In this issue:

State Department Cuts Back Loan Guarantees to Israel

Bronfman Attacks Jewish Leaders for Opposing Road Map

Bombing at Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad

Court Rules Against Sharon in Continuing Corruption Probe

Ha'aretz: 'Do It Right: Indict

New Temple Mount Provocation

Alon Touring U.S. Bible Belt Promoting War

IAEA in Crucial Meeting With Iranians

From Volume 2, Issue Number 32 of Electronic Intelligence Weekly, Published Aug. 12, 2003
Mideast News Digest

State Department Cuts Back Loan Guarantees to Israel

"Israeli expenditures on settlements" in the occupied territories "will be deducted from loan guarantees," said State Department spokesman Phil Reeker at the Department's press briefing in Washington on Aug. 5. Reeker's statement was made while Colin Powell and Richard Armitage, the two top officials of the State Department, were meeting with President Bush in Texas.

Asked about reports that the United States would cut loan guarantees or funds in response to the Israeli building of the separation fence, Reeker told a reporter, "As some of your colleagues indicated and as your question indicates, consistent with the legislation that authorizes loan guarantees, Israeli expenditures on settlements will be deducted from loan guarantees." Reeker's answer indicates that, regarding the settlements, this is official U.S. policy.

"But," Reeker added, "in terms of the specific link to the fence, that's something that we're discussing. And some of the reports that I've seen about decisions having been made are clearly premature."

A reporter had noted, referring to the terms of the loan guarantees, that "there is reporting that says that the United States really doesn't have any option but to reduce U.S. aid to Israel by the amount seen as violated ... depending on the route of the fence." While Reeker repeatedly evaded the question about whether the U.S. had threatened Israel with cutting off the loan guarantees or aid, over the building of the separation wall, he admitted that discussion about that matter is going on in the State Department, and announced the subtraction of settlement funds from the loan guarantees as an ongoing policy.

In Texas, White House spokesman Scott McClellan also confirmed that the loan guarantee issue is being discussed, but scolded reporters for "speculating."

Bronfman Attacks Jewish Leaders for Opposing Road Map

Edgar Bronfman, president of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), told the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, on Aug. 2, that certain Jewish figures and organizations are deliberately acting to cause a crisis between Israel and the White House in an effort to prevent the implementation of the Road Map.

The day before he spoke with Ha'aretz, it was reported that Bronfman had penned a letter to President George W. Bush last month, urging opposition to the separation fence and expressing his concern for the future relations between Israel and the Bush Administration. The letter was co-signed by former Undersecretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger, who happens to be a next door neighbor of Bronfman. Bronfman has recently emerged as one of the harshest critics of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which, he says, are "dominated by the right wing." Both Israeli Labor Party leader Shimon Peres and Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid sent letters of support to Bronfman.

WJC Chairman Israel Singer also slammed right-wing Jewish leaders, saying they are doing everything to destroy the political pluralism in the Jewish community and boycotting anyone whose opinion is different from theirs. He said public opinion polls show that 80% of Jews support the Road Map and peace process.

Bombing at Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad

A huge bomb, put in a minibus, targetted the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad on Aug. 7. At least 12 people were killed so far, and at least 50 wounded. The U.S. media emphasized that, after the bomb went off, the embassy was stormed by Iraqis shouting anti-Jordanian slogans; however, that story does not explain the incident, which represented the biggest single irregular warfare attack since the "hot phase" of the war ended.

According to one American journalist, who spoke to CIA sources, there are indications that al-Qaeda or Muslim Brotherhood operatives may have been behind the attack, and that former GIA Afghani mujahideen from Algeria are also said to now be operating inside Iraq. A more fascinating report came from an Egyptian source, who suggested that the attack may have been the work of backers of Ahmed Chalabi. Chalabi is hated by the Jordanians (who consider him a thief), and it is known that Jordan's King Abdullah II mobilized Egyptian and Saudi support to block U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's plans to install Chalabi as the gauleiter of Iraq. In the immediate aftermath of the 1991 Operation Desert Storm, according to the Egyptian source, a CIA-led coup scheme against Saddam Hussein, which had the backing of Jordan, was sabotaged, by Chalabi tipping off Saddam. This was behind the CIA's dumping of Chalabi at the time, and deepened the Jordanian hatred for Chalabi, the source concluded.

Court Rules Against Sharon in Continuing Corruption Probe

The daily Ha'aretz reported Aug. 7 that an Israeli prosecution is beginning to close in on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his two sons, Gilad and Omri. All three have refused to answer questions of police investigators, claiming they would incriminate themselves. At the same time, the sons are not talking about their father, because they say they do not want to incriminate him. Gilad not only refused to answer questions, but refused to hand over documents requested by police.

The prosecution took this last case to court, and the court ruled that Gilad has to turn over the documents. Gilad has now appealed this decision to the high court, but the prosecution has gone back to the court to demand that the documents be turned over immediately.

There are two criminal investigations involved here. One involves a case of bribery involving Israeli real estate developer David Appel, called the "Greek Island" affair, and the other is the transfer of $1.5 million into the account of Gilad, used to pay back Ariel's illegal election campaign debts.

Omri, who is a Knesset member, will also be questioned soon. If he doesn't talk, it will create a scandal in the Knesset.

Shinui party Cabinet Minister Yosef Baritzky threatened that his party would collapse the ruling coalition, if Sharon's sons do not stop stonewalling on the two cases.

Ha'aretz: 'Do It Right: Indict

In an commentary entitled, "Do It Right: Indict," Ha'aretz political commentator Yoel Marcus, on Aug. 7, called on the Israeli Attorney General to indict Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Marcus wrote that the various criminal investigations revolving around Sharon's illegal financing of his election campaign are becoming his "Sharongate," adding that, just like President Richard Nixon's attempt to cover up the events at the Watergate Hotel, Sharon and his sons are refusing to cooperate with the police investigation, in an attempt to cover up their illegal activities.

In concluding, Marcus called upon Attorney General Elyakim Rubenstein to indict Sharon. "In the atmosphere of political corruption pervading this country, and especially now as Rubinstein prepares to join the Supreme Court, it seems only right to expect some bold move from him. He should speed up the investigation and press ahead with an indictment. That in itself will be a step up in establishing norms of integrity in Israeli public life."

New Temple Mount Provocation

The Israeli High Court of Justice, on Aug. 6, rejected a petition from the Temple Mount Faithful to allow its members to visit the Mount the following day, which is the site of al-Haram al-Sharif mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. The Temple Mount Faithful planned to go on the Jewish holiday of Tish B'Av, which commemorates the destruction of the first and second temples in Jerusalem. Public Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, in his affidavit, said such a visit would lead to bloodshed, as did Ariel Sharon's visit to the site two years ago. For the past 20 years, the "Faithful" have tried to lay a foundation stone to rebuild the Temple.

A ruling is awaited from the court on the plan of three Likud Members of Knesset, who also want to start a new war, to visit the site on the holiday. Sephardic chief rabbi Shlomo Amar said there is no religious reason that the MKs should visit the Temple Mount. Likud House Committee Chairman Roni Bar-On said that he has seen the classified information upon which the police banned non-Muslim visitors to the site, saying it must be taken seriously. Infrastructure Minister Joseph Paritsky, from the Shinui party, added: "Apparently there are MKs who are tired of the quiet and of the attempt to reach a diplomatic agreement, and they want to re-ignite the fire of the intifada."

Alon Touring U.S. Bible Belt Promoting War

Israeli Tourism Minister Benyamin Elon will make a "Bible Belt tour" of the United States to promote his genocidal plan for the transfer of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza to Jordan, where he wants the "Palestinian state" to be created. "Our Christian evangelical friends understand quite clearly the importance of Israel fighting terror and not giving in to the whims of Palestinian Arab terrorists," Elon said. "We will not remove settlements or make concessions, as our stay in Judea and Samaria is not temporary, and we will not permit the creation of a terrorist state in our biblical heartland."

On his seven-day U.S. visit, beginning Aug. 12, Elon will meet with Gary Bauer, former chairman of the Family Research Council; Roberta Combs, president of Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition; Mike Evans, chairman of the Jerusalem Prayer Team; Ed MacAteer, founder of the Moral Majority; and talk-show host Janet Parshall. His stops will include Atlanta, Ga.; Columbia, S.C.; and Memphis, Tenn.

IAEA in Crucial Meeting With Iranians

Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency met in Tehran on Aug. 5 with Iranian experts to discuss the technical, legal, and political aspects of the additional protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The meeting was held following IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei's recent visit to Iran and an agreement with President Mohammad Khatami on the dispatch of these experts, IRNA reported.

According to the Iranian Foreign Ministry, the talks are to give both sides an opportunity to comprehensively examine the protocol in order to clear ambiguities on the Iranian side, and enable its experts to give a report on the nature and effects of the protocol to the government. The two sides termed the talks "positive and constructive."

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