De olievelden van Israel

 

Dit is goed nieuws, en klinkt haast te mooi om waar te zijn! Ik zelf kan niet echt geloven dat er in Israel meer olie is dan in Saudi-Arabië, maar dit bericht schijnt door andere bronnen te zijn bevestigd. Het zou betekenen dat er een einde komt aan de Westerse afhankelijkheid van Arabische olie, en dat daarmee een belangrijk argument wegvalt om de Arabische wereld te vriend te houden. Olie is immers een van de redenen (al is het zeker niet de enige) waarom Europa vaak de kant van de Arabische landen kiest en voorzichtig is met zijn kritiek.

 

RP

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Will Israel take over the energy market?

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2011/06/will-israel-take-over-energy-market.html

A nice article about Israel's energy potential in the Financial Post:

In the first 25 years after Israel’s founding in 1948, it was repeatedly attacked by the large armies of its Arab neighbours. Each time, Israel prevailed on the battlefield, only to have its victories rolled back by Western powers who feared losing access to Arab oilfields.

The fear was and is legitimate – Arab nations have often threatened to use their “oil weapon” against countries that support Israel and twice made good their threat through crippling OPEC oil embargoes.

 

But that fear, which shackles Israel to this day, may soon end. The old energy order in the Middle East is crumbling with Iran and Syria having left the Western fold and others, including Saudi Arabia, the largest of them all, in danger of doing so. Simultaneously, a new energy order is emerging to give the West some spine. In this new order, Israel is a major player.

The new energy order is founded on rock – the shale that traps vast stores of energy in deposits around the world. One of the largest deposits – 250 billion barrels of oil in Israel’s Shfela basin, comparable to Saudi Arabia’s entire reserves of 260 billion barrels of oil – has until now been unexploited, partly because the technology required has been expensive, mostly because the multinational oil companies that have the technology fear offending Muslims. “None of the major oil companies are willing to do business in Israel because they don’t want to be cut off from the Mideast supply of oil,” explains Howard Jonas, CEO of IDT, the U.S. company that owns the Shfela concession through its subsidiary, Israeli Energy Initiatives. Jonas, an ardent Zionist, considers the Shfela deposit merely a beginning: “We believe that under Israel is more oil than under Saudi Arabia. There may be as much as half a trillion barrels.”

Because the oil multinationals have feared to develop Shfela, one of the world’s largest oil developments is being undertaken by an unlikely troop. Jonas’s IDT is a consumer-oriented telecom and media company that is a relative newcomer to the heavy industry world of energy development. Joining IDT in this latter-day Zionist Project is Lord Jacob Rothschild, a septuagenarian banker and philanthropist whose forefathers helped finance Zionist settlements in Palestine from the mid-1800s; Michael Steinhardt, a septuagenarian hedge fund investor and Zionist philanthropist; and Rupert Murdoch, the octogenarian chairman of News Corporation who uncompromisingly opposes, in his words, the “ongoing war against the Jews” by Muslim terrorists, by the Western left in general, and by Europe’s “most elite politicians” in particular.

Where others would have long ago retired, these businessmen-philanthropists have joined the battle on Israel’s side. While they’re in it for the money, they are also determined to free the world of Arab oil dependence by providing Israel with an oil weapon of its own. The company’s oil shale technology “could transform the future prospects of Israel, the Middle East and our allies around the world,” states Lord Rothschild.

To win this war, Israeli Energy Initiatives has enlisted some of the energy industry’s savviest old soldiers – here a former president of Mobil Oil (Eugene Renna), there a former president of Occidental Oil Shale (Allan Sass), over there a former president of Halliburton (Dick Cheney). But the Field Commander for the operation, and the person who in their mind will lead them to ultimate victory, is Harold Vinegar, a veteran pulled out of retirement and sent into the fray. Vinegar, a legend in the field, had been Shell Oil’s chief scientist and, with some 240 patents to his name over his 32 years at Shell, revolutionized the shale oil industry.

Before oil met Vinegar, this was dirty business, a sprawling open mine operation that crushed and heated rock to yield a heavy tar amid mountains of spent shale. The low-value tar then needed to be processed and refined. The bottom line: low economic return, high environmental cost.

Vinegar boosted the bottom line by dropping the environmental damage. No open pit mining, no spent shale, no heavy tar to manage. In his pioneering approach, heated rods are inserted underground into the shale, releasing from it natural gas and light liquids. The natural gas provides the project’s need for heat; the light liquids are easily refined into high-value jet fuel, diesel and naphtha. The new bottom line: oil at a highly profitable cost of about $35-$40 a barrel and an exceedingly low environmental footprint. Vinegar’s process produces greenhouse gas emissions less than half that from conventional oil wells and, unlike open pit mining, does not consume water. The land area from which he will extract a volume of oil equivalent to that in Saudi Arabia? Approximately 25 square kilometers.

Although the Israeli shale project is still at an early stage, its massive potential and Vinegar’s reputation have already begun to change attitudes toward Israel. “We have been approached by all the majors,” Vinegar recently told the press, and for good reason. “Israel is very well positioned for oil exporting” to both European and Asian markets. The majors have other reasons, too, for casting their eyes afresh at Israel. Through its natural gas finds in the Mediterranean’s Levant Basin, and with no help from the oil majors, Israel is becoming a major natural gas exporter to Europe. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the Levant Basin has vast natural gas supplies, most of it within Israel’s jurisdiction.

Attitudes to Israel in some European capitals – those in line to receive Israeli gas — have already warmed and the shift to Israel may in time become tectonic, in Europe and elsewhere, when oil is at stake – 38 countries have an estimated 4.8-trillion barrels of shale oil, many of which would benefit from the shale oil technology now being pioneered in Israel. Speeding that shift could be the Arab Spring, which many fear will flip pro-Western Arab states into hostile camps. Long time U.S. ally Saudi Arabia is reportedly so distrustful of the U.S. following its abandonment of long-time Egyptian ally, President Hosni Mubarak, that it has pulled back its relationship with the West in favour of China.

Before 1973, when the Arab world first punished the West for its relationship with Israel, Israel was a favourite of the left and of most of the free world. Under Arab punishment, much of the world started seeing the world through Arab eyes and turned on Israel.

But freed of the threat of Arab punishment, and in a new world energy order, Western countries may turn again, to their benefit. Rupert Murdoch well expresses the highest hopes of his partners: “If [our] effort to develop shale oil is successful, as I believe it will be, then the news we’ll report in the coming decades will reflect a more prosperous, more democratic and more secure world.”

 

 

Isn't it amazing how European attitudes towards Israel might change just because of oil and natural gas?

 

 

De Palestijnse vluchtelingen verdienen beter

An elderly Palestinian carries a symbolic key during a sit-in marking the 62nd anniversary of the "Nakba," Arabic for catastrophe in front of the United Nations office in Beirut

 

 

Een artikel uit een Libanese krant dat de discriminatie van de Palestijnen aldaar aan de kaak stelt. Ook hekelt hij het opportunisme van veel Arabische leiders, die de Palestijnen slechts voor eigen doeleinden gebruiken.

 

RP

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The Palestinian Refugees Deserve Better, Much Better.

JUNE 5, 2011 ⋅ 3:16 PM ⋅ 

http://www.yalibnan.com/2011/06/05/the-palestinian-refugees-deserve-better-much-better/

By Ghassan Karam

 

It is that time of the year when the Arab world rediscovers the Palestinian people and their just cause. Alas the discovery does not last for more than a few hours during which politicians make their speeches and compete with each other in an effort to establish their political concern and awareness. We have been going through this ritual for over 60 years and there isn't anything that anyone can show for these efforts. One cannot help but feel sorry for the Palestinian people since with such friends who needs any enemies.

 

The Lebanese , in general,have been possibly the worst opportunists and exploiters on these occasions. I have no doubt that there are some very sincere Lebanese who truly believe that the Palestinian people have been unjustly treated and must be supported in their struggle for an honorable settlement. But I am so very disgusted when I hear the disingenuous sentiments expressed in support of the Palestinian struggle by those who have consistently exploited them and abused them. The crocodile tears shed on this occasion are a convenient cover to argue against the Palestinians through a shrewdly constructed rationale that argues that the Palestinians should be abused and discriminated against; they should be deprived of many of their human rights and educational opportunities in order to preserve their right of return. We discriminate against them because of our love, concern and support for them. This strange logic is similar although it predates the Vietnam policy of "We had to destroy the village in order to save it".

 

Does our duplicity know any bounds? Would we want to be treated like we treat the Palestinians? After all isn't that the best guide for action: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"? Let us play a mind game if you will: Let us imagine that a group of people invaded Lebanon and that half the population decided to flee the war for a variety of reasons. They sought refuge in a number of neighbouring countries till the hostilities end. To their surprise when the war was over they were not permitted to go back. Would we then want these refugees to spend the next 63 years living in the hastily erected temporary refugee camps that were set upon their arrival or would we expect their host countries to treat them like they treat any other immigrant? Wouldn't we expect and even insist that the hosts make every effort to alleviate their suffering and to integrate them into their respective societies and economies? Shouldn't they be allowed to own property like all other inhabitants and enjoy the same privileges and protections of the law of the land? And wouldn't we insist that if they choose then they should become citizens of their adopted countries of residence so that they will be able to exercise their right to vote and thus participate fully in shaping the society in which they are an integral member?

 

I am confident that our answers to each and every one of the above hypothetical question is in the affirmative. Not only that but we would expect all people anywhere in the world to be treated that way whether they are Iraqi refugees, Vietnamese refugees, Somali refugees or Armenian refugees, just to name a few groups. We will never sanction that we be treated differently than the population where we sought refuge and most importantly we will not accept the argument that we need to be discriminated against for our own good, as if love of country and adherence to moral values and principals are best promoted through mistreatments and opprobrium.

 

Palestinians carry flags and banners during a sit-in marking the 62nd anniversary of the "Nakba," Arabic for catastrophe, in front of the United Nations in Beirut

And finally let us repeat one more time what many studies have made abundantly clear: The right of return will not be diminished or watered down in any way form or fashion if the mistreatment and abuse of the Palestinians comes to an end either through acquiring the citizenship rights of where they live or the right to be permanent legal residents with all the rights enjoyed by all other residents.

Lebanon and the Lebanese must right what has been wrong for 63 years. The shameful treatment of the Palestinian refugees is a blot on our national character and history, a blot that we have the moral duty and the obligation to ameliorate by admitting our past errors and by offering the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon full equality under the law in each and every sphere. We also need to offer citizenship to those that want it. Nothing else will do.

 

Politieke toeristen worden gehersenspoeld op 'vredesreis' in Israel/Palestina

 

Met de regelmaat van de klok organiseren vredes- en kerkelijke groepen reizen naar Israel, met name de Westbank, om mensen een en ander met eigen ogen te laten zien. Zonder uitzondering komen ze met negatieve verhalen over Israel thuis die onder de media gretig aftrek vinden. Ze ontmoeten er voornamelijk Palestijnen en krijgen informatie van Palestijnse organisaties of Israelische groepen die sterk met de Palestijnen sympathiseren. Ze komen thuis met de indruk dat de bezetting nog veel erger was dan ze dachten, dat de Palestijnen lieve aardige gastvrije mensen zijn die alleen maar een normaal leven willen, en Israel de brute sterke onderdrukker en landdief is. Ze krijgen niks te zien over Palestijns extremisme en antisemitisme, de kwetsbaarheid van Israel en de vele verijdelde aanslagen (en dus de noodzaak van bepaalde maatregelen, de checkpoints etc.). Ze zien niet dat de Joden zich, net als de Palestijnen, verbonden voelen met het land en ervan houden, en er bovendien een duizenden jaren oude geschiedenis hebben. Alledaagse samenwerking tussen Joden en Arabieren staat niet op het programma, behalve binnen radikale actiegroepen.

 

Ik ben zelf in 2006 met een reis van het CIJO, de CIDI jongeren, mee geweest. We spraken toen met mensen en organisaties van beide kanten, en ik kwam thuis met de nog sterkere indruk dat het een complex conflict is met recht en onrecht aan beide kanten, niet het simpele zwart-wit verhaaltje over wrede onderdrukkers en onschuldige slachtoffers dat deze actiegroepen steeds ophangen.

 

RP

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Political tourists getting brainwashed in Israel

http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2011/06/political-tourists-getting-brainwashed.html

 

 

I received a couple of important documents from an email correspondent who authored them. Here is an excerpt:

A large number of non-Jewish tourist groups consisting on the average of 10 – 40 people, from North America, Great Britain and Ireland, Western Europe (France and Belgium) and Australia arrive in Israel each week.

They enter Israel on regular tourist visas, but these are not regular tourists. Their agenda is political.  They profess to have come to "Israel and Palestine to learn about both sides of the conflict." In reality, they have mainly come to show support and solidarity to the Palestinians and gather incriminating facts about the state of Israel, her government, the IDF and the "settlers" that many will disseminate in various forums upon their return home.

Unlike other internationals that come to the area to protest, these groups generally arrive and depart quietly, virtually unnoticed by any Israel government official or ministry.  They manage to "fly under the radar."

These tourists are as young as high school students and as old as senior adults, though the majority is between 30 – 60 years old.

They represent all professions and walks of life.

They are both Christian and secular (many "post-Christian").  Some groups include a small number of Muslims and Jews.

They stay, on average, from 5 – 14 days, though some come for an extended educational or volunteer program.

They come to the area under the auspices of various churches or human rights organizations.  Locally, they may be handled by, among others,
·         Holy Land Trust   http://www.holylandtrust.org/ 

·         Alternative Tourism Group    http://www.atg.ps/  

·         Sabeel     http://www.sabeel.org/ 

·         Christian Peacemaker Teams (Palestine)  http://www.cpt.org/work/palestine 

·         East Jerusalem YMCA   http://www.ej-ymca.org/ 

·         MEJDI  http://mejdi.net/

Their itinerary is based on a combined program of site visits, seminars, lectures and almost always includes Arab home hospitality in the Palestinian Authority, including sharing meals with and sleeping in the homes of Palestinian families.  It is here that tourists are exposed to the most intensive and effective anti-Israel propaganda.

They also meet representative of extreme left-wing Israeli organizations such as

·         The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions  http://www.icahd.org/

·         Women in Black http://coalitionofwomen.org/home/english/organizations/women_in_black

·         Breaking the Silence  http://www.shovrimshtika.org/index_e.asp

·         Peace Now http://www.peacenow.org.il/site/en/homepage.asp  

Most of these groups do not meet with any spokesperson from the Israel government nor the opposition.

Their visit to the "Efrat settlement" usually last 1 -1.5 hours and consists of a frontal lecture only that cannot compete emotionally with the Palestinian experience.

The author is token "settler" that they meet for an hour to pretend that their week-long trip immersed in Palestinian Arab propaganda is "balanced."

His observations are worth noting:

It appears that some 70-80% of these visitors, although they consider themselves politically to the left, are not anti-Semitic or particularly anti-Israel upon their arrival.

A minority, perhaps some 10%, arrive with an existing hostility towards Israel. Another approximately 10% seem mostly ignorant of the history of the conflict.

The majority of participants are not interested in the Israeli narrative. They are not made more sympathetic to Israel’s case through stories of Palestinian terrorism.

By the time their visit is over the majority's opinion of Israel is quite negative. We have lost their hearts and minds.

In recent years these groups more frequently raise the question concerning the very need for a Jewish state. For a growing number of these tourists, the notion of a sovereign and independent Jewish state seems wrong. 

These visitors readily, even eagerly, adopt the Palestinian narrative of the conflict with its short and simple message: 

(1) Israel has stolen and illegally occupies the Land of Palestine
(2) Israel oppresses Palestinians, up to and including being guilty of committing crimes against humanity

Many participants in these groups, albeit an unknown number, upon returning to their respective countries become active in various ways in their communities or on their campuses on behalf of the Palestinian cause and denounce the state of Israel for its alleged treatment of the Palestinians.

In spite of the hostility they convey towards the government of Israel and the IDF, each group, without exception, asks about a "vision of peace." While most visitors blame Israel for the ongoing conflict, they are not seeking a "winner and loser." What they want is for Israelis and Palestinians to live side-by-side in peace.

The reason he wrote to me is that he wanted to use my posters to most effectively use his limited time with the visitors and show them, as effectively as possible, that there are two sides to the story.

I am gratified that he was very happy with the posters I sent him (mostly the "This Is Zionism" series). Here's what he responded:

I have got to tell you, I am smiling from ear to ear. :)

I am going to print these posters out and laminate them and show them to every pro-Palestinian group that I speak to, beginning next week.

There is no doubt that a picture is worth a thousand words. For years I have been speaking to groups who have first been taken to "see evidence of Israeli oppression," i.e. a checkpoint, a "wall," the mere presence of an Israel soldier. My hour to hour-and-a-half presentation, by then, usually falls on deaf ears. Most leave with the phrase "Thank you for your time," when what they really mean is "Don't bother us with facts, our minds are made up."

Although my holding these posters up in front of their faces is naturally not as powerful an experience as having a poor, Palestinian woman tell these visitors that cruel Israeli soldiers shot my son for sport, at least it is a start in the right direction.

He sent me more information, including a detailed proposal he wrote up for encouraging non-Jewish groups to visit Israel to see things that the Palestinian Arab tour sponsors stay away from: Jewish-Arab cooperation in Israel as well as in the territories (such as Arab students in Ariel University,) the Peres Center for Peace, MASHAV, meetings with successful Palestinian Arab businessmen, shopping expeditions to the trendy districts in Ramallah, and other activities that are not "right wing" but an accurate representation of Israeli society and tolerance.

It is a very important idea, and one that needs support. There are literally thousands of people who are visiting Israel with groups whose entire purpose is to poison their minds against Israel - and the poor dupes who go on these trips believe that they are being given both sides of the story.

(Sorry, I don't know if I have permission to publish this person's name; if he wants I'll add it.)

UPDATE: I had forgotten about this article I had linked to a couple of months ago where an Israeli journalist tagged along a tour for foreign journalists. Very worthwhile reading. (h/t Amanda)

 

 

Iran al 10 keer betrapt bij wapensmokkel naar terroristen

 

Dit is waarom Israel spullen die naar Gaza gaan graag even controleert.

 

Iran has been caught red-handed in 10 different attempts in recent years to transfer weaponry to terrorists throughout the Middle East, including a recent case, in April, when a shipment of advanced missiles was caught en-route to Taliban forces in Afghanistan, according to a United Nations report obtained Thursday by The Jerusalem Post.

 

The report documents all 10 cases of arms smuggling, including the case of the Victoria cargo ship, which was stopped by the Israel Navy earlier this year carrying arms for Hamas. In the most recent case cited, British forces in Afghanistan found a weapons shipment of advanced Iranian-made anti-ship missiles and 122 mm. rockets en route to Taliban forces in Afghanistan.

 

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‘Iran caught 10 times trying to send arms to terrorists'

http://www.jpost.com/IranianThreat/News/Article.aspx?id=224399

By YAAKOV KATZ  
06/10/2011 01:47 

'The Jerusalem Post' obtains report submitted to UN Security Council detailing Islamic Republic's illegal arms smuggling to Hamas, Taliban; further reveals regime's clandestine missile tests in February.

Iran has been caught red-handed in 10 different attempts in recent years to transfer weaponry to terrorists throughout the Middle East, including a recent case, in April, when a shipment of advanced missiles was caught en-route to Taliban forces in Afghanistan, according to a United Nations report obtained Thursday by The Jerusalem Post.

The report was submitted three weeks ago to the Security Council by a UN group of experts that monitors compliance with UN sanctions imposed on Iran. The report was leaked to the Internet and obtained by a number of leading Israeli defense analysts.

The report documents all 10 cases of arms smuggling, including the case of the Victoria cargo ship, which was stopped by the Israel Navy earlier this year carrying arms for Hamas. In the most recent case cited, British forces in Afghanistan found a weapons shipment of advanced Iranian-made anti-ship missiles and 122 mm. rockets en route to Taliban forces in Afghanistan.

In March, Turkish authorities stopped an Iranian cargo plane bound for Syria. At the time, Turkey tried to downplaythe news, but the UN report reveals that authorities discovered dozens of AK-47 assault rifles and close to 2,000 mortar shells. The report confirms that the arms originated in Iran and were supplied by the Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The report further reveals that Iran test fired two of its most advanced long-range missiles – the Shihab 3 and the Sajil – in February.

The tests were not reported at the time by the Iranians, or by the United States or Israel, both of which track such missile launches.

Tal Inbar, head of the Space Research Center at the Fisher Institute for Air and Space Strategic Studies, analyzed the UN report and said the missile tests were significant since Iran was making efforts to hide its ballistic missile program, something that raises suspicions about the nature of the program and its connection to the Islamic Republic’s illicit nuclear drive.

“For a number of years, they have been trying to display shorter-range rockets like the Qiyam and the Fateh 110,” Inbar said. “In the most recent military parade, they did not even did not even show the Shihab.”

The report, which also discusses the regular exchange of ballistic missile technology between Iran and North Korea, said financial sanctions appeared to be having an effect on Tehran, as demonstrated by “the range of measures taken by Iran to circumvent them.”

“These measures are expensive and time-consuming to set up and administer. They include arrangements to enable sanctioned Iranian banks to maintain access to the international financial sector through normal business conducted by non-sanctioned Iranian banks,” the report said. “Nevertheless, despite financial restrictions, Iran appears able to continue to pay for procurement from abroad for its prohibited nuclear and ballistic missile programs.”

 

 

Afrikanen door Bedoeïenen in Sinaï mishandeld

 

De anti-Israel scene sprak er weer schande van afgelopen week: Israel schoot zomaar op onschuldige Palestijnse vluchtelingen aan de grens met Syrië die terug wilde keren naar hun land. Zo’n land verdient een boycot, zonder meer. Dat de vluchtelingen niet zo vreedzaam waren en een deel van hen waarschijnlijk omkwam doordat molotov coctails mijnen aan de Syrische kant van de grens detoneerden, dat vergeten we voor het gemak even.

Dat Egypte Soedanese vluchtelingen geregeld doodschiet wanneer zij de grens met Israel proberen over te komen dat doet er ook niet toe. Nu blijkt dat ook de Bedoeienen geen lieverdjes zijn en niet terugdreinzen voor grof geweld om een paar centen. Stel je eens voor dat hetzelfde nieuws bekend zou worden over Israeli’s? Dan zou niet alleen de anti-Israel scene, maar ook veel Israeli’s zelf diep verontwaardigd zijn, en het leger zou de zaak onderzoeken. Maar het zijn maar Bedoeienen in de Sinai die het doen (dezelfde mensen waaraan toeristen, op zoek naar authenticiteit, graag een bezoekje brengen inclusief een tochtje op een kameel).

 

RP

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Afrikanen door Bedoeïenen in Sinaï mishandeld

http://nieuwreligieuspeil.net/node/4321

Ingediend door copywriter op 7 juni, 2011 - 23:55

Afrika / Israel, 2011

Diverse Oost-Afrikanen die op weg zijn naar Israel om daar asiel te zoeken, zijn gekidnapt door Bedoeïenen in de Sinaï-woestijn. Maandelijks trekken honderden asielzoekers vanuit de Hoorn van Afrika naar Israel. 
Volgens mensenrechtengroepen worden velen van hen gevangengenomen om losgeld voor ze te eisen. Het afgelopen jaar heeft Physicians for Human Rights-Israel's Open Clinic (PHR-Israel) duizenden slachtoffers van mishandeling behandeld die gevangenschap en marteling in de Sinaï hadden overleefd. 
PHR-Israel interviewde 284 mensen, 59% gaf aan dat ze in kettingen geboeid zijn geweest; 52% zegt ernstige mishandeling te hebben ondergaan; 66% kreeg geen drinkwater. 
Zo vertelt een immigrante over haar gevangenschap in de Sinaï: ‘ze dreigden mijn man en mij te doden als we niet betaalden. Sommigen van ons moesten hun kleren uitdoen en werden geslagen. Toen haalden ze mannen en vrouwen uit elkaar. ’s Nachts werden twee meisjes bij ons weggehaald. Toen ze terugkwamen, huilden ze omdat ze waren verkracht’.

 

Grondeigendom in Israël, Lucas Catherine verspreidt foute info

 

Het is een van de vele leugens over Israel: Arabieren zouden er geen grond kunnen kopen, Joden wel, en dat is een van de bewijzen dat we hier met een rasechte Apartheidsstaat te maken zouden hebben, die onmiddellijk geboycot dient te worden. Antizionisten blijven deze leugen verspreiden, en vaak krijgt de andere kant geen kans in de media om uit te leggen hoe het wel zit. Hieronder staat het allemaal duidelijk uitgelegd.  

 

RP

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Grondeigendom in Israël, Lucas Catherine verspreidt foute info

http://joodsactueel.be/2011/06/10/grondeigendom-in-israel-lucas-catherine-foute-info/

Vrijdag 10 Juni 2011 14:53

 

 

Naar aanleiding van zijn publicatie ‘de Israël Lobby’, haalt auteur Lucas Catherine een aantal oude clichés en leugens uit de doos. Eén ervan kan je hier lezen, op de webstite van deredactie.be waar Catherine schrijft …zelfs de Palestijnse staatsburgers van Israël (een vijfde van de bevolking) worden op velerlei manieren structureel gediscrimineerd. Zo hebben zij geen toegang tot 93% van de grond dat uitsluitend toebehoord aan héél het Joodse Volk.

Dit is een manifeste onwaarheid! Joods Actueel is niet geïnteresseerd in debatten over de motivatie van de Israël-bashers, wel in het correct weergeven van de feiten. Onwaarheden moeten dan ook fel worden weerlegd aan de hand van de ware feiten. Daarom brengen wij hier een artikel dat eerder verscheen in Joods Actueel magazine in 2009 en het fabeltje hierboven hopelijk voorgoed op de vuilnisbelt doet belanden.

 

Grondeigendom in Israël

Onder de loep: door Savasorda

 

Grond en het vluchtelingenprobleem vormen samen de kern van het conflict tussen Israël en de Palestijnen. Tegenstanders van Israël slaan ons in de media voortdurend om de oren met cijfers over het land in Israël. “In Israël is 93,5% van het land voor de Joden gereserveerd, dus is het land erger dan Zuid-Afrika onder het Apartheidsregime, waar ‘slechts’ 87% van het territorium voor de blanken gereserveerd was”…  Deze stelling leest men in heel wat artikels van extreemlinkse activisten zoals de drie Ludo’s (De Brabander, Abicht en De Witte), en hoort men keer op keer tijdens de “Palestina debatten”. Hoog tijd voor Savasorda om op zoek te gaan hoe het landbezit in Israël nu echt in mekaar zit.

 

Geschiedenis: de deelnemers aan het vijfde Zionistisch Congres (1901) wilden het ontstaan van een thuisland voor de Joden concreet vorm geven. Daarom werd een stichting opgericht, het Joods Nationaal Fonds. Doel ervan was wereldwijd geld in te zamelen om systematisch gronden te kopen in Palestina. Palestina was op dat ogenblik een gebied in de uithoek van het Turkse (Ottomaanse) rijk. Zo werd een lange termijn project op het getouw gezet, waarbij stap na stap kibboetsen en andere Joodse nederzettingen opgericht werden. Het project kreeg in 1948 zijn bekroning met de stichting van de onafhankelijke staat Israël. De gronden werden aan de nieuwe staat overgedragen met in acht name van de principes van het internationaal recht terzake. Na de mislukte invasie door de Arabische buurlanden, nam de Israëlische overheid daarop ook de gronden, die achtergelaten waren door Arabische vluchtelingen, in bezit.

Ter vergelijking: na de nederlaag van Nazi-Duitsland in 1945 werden in een aantal Oost-Europese landen miljoenen “etnische Duitsers” verdreven, hoewel sommigen daar al honderden jaren woonden. De overheden van onder meer Polen, Tsjecho-Slowakije en de Sovjet-Unie namen daarop hun bezittingen in beslag, zonder noemenswaardig protest ooit. De verdreven vluchtelingen integreerden geruisloos in de nieuwe Duitse samenleving, die zich na de oorlog in sneltreinvaart ontwikkelde. Hetzelfde geschiedde in Polen waar de Poolse burgers die door de Sovjets verjaagd werden zich gedeeltelijk in de huizen en op de terreinen van de verjaagde Duitsers konden vestigen.

 

De ‘Israel Land Adminstration’ (ILA)
In 1960 werd een “basiswet over het landbezit in Israël” aangenomen waardoor land niet verkocht zou worden maar verpacht (geleased) voor een periode van 99 jaar. Het Joods Nationaal Fonds bleef eigenaar van zijn gronden maar gaf het beheer ervan uit handen aan een nieuwe organisatie, de Israël Land Administratie (ILA).
Op dit moment is 79,5% van het totale landoppervlak eigendom van de overheid, 14% is eigendom van het Joods Nationaal Fonds, de overige 6,5% is in handen van privé eigenaars (zowel Joden als Arabieren). Het ILA beheert en verpacht bijgevolg 93,5% van het grondbezit.

 

 

In “Het zionisme: een racistische en kolonialistische ideologie met machtige Westerse beschermheren”, Uitpers nr.99, juni 2008, schreef (de onlangs overleden) Wim de Neuter om zijn stelling te bewijzen het volgende: “In Israël is 92% van de grond in handen van de zionistische staat, de Zionistische Wereldorganisatie of individuele Joden.(…) De Israëlische wetgeving beschouwt Joodse grondeigendom als onvervreemdbare eigendom van het Joodse volk waar niet meer aan getornd kan worden. Palestijnen in Israël en in de bezette gebieden is het verboden om grond te kopen”.

Zijn uitspraak is bijzonder misleidend omdat de grond evenmin aan Joodse Israëli’s verkocht kan worden! Want sinds 1960 gaat het niet meer om verkoop maar om verpachting. Het foute cijfer (92% i.p.v. 93,5%) wijst op slordigheid. De verkeerde conclusie getuigt echter ofwel van kwade wil ofwel van een gebrek aan kennis: houdingen die beiden niet thuishoren in een goede journalistieke praktijk.

Dat er niet aan de wetgeving getornd kan worden klopt evenmin. In 1997 werden een aantal hervormingen gestemd om een gedeelte van de grond te privatiseren, vooral in het noorden en het zuiden van Israël. Likoed, de partij van Benjamin Netanyahou heeft trouwens als belangrijk programmapunt het privatiseren van grond voor huisvesting en een hervorming van de ILA.
(zie kader)

 

Uit het verkiezingsprogramma van de Likoedpartij
Likoed wil een verregaande hervorming van de ILA en de planningscommissies. Een doorgedreven privatisering van de huisvestingssector zal volgens Likoed een economische groei van 2% op jaarbasis veroorzaken, voldoende om de gevolgen van de financiële crisis weg te werken. Dit zou moeten samengaan met grootschalige infrastructuurwerken zoals snelwegen en spoorlijnen om de mobiliteit te verbeteren. Dat zou op korte tijd de druk op de woningmarkt in de grote centrumsteden aanzienlijk moeten verlichten.

 

 

Voor wie is het land beschikbaar?
Het staatsland is via de ILA beschikbaar voor alle Israëlische staatsburgers. Dat ook de Arabische Israëli’s hierop aanspraak kunnen maken is niet alleen in theorie juist, maar wordt ook door de feiten bevestigd. Een voorbeeld: in Opper-Nazareth leeft een gemengd Joods-Arabische bevolking, alle gronden, zowel van Joden als Arabieren worden er verpacht door de ILA.

In sommige gevallen verkrijgen Arabische Israëli’s zelfs gunstiger voorwaarden dan Joodse staatsburgers. In een nieuwe Joodse gemeente in de nabijheid van Bersheva werd bouwgrond voor $24.000 geleasd. Bedouinenfamilies uit het naburige Rahat konden bouwgrond met een gelijkaardige oppervlakte voor $150 leasen. In een ander geval wilde een Joodse burger land pachten in een nieuw opgerichte Bedouinengemeente tegen dezelfde gunsttarieven. De ILA weigerde hierop in te gaan. De zaak werd beslecht voor de rechtbank: de zaak Avitan vs Israel Land Administration (HC 528/88). Het Hooggerechtshof oordeelde dat het gelijkheidsprincipe niet geschonden werd omdat er sprake was van positieve discriminatie ten voordele van de (kansarme) Bedouinen.

 

 

Bovendien zijn er geen beperkingen bij het verwerven van de 6,5 % privé grond. Die kan niet alleen aan Joodse en Arabische Israëli’s verkocht worden, maar ook aan wie geen Israëlisch staatsburger is of aan buitenlanders, zelfs uit Arabische landen. Voormalig Israëlisch minister van Huisvesting, Meir Porush verklaarde hierover: “De Palestijnse Autoriteit moedigt welstellende Palestijnen aan om grond te kopen op het grondgebied van Israël. Het betreft Palestijnen die vertrouwd zijn met de immobiliën sector en die vanuit hun kantoren in Londen jacht maken op grond en vastgoed in Jeruzalem, via agenten en makelaars uit Ramallah”. (Yediot Ahranot, 03/01/1997).

Voor de 14 % grond die eigendom is van het JNF gelden wel beperkingen. Deze grond is volgens de statuten van het JNF bedoeld voor de vestiging van Joden. Want laten we niet vergeten, het gaat hier om geld ingezameld van Joodse mensen over de hele wereld, specifiek om grond in Israël op te kopen om andere Joden te helpen huisvesten. M.a.w. het JNF is een privé-initiatief waarvan de beheerders zelf kunnen beslissen wat er met het land gebeurt. De beperkingen op JNF grond zegt dat land niet verpacht wordt aan Arabieren voor de gebruikelijke 99 jaar maar dat de leasetermijn elk jaar wordt herzien. Maar ook dit kan perfect zonder problemen; grond van het JNF in de Besorvallei (Wadi Shallaleh) nabij kibboets Re’em wordt op jaarbasis aan Bedouinen verpacht als weiland voor hun kuddes, en dat al vele jaren lang.

Toch is niet iedereen in Israël blij met deze situatie. Het Israëlische Oppergerechtshof heeft de Staat verboden om nog overeenkomsten te sluiten met het Joods Nationaal Fonds die zouden kunnen uitmonden in discriminatie ten nadele van niet-Joodse staatsburgers. Want een officieel orgaan als het ILA, moet zich zo neutraal mogelijk opstellen, ook al beheert het grond van de JNF.

Maar in de praktijk zijn er ook vaak creatieve oplossingen. Zo zijn er veel gevallen bekend waarbij grond voor huisvesting van eigenaar verandert om aan Arabische Israëli’s te kunnen leasen. Daarbij draagt het JNF de grond over aan de overheid in ruil voor andere grond.

Besluit
De kwestie van het grondbezit in Israël is geen eenvoudige zaak en wordt in het maatschappelijk debat heel vaak verkeerd voorgesteld om Israël te beschuldigen. Dit stuk heeft aangetoond hoe de zaken wel zitten en de conclusie is de volgende, 86% van de grond in Israël (d.i. privé grondbezit en land van de staat) is voor alle Israëli’s beschikbaar, ongeacht hun religie. Voor 14% van het grondgebied (dat bezit is van een privé organisatie) gelden aparte regels die in de praktijk vaak worden omzeild. Belangrijkste element bij dit alles is dat Arabische Israëli’s niet bij wet gediscrimineerd worden en dezelfde rechten genieten als Joodse inwoners. Tot grote spijt van Wim de Neuter en co. die anders beweren…

Om af te sluiten nog dit. Terwijl in het Westen grondbezit gezien wordt als een individueel recht, los van enige godsdienstige of filosofische overtuiging, beschouwt de islam grondbezit als een collectief recht dat uit de godsdienst voortvloeit. Eens een gebied geïslamiseerd werd dan moet dit zo blijven. Deze opvatting komt duidelijk tot uiting in het handvest van Hamas, maar heeft een veel bredere draagkracht. Ook binnen de “gematigde” Fatah dat de controle heeft over de Westbank leeft die opvatting. In 1997 voerde de Palestijnse Autoriteit een vroegere Jordaanse wet (1973) in, om de verkoop van gronden op de Westbank aan de “bezetters” te verbieden. Verkoop van land aan de “bezetter” wordt beschouwd als hoogverraad, waarop de maximumstraf staat (d.i. de doodstraf). Op zijn minst vier Palestijnen werden hiervoor ter dood gebracht, een andere Palestijn kon ontsnappen met de hulp van de Israëli’s. Dergelijke wetten druisen in tegen de bepalingen van de Oslo-akkoorden en de internationale verklaring van de mensenrechten en tonen aan dat wat de Israëli’s verweten wordt (niet klopt) maar wel aan Palestijnse kant gebeurt. De wereld op zijn kop… maar dat plaatje kennen we al langer.

 

 

Getekend, Savasorda
Savasorda is het pseudoniem van een kleine groep medewerkers van Joods Actueel. Savasorda (“Hoofd van de wacht”) was een Joods-Spaanse geleerde, volledige naam Abraham bar Hiyya Ha-Nasi, leefde in Barcelona en was DE persoon die voor het eerst de volledige oplossingen van de tweede-graadsvergelijkingen naar Europa bracht. Hij vervolledigde daardoor de werken van de griek Diophantes en vooral van de Oezbeek al-Chwarizmi die de negatieve wortels, reeds bekend door de Hindoes, zelf niet ontdekt had.

 

Terugblik op de Zesdaagse Oorlog - Michael Oren

 

Vorige week was het 44 jaar geleden dat Israel de Zesdaagse Oorlog won. Geregeld wordt in het journaal of in artikelen gemeld dat Israel de Westoever, de Gazastrook of de Golan toen veroverde en bezette, maar nooit wordt erbij vermeld waarom en hoe dat is gegaan. Het beeld blijft hangen dat Israel die gebieden veroverde om ze te houden, uit landhonger en om de Palestijnen en Arabische landen eens eventjes te laten zien wie hier het sterkst is. De werkelijkheid is anders:

 

"We shall destroy Israel and its inhabitants," declared Palestine Liberation Organization leader Ahmad al-Shuqayri. "As for the survivors -- if there are any -- the boats are ready to deport them." A half-million Arab soldiers and more than 5,000 tanks converged on Israel from every direction, including the West Bank, then part of Jordan. Their plans called for obliterating Israel's army, conquering the country, and killing large numbers of civilians. Iraqi President Abdul Rahman Arif said the Arab goal was to wipe Israel off the map: "We shall, God willing, meet in Tel Aviv and Haifa."

 

 

Remembering Six Days in 1967

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/06/06/remembering_six_days_in_1967?page=0,1&sms_ss=twitter&at_xt=4ded08491a6b2be4,0

The anniversary of Israel's Six-Day War is a reminder why it cannot return to armistice borders.

BY MICHAEL OREN | JUNE 6, 2011

 

"We shall destroy Israel and its inhabitants," declared Palestine Liberation Organization leader Ahmad al-Shuqayri. "As for the survivors -- if there are any -- the boats are ready to deport them." A half-million Arab soldiers and more than 5,000 tanks converged on Israel from every direction, including the West Bank, then part of Jordan. Their plans called for obliterating Israel's army, conquering the country, and killing large numbers of civilians. Iraqi President Abdul Rahman Arif said the Arab goal was to wipe Israel off the map: "We shall, God willing, meet in Tel Aviv and Haifa."

This was the fate awaiting Israel on June 4, 1967. Many Israelis feverishly dug trenches and filled sandbags, while others secretly dug 10,000 graves for the presumed victims. Some 14,000 hospital beds were arranged and gas masks distributed to the civilian population. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) prepared to launch a pre-emptive strike to neutralize Egypt, the most powerful Arab state, but the threat of invasion by other Arab armies remained.

Israel's borders at the time were demarcated by the armistice lines established at the end of Israel's war of independence 18 years earlier. These lines left Israel a mere 9 miles wide at its most populous area. Israelis faced mountains to the east and the sea to their backs and, in West Jerusalem, were virtually surrounded by hostile forces. In 1948, Arab troops nearly cut the country in half at its narrow waist and laid siege to Jerusalem, depriving 100,000 Jews of food and water.

The Arabs readied to strike -- but Israel did not wait. "We will suffer many losses, but we have no other choice," explained IDF Chief of Staff Yitzhak Rabin. The next morning, on June 5, Israeli jets and tanks launched a surprise attack against Egypt, destroying 204 of its planes in the first half-hour. By the end of the first morning of fighting, the Israeli Air Force had destroyed 286 of Egypt's 420 combat aircraft, 13 air bases, and 23 radar stations and anti-aircraft sites. It was the most successful single operation in aerial military history.

But, as feared, other Arab forces attacked. Enemy planes struck Israeli cities along the narrow waist, including Hadera, Netanya, Kfar Saba, and the northern suburbs of Tel Aviv; and thousands of artillery shells fired from the West Bank pummeled greater Tel Aviv and West Jerusalem. Ground forces, meanwhile, moved to encircle Jerusalem's Jewish neighborhoods as they did in 1948.

In six days, Israel repelled these incursions and established secure boundaries. It drove the Egyptians from the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula, and the Syrians, who had also opened fire, from the Golan Heights. Most significantly, Israel replaced the indefensible armistice lines by reuniting Jerusalem and capturing the West Bank from Jordan.

The Six-Day War furnished Israel with the territory and permanence necessary for achieving peace with Egypt and Jordan. It transformed Jerusalem from a divided backwater into a thriving capital, free for the first time to adherents of all faiths. It reconnected the Jewish people to our ancestral homeland in Judea and Samaria, inspiring many thousands to move there. But it also made us aware that another people -- the Palestinians -- inhabited that land and that we would have to share it.

 

As early as the summer of 1967, Israel proposed autonomy for the Palestinians in the West Bank and later, in 2000 and 2008, full statehood. Unfortunately, Palestinian leaders rejected these offers. In 2005, Israel uprooted all 8,000 of its citizens living in Gaza, giving the Palestinians the opportunity for self-determination. Instead, they turned Gaza into a Hamas-run terrorist state that has launched thousands of rockets into Israel. Now, the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank intends to unilaterally declare statehood at the United Nations without making peace. It has also united with Gaza's Hamas regime, which demands Israel's destruction.

In spite of the Palestinians' record of rejection and violence, Israel remains committed to the vision of two states living side by side in peace. But peace is predicated on security and on our ability to defend ourselves if the peace breaks down. Such provisions are crucial in the Middle East, where the governments of Israel's neighbors might change tomorrow. As such, we seek the demilitarization of the Palestinian state as well as a long-term IDF presence along the Jordan River to prevent rocket smuggling, as has occurred in Gaza. Moreover, we need defensible borders to ensure that Israel will never again pose an attractive target for attack.

For this reason, Israel appreciates U.S. President Barack Obama's opposition to unilaterally declared Palestinian statehood and negotiations with Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel, uphold previous peace agreements, and disavow terrorism. Similarly, we support the president's call for the nonmilitarization of any future Palestinian state that must be capable of assuming "security responsibility." In his recent address to a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed the president's statement that the negotiated border will be "different than the one that existed on June 4, 1967."

Forty-four years after Arab forces sought to exploit the vulnerable armistice lines, it remains clear that Israel cannot return to those lines. And 44 years after the United Nations, through Resolution 242, indicated that Israel would not have to forfeit all of the captured territories and must achieve "secure and recognized boundaries," the unsecure and unrecognized armistice lines must not be revived. Israel's insistence on defensible borders is a prerequisite for peace and a safeguard against a return to the Arab illusions and Israeli fears of June 1967.

 

PA verbiedt Palestijnse journalisten over mensenrechtenschendingen te berichten

 

Een van de vele dingen waar de Nederlandse media liever over zwijgen. De vraag is waarom, want in Nederland loop je als journalist geen gevaar wanneer je je ook wat kritischer opstelt naar het Palestijnse leiderschap.

"Assaults on journalists and censorship and restrictions on freedom of expression are still a dreadful nightmare for the journalists," he said. "Journalists avoid covering events out of fear of being targeted or arrested by [Palestinian] security forces in the West Bank."

Mustafa said that many journalists were assaulted "physically and morally" and had their cameras destroyed and confiscated by members of the PA security forces while carrying out their duties.

In Israel daarentegen kun je vrijelijk de meest vreselijke dingen over de regering, het land en het beleid in de bezette gebieden schrijven, en het hoeft nog niet eens waar te zijn. Vandaar dat er zoveel meer kritische rapporten uit en over Israel zijn, en informatie over (vermeende) misstanden door Israel zoveel makkelijker te vinden is. Daar zou men weleens wat meer bij stil mogen staan.

 

RP

--------------

The Jerusalem Post
'PA bans journalists from reporting human rights abuses'
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
06/08/2011 16:49
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=224143


Palestinian journalists say PA forbidding to publicize findings of ICHR report on torture, arrests, arbitrary detentions by PA, Hamas.


The Palestinian Authority has banned Palestinian journalists from reporting about the findings of The Independent Commission for Human Rights [ICHR] concerning abuse of human rights by the PA and Hamas.

In its last annual report, ICHR said that Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip were subjected last year to an "almost systematic campaign" of human rights abuses by the PA and Hamas, as well as Israeli authorities.

According to the report, security forces belonging to the PA and Hamas were responsible for torture, arrests and arbitrary detentions.

Palestinian journalists complained that the PA leadership issued instructions to their editors forbidding them from reporting about the findings of the report.

  "We were surprised that all the newspapers and news web sites refused to run stories about the human rights group's report," said one journalist.

  He said that the PA justified its decision by arguing that it did not want to jeopardize the Egyptian-brokered reconciliation accord between Fatah and Hamas.

  Journalist Mustafa Ibrahim pointed out that the decision to ban PA-affiliated media outlets from covering the story about the report was in the context of violations and assaults against freedom of media and journalists in the West Bank.

  "Assaults on journalists and censorship and restrictions on freedom of expression are still a dreadful nightmare for the journalists," he said. "Journalists avoid covering events out of fear of being targeted or arrested by [Palestinian] security forces in the West Bank."

  Mustafa said that many journalists were assaulted "physically and morally" and had their cameras destroyed and confiscated by members of the PA security forces while carrying out their duties.

  The Ramallah-based ICHR was established in 1993 upon a "presidential decree" by Yasser Arafat.

  The decree states that the group's mission is "to follow-up and ensure that different Palestinian laws, by-laws and regulations, and the work of various departments, agencies and institutions of the State of Palestine and the PLO meet the requirements for safeguarding human rights."

Duizenden militaire Hezbollah posities in Libanon

Het is duidelijk dat UNIFIL haar taak niet naar behoren kan uitoefenen met het beperkte mandaat dat zij nu heeft:

 

"UNIFIL is doing an effective job in open areas, and for that reason we don't really see Hezbollah positions there," the officer said. "Instead, Hezbollah is based inside villages, since UNIFIL cannot go there freely."

Hezbollah heeft de afgelopen jaren verschillende keren geprobeerd een aanslag op een Israelisch doelwit buiten Israel te plegen, maar dat is tot nu toe gelukkig mislukt. Hezbollah heeft, even voor de duidelijkheid, net als Hamas meermaals laten weten voor de 'bevrijding' van heel Palestina te gaan en niet tevreden te zijn met een Palestijnse staat op de Westoever en de Gazastrook. Dat is ook logisch, want Hezbollah wordt gecontroleerd door Iran en dat wil Israel van de kaart vegen.

 

RP

----------

 

IDF identifies thousands of Hezbollah sites in Lebanon

http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=224401

By YAAKOV KATZ  
06/10/2011 02:18 

Senior officer tells 'Post' that "target bank" many times larger than on eve of Second Lebanon War; says Hezbollah has some 50,000 missiles.

The IDF has identified thousands of Hezbollah sites throughout Lebanon, making its "target bank" many times larger than it was in 2006 on the eve of the Second Lebanon War, a senior IDF officer told The Jerusalem Post ahead of the fifth anniversary of the start of the conflict.

According to the officer, the IDF had approximately 200 pre-designated targets on July 12, 2006, when Hezbollah set off the war by abducting reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser. Those targets included close to 100 homes and other storage sites where the Islamist group had deployed long-range missiles it received from Iran. The targets were destroyed on the first night of the war.

Today the bank has thousands more sites throughout Lebanon that would constitute legitimate targets in the event of a future war with Hezbollah, the officer told the Post. Earlier this year, the IDF released a map showing 950 locations scattered across the country – a majority of them bunkers and surveillance sites.

According to the officer, Hezbollah is also believed to have passed the 50,000 mark in the number of rockets and missiles it has obtained. Most of these weapons are stored in some 100 villages around southern Lebanon.

"Our intelligence is much better today than it was five years ago," the officer said of the growing target bank.

In recent months, OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot and Col. Assaf Orayun, head of the Planning Directorate's Strategic Planning Division, have briefed senior diplomats as part of an effort to convince the United Nations to strengthen UNIFIL's mandate, and enable it to operate independently within southern Lebanese villages.

UNIFIL's mandate will be up for extension in August, and the IDF is hoping that by raising awareness of Hezbollah's growing presence in these villages it might succeed in getting the UN to enforce a tougher mandate.

Currently, peacekeeping troops who want to enter villages need to coordinate their moves with the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), which in many cases warns Hezbollah.

"UNIFIL is doing an effective job in open areas, and for that reason we don't really see Hezbollah positions there," the officer said. "Instead, Hezbollah is based inside villages, since UNIFIL cannot go there freely."

An investigation into a bomb attack against Italian UNIFIL soldiers last month is continuing. Hezbollah and a Palestinian group affiliated with al- Qaida have blamed each other for the attack, which injured six peacekeepers.

On Thursday, the Beirut-based Daily Star reported that Hezbollah had uncovered two car bombs in southern Beirut.

Meanwhile, two months after warnings were received of a Hezbollah plan to strike at an Israeli target overseas, the attack appears to have been foiled – for the time being.

Hezbollah's desire to lash out at Israel was sparked by the 2008 assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, the group's military commander in Damascus.

Hezbollah blames the Mossad, and reportedly has tried to carry out revenge attacks several times.

According to foreign reports, such attacks were thwarted by security services in Azerbaijan, Thailand and Sinai in 2008, and in Turkey in 2009.

In April, ahead of the Pessah holiday, security officials took the rare step of revealing the names of senior Hezbollah operatives planning another attack.

For now, the moves seem to have deterred Hezbollah from carrying it out.

Defense officials said that Hezbollah would prefer to attack an overseas Israeli target – an embassy, an El Al plane or a consulate – as opposed to a border attack, as it would afford a level of deniability.

The security sources named Hezbollah operative Talal Hamia as commander of the small but well-organized unit, which also includes his bodyguard, Ahmed Faid, and Hezbollah's top bomb expert, Ali Najan al-Din. Hamia was allegedly involved in the 1992 and 1994 bombings in Buenos Aires that targeted the Israeli Embassy and the AMIA Jewish community center.

Another member of the cell, Majd al-Zakur, is referred to as "the forger" and is responsible for preparing fake passports.

The cell is being aided by businessmen, among them a Lebanese cellphonesalesman and a Turkish national.