Defense officials fuming at secretary's meddling
By Aaron Klein
JERUSALEM – The removal of a series of Israeli anti-terror roadblocks yesterday was overseen directly by the U.S. and was carried out under heavy pressure from Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, defense officials in Jerusalem told WND.
The removals also may have enabled an attempted terrorist attack against two Jewish civilians. The foiled attack yesterday, in the northern West Bank, was carried out just hours after Israel began lifting the roadblocks and was in an area where a major roadblock had been removed.
Defense officials here strongly opposed the roadblock removals, saying the obstacles impede the mobility of terrorists. Palestinians complain the roadblocks also make it more difficult for them to travel throughout the West Bank. The majority of West Bank roadblocks were established in the late 1990's following repeated terrorist attacks from the territory.
In yesterday's incident, an Israeli man shot and killed a Palestinian armed with a knife after he approached the Israeli and a teenager at a popular hitchhiking stop between the West Bank Jewish communities of Shiloh and Eli, about 20 miles from Jerusalem. 
Senior leaders of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group, the so-called military ...   more »

'Least prepared for chemical attack we've been in 20 years'
Defense Ministry, National Emergency Administration to upgrade atomic, biological, chemical protection kits; MK Steinitz warns redistribution plan lacks deadlines, endangers public
Roni Sofer
"The cabinet's decision to upgrade the kits without clearly setting any deadlines is a farce that repeats all the mistakes made in the neglect of the home front during the Second Lebanon War. I can already see the committee of inquiry into the next war, and it will be far worse than Winograd," MK Yuval Steinitz (Likud) said on Wednesday.
Home Front Readiness  
Barak authorizes nationwide emergency drill / Hanan Greenberg  
Defense establishment, government and cabinet all to participate in exercise simulating crisis situation as part of upcoming national emergency drill to be held in April. Drill part of implementation of lessons from Second Lebanon War     
The defense establishment announced earlier in the day that the atomic, biological, and chemical protection kits recently collected from the public will be upgraded and redistributed. 
The decision to redistribute the kits was made by the Defense Ministry, in view of the recent ground-to-ground missile threats made evident against Israel and in an attempt to boost home front ...   more »

Prominent jurist Prof. Kremnitzer warns Knesset committee that civil war may break out over proposed referendum on status of Jerusalem, Golan Heights
Zvi Lavi
Could a referendum on the future of contested Israeli land end in civil war? Professor Mordechai Kremnitzer, a renowned legalist, stated during a Knesset committee meeting, that “a referendum on the future of Jerusalem and the Golan Heights may very well end in bloodshed.”  
City United   
MK Netanyahu: I will not allow for the division of Jerusalem / Roni Sofer  
Likud chairman says he informed Rice that he would not endorse declaration of principles calling for a return to 1967 borders. 'Israel would be taking a great risk if it currently commits to territorial concessions,' Netanyahu says      
During the Knesset committee meeting, deliberating a privately sponsored bill to establish a referendum on governmental territorial concessions, Professor Kremnitzer warned that “if such a referendum comes down to an extremely close vote, especially if the Arab public is allowed to take part in it, then certain segments of the Israeli public might very well dispute the legitimacy of the referendum results and resist them through violent means.”.  
Following committee deliberations, however, the government ...   more »

The Kingdom 'braces for nuclear war'  
Saudi Arabia is reportedly preparing to counter any 'radioactive hazards' which may result from a US strike on Iran's nuclear plants.
Popular government-guided Saudi newspaper Okaz recently reported that the Saudi Shura Council approved of nuclear fallout preparation plans only a day after US Vice President Dick Cheney met with the Kingdom's high ranking officials, including King Abdullah.
As a result of the Shura ruling, the Saudi government will start the implementation of 'national plans to deal with any sudden nuclear and radioactive hazards that may affect the Kingdom following expert warnings of possible attacks on Iran's Bushehr nuclear reactors'.
As the details of Cheney's recent discussions with his Arab allies remain unclear, pundits have begun to question the timing of the drastic measure by the Shura.
Analysts claim the Bush administration had long rattled sabers with Iran over its nuclear program and is now informing its Arab allies of a potential war, in turn, allowing them to take precautionary measures.
With the sudden resignation of Admiral William Fallon, a high-ranking US military official who was a fierce critic of White House war rhetoric against Iran, and reports of the recent deployment of ...   more »