Russia. The proposed resolution calls on Israel and the PA to continue "bilateral negotiating process and their determined efforts to reach their goal of concluding a peace treaty resolving all outstanding issues, including all core issues, without exception."

It calls on both parties "to fulfill their obligations ... and refrain from any steps that could undermine confidence or prejudice the outcome of negotiations."

Israel has accepted American initiatives to scrap the original Roadmap plans that called on the PA to cease incitement and terror before reaching the stage of drawing up of final borders for a new Arab state within Israel's current borders.

The resolution also backs a move by Russia to hold an international conference on the Middle East in Moscow, a move that Israel has opposed but which is backed by the Quartet, comprising the U.N., the U.S., Russia and the European Union (EU).

The Quartet has been conferring with an official of the 22-member Arab League.

 

Ambassador Khalizad said the timing of the resolution is designed to help the Obama administration during the transition period until U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office on January 20. No reference was made to the upcoming Israeli elections.

 

The PA has rejected Israel's latest offers for a final-status settlement, PA negotiator Ahmed Qureia said Friday. Speaking to Arab media, Qureia said that Israel had offered to "swap" about 7 percent of land in Judea and Samaria, including Ariel, Ma'aleh Adumim and Efrat-Gush Etzion, for land inside pre-1967 Israel. Qureia said the PA had rejected the offer, "because it would split the Palestinian state and not allow it to develop."

In addition, he said that Israel had offered to allow 5,000 PA Arabs to immigrate to Israel over five years. That, too, was rejected as being too few, Qureia said, although he added that the PA was no longer seeking the return of "millions" of descendants of Arabs who fled Israel
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2. Israel Plans Ceasefire Extension
by Avraham Zuroff

The head of the Defense Ministry’s political-military bureau, Major-General Amos Gilad, is departing Sunday for Egypt to discuss the terms for renewing the ceasefire agreement (tahadiyeh, or “calm” in Arabic) between the IDF and Hamas in Gaza. The six-month Egyptian-brokered cease-fire between Israel and Hamas officially ends this Thursday. Gilad is expected to also discuss the release of captured soldier Gilad Shalit.

Gilad will meet with Egyptian Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman. Although the talks were planned and unrelated to the ceasefire’s expiration on December 19, the visit will stress Israel’s views on the matter.

The hope for calm comes six days after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he has told security heads to plan for military action against terrorist groups in Gaza and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said that the government should respond “militarily, economically, and politically.” While Jerusalem issued tough statements against Hamas, they simultaneously opened the Gaza borders for Arab trucks to transport funds for humanitarian purposes.

In violation of the cease-fire’s present terms, two mortar shells were fired at the Negev Saturday night. In addition, Gaza Arab terrorists fired a Kassam rocket at Sderot on Saturday morning. Although no injuries or damage were reported, residents in Sderot and nearby communities are in a state of perpetual tension.

The Defense Ministry stated that over the last week, artillery fired by Gazan terrorists has decreased and that Hamas is assumed to support the extension of the ceasefire agreement. Nonetheless, Hamas intends to negotiate new conditions. In particular, Israel must agree to keep the border crossings permanently open.

In an interview with the Jerusalem Post, Gilad stated that Hamas’s overall interest is to renegotiate the cease-fire. “Hamas is committed to the destruction of the state. That is part of its ideology.” The Defense Ministry official added that Hamas does not accept any of the Quartet’s conditions for recognizing Israel. In addition, it wants to take over the PLO. “At present, for tactical and strategic reasons, it is interested in the tahadiyeh,” Gilad clarified.

However, Gilad doesn’t think that Hamas is faring well. “They've tried to take control of the West Bank. They're not succeeding. They tried to impose their will at the Cairo conference on Fatah and PLO. They're not succeeding. They're surviving in control of Gaza, but they're not offering any hope to the residents. The people there are suffering and living in poverty,” states Gilad.
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3. Barak vs. Livni on Shalit
by Hillel Fendel

Captive IDF soldier Gilad Shalit has become a top card – not in negotiations for his release, but in the electoral war between Kadima leader Tzipi Livni and Labor leader Ehud Barak.

Foreign Minister Livni, in a moment of candor last week, told a group of high school students that “not every soldier can be brought back.”

“The feeling is that it’s possible to bring Gilad back, but that we’re doing nothing," Livni lamented. "That is a terrible thought.  We want every soldier to come back. But when a soldier goes to the army, there is a risk. We all want everyone to come home, but this is part of the willingness to fight in war.  We have no other choice.”

Protest Outside Livni's Home

Livni was immediately attacked on various fronts, including from Defense Minister Barak and the Task Force to Bring Gilad Home.  The latter, which holds a weekly protest outside the home of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, held its demonstration this past Friday outside Livni’s home, in protest of her remarks.

Hamas Response

Hamas announced, “Livni’s words prove that Israel is the one who is sabotaging the negotiations for Shalit’s release.”  Hamas is demanding the release of 1,000 imprisoned terrorists, including many murderers, in exchange for Shalit.

Hamas threatened that the prisoners have the right to be free, “and as long as Israel does not agree, the Shalit case will remain closed.”

Barak Attacks - and Agrees

Barak, whose Labor party is vying for many of the same voters as Livni’s Kadima in the upcoming elections, said over the weekend, “I cannot understand those words by the Foreign Minister.”  However, the former IDF General and Chief of Staff essentially echoed what she said when he explained, “I buried many soldiers who were killed and did not return.  A soldier who is alive in captivity, we have a supreme responsibility to bring him back using every worthy method – but not at any price.”

Barak then added, “As opposed to what is implied by Livni’s remarks, this government has a special responsibility to return Gilad Shalit before its term ends, because he was taken captive under its watch.”

Barak implied, however, that he would be willing to release even Hamas terrorist murderers in exchange for Shalit.

Livni’s spokesmen said in response, “Out of a sense of responsibility for Shalit’s release, she refuses to bring the matter into the political arena.”

Yaalon Agrees, Too

Moshe Yaalon, another former IDF Chief of Staff, agreed with Livni. “It is not a good idea to call for Shalit’s release at any price," said Yaalon, who is running in the Likud party for a Knesset seat.  "We have put ourselves into a corner where the terrorists know it’s a good idea to kidnap our soldiers.”

Shalit is on the agenda in Egypt today, where senior Defense Ministry official Gilad Shalit is meeting with Egyptian officials.  Even former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is discussing the matter in Syria, though Israel does not have much confidence that Carter will present Israel’s case particularly favorably.
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4. Cream of Religious-Zionist Crop
by Hillel Fendel



The Jewish Home party, newly formed on the foundations of the National Religious Party and the National Union, is expected to announce its list of candidates for the Knesset by Wednesday night.



The final list will be drawn up by the party’s Public Committee, a body of 39 rabbinic, academic and other leading figures in the religious-Zionist public. The public has been invited to participate via the internet, and its voice will be given a weight of 20% in the final decision.



Among the 84 candidates vying for places on the list - following newly-chosen party leader Rabbi Prof. Daniel Hershkowitz - are five incumbent MKs, four former MKs, ten women, nine rabbis, four Ph.D.’s, and many public activists. Current polls predict that the party will receive only five Knesset seats, but this is expected to rise when and if the party begins fielding a unified list. 

MK Benny Elon has said that if three of the top five candidates do not represent the former parties of the National Union, the party will have lost its legitimacy.  Former National Union members are threatening to revive their party if this condition is not met.



Prominent names among the candidates include the following:



Rabbi Hillel Horowitz of Hevron

Sar-Shalom Jerbi, former Secretary-General of the NRP and fulfilling the same post temporarily for the Jewish Home

Avichai Boaron, a resident of Amona who founded the Maayanei HaYeshua outreach movement

Rabbi Ophir Cohen, formerly of Kfar Darom in Gush Katif, father of three children who lost legs and other body parts in a terror attack at the start of the Oslo War

Rabbi Rachamim Nisimi, founder of the Sha'arei Torah outreach organizations

Yishai Rubin, director of Ometz and other Torah nuclear groups in northern Israel

Dov Kalmanovitch, public activist on behalf of many causes, especially victims of terrorism

Rabbi Yisrael Rosenne, Director of the Tzomet Institute

Dr. Avraham Negosa, an immigrant from Ethiopia, who has a B.A. in social work, M.A. in business management, Ph.D. in educational philosophy, and has headed an immigrants’ party in previous elections

Avi Rath, educator and journalist

Shuli Mualem Rafaeli, nurse, public speaker and activist on behalf of IDF widows/orphans and other causes

Rabbi Chaim Ratig, founder of yeshivot and Torah core groups in Nahariya and Ra'anana

Alexander Nipomaniachi, leading activist among the Russian immigrant public and head of the Maof research center



Orit Strook of the Yesha Civil Rights organization

Former IDF General Yiftach Ron-Tal

Miro Dayan, founder and principal of the Bnei Akiva yeshiva high school in Beit She’an

Uri Bin-Nun, former Director-General of both the Dead Sea Works and the Israel Electric Company

Yesha Council head Danny Dayan
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5. When Mumbai Comes To Your Mall
by Tamar Yonah

You're out holiday shopping. The stores are crowded and everything is very busy. All of a sudden, you hear gunfire and shouting in a foreign accent. People are dropping their bags and taking cover, some falling to the ground. Screaming and panic and chaos ensue. What do you do?

Global terrorism has become a plague. Fears of terror attacks are on the minds of westerners, and some say it is not if, but when. How can you prepare for such a scenario as what took place in Mumbai, India, if it comes to your mall? Director of the Northeast Intelligence Network Douglass L. Hagmann was interviewed on Israel National Radio's Weekend Edition and said that attacks like those in Mumbai will happen again.





Hagmann is a private investigator and security and surveillance expert who provides information for the FBI, Homeland Security and other agencies. He's also the author of "Tactical Surveillance" an investigative manual that is used at Henley-Putnam University as one of the core texts in the criminal justice program.

Hagmann wants the public to know, "I’ve personally investigated potential terrorists who are in this country [U that appear to be training for just such scenarios." He went on to explain that he has evidence of Muslim groups training in the Catskills. They train with automatic weapons and the loud spats of gunfire are unsettling and disturbing to those neighbors who reside nearby. The most disturbing thing Hagmann says is that during surveillance of this Muslim group it was discovered that they have video of them practicing shooting up a yellow school bus they had brought onto their property. The school bus target shooting is disturbing because it could be a sign to come of a future terror attack on American school children.

What about immediate targets?

Hagmann states that the Mall of America is a prime target for Islamic terrorists. "The terrorists have published their desires to create an attack against American civilians in a retail shopping outlet. Number one, for the body count, number two, for the ease of the target and thirdly, they don't care if they kill women and children, in fact, all the better, and number four, it would have a serious economic affect on the country. Why not attack during a Christmas holiday [Christmas shoppin?"

The problem

The United States and other western leaders have been intellectually dishonest in identifying the enemy, Hagmann states. "We are not fighting a 'war on terrorism'. Terrorism is a tactic, it is not a target. Terrorism is a means to an end. We are fighting a war against Islamic Nazism, we are fighting a 'religious war'."

Hagmann's view of the Arab Israeli conflict

From an investigative point of view, "It would not matter how much land Israel gave away. It wouldn't matter if all of the grievances by the Islamic world were satisfied. They will not be satisfied, and there will not be an end to terrorism [for all of u until one of two things happen. Number one, our enemy is completely eradicated or number two, they succeed in taking over the world by establishing a one world Islamic Caliphate.

"I believe that Israel is the best friend that the United States has ever had and will ever have in the middle east, and it is our moral obligation to back Israel in whatever actions Israel plans to do with respect to Iran. I don't think the world can tolerate, nor should they accept a nuclear armed Iran. Just the mere fact that Ahmadinejad has threatened to exterminate Israel should be a sufficient cause to take action against this man. I think it's a shame. It's sinful. I think that G-d will render judgment on America for not taking action against Iran when they had the opportunity. The threat is absolute, I think the threat is real and it needs to be addressed as soon as possible or else we're going to come to a point where we will not be able to address the threat without the use of nuclear weapons."

'Politically Correct' gets in the way

Hagmann says that his reports and investigations are to be taken seriously. "When we turn over valid reports with evidence, - such as photographs, video tape, documentation that's irrefutable -that is considered best evidence in a criminal trial, …when we provide evidence that lives up to that standard, which by the way, separates us from other agencies on the Internet, -we're not a blog that writes opinions, our actions and our findings are what we provide to the agency that separates us from other blogs and what have you, on the Internet."

Hagmann is frustrated because of the way the U.S. government is handling enemy threats against it. He chastises the government and media for calling this a 'war on terror', and not a 'religious war'. He says we must identify the enemy or we cannot win this war.

Reports have been given to the government stating the hard truth. "A lot of times, we have seen unbelievable dissention among people. When in fact they say, we have to act on this or that. Or look, this IS Islamic fundamentalism, or this ideology is being taught in mosques across the United States." But it is either ignored or disqualified because of political correctness or ineptness. "Numerous individuals who had subcontracting status with the Pentagon, with our government, has been summarily dismissed, because they were not adhering to the philosophy, to the ideology, that Islam does not pose a threat to the United States." Hagmann stated.

"There was one infamous case not too long ago, I think it was about a year ago, where a long standing member of the United States military was – he was a subcontractor providing intelligence and other information to the Pentagon. When he issued a 300 and some odd page report about the threat of the Islamic fundamentalists within this country. A Muslim agent of the Pentagon was offended by the findings of that particular report. And as a result of that religious offense, and basically because of the objections by this Muslim agent who was in the Pentagon, the lieutenant was fired despite his twenty plus years of seniority and despite the fact that the report he submitted was factually accurate. So yes, what I am saying is that a lot of times political correctness and religious, the dumbing down of different things, trumps the threat. We have decision makers who are actually making decisions which are contrary to the security of the United States based on attempting to appease and acquiesce to religious groups.”

Hagmann's surveillance and exposure of Muslim radical groups operating in the United States has earned him death threats. There's a 'fatwa' (Muslim death edict) out on him from Sheik Gilani of Pakistan, the Muslim Sheik Daniel Pearl was on his way to interview when he was killed.
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6. Return of the National Union?
by Maayana Miskin

A group of activists and politicians has suggested bringing back the National Union (NU) as an independent political party if nationalists who oppose territorial compromise do not get top seats in the Jewish Home party. The Jewish Home was created by a merger of the National Religious Party (NRP) and the NU, which itself was a merger of the smaller parties Moledet, Tekuma and Achi.

If representatives from Moledet, Tekuma and Achi are not given three seats in the second through fifth slots on the Jewish Home party list, the NU should reconsider its merger with the NRP, the activists say.

The group sent a letter to members of “The Faithful to the Complete Land of Israel” on Thursday night suggesting the NU be reestablished. The suggestion will be discussed at a group conference on Saturday night.

Among those who signed the letter are Jerusalem activist Aryeh King, a senior member of Tekuma, officials from the towns of Migron and Amona, and National Union youth organizers Yinon Kadari and Mati Goldstein.

The letter writers emphasized that the letter was “just a suggestion... that will be brought before conference participants. This will be the basis of change, subject to approval from conference participants and of course advice from participating rabbis.”

As background to their proposal, the writers explained:

Members of Knesset representing the religious-Zionist community made the independent decision to unite in a new party, called “The Jewish Home.” The unification of NRP-Tekuma-Moledet was carried out without input from voters, but rather independently by a handful of MKs who were fed mistaken public relations material and advised by advisors and PR men to make a disastrous decision... There is a not-insignificant group of council members who support giving territory to our enemies, and a not-insignificant group who were appointed only due to their connections to MKs and not due to national-religious ideology.

...As the head of the party, they selected an impressive man who has accomplished much as an academic and has great personal potential, but who has never been a part of the Land of Israel Faithful movement, and from his first media interviews it is clear that this is not the party leader the Land of Israel Faithful waited for...

Members of the religious-Zionist public who oppose conceding territory now face a difficult choice, the writers said. “On one hand, to vote for a list that is not faithful to the basic principle of guarding every part of the land of Israel, and on the other, not to participate in the upcoming elections, which will influence the future of the land of Israel and the people of Israel.” The solution is to create a nationalist party to rival the Jewish Home if the Jewish Home does not appoint potential MKs who oppose territorial compromise, the group said.

Activists expressed concern that the Jewish Home leadership could attempt to torpedo their initiative by delaying the appointment of party candidates until it is too late for those who oppose the party list to form their own party. In order to avoid such a move, they suggested issuing an ultimatum to the Jewish Home demanding that it publish its party list by next Wednesday night and include candidates who oppose conceding territory in slots 2-5.

The Land of Israel Faithful movement should immediately create its own party list, made up of representatives from Tekuma, Achi, Moledet, the Jewish National Front and the Land of Israel Faithful, activists said. The alternative list would be presented to the public next Tuesday, and if the Jewish Home did not appoint Tekuma, Moledet and Achi candidates to top slots the next day, the alternative list would become an independent party.

The letter writers said their initiative was supported by senior religious-Zionist rabbis, educators and public activists as well as members of the Jewish Home council. All of the supporters will be present at the Saturday night conference, they said.
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7. Feiglin: I Will Not Crawl
by Gil Ronen

Moshe Feiglin, who heads the 'Jewish Leadership' faction in Likud, penned a message to his supporters Friday explaining why he has opted not to contest the Likud court's decision to demote him to the 36th slot in its Knesset list despite the fact that he was originally placed 20th. Feiglin hypothesized that Hashem had set up this 'test' for him and his supporters in order to eventually make it possible for them to lead the country sooner than anyone expected.

"At first glance it seems