 | | IDF Kills Kassam Expert, 3 Other Terrorists
IDF forces killed 4 Arabs in missile strikes in Gaza Thursday night. Specifically targeted was Shadi Mohanna, who developed and launched Kassam rockets. 3 others were killed in a later explosion.
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| 1. IDF Kills Kassam Expert, 3 Other Terrorists
|  | | By Hillel Fendel and Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
IDF forces killed 4 Arabs in missile strikes in Gaza Thursday night. Specifically targeted was Shadi Mohanna, who developed and launched Kassam rockets. 3 others were killed in a later explosion.
| Mohanna was a commander of Islamic Jihad's Al-Quds Brigades. An Israel Air Force aircraft targeted his car, killing him and three other terrorists. Moments later, the large quantity of explosives inside the car - including Kassam rockets - blew up, killing three bystanders.
The IDF later announced that Mohanna, 25, began his terrorist activities four years ago, ultimately becoming one of the leading Islamic Jihad operatives in northern Gaza. He was "active in the initiation, planning and direction of many attacks against IDF forces," the IDF press release stated, but his main activity was in developing and guiding the Kassam rocket campaign against Sderot and the western Negev area. He continued Kassam activities even during the recent "tahadiye" (period of calm).
The air attack took place in Jabalya, a northern Gaza center of terrorist activity adjacent to Gaza City. The missiles, at least one of which was fired from an unmanned aircraft, hit a white vehicle in which Islamic Jihad terrorists were traveling, killing Mohanna, his deputy Mohamed Ghazaineh, and two others.
Palestinian Authority (PA) negotiator Saeb Erakat condemned the Israeli attack and warned of "consequences of this escalation." Abu Uday, an Al-Aksa Brigades terrorist leader, was more blunt in his threat: "Israel has opened upon itself the gates of hell with this killing." He said that all Palestinian terrorist factions could be expected to respond. "We are no longer committed to this miserable tahadiye," he said.
Three Kassam rockets were in fact fired towards Sderot last night, but all of them fell short and landed in Palestinian Authority-controlled territory.
Israeli officials, undeterred, said that more such anti-terror activities could be expected in the war against the terrorist infrastructures.
Earlier on Thursday, the IDF entered Jenin and arrested Islamic Jihad terrorist leader Abdel Khalim Izzadin and five other terrorists. This was the first Israeli military action after Wednesday's suicide bombing in Hadera that killed five Israelis.
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| | 2. Moslems Bash Israel on "Jerusalem Day"
|  | | By Hillel Fendel
Tens of thousands of Moslems in Iran and all over the Arab world are celebrating Jerusalem Day - a reminder of what the late Ayatollah Khomeini called "the danger posed by usurper Israel."
| Tens of thousands of Moslems in cities throughout Iran were heard chanting "Death to Israel!" and "Death to America!"
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki, meeting with ambassadors from Islamic countries on Thursday, told them that Iranians would show their indignation against Israel in the demonstrations to be held throughout the country today (Friday).
Similar anti-Israel events were also to be held in Bahrain, Lebanon, and in many other countries.
The annual event was initiated by the infamous Ayatollah Khomeini, Iran's late spiritual leader, as a show of solidarity with the Palestinian Arab struggle against Israel. In 1979, ten years before his death, Khomeini announced, "I have been notifying the Muslims of the danger posed by the usurper Israel. I ask all the Muslims of the world and the Muslim governments to join together to sever the hand of this usurper and its supporters... and, through a ceremony demonstrating the solidarity of Muslims worldwide, announce their support for the legitimate rights of the Muslim people."
Khomeini, father of the Islamic revolution in Iran, designated the last Friday of the Moslem holy month of Ramadan as the date of the commemorations.
In Bahrain, the demonstration was also to highlight objections to any normalization with Israel. Participants were to sign a petition to reject Bahrain's lifting of the boycott against Israeli goods, said one local official, adding, "The people refuse any kind of normalization or compromise at the expense of the rights of the Muslim and Arab world."
The anti-Israel events in Iran come just days after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be wiped off the map. Foreign Minister Mottaki reiterated the sentiments in his meeting with the ambassadors, saying that Iran would never recognize Israel, and that the "Zionist regime, which prospers by banishing the right owners of the land, is not legitimate."
Western leaders sharply attacked Iran for its threats against Israel. British Prime Minister Tony Blair said, "If they [Iran] continue down this path, then people are going to believe that they are a real threat to our world security and stability."
In response, the Iranian Embassy in Moscow announced that "Mr. [President] Ahmadinejad did not have any intention to speak up in such sharp terms and enter into a conflict."
Bill Samii, regional analysis coordinator with RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty Online and editor of the "RFE/RL Iran Report," wrote on Thursday that Jerusalem Day has been celebrated faithfully in countries with sizable Shi'a Muslim minorities. "It has become a ritualized outpouring of hatred directed at Israel," Samii continued. "If this hatred was restricted to an annual rally, it could be dismissed as a meaningless display. However, because of Iran's alleged support for terrorist organizations and suspicions that it is developing nuclear weapons, many in the international community are concerned."
Just last week, in his sermon at Friday prayers in Tehran, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Jerusalem Day is especially important this year, partially because of the "conspiracy instigated by the Americans, the Zionists, and some of their allies" leading some Islamic states to normalize their relations with Israel.
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| 3. Israel Demands U.N. Expel Iran
|  | | By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Vice Premier Shimon Peres demanded on Thursday that the United Nations expel Iran for the country's president's statement Wednesday that Israel should "be wiped off the map."
| President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made the comment at a Tehran conference on "The World Without Zionism." In a statement issued by the office of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Peres said, "A country that calls for the destruction of another people cannot be a member of the United Nations." Prime Minister Sharon added, "Such a country [Iran] that has nuclear weapons is a danger, not only to Israel and the Middle East, but also to Europe."
However, Peres and Sharon stopped short of declaring that Israeli would officially request the international body to oust Iran. "I don't know if it has any chance of success," Peres explained. Expulsion would require a Security Council recommendation and a two-thirds majority vote in the General Assembly, a virtual impossibility given the large anti-Israel bloc in the U.N.
European countries, Russia and the United States condemned the Iranian president's statement but did not join Peres' call to expel Iran from the U.N.
"Calls for violence, and for the destruction of any state, are manifestly inconsistent with any claim to be a mature and responsible member of the international community," European Union leaders said in a statement.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan commented, "It underscores the concerns we have about Iran's nuclear intentions." Russia also denounced Iran for the verbal attack on Israel.
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| | 4. The Fight for Jewish Presence in Holy Land
|  | | By Hillel Fendel
Peace Now and its left-wing allies continue to fight against the Jewish presence in Judea/Samaria, while teenaged residents continue to try to build it up. Both sides scored successes this week.
| Peace Now was prevented from protesting in Hevron today, but succeeded in forcing a decision to destroy nine buildings outside Ofrah. Jewish idealists were evacuated from some, but not all, of the areas they tried to build up this week.
Over 50 extreme left-wing protestors arrived at the seam between Kiryat Arba and Hevron Friday morning. They wished to protest the shacks erected this week by Jewish residents at the site known as Heroes Hill. The area, along Worshipers Way, was the scene of a terrorist ambush three years ago in which 12 Israeli soldiers and civilians were killed - and the outpost is a memorial to them.
Police did not permit the protestors to approach the Jewish outpost, and pushed them back towards Kiryat Arba. Several of the protestors were arrested. Eyewitness David W. said later that, in his estimation, at least one of them could be charged with attacking a policeman.
While the shacks were being put up on Wednesday by several dozen idealistic youths of the Land of Israel Youth organization, army forces took advantage of the situation to destroy the makeshift Hazon David synagogue. The temporary structure was established outside the former entrance to Kiryat Arba in mid-2001 following the terrorist murders of David Cohen and Chezi Mualem nearby.
Residents were unable to explain why the army has chosen, for the meanwhile, to "ignore" the Heroes Hill outpost. Army forces have taken action against the outpost several times in the past three years.
In the community of Amonah, just east of Ofrah in the Binyamin region, Peace Now was more successful. Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz has reportedly ordered the destruction of nine houses, following Peace Now's long-running legal battle against Amonah.
Peace Now maintained that the houses were built on land registered in the name of a private Arab citizen. Though residents say this man has never shown up to claim the land, the Supreme Court accepted Peace Now's position and ordered the razing of the buildings. The government did not contest the ruling, but said that because of "political sensitivity," it would rather wait until after the retreat from Gaza before beginning to act against Jews in Judea and Samaria (Yesha).
Minister Mofaz's announcement that the buildings are now to be destroyed is apparently an indication, the Yesha Council fears, that the government is ready to begin making good on its promises to destroy outposts in Yesha.
Further to the north, dozens of youths have returned to a new outpost from which they were evacuated on Thursday, near Elon Moreh. The young activists, of the newly-formed Land of Israel Youth organization, tried to make a Jewish presence there on Wednesday, but were violently evacuated late Wednesday night. Their colleagues similar attempted to build up several other sites throughout Yesha this week, but were, for the most part, evacuated by army forces.
IDF officials and others accused the youths in Elon Moreh of employing violence against the soldiers, but the youths tell a different story. Yirat, 16, one of the leaders of the settlement initiative, told Arutz-7,
"I can tell you that the army and police were shockingly violent - and then blamed us for all their violence. The police hit, took yarmulkes, threw cameras and phones out the window, and the like. They were without name tags... the boys were infuriated by this, and so they burnt two benches in the old bus onto which they loaded us. The soldiers then just dropped them off at the Ariel Junction at around 6 in the morning...
"In addition to their violence, the soldiers took a lot of our equipment from the site - such as a bicycle, three tables, projectors, chairs, etc. The girls tried to stop the bulldozer that was carrying all our equipment; I sat in front of the bulldozer, and then a male soldier grabbed me and forced me down, very painfully, onto a thorny patch. Girls were hit... Finally the bulldozer left, but we were able to rescue some of our equipment. Some girls hid and saw the soldiers coming, eating our food, and even taking private belongings...
"Early Thursday morning, many of us arrived back at the site and started rebuilding it. Very soon afterwards, we saw a lot of jeeps and army vehicles coming - some of our boys punctured the tires of four of the jeeps, and then we kept on working at the site all day, waiting for the next evacuation. While we were waiting, we had a meeting and we decided that we had made some mistakes, and that we would not puncture any more tires and the like. So we waited all night for the army to come and take us away - and nothing happened. So now we're here, and preparing for the Sabbath. We hope that about 20-30 boys will be here for the Sabbath..."
In other Yesha news:
IDF forces thwarted a shooting attack early Thursday when they arrested two terrorists near Elon Moreh. The two had a weapon in their possession, and told interrogators they were planning a shooting attack - one of several they have carried out recently...
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Click Here! | | 5. Ganei Tal and (Most of) Netzarim Begin Anew
|  | | By Hillel Fendel
As opposed to many others, some of the families that were uprooted and thrown out of their homes in Gush Katif over two months ago are finally beginning new lives this week.
| photo of caravila, courtesy of Katif.net
The former residents of Ganei Tal, who have been housed in guest house conditions in Kibbutz Chafetz Chaim for over ten weeks, moved in to their new temporary quarters in Yad Binyamin on Thursday. Long-time resident Moti Sender, the editor of the Katif.net site, was one of those who moved in. His view:
"This is also a temporary solution, because hopefully, within another year or two, we will build our permanent community; it's not for sure, but it looks like it will be right outside Chafetz Chaim... The new caravillas we have are much better than the 20 square meters we had until now. These are pre-fab houses made up of various structures of different ages, and many mistakes have been made in the construction, but the bottom line is that we will now be able to get on with our lives here, together."
Yad Binyamin and Chafetz Chaim are located within five kilometers of each other, east of Ashdod.
"I have to emphasize," Sender said, "that thankfully, unlike other communities, Ganei Tal was able to remain together. But, as I told [Disengagement Authority chief] Yonatan Bassi, who was here today [during the move], the biggest crime of this entire disengagement is that of the crumbling of the communities - Moshav Katif is falling apart while it waits for solutions, and Atzmonah has split up into two, and Netzer Hazani is [currently] divided in two, and N'vei Dekalim is altogether crumbling..."
Sender noted that though the Disengagement Authority did not provide much help in the move to Yad Binyamin, many volunteers were very generous with their time and skills. "A small announcement on the Katif.net site that volunteers would be welcome produced dozens of responses," Sender said. "The People of Israel once again were shown in top form. Truck drivers came and offered to help move our belongings, an electrician offered to install Sabbath clocks in the new homes at his own expense, families offered us baked goods, and more."
Most of the families of Netzarim are also starting their new lives these days. Some 40 families have left their quarters in the students' dormitories of the Ariel College in the Shomron, and are on their way to the Halutza Sands area south of Gaza. They will be living in assorted caravans and caravillas in Yevul, which is currently a secular community of 40 families. The Netzarim families will not formally join Yevul, however, but will merely live there for a year or two as they build their new permanent community nearby.
The remaining 17 families of Netzarim preferred to remain in Ariel, where they felt they could have more direct contact with the Israeli public. No housing has yet been found in the city for their group, however, and they have temporarily relocated to Karnei Shomron, about 15 kilometers to the northwest. They have been joined by five other families from Moshav Katif and elsewhere in Gush Katif. The conditions there are generally poorer than in Ariel, Tami Z., one of the Netzarim-Ariel women told Arutz-7:
"Twelve families are living in the high school dormitory; the students have been crowded into the other dorm. Eight of the larger families, with children and more, are living in the guest house apartments, which are actually quite nice, and the two other families - those with five children - are living in caravans near the school." The boys will continue to learn in the Talmud Torah in Eli, which will now be a 45-minute drive for them, and the girls in Peduel, just 15 minutes away.
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| | 6. IDF Commander: Terrorists Will Strike Ashkelon
|  | | By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Outgoing head of the Southern Command said, "Kassam rockets will reach Ashkelon, which is already in range." Dan Harel also admitted the IDF involvement in the expulsion was not purely military.
| Lt. General Harel expressed fears that Egypt will not keep terrorists from attacking Israel. He added that Israel will have to live with terror on the south as it does in the north and depend on a "balance of terror" to maintain quiet.
Speaking in an interview with the Ynet Hebrew web site, Harel said flatly that Ashkelon eventually will be a target of terrorists. A huge electric power plant is located south of the city, about eight kilometers (five miles) from terrorist bases in northern Gaza
Concerning the expulsion, the outgoing commander admitted that the IDF acted in matters "that were not purely military." He added, "I am not sure the disengagement stemmed from security considerations, although I assume they were part of the considerations that brought the move."
Harel, who has been appointed IDF attache in Washington, said that it is too soon to judge the expulsion. "The question of whether the disengagement succeeded or not hinges on the objectives whoever thought up the idea hoped to achieve."
His principal concern is the 250-kilometer (155 mile) border between Egypt and Israel, which he called a "weak spot."
"Criminal activity is taking place along it and must be curbed. The danger is that the criminal platform can also be used to send terrorists to Israel. There were already some attempts that we stopped. I hope we can keep this balance, but doubt it, and I expect the Egyptians to do much more," Lt. General Harel told Ynet.
Concerning the chaos along the Rafiah border with Egypt following the IDF withdrawal, the IDF commander said "there was a big mess" in which terrorists and ammunition entered Gaza. "As far as we know, no weapons that change the balance of power were transferred. I’m not ruling out the possibility that it can happen."
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Click Here! | | 7. Feiglin: Hotel Was Forced to Ban Caucus with U.S. Backers
|  | | By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
'Higher-ups' forced a luxury hotel in Jerusalem to cancel a meeting of foreign and Israeli backers of the Jewish Leadership (Manhigut Yehudit) movement, according to its leader Moshe Feiglin.
| A foreign backer of the organization, a faction in the Likud party, contributed the money and signed a contract with the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem to hold the gathering during the Sukkot holiday, Feiglin said. At the last minute, the hotel called the contributor and said it was canceling the gathering. Organizers plan to sue the hotel for damages.
Answering complaints that a legal contract had been signed, Feiglin said the hotel replied with a "long series of empty excuses, which made it clear that somebody 'higher-up' put on the pressure" to have the hotel cancel the meeting and forego revenues of several thousand dollars.
"The excuses were ridiculous," Feiglin added. One of the reasons given was that the hotel had not given permission for the organizers to publish a picture of the hotel on the back of the invitation to the reception. "Every wedding invitation includes a picture of the hotel," Feiglin pointed out.
"At some point, we understood there was not use in discussing the matter with them because the reason obviously was political, and we moved the event to a different place. They caused themselves damage, and I imagine they will lose in court."
Feiglin said the incident proves that political leaders are concerned about the strength of the Jewish Leadership faction.
Without referring to the incident, spokesmen for the movement wrote in a weekly letter Friday, "If Manhigut Yehudit begins to achieve its aims, Israel's elites will find the way to neutralize its progress... Clearly, the despotism of the elites won't permit Manhigut Yehudit to ruin the performance, and it is reasonable to assume that they will find some way of neutralizing Manhigut Yehudit at some stage.
"So why are we there? Because this is the language that the Israelis understand. It is important to understand that the struggle is not for political achievements...but about Israeli consciousness."
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| | By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
A new price war among gasoline stations and an expected huge drop in fuel prices next week have driven down the price at the pump by about 5% following months of increases.
The recent decline in the price of crude oil from around $70 to about $62 a barrel is expected to lead to an unprecedented 8% drop next week, when the government adjusts the monthly maximum allowable price of fuel.
Sonol gasoline stations began the price war this week with an offer to drivers to pump gas during evening and early morning hours at a discount of up to 31 agorot (seven cents) a liter. Paz quickly followed with a discount of 32 agorot.
Sadash, a smaller chain of stations, heated up the price war Thursday by adding one more agorah to the discount and offering it all day and night, cutting the price for benzine to 5.90 shekels a liter ($4.83 per U.S. gallon).
Analysts said one of the reasons for the price war is sinking demand as drivers begin to leave their cars at home and buy less fuel.
Another reason is the race by companies to beat next week's expected drop in fuel prices. Barring any sudden surge in crude oil prices, the price at the pump will drop November 1 to about 5.62 shekels a liter, with a further discount of 15 agorot at most self-service stations.
The decrease also will help put the lid in inflation and keep this year's rate well within the projected maximum target of three percent.
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| | Today on IsraelNN.com: |  |  | Israeli Salad with Yoni Kempinski
|   | | |  | |  | Whose Country is This, Anyway?
Like a tenant, wondering whether he ought to renew the contract between himself and the landlord, and continue living in his rented room, the faith-based, nationalist public now stands on the threshold of the country, dithering: Is it worth my while to continue living with these people, even though they haven't held up their part of the deal?
|  | | | Not By Words Alone
Despite thousands of articles and studies, more of which appear every day, no one seems to know for certain the status of the Iranian nuclear program.
|  | | | | |  | Rabbi Kook on Bereishit: Tasty Fruit Trees
The Kabbalists used the term "shevirat hakeilim" - breaking of the vessels - to describe the many difficulties that occurred in the process of creating the world. With this phrase, they wished to convey the idea that the limited physical realm was incapable of accepting all of the spiritual content that it needed to contain.
|  | | | Bereishit: The Song Remains the Same
So, once again, as we start anew our holy Torah, we come upon the famous first Rashi on the Torah. Even if we have spoken about it time and time again in the past, its message is timeless and its words have still not hit home for the Jews.
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