Ruthie Blum
'Ask me anything you want," Dov Hikind announces breezily, taking a seat as though preparing to be grilled. "I'm used to it."
We are in the lobby of Jerusalem's Renaissance Hotel, where the New York state assemblyman is staying, following a three-day stint in Sderot. There he celebrated Purim with the town's besieged residents, for whom he had raised $50,000 through his weekly radio show, broadcast Saturday nights on WMCA.
"We distributed shalah manos [gift baskets] to each of the 6,000 families and paid for a party - attended by 1,000 people - with music and clowns," says Hikind, pride laced with sadness. "And they smiled."
Hikind, 57, says he was "emotionally and mentally affected" by what he experienced in the Kassam-bombarded area.
"I would urge every Israeli in the country to go there," he emphasizes. "Not just to shop [as a way of expressing solidarity by helping the local economy], but to spend time talking to people and getting a feel for what they're going through."
Hikind recounts being horrified during his own discussions with people he encountered in Sderot (with "For Sale" signs dotting the landscape), when one "man in the street" responded to his commenting ...   more »

By P. David Hornik
A new Hamas TV production for Palestinian children shows a puppet stabbing President Bush to death after telling him the White House has been turned into a mosque. The Palestinians elected Hamas as their leadership by a wide margin in January 2006, and in a poll two weeks ago a majority of Palestinians said they would vote for current Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh for president if there were new Palestinian elections.
After the massacre at the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem on March 6, Bush called Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and said “This barbaric and vicious attack on innocent civilians deserves the condemnation of every nation.” But the same poll of Palestinians found 84% of them approving the attack. And the official newspaper of the Palestinian Authority featured a front-page photo of the dead terrorist over a caption calling him a shahid (martyr).
To say that Bush and his secretary of state don’t appear impressed by these problematic proclivities of the Palestinians is a great understatement. Condi Rice was here yet again this week in what has become a grimly obsessive quest to award the West Bank and Gaza Palestinians—in their current condition of moral ...   more »

By Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondent   
A widespread, week-long civil defense drill will begin on Sunday, starting at the weekly cabinet meeting with a briefing by the commander of the exercise, Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai.
The operative part of the drill commences on Monday. It will include, among other scenarios, a simulated missile attack on civilian areas - some with chemical warheads.
Participating in the drill will be the Home Front Command, the national emergency authority, government ministries and emergency services.  
At 10 A.M. on Tuesday a siren will be sounded throughout the country and children from kindergarten up will practice emergency procedures. State employees are also expected to drill emergency procedures at their workplaces.
Immediately afterward, local governments will join the exercise, following instructions that will be distributed on the spot.
The exercise will continue throughout the week, with scenarios that include a simulated hazardous material spill in the Haifa Bay, the rescue of survivors from a collapsed building in the Meron and Nazareth areas and the firing of ground-to-ground missiles equipped with chemical warheads.
During the exercise, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Ehud Barak are to conduct situation reviews and to make decisions based ...   more »