Netanyahu doubts Israel can win war
Benjamin Netanyahu says he doubts Israel’s ability to prevail in a future war.
The former prime minister and leader of the Likud party made the remark Tuesday, Dec. 5 when asked about mounting reports of incompetence in the government and military around the recent war with Hezbollah.
“I have come to this conclusion in light of the way the Lebanon war was handled, as well as the aftermath,” Netanyahu told Israel Radio. “The government is conducting a policy of weakness, restraint and concessions to terrorism.”
Netanyahu, who says Gaza is on its way to becoming “a second Lebanon,” called on Olmert to launch a massive military sweep in the territory and topple the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority. —jta
Comptroller says military unfit
Israel’s state comptroller, Micha Lindenstrauss, says Israel’s top military brass suffers from insufficient training, with more than two-thirds of brigadier-generals and major-generals not having completed the required courses in the National Command College.
The State Comptroller’s Report on the Israel Defense Forces drew on data that predated the summer conflict with Hezbollah, but its findings fit the current heated debate on whether the Jewish state can continue to withstand the threats it faces.
Lindenstrauss also rapped the military for not keeping proper logs of weapon stores, which proved to be a major liability during the 34-day campaign in Lebanon, and said complaints by female conscripts of sexual harassment are not investigated with the required speed. —jta
Boycott planned after El Al breaks religious rules
Not only did El Al fly on Shabbat, but it served nonkosher food, Army Radio has reported.
The haredi community was organizing an El Al boycott for allowing Shabbat flights — which were meant to make up for delays caused by last week’s general public-sector strike — when it was discovered that nonkosher sandwiches were served on a Nov. 30 flight from Moscow to Israel.
The sandwiches were served after flight officials realized that the kosher food brought from Israel had spoiled due to the plane’s long stay at the Moscow airport caused by the strike in Israel. El Al responded, saying that passengers were told in advance that the sandwiches had been bought in Moscow and were not kosher, and that fruit had also been distributed as a substitute for the kosher food. —jta
Israel textbooks to show Green Line
Israel’s education minister ordered new schoolbooks to show the pre-1967 “Green Line” boundary with the West Bank.
Yuli Tamir, a veteran of the Peace Now movement, said this week that she issued the directive to prevent pupils from becoming confused about the status of the West Bank, which Israel never formally annexed and is considered disputed territory.
“You cannot expect children to understand history if parts of it are excised from school texts,” Tamir told Israel’s Army Radio.
Palestinians seek statehood in the West Bank, which was captured along with the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Six-Day War. Many right-wing Israelis, including tens of thousands of West Bank settlers, consider the land a Jewish birthright.
Several Israeli opposition lawmakers, and even one member of the governing centrist Kadima Party, accused Tamir of politicizing her mandate. —jta
U.S. group meets Syrian envoy
Americans for Peace Now met with Syria’s ambassador to the United States.
The recent meeting between the dovish pro-Israel group and Imad Moustapha did not produce any breakthroughs.
Moustapha repeated Syria’s call for a resumption of talks with no pre-conditions; APN reiterated U.S. and Israeli demands that Syria end its support for terrorist groups.
However, a meeting between a Syrian official and a group with roots in Israel is unusual.
APN and its sister organization, Peace Now, want Israel to explore recent Syrian calls to restart peace talks.
Israeli hostages said wounded
Two Israeli soldiers held by Hezbollah since July were seriously wounded during their capture, security sources said.
Israeli security sources Wednesday, Dec. 6 quoted a declassified military report that said bloodstains and other evidence gathered at the site of the July 12 border raid in which Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were seized showed the hostages were seriously wounded.
To survive, the sources said, the two army reservists would have required immediate medical attention — something that may not have been available in the custody of the Lebanese terrorist group. Hezbollah has refused to provide information on the captives’ condition, saying it would only release them as part of a swap for Arabs held in Israeli jails. —jta
Katsav son accused of harassment
The son of Israeli President Moshe Katsav has been accused of sexual harassment.
Israel Railways said Monday, Dec. 4 that Ariel Katsav, a senior member of its PR staff, was accused of verbally harassing a coworker.
Katsav, whose father has been dogged by a sex scandal for months, denied the charges. He said the coworker was disgruntled after he complained about her performance, and threatened to file a libel suit against her. —jta
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California