Risky business

Orthomom has an interesting post on SephardiLady's interesting post about Teens at Risk. Check it out. In a nutshell, Orthomom feels that though our treatment of TAR has changed for the good over the years due to recognition of the problem, that change may actually help some other TAR leave the straight and narrow. They may now feel a subconscious excuse for their actions (at least that's the way I understand her point). I had some thoughts about this.

Emotional baggage or not, the rigidity and strictness which these issues were dealt with in the past IMO is absolutely wrong. Judaism is not about forcing it on anyone, nor should it be. If someone doesn't understand, let them go on their own journey. If we are confident enough in our own belief and practices, we should be just as confident that the journey will end up back where it started - Orthodox Judaism. We certainly can encourage them and nudge them in our direction.

Of course in many cases this isn't about a search for truth or a spiritual journey, it's more about teenage rebellion. In that case rigidity may be the worst possible response. I have a few classmates who no longer live a Jewish or frum lifestyle thanks to rigidity. Dealing kindly someone who is openly rebellious can change a persons perspective for the rest of their lives.

So while all this openness and understanding may give a few kids the feeling that they can now rebel more easily, at the end of the day, and with a bit of maturity, openness and understanding will ultimately win out.

But there is another side to the coin too. People feel that they have to fawn over those who went "off the derech", constantly ask them how things are, how they're doing etc. I remember as a teenager how that really bothered me. Because some kid did what he wasn't supposed to be doing he gets this whole outpouring of love and caring? I'm a little more grown up and mature now, but I remember feeling that way, rightly or wrongly, as a teenager. We have to show that we care, but we should not go crazy.

It's natural to want to go overboard trying to welcome them back into the fold. That's fine, as long as you do the same for the regular, good kids. There is no reason for kids like I was to feel that all the caring is reserved for those who did not play by the rules. So say hello to your neighbors little kid waiting for the bus in the morning. Ask him how he's doing. It won't kill you, and it might actually make an impact. You never know. It's even possible that he'll never need the welcoming back committee because of it.

Public prayer

Ever drive into a rest stop and see a minyan in the corner? Or a few people davening right outside their car? How did that make you feel? More importantly, how do the people davening feel? The following is a translation from the relatively new sefer "B'Michitzas Rabbeinu" on the teachings and actions of R' Yaakov Kaminetsky ZT"L:

"A student, who's livelihood requires that he spend alot of time on the road, asked our teacher [R' Y. Kaminetsky] what he should do with regard to davening Mincha while on the road.

Our teacher responded that he must find a place to park his car, either at a highway rest area or a shopping center, and to daven mincha while sitting in his car. Our teacher stressed that in such a situation there is no need to daven standing in public [or to do anything else that would arouse the curiousity of others], because that will result in him being unable to daven with the required kavanah.

Interesting side note: Regarding those who would daven in a public phone booth (I guess this is only referring to those visiting museums), R' Yaakov characteristically felt that that would be considered stealing from the phone company, because while he is davening others would be unable to use the phone."
(B'Michitzas Rabbeinu Pg. 58-59)

It seems from this that R'Y was of the opinion that it's better to daven sitting down in your seat than to daven in a way which would impede your kavana.

I wonder what he held about minyanim on an airplane? Not only does that have the same problem of everyone staring at you like you're a martian (non-El AL flights) which certainly affects kavanah, but that also - in 99.9% of the cases - inconveniences others, be they stewards, stewardesses or passengers who have the unfortunate luck of sitting in the back. I am confident
R'Y would rather that everyone davened in their seats.

Interestingly, I was once told by a very wise and learned man that the minyanim on the planes usually daven at the wrong time anyway. They normally start when it begins getting light outside the airplane windows, which is incorrect. The correct time would be approx. 1/2 hour later, when it begins getting light down on earth.

Story of the Year

I'm sure you all heard about this already. Heartwarming to say the least.



And now Hollywood wants it. Hope they don't kill it.

Bird Shot

See here.

Rabbi Simon Dahan, a member of Paris' Beth Din, the statuary body for religious matters, said that the European Commission approval of French and Dutch plans to vaccinate millions of their poultry against bird flu, might cause a problem in regard to kashrut (Jewish religious dietary laws).

I am no expert on birds, kashrus or vaccinations but just last night I was reading an article in the latest Star-K Kashrus Kurrants (not yet posted on their website) which attempted to display the many differences between the Rabanut hechsher and the Rabanut Mehadrin hechsher. Amongst the numerous differences was one related to inoculations. Basically, regular Rabanut has no mashgiach supervising the inoculation process to insure that the bird is not rendered a traifah. Mehadrin, on the other hand, does supervise the process and rejects any birds that may have been rendered traifah.

My point is, it seems that even before bird flu, birds were receiving some inoculations already and that there seems to be a way of inoculating birds which does not create any kashrus problem. That's all.

Death Dilemma

This is a fascinating story.

Disclaimer: Halachicly, they were 100% wrong IMO, however, if you find yourself in need of a halachic decision consult your LOR.

A case can certainly be made that these caregivers acted in a moral manner.

Smoking mad

I no longer smoke, but these smoking bans always get me riled up.

NJ is jumping on the feel-good bandwagon and banning smoking in bars and restaurants (casinos excluded because it's bad for business). There is no law against making a private establishment smoke free. Those who don't like smoke (such as myself) can feel free to go to the non-smoking bars. It's still legal to smoke. The owner of an establishment should have the right to decide whether or not to allow a legal substance into his place.

Some may argue that the law isn't being made to protect the patrons, but the employees. Since smoke is not a danger inherent in pouring drinks, the employees are in danger. That's flawed logic in my opinion. Window washing can be a dangerous job. Should there be a law forcing window washing companies to only be allowed to wash ground-level windows? No, if you feel it's too dangerous for you, don't take the job. Electricians handle live wires every day, which can be dangerous, but since they knew that going in, it's not a problem. I would have no problem with a law requiring establishments to announce if they are smoking or non-smoking.

Denying use of a legal substance because it annoys people and might be dangerous is a slippery slope. I won't be suprised to see prohibition come back.

Feel free to ignore this post if it makes you angry. Anger can be dangerous.

Good day, comrade citizens.

Milah musings

No, this is not a Metzitzah post. Sorry to dissapoint you.

I noticed an interesting little story here.

A couple of questions.

Would the judge have ordered the restraining order if:

• The child was younger, say 8 days old instead of 8 years old?
• If the mother wanted the procedure done for religious reasons as opposed to medical reasons?

Lawyers and wannabe lawyers are invited to speculate.

Ignorance abounds

Hattip: Jameel

This is funny. Or is it sad?

Apparently according to a well known Argentinian professor, many Argentinian students at the University of Buenos Aires believe Hizbullah may soon hit and Arafat may soon die.

And that's not the funny part.

They believe (some of them anyway) that Arafat is the current Prime Minister OF ISRAEL and that Hizbullah is a hurricane poised to slam into Miami. And it's not even hurricane season.

Wow. Just wow.

And I thought Americans students were uninformed.

Krauthammer on Cheney and media hysterics

Washington Post:

By Charles Krauthammer

Quell Quailgate
Cheney's Call Was Wrong but Understandable

I'm just glad he didn't shoot Scalia.

Well, everyone's entitled to one Quailgate joke, so that's mine. Although the best one, occurring at the White House news briefing Monday, was only inadvertently funny. Reporter's question to Scott McClellan: "Would this be much more serious if the man had died?"

This news briefing got famously out of control (as a psychiatrist I found the groups I ran for inpatient schizophrenics far more civilized) over the new great issue of our time: Why was there a 14-hour delay in calling the press?

Let's pose a hypothetical. You're at a gathering at a friend's house in the country. You're all playing touch football and, as you lunge to tag someone, you stumble and accidentally barrel into a would-be receiver running a crossing pattern and you knock him down, breaking a few of his ribs, maybe puncturing a lung and who knows what else.

What do you do? You get him immediate help. Then you notify and tend to his family. Then you try to calm the host and the guests and to mitigate the damage you've caused.

Now change the hypothetical in just two ways. It's not touch football but a birdshot accident, which makes it a bit more romantic and more comical. But that changes nothing about the correct reaction.

Then it turns out you're not just anybody but the vice president of the United States. What do you do?

If the victim is Alexander Hamilton -- or Antonin Scalia -- this is an event with deep implications for the country, and the country needs to know about it immediately.

But the man is neither. He is a private citizen. Had he been shot by Joe Blow, it would merit perhaps a three-line item in the local newspaper and be entirely forgotten to history.

So the story is you, the vice president. You shot him. But it was an accident, and the event has no effect on national policy, national security, national anything. Something happened involving the vice president that was interesting and unusual but of no great significance beyond that.

Do you notify the national press right away? In his interview Wednesday with Brit Hume of Fox News, Vice President Cheney gave two explanations for the 14-hour delay. First, to give time to notify the family. This is perfectly legitimate. You have done enough damage. You don't want to compound it by having the man's children find out on television that their father was shot.

But they were notified within a few hours on Saturday night. Why the overnight delay?

Accuracy, Cheney told Hume. Reports about Whittington's condition Saturday night were preliminary and uncertain. Cheney wanted to wait until he knew something definitive.

This is understandable but not really justifiable. If the public had the right to know eventually -- something even Cheney does not question -- that right is not dependent on the firmness of the information.

Cheney understandably wanted to control the situation, to know what he was dealing with, before having to confront the world about the accident. Perhaps he also wanted to give the victim, the victim's family, his host and the other guests an overnight respite before the inevitable media circus arrived at their door.

If there was a sin against the public interest, it was in the desire to retain control over what was a still-chaotic situation. But it is a minor sin. There was no coverup, nothing to cover up. There was no scandal. It hardly merited the quite overwrought charges of excessive secrecy, imperial arrogance, abuse of power and other choice selections from the lexicon of Nixoniana.

Secrecy? This was hardly an affair of state. And it was hardly going to be kept secret.

Arrogance? The media laying these charges are the same media that just last week unilaterally decided that the public's right to know did not extend to seeing cartoons that had aroused half the world, burned a small part of it and deeply affected the American national interest. Having arrogated to themselves the judgment of what a free people should be allowed to see regarding an issue that is literally burning, they then go ballistic over a few hours' delay in revealing an accident with only the most trivial connection to the nation's interest or purpose.

Cheney got a judgment call wrong, for reasons that are entirely comprehensible. The disproportionate, at times hysterical, response to that error is far less comprehensible.

Random shots

I've been into (amateur) photography for some time now, I thought I'd share some of my more recent pictures.

The most beautiful sound in the world

Just awesome.

Glass Math

A friend of mine recently visited The Corning Museum of Glass and he told me about something interesting that he saw there. At the exhibit featuring the Glass of ancient Egypt he noticed a sign saying the following:

Around 1200 BC, civilizations declined in Egypt, western asia and the eastern Mediterranean. Scholars are uncertain why this happened. Few luxury goods were made, and few glass items have been found. Then, around 900 BC glassmaking flourished again in Mesopotamia and Phoenicia. At the same time, the entire region revived."

This friend thought that this curious decline of civilization in Egypt and the surrounding area may have had something to do with Yetzias Mitzrayim and the massive devestation that accompanied it.

So he promptly whipped out his calculator and did some math.

• Second Bais Hamikdash stood for 420 years, and was destroyed in the year 70.
• Galus Bavel was for 70 years.
• First Bais Hamikdosh stood for 410 years.
• Mishkan Shiloh stood for 300 years.
• The capture of the land (Kibush V'Chiluk) took 14 years.
• Jews were in the desert for 40 years right after Yitzias Mitzrayim.

That comes out to 1184 BC, which (in his opinion) is close enough in the larger scheme of things (I doubt science can pinpoint an exact date, more likely a rough estimate).

Now, I'm terrible at math and I don't know my history well enough to know if all the dates work out. But, as a loyal reader of godolhador, I had a different question for him:
How can you accept the scientific dating of the glass and not accept any other scientific dating (i.e. the age of the universe)? Science can't work only when it's convenient for you and works out with your views. Either it works or it doesn't, you have to be consistant.

So he tried answering that the dating of glass is a different process than the dating of the universe. That may be true, but I don't know and he certainly doesn't. Even if it is true, my point was made.

What do you think?

Time for a Kofi break

Good old Kofi.

The one man who may actually be more corrupt than Sharon.

He recently recieved the coveted Zayed Enviromental Prize from Dubai, worth a cool million. He says he will use the prize money to "establish a foundation to work in Africa for argiculture and girls education". Sure. He also said that the oil for food program was about oil for food.

So he's now calling on the US to recognize Hamas. He even met with Bush about this. He's the leader of the UN, and he's calling for international recognition of a terrorist group. How nice.

His tenure as UN SecGen will soon be over, but why is this guy still given the time of day by world leaders? Yes, he's the SecGen, but that is precisely the question. Why is such a corrupt man still tolerated? And why is Dubai giving him money? Does it have something to do with his cartoon comments, or is it something else? Does it have to do with his future plans?

Will he need to reside in a country that won't extradite?

For more, see here.

Big Deal

1. As the cartoon intifada continues to rage and claim more lives am I really supposed to get upset over this???
   
2. The media is in a frenzy over VP Cheney using a 78 year old man for target practice. Isn't Cheney the same man that they have been telling us for years, eats little children for breakfast and then picks his teeth with their bones???

Big deal.

Snow!

Took these today.

Driving in Europe Vs. Driving in Israel

Someone emailed this to me.

Funny Stuff.

Freeeeeeeedom!

Okay, so here's the scenario. You are part of a group of more than a half million able bodied, heavily armed men. You are being chased by a well trained army and they have you cornered. What do you do?

A. Turn around and fight like mad.
B. Just give up. Throw up your hands and say "OK, you win".

When the Jews found themselves in this situation on their way out of Egypt, here's what they chose:

י וּפַרְעֹה, הִקְרִיב; וַיִּשְׂאוּ בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת-עֵינֵיהֶם וְהִנֵּה מִצְרַיִם נֹסֵעַ אַחֲרֵיהֶם, וַיִּירְאוּ מְאֹד, וַיִּצְעֲקוּ בְנֵי-יִשְׂרָאֵל, אֶל-יְהוָה. יא וַיֹּאמְרוּ, אֶל-מֹשֶׁה, הֲמִבְּלִי אֵין-קְבָרִים בְּמִצְרַיִם, לְקַחְתָּנוּ לָמוּת בַּמִּדְבָּר: מַה-זֹּאת עָשִׂיתָ לָּנוּ, לְהוֹצִיאָנוּ מִמִּצְרָיִם. יב הֲלֹא-זֶה הַדָּבָר, אֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְנוּ אֵלֶיךָ בְמִצְרַיִם לֵאמֹר, חֲדַל מִמֶּנּוּ, וְנַעַבְדָה אֶת-מִצְרָיִם: כִּי טוֹב לָנוּ עֲבֹד אֶת-מִצְרַיִם, מִמֻּתֵנוּ בַּמִּדְבָּר

10 And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and, behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were sore afraid; and the children of Israel cried out unto the Lord.

11 And they said unto Moses: 'Because there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the wilderness? Wherefore hast thou dealt thus with us, to bring us forth out of Egypt?

12 Is not this the word that we spoke unto thee in Egypt, saying: Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For it were better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.'

So, first they cried out to G-d. No problem with that. And then they (or maybe it was another group - see RaMBaN) just lost it. Why did you bring us here in the first place we would rather remain enslaved in Egypt than to be killed here in the wilderness. Now, I am not Moshe. But if I was I would say, "Folks, here is our chance to get back at those who mercilessly worked us and beat us for so many years. We have plenty of weapons, we have a huge army, let's get going". But as we all know, that's not what Moshe said. Instead he told them "Don't worry, sit back and see what G-d has in store".

Ibn Ezra explains, that Moshe understood that there is no way he could get them to fight. A people who are born into slavery and live that way their entire lives cannot just change overnight. They have the mindset of subjects. The fact that they now are free cannot change that which is ingrained in their minds for over a century. At this point in time they were simply incapable of acting like free people. That was true then, it's still just as true in today's world.

Are you listening, Mr. President?

Beats and Bans

I don't read the Hamodia daily, but I was told that there was an interesting letter in yesterday's paper. Apparently someone was livid at them for printing an ad which featured Lipa Shmeltzer. To paraphrase "I heard some of his songs and it sounds just like the songs I hear when I'm waiting in the doctors office" and "I was happy to hear that one community banned his music" and other such quotes of peace and love.

Regardless of what I think of ridiculous bans and the doctor's taste in music, this reminded me of a conversation I had not to0 long ago.

I recently gave a middle aged, Orthodox man a ride in my car and I was playing Matisyahu's Live at Stubbs album (probably not the most intelligent choice of music given the passenger, but I've never been accused of being smart). He remarked to me that the music is just not Jewish music.

Me: "Matisyahu is Jewish".

Him: "That doesn't matter, it's the music I'm talking about".

Me: "Well, how do you define Jewish music"?

Him: "Music has a tremendous power, and some kinds of music bring out certain emotions. These kinds of songs are primal. Jewish music is written to bring out spiritual feeling."

Me: "Would you classify the good, old Chabad niggunim as spiritual Jewish music"?

Him: "Of course, that's a perfect example of it."

Me: "Do you realize that they sound exactly like the Russian folk songs that were sung in that region around the time these niggunim were composed"?

Him: "Um, maybe, perhaps, I don't know..."

The point I'm making is this. We are all affected by our surroundings. Our music definitely is. There is a reason why a beautiful Sephardic melody sounds like something you'd hear playing in Damascus and why the Chabad niggun sounds Russian. It's because they ARE. They are Russian or Arabic songs composed (I imagine) by a Jew, and with Jewish words. And there is nothing wrong with that. So Matisyahu sounds Jamaican. Is that a big deal? I can guarantee that if there were Jews living in Jamaica 150 years ago, their shabbos zemiros would sound like that and it would be called Jewish music.

D'ror Yikra, mon!

Hear ye, hear ye

10 Shevat, 5766

To our honored brothers and sisters, may G-d protect them:

It is with pain and sorrow that we pen the following words. Who's hands will not tremble and who's heart will not quiver when we hear about the terrible injustice that is currently taking place in our midst. An injustice that the eye has never seen and that the ear has never heard. How we pray for the day of our redemption when all our suffering will end.

We are referring, of course, to the terrible tragedy that has befallen our dear friends, the good people of Denmark, may G-d protect them. The tragedy that we mean is that which is known as "economic embargo". The evil plot of all who rise against them should fail.

We therefore call upon all those who hear our voice and who respect the words of our sages, men, women and children, to rise up against the evil of our enemies and to do all in their power to counteract their evil. We proclaim that it is incumbent on all followers of our faith to use the power of the wealth that G-d has given you, to purchase as much as possible of that singular Danish product that has brought good cheer to the hearts of the downtrodden and laughter to the mouths of the depressed, may G-d protect them.

To this we affix our signature on the tenth day of the month of Shevat, 5766 years from the creation of the Universe.

Committee for the preservation of the spirituous.

OU on Amona

Kudos to the OU for speaking out.

Click here

Hook, line and sinker

So Iran's largest newspaper is having a competition to find the best Holocaust cartoon in retaliation for the publication of the Mohammad cartoon.

In retaliation?

How so?

I don't see how the Danish newspapermen are being effected by this Iranian contest. Really, how'd the Jews get involved in this one? Is it just because of Ahmadinejad's unhealthy holocaust obsession, or is it something more? But that's not my point here.

Arieh O'Sullivan, spokesman of ADL's Israel office: "What bothers us (is that) this incident has been used by the Arab world basically as an excuse to stick it to the Jews," he said.

"What bothers us"?

Let them print all the fish wrap they want, it honestly doesn't bother me. Even if it did, I'd keep it to myself. On the other hand, the ADL making a statement like this does bother me. On the surface there is nothing wrong with what O'Sullivan is saying, but how can he miss the fact that the Iranians are looking for a response? For outrage? He's giving it to them, he's making it work for them. Doing so ensures that this rather childish anti-semitic provocation actually provokes. It makes it work.

Bad move.

The message of the wind

There is something that was bothering me as I reviewed the Parsha this past week. Right at the beginning of the parsha, Moshe warns Pharaoh of the impending plague of locust. Then the Torah tells us how the plague actually transpired:

יג וַיֵּט מֹשֶׁה אֶת-מַטֵּהוּ, עַל-אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם, וַיהוָה נִהַג רוּחַ-קָדִים בָּאָרֶץ, כָּל-הַיּוֹם הַהוּא וְכָל-הַלָּיְלָה; הַבֹּקֶר הָיָה--וְרוּחַ הַקָּדִים, נָשָׂא אֶת-הָאַרְבֶּה

13 And Moses stretched forth his rod over the land of Egypt, and the LORD brought an east wind upon the land all that day, and all the night; and when it was morning, the east wind brought the locusts.

Why was the wind necessary? The only act that proceeded the earlier plagues was Moshe (or Aharon) hitting the ground or the river with a stick.

It seems like, for some reason, G-d wanted this plague to appear totally natural. The wind blew all night and in the morning they saw that wind was bringing in locust swarms. I assume that that is the way a locust swarm would usually arrive.

Perhaps G-d was saying to the Egyptians as well as to the Jews, You all realized over the course of the last few months that I am the Master of the Universe, I can change the nature of water at will, I can cause an infestation of frogs to suddenly appear. But maybe you still don't understand that not only can I do all this supernatural stuff, I also control the natural events that happen all the time. Therefore, G-d sent this totally natural plague, complete with gusts of wind, and sandwiched it between two supernatural events to show everyone that from G-d's perspective there is no difference between the supernatural and nature.

The Ramban at the end of the Parsha says that the reason we are commanded to constantly remind ourselves of Yitziyas Mitzrayim (through mitzvos like shabbos, yom tov, teffilin, mezuzah) is not to remember the shock and awe of the makkos and of yetziyas mitzrayim. The more important point is that through the supernatural events that took place at yetziyas mitzrayim one will come to the realization that G-d controls every aspect of our existence.

That, I think, may be the message of the wind.

...and the hits just keep on coming (literally)

Ynet:

Cops beat ambassador's wife

Chief of the Immigration Police in Tel Aviv was faced with an unpleasant diplomatic crisis Sunday, after the wife of Dominican Republic's Ambassador to Israel Leonardo Cohen charged officers of his division aggressively beat her up during an attempt to detain her housemaid, Israel's leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Monday.

According to the envoy's wife, policemen showed up at her doorstep Sunday, after tailing her housemaid from the street at the prestigious Herzliya Pituach neighborhood, just north of Tel Aviv.

The cops asked the ambassador's wife to present them with papers and diplomatic documents, and after noticing the housemaid's tourist visa has expired, asked the employee to accompany them to the station.

At this point in the story, police and the ambassador's wife provide contradicting versions to what took place. Policemen claim the wife reacted to their request by running at their direction with a knife in her hands, and claimed they had to subdue the woman by force in order to prevent her from hurting them.

The ambassador's wife, on the other hand, said the cops violently hit her after she approached them with a garden tool she was holding at the time, and that she was consequently evacuated to the hospital for treatment.

During the incident, the woman phoned her husband, who immediately called the Foreign Ministry to protest the police's behavior.

Several hours following the incident, after police chiefs discovered their subordinates assaulted a diplomat's wife, a representative of the department arrived at Cohen's house to apologize for the incident. Police also agreed to refrain from detaining the housemaid, on the condition she leaves Israel voluntarily.

Responding to the affair, the Immigration Police said the officers were unaware the house they entered was the house of a diplomat.

However, as a result of official protest by the Foreign Ministry to the force, the Police Investigation Unit is set to launch a probe into the matter.

Will Israel Strike Iran?

Newsweek:

The X Factor: Israel's military planners say they know how to forestall Tehran's nuclear schemes. The options—and their cost.

As scary as the idea may sound, the Israelis may not be bluffing. Their defense experts display no doubt whatsoever that Israel's Air Force can cripple Iran's nuclear program if necessary. The trick, they say, is to go after the system's weak spots. "You need to identify the bottlenecks," says a senior Israeli military source, asking not to be named for security reasons. "There are not very many. If you take them out, then you really undermine the project." Shlomo Brom, a former Israeli armed forces chief of strategic planning, says the destruction of two or three key facilities would probably suffice. He singles out the Natanz uranium-enrichment complex and the conversion plant at Esfahan as critical.

It wouldn't be as easy as it sounds. Tehran, taking obvious lessons from Israel's successful 1981 bombing of Saddam Hussein's reactor at Osirak, has done its best to shield potential targets like Natanz. "They are dispersed, underground, hardened," says the senior Israeli military source. U.S. analysts say each facility would require multiple hits before serious damage was done. Still, the Israelis—who have an undeclared nuclear arsenal of their own, and refuse international inspections or oversight—insist they have all the firepower they need: more than 100 U.S.-made BLU-109 "bunker buster" earth-penetrating bombs. "I think they could do the job," says the senior Israeli source.

Logistics is a bigger hurdle. Each separate target would require a small fleet of aircraft. Israel's F-15s and F-16s would need advance escorts of "electronic countermeasures" aircraft to jam Iran's air-defense radars, and every one of those planes would need an entourage of fighter aircraft. At short range, Tehran's newly upgraded MiG-29 interceptors are a match for just about anything in the air. "To get there and bomb the facilities, that's the easy part," says Brom. "The difficult part is how to get back. We're not making kamikaze runs."

To hit Osirak in 1981, Israel's bombers flew in low over Saudi Arabia. In a study published late last year by the U.S. Army War College, Brom suggests that a strike against Iran's facilities could arrive by way of the Indian Ocean—roughly twice the operational radius of Israel's newest strike aircraft under optimal flying conditions. But Israel's fleet of specialized planes for in-flight refueling—five aging KC-130H tankers—doesn't have the capacity to get all those aircraft there and back again. The only way to manage it would be with a covert stopover midway—it's anybody's guess where.

The Israelis admit they can only disable the Iranian program, not destroy it. "The real question is what you achieve if the best you can do is to delay the project for a few years," says a senior U.S. administration official, speaking anonymously because it's a sensitive topic. The cost to the region's stability could be devastating. Meanwhile, Israel continues to upgrade its own arsenal, acquiring two new German subs that could launch nuclear-armed cruise missiles for a "second-strike" deterrent. Perhaps the threats are only a way of pushing the West to get tough with Tehran before the arms race gets even more heated. But if so, it's one hell of an act.

No Parking - Fire Lane

I think I missed something.

I need to go back and take the driving permit test again.

Apparently, when it says on the asphalt in clear, bright yellow letters "NO PARKING FIRE LANE", that actually means "parking only for obviously Orthodox people on late Friday afternoons who are in a rush or just too plain lazy to look for a parking spot because that might require them to walk the whole minute and a half to the store and would rather make a chilull Hashem instead".

'Derech Eretz' may be 'Kadmah LaTorah' but it certainly isn't 'Kadmah to being quicker at the dry cleaners'.

Just think of all the time I could've saved over the years had I known this all along.

Palestinian kills woman in Israel after Gaza strike

Reuters:

A Palestinian stabbed to death a woman and wounded five other passengers on a minibus in Israel on Sunday hours after an Israeli helicopter gunship killed three militants in the Gaza Strip.

It was the worst outbreak of violence since the militant Islamic Hamas movement won a Palestinian parliamentary election, dimming Middle East peace hopes as it prepared to take over the Palestinian Authority government.

"An Arab boarded a minibus... and took out a knife and began to stab passengers," Menashe Aviv, a police commander, told Army Radio about the attack in Petah Tikva, a city near Tel Aviv.

He said the assailant, from the West Bank, was disarmed by passersby and taken to a local police station for interrogation.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack which occurred on a shared-taxi minibus during the morning rush hour at the start of the Israeli work week. Moshe Gershoni, driving his car to Tel Aviv, said he witnessed the attack while stopped at a red traffic light.

"I saw a kid who looked like an Arab take out a knife and stab people," Gershoni told Army Radio. "People grabbed him and started to beat him up."

Hours earlier, an Israeli helicopter gunship killed three Palestinian militants from al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades as they drove in a car in Gaza City.

The army said the Israeli air strike, the first since Hamas won a Jan. 25 election, was in retaliation for a rocket attack on Friday against an Israeli collective farm in which three people were wounded, including a baby.

J-Light Bulbs

An age old conundrum with a Jblog twist.

How many Jbloggers does it take to change a light bulb?

Gil: There is a dispute between R. Hayyim Ozer Grodzinski, the author of Ahiezer and R. Avraham Yishayahu Karelitz, the author of Hazon Ish regarding the halakhic status of electricity.

GH: Firstly, I am not required to believe that the light bulb burned out, it's not an Ikar. Secondly, even if it was an Ikar there is always Marc "no Ikrim" Shapiro. I will not go running to change the light bulb just because someone tells me the bulb burned out. I say, show me some proof. And before all you light bulb clowns come running with the burned out bulb, let me state for the record that that kind of proof has been totally debunked. I'm talking real proof. Unless, of course, you are the Rebbetzin asking. In that case, forget the proof, I'll come running as fast as my little legs can carry me.

DB: Burned out light bulbs? It's all the Republicans fault.

Ezzie: Burned out light bulbs? It's all the Democrats fault.

OM: I overheard some fellow Fivetowners discussing this yesterday at the sushi place. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. HIRING AN INTERIOR DECORATOR TO CHANGE A LIGHT BULB????

Mar Gavriel: I had just returned home from KOA where I had gone for `arvitho (after trying to go to OZ only to find out they had already davven'd `arvitho) when I noticed that the bulb in my room had burned out. I went to check my closet for a new bulb but there were no new bulbs in my closet. I sat down on my bed to consider my options. My first thought was that I should call one of the FreshSamanthalings. After all, being an honorary member of their family should count for something. But then I realized that I had spent so much time looking for a bulb and now it was too late to call any of the FreshSamanthalings. So I tried LabRab. No answer on his cell phone. As I was about to give up my phone rang. It was LabRab calling to offer me his job. And then I woke up.

Palestine Without Illusions

Washington Post:

By Charles Krauthammer

Amid much gnashing of teeth, the Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections is being called a disaster. On the contrary. It is deeply clarifying and ultimately cleansing. If the world responds correctly, it will mark a turning point for the better.

The Palestinian people have spoken. According to their apologists, sure, Hamas wants to destroy Israel, wage permanent war and send suicide bombers into discotheques to drive nails into the skulls of young Israelis, but what the Palestinians were really voting for was efficient garbage collection.

It is time to stop infantilizing the Palestinians. As Hamas leader Khaled Meshal said at a news conference four days after the election, "The Palestinian people have chosen Hamas with its known stances." By a landslide, the Palestinian people have chosen these known stances: rejectionism, Islamism, terrorism, rank anti-Semitism and the destruction of Israel in a romance of blood, death and revolution. Garbage collection on Wednesdays.

Everyone is lamenting the fall of Fatah and the marginalization of its leader, Mahmoud Abbas. This is ridiculous. The election exposed what everyone knew and would not admit: Abbas has no constituency. Would it have been better to keep funneling billions of dollars from the European Union and a gullible United States to the thoroughly corrupt administration of a hapless figurehead? Billions that either end up in Swiss bank accounts or subsidize countless gangs of young men carrying guns?

The current nostalgia for Fatah moderation is absurd. What moderation? Yasser Arafat's 1993 paper recognition of Israel's right to exist was as fraudulent as his famous Oslo side letter renouncing terrorism. He spent the next seven years clandestinely sponsoring it, then openly launched a four-year terrorist war, the most vicious in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

With this election, we can no longer hide from the truth: After 60 years, the Palestinian people continue to reject the right of a Jewish state to exist side by side with them. Fatah -- secular, worldly and wise -- learned to lie to the West and pretend otherwise. Hamas -- less sophisticated, more literal and more bound by religious obligation to expel the Jews -- is simply more honest.

This election was truth in advertising. Now we know. What to do?

The world must impress upon the Palestinians that there are consequences for their choices. And so long as they choose rejectionism -- the source of a 60-year conflict the Israelis have long been ready to resolve -- the world will not continue to support and subsidize them.

And that means cutting off Hamas completely: no recognition, no negotiation, no aid, nothing. And not just assistance to a Hamas government but all assistance. The Bush administration suggests continuing financial support for "humanitarian" services. This is a serious mistake.

First, because money is fungible. Every dollar we spend for Palestinian social services is a dollar freed up for a Hamas government to purchase rockets, guns and suicide belts for the "Palestinian army" that Meshal has already declared he intends to build.

Second, because it sends the Palestinians precisely the wrong message. If they were under a dictatorship that imposed rejectionism on them, there would be a case for helping a disenfranchised Palestinian people. But they just held the most open and honest exercise of democracy in Palestinian history. The Palestinian people chose. However much they love victimhood, they are not victims here. They are actors. And historical actors have to take responsibility.

They want blood and death and romance? They will get nothing. They choose peace and coexistence? Then, as President Bush pledged in June 2002, they will get everything: world recognition, financial assistance, their own state with independence and dignity.

In August 2001, Hamas sent a suicide bomber into a Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem. He killed 15 innocent Israelis, mutilating many dozens more. A month later, Hamas student activists at al-Najah University in Nablus celebrated the attack with an exhibit, a mockup of the smashed Sbarro shop strewn with blood and fake body parts -- a severed leg, still dressed in jeans; a human hand dangling from the ceiling. The inscription (with a reference to the Qassam military wing of Hamas) read: "Qassami Pizza is more delicious."

The correct term for such a mentality is not militancy, not extremism, but moral depravity. The world must advise the Palestinian people that if their national will is to embrace Hamas -- its methods and its madness -- then their national will is simply too murderous and, yes, too depraved for the world to countenance, let alone subsidize.

The essential first lesson of any newborn democracy is that national choices have national consequences. A Hamas-led Palestine, cut off entirely, will be forced to entertain second thoughts.

Hizbullah strikes IDF outposts

Ynet:

Hizbullah gunmen opened fire Friday at IDF outposts on Israel's northern border. Army forces responded with fire. One soldier was lightly injured in the shooting.

IDF helicopters struck several targets in southern Lebanon in response to the attacks.

Hizbullah's al-Manar television channel reported that the shooting was carried out in retaliation for the killing of a young Lebanese near the border by IDF soldiers on Wednesday.

Hizbullah's leader Hassan Nasrallah pledged Thursday the organization will avenge the young man's death.

Last Wednesday an IDF force has identified an armed terrorist moving from Lebanon in the direction of Israel. The man opened fire at the troops, who shot back and hit the gunman.

Following the incident, the army maintained high alert in the area for fear that Hizbullah would retaliate by firing Katyusha rockets or mortar shells. The Northern Command has been on high alert for a while now for fear that Hizbullah would attempt to kidnap soldiers once again.

According to military sources, the terrorist who was hit Wednesday was also equipped with observation means, "and might have been trying to gather intelligence information on IDF soldiers' presence in the area."

The Northern Command is currently looking into the incident's circumstances, including why the terrorist opened fire. The army is also checking whether the terrorist fired at the soldiers after he was spotted or beforehand, and whether he operated on his own or as part of a group.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said this week that Hizbullah, which is being operated by Syria and Iran, plans to carry out "an additional round of escalation. We are looking for signs and preparing for them."

He added that "Hizbullah may carry out escalating moves in an attempt to shift the attention from the strategic situation of Syria, which is stuck up to its neck in the probe into the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri."

Explosion in Gaza raises tension

BBC:

An explosion has rocked the house of a former security Palestinian chief and senior Fatah party member in Gaza.

The bomb attack in the southern town of Khan Yunis destroyed the walls of Suleiman Abu Mutlak's home, but caused no casualties.

Mr Abu Mutlak and other Fatah officials accused the militant group Hamas, who won a majority in legislative elections last week, of being behind the blast.

But a Hamas spokesman denied its members were responsible.

"We categorically reject any responsibility in this incident," Sami Abu Zuhri told the AFP news agency.

"These are baseless accusations."

The explosion was caused by 3kg of explosives detonated by remote control.
Following the blast, Palestinian security forces sealed off the area.

It was the first attack on a leading politician since Hamas' unexpected electoral victory last week.

Correspondents say friction between Fatah and the Hamas military wing Ezzedine al-Qassam has increased since the election.

Original editorials coming to Hayom soon

I am trying to add more original opinion to Hayom, and I've solicited the help of several bloggers and commenters who's writing style I enjoy to write original news-related editorials for this blog. A few have already answered positively. Hopefully more do, and we can get something going. While I may not agree with all of their their viewpoints, it will certainly make for interesting reading. More details to follow.

US pressures Israel to renew funds transfers to Palestinians

Globes:

Sources in Washington told “Globes” that the Bush administration is pressuring Israel to renew the transfer of VAT and tax payments to the Palestinian Authority. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday suspended the transfers in the wake of Hamas’s victory in the Palestinian elections last week.

In response to claims by Israeli representatives that US President George W. Bush had personally declared that the US would completely halt all aid the Palestinian Authority if Hamas does not forego terrorism and recognize Israel’s right to exist, the US said transfers at this time were to a transition government, not a Hamas government.

US diplomats said the US wanted to strengthen the hand of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu-Mazen), and prevent the total collapse of Palestinian institutions.

Although Israeli diplomats cannot openly say so, the US knows very well that the resumption of transfers to the Palestinians shortly after Israel decided to suspend them would be perceived as a capitulation by Olmert, and would make him appear to be a puppet of the US at the height of an election campaign. Although official Washington naturally does not explicitly say this, Olmert is the Bush administration’s preferred candidate as Israel’s next prime minister.
Israel is due to transfer approximately $55 million to the Palestinian Authority.

Yesterday, in response a question, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that the administration was “working” with the Israelis on the suspension of tax transfers to the Palestinian Authority. He said contacts with Israel were being conducted through the US Embassy in Tel Aviv and the Israeli Embassy in Washington, but that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was not yet involved.

“We made it very clear (to the Israelis)… that the governments and organizations were looking for ways to support the Palestinian transitional government,” said McCormack. “…What should be done during the transition period (in other words, until a new Palestinian government) in order to meet the needs of the Palestinian Authority, which is supposed to continue to govern, ensure public law and order, and provide services to the Palestinian people?”

McCormack said the Palestinian transition government had given the international community some assurance, in exchange for which the international community agreed to meet its commitments to the transition government.

In an updated report on the Palestinian economy yesterday, the World Bank said, “The fiscal basis for the existence of the Palestinian Authority is being eroded,” as a result of what it called “undocumented” government expenses and a sharp rise in the number of new public employees.
Palestinian Authority representatives yesterday discussed with World Bank representatives about the possibility that the Palestinian Authority would be allowed to use money in a trust fund set up by donor states, in the event that the Palestinian Authority finds itself cash-strapped.

The World Bank has been administering the so-called reform fund since 2004. In December 2005, the World Bank did not transfer $60 million from this trust fund to the Palestinian Authority, on the grounds that the Palestinian Authority did not implement the financial and economic reforms that were a condition for aid.

If the 12 donor countries participating in the reform fund give the go-ahead, the World Bank can be lenient and transfer to the money to the Palestinian Authority, without the conditions being fulfilled.

The UN yesterday warned the donor countries that Gaza was facing severe economic and humanitarian problems caused by the closure of the Almuntar/Karny crossing into Israel. A UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) claims that the closure was causing the destruction of agricultural exports worth $500,000 a day, and was delaying the import of medicines and medical equipment.

Katzav Condemns Amona Violence; ‎Special Knesset Session Called

Arutz Sheva:

President M. Katzav has criticism of both sides in yesterday's Amona violence, B'Tselem calls for an investigation, and the Knesset Speaker has agreed to a Likud/Shas request for a special session.

President Moshe Katzav said that "red lines" were crossed yesterday, and that what happened in Amona is "intolerable." He said that the police must explain why they used horses and clubs, and chastised the settlement enterprise leaders for organizing the protest without controlling the protestors.

Katzav said he accepts Labor MK Yuli Tamir's call for a public commission of inquiry into the events.

The B'Tselem civil rights organization, too, has asked Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to order an investigation into the "excessive police violence" during the evacuation/destruction of the homes in Amona. B'Tselem says that illegal orders may have been handed down, and that individual policemen must be investigated for acting with violence towards protestors who did not actively resist.

Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz, who met with President Katzav, joined his call for an inquiry - but directed his anger at the settlers. "A settler must not raise his hand against a soldier or policeman," he said, "and the police deserve our full support."

The National Religious Party said it would also demand a national inquiry. NRP head MK Zevulun Orlev said that according to what he has learned, "most of the protestors exhibited only passive resistance, and yet despite this, the police used strong violence that led to the injuring of 200 people."The Yesha Council, as well, demands an investigation into the violence of yesterday. The organization will hold a large rally in Jerusalem this coming Sunday to demand as much.

Yesha Council leader Pinchas Wallerstein said, "There is no doubt that the police received instructions to hit us without provocation. Whoever was in the houses was hit, even if they just sat on the floor arm-in-arm. The police came with their clubs to break our bones."

As an example, Kiryat Arba resident Rabbi Shraga Orazi, 50, was in one of the houses - and was hit mercilessly precisely after he informed a Yassam policeman that he was ill. "We agreed beforehand that none of us would raise a hand to the police," Rabbi Orazi told Arutz-7's Ruth Avrahami, "and we would simply sit in our places... When the police burst in, they immediately began hitting us."

The rabbi, who suffers from asthma and type-1 diabetes, said, "I turned to one of the policemen and asked him not to hit me because I was sick. When he heard this, I saw his eyes light up, and he started to hit me with great zest, over and over."

Click here for Arutz-7's IsraelNN Television report on Rabbi Orazi.

The extremist Peace Now organization responded: "The demand for a commission of inquiry is miserable, unnecessary mistake."

In response, Yesha Council Director Avner Shimoni said, "If Peace Now thinks it's a mistake, then apparently they know something that the rest of the country does not." Peace Now was responsible for the original court suit that led to the destruction of the nine Amona homes.

Shimoni said that the Yesha Council will soon submit a Supreme Court petition demanding the destruction of over 30,000 illegal Arab-sector structures that have been declared illegal.

A Russian Neo-Nazi site appears proud to inform its readers of what it calls the "pogrom" in Amona. Headlining its story, "Massive Anti-Jewish Pogrom... in Israel," the site feature photos depicting some of the most extreme violence in Amona. One of the pictures is captioned, "These are not Russian Kosssaks - these are Israeli mounted troops.

"The site provides background for the story by explaining, "Israeli police stormed the Jewish settlement of Amona... The evacuation of this small settlement, numbering nine houses, established a few years ago with Sharon's consent, started with the confirmation of the Supreme Court. Citizens of Amona and Ultra-Right Jewish organizations, numbering 2,000 people, concentrated in Amona in its defense. Against them were arraigned 2,000 soldiers and about 3,000 police. In the end, the eviction transformed into a huge Jewish Pogrom, in which the role of the attackers was played by... Jews. We [hereby] bring to your attention to a photo essay of the eviction of Amona."

Twelve people are still hospitalized following yesterday's violence in Amona. MK Effie Eitam (National Union), spent the night in the hospital with a head wound, and was released this afernoon. Fifteen-year-old Yechiam Eyal of Psagot, who was rendered unconscious by the police violence, is now listed in moderate condition. The others are in light condition.

Thirty-four people were arrested yesterday, and 19 of them are still in prison. Four have already been indicted.

It's the Regime, Stupid

Washington Post:

By Robert Kagan

If an air and missile strike could destroy Iran's nuclear weapons program, it might seem the best of many bad options. But the likely costs outweigh the benefits.

Is the intelligence on Iran so much better than it was on Iraq? The Clinton administration launched Operation Desert Fox against Iraq in 1998 to degrade its weapons programs, and even today we don't know what it achieved. As President Clinton later put it, "We might have gotten it all; we might have gotten half of it; we might have gotten none of it. But we didn't know."

Would Desert Fox II in Iran, even on a larger scale, produce a very different result? The Pentagon can hit facilities it can see with relative confidence. But much of Iran's program is underground, and some of it we don't know about. Even if a strike set back Iran's plans, we would not know by how much. For all the price we would pay, we wouldn't even know what we'd achieved.

And we would pay a price. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the mullahs would declare victory, as Saddam Hussein did in 1998, and probably would gain some sympathy and admiration from the Muslim world and beyond. Instead of pushing for sanctions against Iran at the U.N. Security Council, the administration might be fending off resolutions censuring it for "aggression."

Then there is the prospect of Iranian retaliation: terrorist attacks, military activity in Iraq, attempts to close off the Persian Gulf shipping lanes and disrupt oil supplies. Unless we were prepared to escalate, ultimately to the point of taking down the regime, we could end up in worse shape than when we began.

But the inadequacy of the military strike option does not mean we can simply turn to diplomacy. Diplomacy by itself has no better chance of success. The present Iranian regime appears committed to acquiring a nuclear weapon. It has been undeterred by the prospect of international isolation or economic sanctions and apparently deems these hardships an acceptable cost. If so, even bigger carrots will not persuade it to forgo a program it considers vital to its interests. Fear of U.S. military action is probably the only reason Iran even pretended to negotiate with the Europeans (and a big reason why the Europeans have negotiated with Iran), but it has not been enough to stop their program.

We need to reorient our strategy. Our justifiable fixation on preventing Iran from getting the bomb has somehow kept us from pursuing a more fundamental and more essential goal: political change in Iran. We need to start supporting liberal and democratic change for an Iranian population that we know seeks both.

No one wants to see Iran get a bomb, but it does matter who is in power. We don't worry that France or Great Britain has nuclear weapons. We tolerate India's and Israel's arsenals largely because we have some faith that their democratic governments will not use them. Were Iran ruled by even an imperfect democratic government, we would be much less concerned about its weaponry. It might dismantle its program voluntarily, as did Ukraine and South Africa. But even if it didn't, a liberal and democratic Iran would be less paranoid about its security and therefore less reliant on nuclear weapons to defend itself.

The Bush administration, despite its doctrine of democratization, has not yet tried to apply it in the one place where ideals and strategic interest most clearly intersect. It has done little to push for political change or to exploit the evident weaknesses in the mullahs' regime. The steps are obvious: Communicate directly to Iran's very westernized population, through radio, the Internet and other media; organize international support for unions and human rights and other civic groups, as well as religious groups that oppose the regime; provide covert support to those willing to use it; and impose sanctions, not so much to stop the nuclear program -- since they probably won't -- but to squeeze the business elite that supports the regime.

Some worry about sparking another Hungarian-style uprising or Tiananmen Square massacre. True, the mullahs might quash dissident movements we support, just as they have quashed dissident movements we did not support. But the Iranian people would not be worse off than they are now, and if some want to risk their lives for freedom, who are we to tell them they shouldn't?

This doesn't mean giving up on diplomacy. A strategy aimed at changing the Iranian regime is entirely compatible with ongoing diplomatic efforts to slow Iran's weapons programs. It might even aid diplomacy, since Iran's leaders fear internal unrest more than external pressure. In the 1970s and '80s, the West pursued arms control while it supported dissidents and liberalization in the Soviet bloc. The one did not preclude the other.

But we shouldn't delude ourselves. Efforts to foment political change won't necessarily bear fruit in time to prevent Iran from acquiring a bomb. That may be the risk we have to take. But if this or the next administration decides it is too dangerous to wait for political change, then the answer will have to be an invasion, not merely an air and missile strike, to put an end to Iran's nuclear program as well as to its regime. If Iran's possession of a nuclear weapon is truly intolerable, that is the only military answer.

The nonmilitary answer in Iran is political change. That is where we should now be directing our energy, our diplomacy, our intelligence and our substantial economic resources. Yes, time is growing short, and partly because so many years have already been squandered. But better to start now than to squander more.

Robert Kagan, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund, writes a monthly column for The Post.

India, Israel Will Jointly Develop Long-Range Barak

DefenseNews:

The governments of India and Israel have finalized their biggest defense development agreement: The state-owned Defence Research and Development Laboratory (DRDL), Hyderabad, and Israeli Aircraft Industries (IAI) signed a pact Jan. 27 for the joint development and production of the long-range Barak air defense system for the Indian and Israeli militaries.

The agreement is based on joint investment by both companies to develop and manufacture unspecified numbers of Barak systems.

The initial co-development funding is about $350 million, of which IAI will finance 50 percent, for the next five years, a senior scientist of India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) said. Additional funding will be infused by both parties as needed.

Israel also has projected some requirements for long-range Barak air defense systems, and it could source missiles and other systems from India, he said.

The agreement paves the way to meet the immediate requirements of the Indian Navy, the scientist said. Under this agreement, the DRDL and IAI will develop six long-range Barak systems for India’s stealth warships. The Navy is procuring three such warships from Russia, and the remaining will be built by the state-owned Mazagon Docks.

DRDO chief M. Natrajan said Feb.1 that he would gladly announce any major joint development program allowed by the government, but would neither confirm nor deny the Barak agreement with the Israeli company.

Joseph Fishman, IAI’s acting corporate vice president for marketing and business development, said IAI is not authorized to make statements on defense programs under a confidential agreement with its Indian customers, but said that IAI is not averse to joint development programs with India.

A senior Indian Defence Ministry official said there will be a transformation in the requirements of air defense systems for the three Indian military services. Based on these projections and the high cost of air defense systems, the ministry has approved the initiatives under which Indian state-owned agencies can forge joint co-development and co-production ventures with foreign companies because the technology will remain in India.

The Army and Air Force also have projected requirements for long-range air defense systems for a credible nationwide command-and-control structure.

The Navy as a policy has decided that in the future it will only mount long-range air defense systems and surface-to-air missile systems on warships that are under construction or yet to be built.

The Navy has already mounted short-range Barak air defense systems on many of its warships, including the aircraft carrier INS Viraat.

Egypt predicts Iran will fill Palestinian cash gap

Reuters:

Egypt predicted on Wednesday that Iran would step in to fill the finance gap if the United States and Europe stop their aid to the Palestinian Authority.

"Iran will give them the money, I think," intelligence chief Omar Suleiman told reporters after talks between Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Suleiman was answering a question on what would happen if the Palestinians lose financial support from the West after the militant Hamas movement won parliamentary elections.

The United States and the European Union, main donors to the Palestinian Authority, have threatened to suspend aid to a Hamas government unless it recognizes Israel and renounces violence.

Israel took a first step on economic sanctions against the Palestinians on Wednesday when it decided to halt tax payments due to the Palestinian Authority.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit told a news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni: "We ask Israel to free all Palestinian tax money and we do not support the punishment of the Palestinian people."

Suleiman agreed. "I think it (suspending aid) will be a punishment for the people, which we don't want," he said.

Egypt Calls on Hamas to Recognize Israel

AP:

Two top Egyptian officials called on Hamas to recognize Israel, disarm and honor past peace deals Wednesday, the latest sign Arab governments are pushing the militant group to moderate after its surprise election victory.

Separately, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official said that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has told Egyptian officials he would hold off on asking Hamas to form the next Palestinian government until Hamas renounces violence.

The Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, cited Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman as saying that Abbas had made the decision after a meeting with Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak.

Suleiman could not immediately be reached to verify the statement. But earlier, he told journalists in Cairo that Egypt intends to tell Hamas leaders that they must recognize Israel, disarm and honor past peace deals. Hamas won Palestinian parliamentary elections in a landslide last week.

Mubarak's spokesman, Suleiman Awaad, also called on Hamas to recognize peace deals with Israel. Former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat "was able to change his position. There is nothing that prevents smart leaders from changing their positions to behave accordingly," Awaad said.

Hamas is under growing international pressure to renounce its violent ideology and recognize Israel's right to exist as a condition for receiving millions of dollars in foreign aid - the lifeline of the Palestinian economy. Western powers have said they will not fund a Hamas-led Palestinian government otherwise.

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said the group was still trying to determine whether Abbas had indeed posed such conditions. "President Abbas said on different occasions that he respects the result of these elections, and all the developments that followed the elections," he said.

And in Damascus, a senior Hamas official said the group would not change its policies toward Israel. "These conditions could not be accepted and the U.S. president should accept reality and facts ... He should deal with Hamas as it is," said Moussa Abu Marzouk, the deputy head of Hamas' political bureau.

The Hamas statement from Damascus came before the Egyptian officials' comments were made public.

In Cairo, Suleiman cautioned that it may take time to try to change the militant group's positions and may not work.

"Nobody will talk to them before they stop violence, recognize Israel and accept (peace) agreements," Suleiman said. "These are radical people. But we have to try to convince them to change their position. It's still difficult to make them change 180 degrees ... This might take six months or more. We will try."