Erev Yom Kippur War News…
Olmert’s World: And the National Leadership Alternatives to It…
Column One: The World According to Olmert, by Caroline Glick (Jerusalem Post)
“Israel’s alternative leadership – Binyamin Netanyahu, Moshe Ya’alon, Shaul Mofaz, Yuval Steinitz, Natan Sharansky, Uzi Landau and others – is clear. These politicians are capable of dealing with the many challenges that have only multiplied as a result of the Olmert government’s incompetence.
These men must bury the hatchets that divide them, rally around Netanyahu’s leadership, bring down the government in an no-confidence vote and lead this country to victory and safety. One needs only to look at the world according to Olmert to see what hangs in the balance.”
Shabbos War News…
9 Suspected of Attempted Weapons Smuggling
IAF Kills 2 Al-Aqsa Operatives in Gaza
IDF Soldiers Attacked With Explosives in Shechem
IAF Attacks Rocket Launcher in North Gaza
Qassam Rocket Lands Near Sderot; No Injuries
Qassam Directly Hits House in Sderot; One Lightly Injured
Two Injured in Kassam Attack on Sderot
Two Infiltrators Arrested at Egyptian Border
Shots Fired at IDF Patrol in Ramallah; No Wounded
Bibi Endorses Olmert/Abbas Meeting with Shalit Still in PA/Hamas Terrorist Hands…
Bibi Encourages Olmert to Meet Abbas, by Gil Hoffman (Jerusalem Post)
Commentary;
For those of you who thought that Bibi was any different, smarter, better in self-image or better for the Jews, this should pretty well nail that coffin shut. MB
Excerpts;
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert received a surprising endorsement on Thursday for his plan to meet in upcoming days with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas: Opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu feels the same way.
Olmert told Army Radio he would meet with Abbas regardless of whether kidnapped Cpl. Gilad Shalit was released, because Abbas supported releasing Shalit.
How Sincere was IDF Chief Rabbi Weiss’s Retirement Speech?
Outgoing IDF Chief Rabbi: No New Disengagement
Full Text;
Outgoing IDF Chief Rabbi Brig.-Gen. Israel Weis said that there will never be another disengagement, Radio Kol Hai broadcast on Thursday.
During a farewell party at the College for Civil Administration in Glilot, the rabbi said that “our future existence depends on the eternal pledge to never again conduct a disengagement or convergence.”
For more background, click on these two additional reports;
Friday War News…
Full Item;
“Police report that a car bomb did explode near or in front of 98 Herzl Street in Rishon L’Tzion. A senior police commander reports that the blast was terror related; stating it appears the one fatality is the terrorist. At least two people are in moderate condition and others light.”
Hebron: IDF Troops Wound Palestinian Gunman
Israeli Air Strike in Gaza kills Two
Excerpt;
“The Israeli military… had targeted people suspected of involvement in firing rockets into Israel.”
Atonement: But, “We Have Learned Nothing” and Keep Repeating the Same Strategic Failures…
For the Sin of False Oaths, By Israel Harel (Haaretz)
Excerpts;
The War of Independence had an objective and was given a name, and the name suited it. The people who planned the Kadesh (Sinai) Campaign and Operation Peace for the Galilee, had, for better or for worse, set strategic objectives ahead of time. The Six-Day War, the war with the greatest accomplishments in the field of all Israel’s wars, was not given an official name, even post factum.
The Yom Kippur War was also named symbolically, rather than due to the war’s objective. Israel was indeed overwhelmingly surprised, and all the efforts of the civilian and military leadership were initially directed simply at an attempt to save the country. But after two weeks of fighting, when the enemy stood defeated, lacking the ability and the will to fight and disarmed of most of its weapons, we could have (had we defined for ourselves clear national objectives, which need not necessarily be formulated during the height of an existential war) dictated arrangements that would have guaranteed, on Israel’s terms, our national security for generations to come.
Philanthropist Steps into Void Left By Regime’s Deliberate Failure to Compensate Gush Katif Refugee Families …
US Philanthropist Covers Grocery Debts of Gush Katif Expellees
For context, click here, here and here.
Full Text;
An anonymous American Jewish couple has covered the debts of hundreds of Gush Katif expellees, arranging to pay their outstanding grocery bills in a Nitzan mini-market belonging to Yossi Avitan.
Avitan reports the average family had a bill of NIS 5,000, telling reporters when shoppers came to the store; they were shocked to hear they no longer had a pending tab.
The identity of the philanthropist couple is not being revealed, but during the war in Lebanon the couple also purchased flack jackets and other supplies for soldiers, in addition to coming to the assistance of hospitalized victims of the war and others in need.
PM: I Hope to Meet Abbas in Coming Days; Olmert Regime Credibility Not Worth a Plug Nickel…
PM: I Hope to Meet Abbas in Coming Days
Excerpts;
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in comments broadcast Thursday that he hopes to meet Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in the coming days.
Asked in an interview with Israel Radio when a summit with Abbas was likely, Olmert said: “I hope in the coming days, I hope. I, in any case, asked him. I told him that I would be happy to meet with him.”
The prime minister also reiterated that he would not free any Palestinian prisoners, not even as a goodwill gesture, until Hamas releases kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.