Al-Ahram Weekly

Having utterly failed to get Israel to freeze Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank, especially in East Jerusalem, the Obama administration is now asking Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) to resume peace talks as soon as possible.

The US State Department said this week it was getting closer to winning the agreements of both Israel and the PA to resume talks. Spokesperson Ian Kelly told reporters that the "process of laying the groundwork for Israeli Palestinian-peace talks is moving closer to fruition".

However, Kelly failed to corroborate his optimism with tangible facts.

Israel announces 50 new settler homes, land seizure

Associated Press
June 30, 2009

Israel on Monday approved construction of an initial 50 new homes at a West Bank settlement and announced plans to expropriate West Bank land between Jerusalem and the Dead Sea shore.

During the Gaza war this year, Schmuel Kaufman, a military rabbi from a West Bank settlement, used to stride between the Israeli soldiers’ tents and urge them to fight what he deemed an “obligatory war” ordained by ancient scripture.

[Although it doesn’t specify in the article, it’s safe to assume that the ‘ancient scripture’ referred to here are the pharisaic ‘teachings of the elders’ and not the Torah of the Old Testament, which contains the Law of Moses -- 800]

Israel's former president Moshe Katsav has been charged with multiple counts of rape and sexual harassment. He has been accused of carrying out a string of attacks on an employee in his office while he was tourism minister in the 1990s.

Lebanese authorities have arrested six more people accused of spying for Tel Aviv amid a campaign aimed at curtailing Israel's intelligence operations in Lebanon.

The latest captures take to 16 the number of suspected Israeli spies arrested since January, an army spokesperson, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP.

Many Israeli troops had the sense of fighting a "religious war" against Gentiles during the 22-day offensive in Gaza, according to a soldier who has highlighted the martial role of military rabbis during the operation.

The Obama Administration will put forth new peace initiatives only if Israel wants it to, said Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in his first comprehensive interview on foreign policy since taking office.

"Believe me, America accepts all our decisions," Lieberman told the Russian daily Moskovskiy Komosolets.

GAZA STRIP -- "Rules of Engagement: Open fire also upon rescue," was handwritten in Hebrew on a sheet of paper found in one of the Palestinian homes the Israel Defense Forces took over during Operation Cast Lead. A reservist officer who did not take part in the Gaza offensive believes that the note is part of orders a low-level commander wrote before giving his soldiers their daily briefing.

KHARTOUM -- Sudan believes Israel was behind air-strikes on its soil last month that targeted weapons smugglers, apparently on suspicion the arms were destined for Hamas militants in Gaza, a senior Sudanese official said Friday.

Al Jazeera has obtained footage of the aftermath of the attack. watch video footage

In the stories of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes is often made to say that "the important thing is that the dog did not bark" on the night the crime was committed. Similarly, despite voluminous media coverage of the Khaled Meshal affair, the real issues and right questions have been deliberately omitted. Instead, the affair was used as another attempt to topple Netanyahu from power. Ironically, the backlash from this attempt has increased his popularity.

CAIRO -- Despite declarations of victory by Israel, the military assault on the Gaza Strip failed to achieve its stated aims, many analysts say. The assault, and even its exceptional brutality, may only have vindicated the notion of resistance among the Arab public.

"The steadfastness of the resistance in Gaza in the face of Israeli military power has resuscitated the idea of armed resistance," Gamal Fahmi, political analyst and managing editor of opposition weekly Al-Arabi Al-Nassiri told IPS.

As the dust settles on three weeks of war, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have nothing over which to rejoice: buildings lie in rubble, thousands have been killed or injured and prospects for an end to the misery and violence remain slim.

In Israel, however, the war has left the population in very different mood. Whether through pride, relief or even a sense of triumph, there is no doubt that the Gaza conflict has at last made Israelis feel better about themselves, their leaders and their army.