by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) The Knesset held a special session on the ongoing plight of the 9,000 expellees from Gush Katif and the Shomron. Many MKs complained about the government's mis-handling of the entire issue, especially the lack of long-term housing solutions.
MK Uri Ariel (National Union) initiated the session and obtained the necessary 40 MKs' signatures to obligate the Prime Minister to attend and respond.  "You, Mr. Prime Minister," Ariel said, "who were among the initiators of the Disengagement, are obligated to be personally involved in this matter." Ariel also noted the painful matter of youths who were arrested during Disengagement protests and who now have a criminal record preventing them from enlisting in elite army units, becoming lawyers, bearing weapons, and more.
Many expellees met beforehand with the Prime Minister, demanding explanations as to the continued mis-handling of their housing needs.  The meeting marked one year since the publication of the State Comptroller's report blaming the government for the sorry state of the expellees.
Gush Katif Residents Committee head Lior Kalfa said last night, "Where is the shame? The permanent solutions are not here, to the disgrace of the government, and the princes of civil rights say nary ...   more »

by Hillel Fendel
(IsraelNN.com) "We have forgotten our destiny," people are complaining - and five new Jewish settlement sites are being planned in Judea and Samaria.
Families are being collected and are preparing to become the pioneers who will start five new Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria in the coming weeks and months.  First and foremost will be Givat HaEitam, in the northern end of Gush Etzion's Efrat, overlooking Solomon's Pools just south of Bethlehem.  The goal is not to start another hilltop outpost, but rather a full-fledged neighborhood in an outlying area of an already-existing town.
Yehudit Katzover of the Land of Israel Faithful explains: "We have forgotten the basics.  Everything now has become checkpoints and fences and retreats.  We must be connected with the Land of Israel, and not let our enemies take it over!"
Givat HaEitam is an urgent front-line location in that struggle, Katzover explains: "The cursed wall tearing apart our Land right down its middle is planned to be built inside an area that belongs to Efrat.  They have already begun work, and soon Eitam - which was planned for 2,500 housing units for Efrat! - will be in Palestinian hands, if we don't ...   more »

In the past few days, Arab and Iranian media reports have pointed to the possibility that Lebanon's current political crisis may become a violent conflict after July 15, 2007.
It should be noted that certain international events concerning Lebanon and Syria are expected in mid-July, specifically:
1. The U.N. Security Council session scheduled for July 16, 2007, which is to discuss a report by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on the progress in the implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701. This discussion will be devoted in part to the report submitted by a delegation sent by Ki-Moon to the Syria-Lebanon border to assess border supervision. According to the London daily Al-Hayat, the delegation's recommendations included the stationing of international experts in border control to aid Lebanon's security apparatuses in monitoring the Syria-Lebanon border. [1]
2. Between July 15 and 17, 2007, the submission of another report to the U.N. Security Council, by the head of the International Investigation Commission into the murder of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Al-Hariri, Serge Brammertz.
The following are excerpts from these Arab and Iranian media reports:
Reports of Syria Instructing its Citizens to Leave Lebanon by July 15
On July 5, 2007, the Iranian ...   more »

The London based Al-Hayat reported Saturday that Israel was "concerned" that Syria's decision to remove military checkpoints on the road to Kuneitra on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights could be a preparation for war.
According to the report, the checkpoints in question had been in place for 40 years, ever since the Six Day War.
Al-Hayat also claimed that foreign journalists were being barred from covering IDF maneuvers conducted on the Golan Heights.
Syrian students in Lebanon to go home
The newspaper reported that Israel had blocked access to areas on the Golan Heights from which villages and towns were visible. The report listed the equipment the IDF had left in place, including bulldozers and 70 tank outposts.
The report came two days after Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni addressed Syrian concerns that Israel planned to attack the country. Livni said that the IDF was conducting exercises and nothing more.
Speaking at a meeting with her Danish counterpart, Per Stig Moller, Livni said that Israel wanted to live in peace with its neighbors.
"Israel, unfortunately, has to be constantly prepared. The IDF's job is to protect Israeli citizens, and for this it must train, and for this exercises were ...   more »

A Lebanese news source on Saturday predicted that Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would pay a visit to Syria and Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal would visit Iran.
The Lebanese `As-Safir' newspaper said developments in Lebanon would be discussed during the two visits.
The daily quoted certain diplomatic sources as saying President Ahmadinejad might visit Damascus within the next few days to express his felicitations to his Syrian counterpart Bashar al-Assad on his second seven-year term as Syria's President.
Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, who has been appointed as official in charge of pursuing the Lebanese case with Saudi officials, would accompany Ahmadinejad in his Syria visit.
The daily also quoted informed Lebanese sources as saying al-Faisal would visit Tehran next week in line with Iran-Saudi efforts to find a solution to Lebanon's political crisis.
It added the Saudi foreign minister would hold talks with senior Iranian officials on Lebanon crisis.
Original Source



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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described Iran as "increasingly dangerous" and refused to rule out US military action if Tehran refuses to suspend its nuclear program.
But Rice said that President George W. Bush is backing diplomatic efforts aimed at convincing the Islamic republic to freeze nuclear activities that Washington fears are a drive to build an atomic bomb.
"This is a relationship that is, I think, increasingly difficult in a country that is increasingly dangerous," the chief US diplomat told CNBC television.
Rice outlined Washington's numerous complaints about Iran, saying it supports terrorism, backs armed militias threatening US forces in Iraq and pursues technologies "that would lead to a nuclear weapon."
She also pointed to Iran authorities' "crackdown on their own population" and arrests of people with dual Iranian-American citizenship.
"So this is a very dangerous state with very dangerous policies and we need the help and support and intensify efforts of the international community to deal with Iran," she said.
Asked about the possibility of a US military strike against Iran, Rice repeated the Bush administration's refusal to rule it out.
"Well, the president's never going to take his options off the table and frankly no one ...   more »