In this issue:

EIW Told You: War Crimes, Corruption Charges Haunt Ariel Sharon

Sharon Goes Wild; Orders Recall of Israeli Ambassador to Belgium

Chairman of Rabbis for Human Rights Wants Israel To Put Sharon on Trial

IDF Fears It Will Be Liable for 'Crimes Against Humanity'

Omri Sharon's 'Good Friend' Shlomo Oz Arrest for Rigging Contracts

Israel and Palestine Newsletter Exposes Steinhardt/Rich Drive for 'National Unity Government'

Sharon Reactivates Plans To Expel Arafat

Say Saudi Royal Family Prepares Contingency Plans To Expel U.S. Troops

From Volume 2, Issue Number 7 of Electronic Intelligence Weekly, Published Feb. 19, 2003
Mideast News Digest

EIW Told You: War Crimes, Corruption Charges Haunt Ariel Sharon

The Israeli daily Ha'aretz on Feb. 13 reported that the Supreme Court of Belgium ruled that once Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon leaves office he can be prosecuted for his responsibility for the massacre of up to 3,000 Palestinians at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps during the 1982 Lebanon War. This was not the full decision which the lawyers for the Palestinian plaintiffs, who had brought the complaint to the Belgian court, wanted. The lawyers had argued that Sharon was not entitled to immunity because of the gravity of the crimes, which include charges of "Crimes Against Humanity."

Nonetheless, the ruling allows a prosecution to be brought immediately against the second defendant in this case, Amos Yaron, who was Commander of the Israeli military forces in Beirut at the time. Yaron is currently the Director General of the Israel Defense Ministry, the number two position, after the Defense Minister.

This is a landmark ruling since it upholds the universal jurisdiction of the Belgian courts in regard to "War Crimes" and "Crimes Against Humanity," regardless of whether the perpetrator is currently in Belgium.

Chibli Mallat, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said he was disappointed with the ruling on Sharon, but was happy that the case against Yaron could proceed. "It is a landmark step for international law."

The decision has other ramifications for Israel since its military is being accused of "War Crimes" in the ongoing conflict. Various organizations have already been collecting evidence against Israeli soldiers and officers. This is already a serious concern among military officers, active duty and reservists, who fear they could be put under arrest if the travel to a European country.

Sharon Goes Wild; Orders Recall of Israeli Ambassador to Belgium

Following the news from Belgium, "Fat Arik" Sharon, whose nickname is "The Butcher of Sabra and Shatilla," ordered Israel Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to recall Israeli Ambassador to Belgium Yehuda Kinar. In reality, this decision was made two weeks ago as a contingency plan if the Belgian court ruled against Israel. Nonetheless, Israeli Foreign Ministry sources are quoted as saying that the move was too extreme.

One of the critics of Netanyahu's decision was Alon Liel, former Director General of the Foreign Ministry, who said, "Recalling an ambassador is a very serious step. We have to remember that we are talking about a decision from a court, not from the Belgian government."

Netanyahu and Sharon in effect are demanding that the Belgian government intervene in a decision of its Supreme Court, a move which is not acceptable in a democracy. Sharon's concern was such that he sent his national security adviser and former Mossad chief Ephraim Halevy to join the Israeli legal team which was in the court.

Irit Kahn, who also attended the session and is from the Israeli Prosecutor's Office, claimed that the Belgian court ruling was a "political decision" and that the deliberations deviated from the accepted judicial norms, and veered towards the political realm.

Netanyahu went to even more outrageous extremes. On Feb. 13, Netanyahu summoned the Belgian Ambassador to Israel, Wilfred Geens, to protest the court's decision, saying, "Israel will not accept another blood libel against the Jewish nation, and Israel is not Europe, the verdict was more political than judicial. Belgium is giving a prize to terror." Netanyahu also said, "Belgium is helping to harm not only Israel, but also the entire free world, and Israel will respond with severity to this."

Chairman of Rabbis for Human Rights Wants Israel To Put Sharon on Trial

Rabbi David Forman, chairman of Rabbis for Human Rights, has called for putting Sharon on trial in Israel. In a Feb. 13 commentary in Ha'aretz, Rabbi Forman writes that Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon should be put on trial for the war crimes he is allowing the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to commit in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

He says that the IDF was founded on the principle of "purity of arms"; that it acts in self-defense and not revenge. This principle, Forman writes, has been totally corrupted, to the point that "War Crimes" are being committed every day by the IDF.

Forman adds, "As someone who was a simple soldier in the war in Lebanon, it is clear to me that the collapse of the military ethic, including purity of arms, officially began during that war, in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila, when Ariel Sharon was Defense Minister. For Sharon, the contempt for the ethical dimension of warfare began much earlier, in Gaza and Kibyeh, but then his influence and methods were felt only at the platoon level. In the Lebanon War, as Defense Minister, his influence was universal. But the contempt he demonstrated then toward purity of arms took its own vengeance on him and he was fired from that job.... Twenty years have passed and Sharon is again in a position of power.... [where he] now dictates the way the IDF conducts its war against terror, with scorn for moral standards...."

Pointing to the case in Belgium, Forman writes, "We are the ones who should put him on trial, for desecrating the principles of the IDF.... Due to his subterfuge of the moral integrity of the Jewish people, Ariel Sharon stands accused in the court of Jewish decency. And to those of us who stand in silence, in the words of the great Jewish theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel, Some are guilty, but all are responsible."

IDF Fears It Will Be Liable for 'Crimes Against Humanity'

Israeli military officers are openly talking about the ongoing military operation in the West Bank City of Hebron in terms of collective punishment against the Palestinians, says the Israel newspaper Ha'aretz. This is a Class A "War Crime."

An Israeli Lieutenant Colonel involved in the military operation targetting Hebron, told Israel's Channel One TV, "Using tanks was meant to create a new order here, so they understand our intentions. We're serious about changing the method of operation, and the second thing is to apply real pressure against the terrorists, to get the murderers out.... [T]he economic burden [on the residents] is not an accident or coincidental, but part of a long-term process.... This is meant to apply pressure on the residents of the city to regurgitate the terrorists."

The same plan was outlined in an interview on the same channel a few days earlier, and was the object of a formal complaint to the Judge Advocate General by the Gush Shalom (Movement of Peace) organization, which claims this constitutes collective punishment.

Meanwhile, the IDF took the unusual step of putting the entire West Bank and Gaza Strip under closure, only one day after announcing the lifting of closure on several cities. The claimed reason is threat of attacks.

Omri Sharon's 'Good Friend' Shlomo Oz Arrest for Rigging Contracts

Zionist Mafia gangster Shlomi Oz, who was forced to resign from the Likud Central Committee in the scandals following the November 2002 Likud primaries, was arrested on Feb. 13 for rigging a tender offer from the Israeli Airports Authority, reported Ha'aretz. Oz is not just any mobster; Ariel Sharon's son Omri has called Oz his "good friend," since Oz helped his father win the primaries.

In the 1990s, Oz went to jail for extortion and fraud, along with his boss, Israeli crime capo Moussa Alperon, who is also a Likud Central Committee member. He worked as a representative of the Tzevet Bitahon security company and is accused of helping another security company, Sheleg Lavan, illegally win a security contract from the Airports Authority. Tzevet Bitahon is also responsible for the security for both Likud headquarters and the Prime Minister's Office.

Israel and Palestine Newsletter Exposes Steinhardt/Rich Drive for 'National Unity Government'

The publication, Israel & Palestine Strategic Update, whose editor is the highly respected Israeli veteran peace activist Maxim Ghilan, reports on the dirty role of Michael Steinhardt and Marc Rich in Israel and Washington, citing EIR among its sources.

The report, entitled, "The Executors," reads: "At the high point of the Knesset electorial campaign, a reception was held in Jerusalem by Russian-born businessman Alfred Akirov. It was at this party that a decision was taken to stop Amram Mitzna at any price and to support Sharon in creating a 'National Unity' government" with the Labor Party. Both the Likud's Ehud Olmert and the Labor Party's Shimon Peres, whom I&P characterizes as "long-time cronies," were on hand. "So were the two most notorious Jewish-American billionaires, Marc Rich and Michael Steinhardt...." In describing Rich, the article reports how Sen. Joe Lieberman helped pressure former President Clinton to pardon the fugitive financier.

"Rich also contributed to the electoral campaigns of both Bibi [Benjamin Netanyahu] and Ehud Barak in 1999. Steinhardt, also a heavy contributor to both contenders in U.S. Presidential elections, as well as in the Israeli ones, writes openly in his autobiography about his father's criminal activities for which Steinhardt, Sr. served a term in a Federal penitentiary, after being convicted of operations as a fence and bagman for the mafia syndicate, whose financial director was no other than Meyer Lansky. Both Steinhardt and Rich are founding directors of the self-named Mega Group, created in 1991 by the Bronfman brothers." The article then details who Charles and Edgar Bronfman are, mentioning Max Fisher as another Mega Group director who is "close to the most right-wing Jewish organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League." The article also details the Mega Group's role in funding U.S. Jewish pressure groups, including AIPAC, as well as Israeli organizations that finance candidates in both the Likud and Labor Parties.

Ghilan connects the Bronfmans, Steinhardt, and Rich to Russian Mafia figures and businessman, including Mikail and Lev Chernoy, Grigory Loutshansky, Boris Berezovsky, and Grigory Lerner.

Sharon Reactivates Plans To Expel Arafat

On Feb. 11, Ha'aretz reported that after the Jan. 28 elections, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has revived plans to expel Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. Ha'aretz writes that for the first time since the second Palestinian Intifada began, there is unanimity among Israel's top officials, including Sharon, and the Defense and Foreign Ministers, that this needs to be done. It is claimed that an operational plan exists, and the elite Sayeret Matkal unit reportedly rehearsed it months ago.

"What is needed now is opportunity," says Ha'aretz. "Once the war on Iraq begins, American opposition to Arafat's expulsion might soften. Then, one mass casualty attack on Israel, and the Chairman will be gone...."

The mass-circulation daily Yediot Ahoronath reported that Sharon, when he met President George W. Bush, got an agreement in writing for such an operation.

Say Saudi Royal Family Prepares Contingency Plans To Expel U.S. Troops

The New York Times of Feb. 9, citing unnamed senior Saudi sources, reported that Saudi Arabia's leaders have developed a long-range plan of democratic reforms, which would include ending the U.S. military presence in the Kingdom.

The Saudi sources say that Crown Prince Abdullah will ask President Bush to withdraw all American forces, as soon as the campaign to disarm Iraq is completed. This would then set the stage for the announcement of elections to elect representatives to regional assemblies, and then to a national assembly, over a six-year period. (Currently, there are no elections in Saudi Arabia.) The plan also includes an attempt to rein in the power of the conservative Wahabite clergy.

The Saudi Royal Family is said to be divided over the plan, but it is reported that senior princes would support Abdullah's decisions, because "the Royal Family always sticks together, especially in times of crisis."

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