1. Britain Bans Israeli Citizens In Yesha from Embassy Functions

Britain has backed down from a previous stand that it is important to keep up communication with Jewish Israeli citizens in Judea and Samaria (Yesha), and it has blacklisted them from events at the embassy. Three Israeli citizens from areas beyond the 1949-1967 border recently were invited to attend an embassy birthday party at the ambassador's house in honor of the birthday of Queen Elizabeth.

Senior Palestinian Authority (PA) negotiator Saeb Erekat protested, saying that "the settlements are illegal and the European policy has not changed. To invite the [representatives of] settlements to parties--I think the British government should answer this question."

A spokesman for the embassy replied, "In a way, it's very important for us to hear from them what's going on in the settlements." Last September, British Ambassador Tom Phillips began a campaign to build ties with Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria. British officials explained that the embassy had not changed its political stance regarding Jewish communities in Yesha, but wanted to build a relationship with local Jewish leaders.

However, British Member of Parliament Crispin Blunt also complained about the Jewish Israelis participating in an official function, and the embassy quickly changed its tune.

MP Blunt, a pro-Arab legislator who works closely with Arab lobbies, wrote the Foreign Office that inviting people from Judea and Samaria indicates a "weakening in the government’s long-held position that settlements were illegal and an obstacle to peace. Entertaining the pioneers of this colonization movement has given the strong impression that Britain tacitly endorses it or no longer objects to it."

The Foreign Office promised MP Blunt that the Israeli citizens from Judea and Samaria would not grace any more official embassy functions. It was not clear if the ban includes French Hill, Gilo and other suburban Jerusalem neighborhoods that Britain considers to be settlements.

2. Post-Disengagement: Guided Missiles, 10 Million Bullets

Three years after the Disengagement program that ended the Jewish presence in Gaza, Hamas has amassed an arsenal of guided missiles and 10 million bullets.

Hamas has equipped its new army with a massive amount of weapons since the government carried out its Disengagement program, forcing Jews out of the Gaza region and withdrawing all Israeli soldiers from the area. In the past year alone, 175 tons of explosives, precision guided missiles and, thousands of machine guns and 10 million rounds of ammunition have reached Hamas, according to intelligence estimates reported by Der Spiegel.

Israel insisted that the halt in weapons smuggling is part of the current temporary ceasefire, but smuggling continues, the German publication said. 

Earlier this week, intelligence officials said that four tons of explosives recently were smuggled into the hands of the rapidly growing Hamas army, which is estimated to include more than 10,000 terrorists. However, the amount is a tiny fraction in the arsenal of Hamas, which has been intensifying training sessions and organizing its army on the Hizbullah model in anticipation of a confrontation with the Israeli Defense Forces.

Smuggling through tunnels has become a way of life for Gaza residents, and halting the smuggling would further devastate the economy. Five thousand Arabs work in the tunnels, Der Spiegel estimated.

Carrying out the ceasefire condition to halt smuggling would hurt the smugglers' empire. Several dealers in contraband were behind the rocket firing on Israel two weeks ago because they wanted the government to continue to close off the Gaza crossings. "The ceasefire may be good for the people of Gaza, but not for us," says Abu Yakub, assistant to millionaire Abu Ibrahim, described as "king of the tunnels."

Egypt, in an effort to prove to Israel and the United States that it is fighting smuggling, occasionally discovers and blows up a tunnel, but each one often has several different exits, making the sealing of one of them ineffective.

In a commentary on the tangled maze of Middle East thinking, Abu Yakub told Der Spiegel, "It's fine with the Israelis for Hamas to remain strong in Gaza, because it means that no one forces them to seriously negotiate a peace plan."

3. Energy: The Answer Is Blowing in the Wind

The government has granted a permit for the Mei Golan Wind Energy Development Company to go ahead with a $500 million project for a wind farm over a 140-kilometer (87 mile) area. Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor) approved the project, which had been authorized by the Public Utilities Authority, Globes reported.

Mei Golan built Israel's first wind farm 16 years ago in the northern Golan. It has 10 wind turbines and generates six megawatts, most of the electivity being used by local factories.

The new project is designed to generate 400 megawatts.

The soaring price of crude oil has been the idea of wind turbines more feasible economically. Several wind turbines have been operating elsewhere, with one on Kibbutz Ma'aleh Gilboa, located on the Gilboa hills above Beit Shean. An experimental wind turbine in the Southern Hevron Hills was abandoned several years ago because of high maintenance costs.

Studies have been carried out to build other wind farms to utilize heavy winds in the Golan and the Southern Hevron Hills, where winds often reach gale force velocity.

4. Israel Frees Jailed Hamas Leaders

Israel has begun to free Hamas leaders who were rounded up by security forces following the abduction of IDF Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit two years ago.

On Thursday, Jerusalem freed the mayor of Shechem, who has been held in administrative detention for two years.

Also freed was a local businessman who is connected with a company that Israeli officials say has been linked to terrorists. The businessman was arrested three weeks ago in a roundup of several storeowners who helped fund Hamas.

A day earlier in Hevron, Israel released former Hamas minister Issa Jabari, whose family placed 7,000 shekels ($1,970) as bail for his release. He was one of dozens of Hamas officials arrested in a roundup after IDF Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit was kidnapped two years ago.

At the beginning of the week, a judge ordered the government to free Omar Abdel Razak, a former Hamas minister. "The judge believed it was enough, the period that he served in prison," said a second former Hamas minister.

The government has denied that releasing the leaders is connected with a deal to free Shalit.

More Terrorists to Be Freed by Month’s End
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni agreed Wednesday in a meeting with Palestinian Authority Chairman and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas to free more than a hundred PA terrorists by the end of this month.

According to Olmert spokesman Mark Regev, the decision was made “to strengthen the negotiation process.” 

Regev denied the planned release was an attempt to divert attention from Abbas's demand that Israel free terrorist Marwan Barghouti, who is serving five life terms in prison for helping to direct deadly attacks against Israelis.

Barghouti is considered the most popular figure in the PA and has consistently run far ahead of others in polls.

Although Regev declined to say how many terrorists Israel had decided to free, PA negotiator Saeb Erekat told reporters after the meeting that 150 prisoners are involved in the offer.

Likud Knesset Member Gidon Saar charged that the government is irresponsible for offering to free terrorists without any stated benefits in return.

Miki Goldwasser to Olmert: ‘Come Back to Your Senses’
The mother of kidnapped and murdered IDF reservist Ehud Goldwasser advised Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on the Israeli Hebrew website Ynet Thursday to "come back to your senses" and stop making goodwill gestures to the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Miki Goldwasser wrote the day after Prime Minister Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni offered to free an unspecified number of Arab terrorists.

"A gesture for what?" she wrote. "I was crying after I heard it. The grave of my son is still fresh. The pain is terrible. Yet despite this, I cannot but think all the time about Aviva Shalit, Gilad’s mother, who needs to cope with oh-so-humanitarian Israeli gestures while her own son is held in cellars of horror."

Goldwasser said she wants talks with Hamas to advance, but did not state what Israel should offer to secure the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

The bodies of her own son and that of his fellow reservist, Eldad Regev, were returned last month, two years after they were kidnapped and murdered by Hizbullah terrorists. Israel freed five Lebanese terrorists, including child killer Samir Kuntar and four Hizbullah guerillas in return for the bodies.
 

5. Barak: Demolish Home of Merkaz HaRav Murderer

Defense Minister Ehud Barak gave instructions Wednesday to begin the process of demolishing the home of Ala Abu Dheim, the lone gunman who slaughtered eight young students at the Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem earlier this year.

Abu Dheim, a familiar face in the neighborhood of the yeshiva who used to drive local children to and from school, carried out the attack just hours before the boys were to begin a party to celebrate the joyous holiday of Purim.

After quietly carrying his weapons and ammunition into the school in a cardboard box, he burst into the library, and began firing at students who were still studying in the room, shooting the boys in the head once they were wounded to ensure their deaths.

The decision to demolish of the Abu Dheim home, in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukabar, was reached upon the recommendations of officials from the Home Front Command, the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and the Israel Police.

The decision allows the family seven days within which to file an appeal against the demolition with the Home Front Commander, Major-General Yair Golan.

The family will also have further recourse if Golan rejects the petition: it will then have an additional week in which to file an appeal directly with the High Court of Justice.

The government has not yet made a decision on whether to demolish the home of the first of two Arab terrorists who used bulldozers as weapons with which to murderer Israeli civilians in Jerusalem last month.

6. Female Land of Israel Activist Freed After 4 Months

Rivka Meirchik, arrested during a violent eviction from a Jewish neighborhood in Samaria, was freed on Wednesday after spending four months in jail.

The 29-year-old woman, a resident of Kiryat Ata near Haifa, was arrested during one of the violent evictions of the Shvut Ami startup neighborhood, near Shilo, over four months ago.  Like others before her, she refused to recognize the authority of a Jewish court system in the Land of Israel that itself refuses to recognize Jewish rights to the Land. 

Meirchik therefore did not post a bond guaranteeing her presence at future court sessions, nor did she cooperate in any way with the legal system. 

The court system responded in kind, refusing to release her from prison, refusing at least once to set a future court date, and occasionally holding her in solitary confinement without visitation and phone rights.

Nearly a month ago, Kfar Saba Magistrates Court Judge Clara Rejenino handed down the verdict: Guilty of trespassing and of attacking - biting - the policeman who arrested her. 

After 3 Months, Judge Takes 1 Month to Write 2-Month Sentence
Inexplicably, says Attorney Aviad Visouly, who represented Meirchik for parts of the legal proceedings, the judge took nearly a full month to write the sentence - "despite knowing that Rivka had already been in prison for three months, and that the sentence was only two months!" 

Visouly told IsraelNationalNews that Meirchik can, if she wants, demand compensation for wrongful imprisonment for the two extra months she sat in prison. He added that had she been found innocent, she would not have been able to demand this.

No Restrictions on Return to Yesha
Public Defender Attorney Aliza Kashkash-Uzeri, who also represented Meirchik, said the judge issued no punishment for the trespassing clause.  In other similar cases, the defendants have been restricted from returning for various periods to areas of Judea and Samaria. 

Visouly said that Meirchik's rights were continually violated, in that she was not brought to court often enough, and because the Supreme Court did not act quickly enough to accept his appeal regarding wrongful imprisonment. 

Meirchik followed the pattern set by previous arrestees in the struggle for the Land of Israel - most notably mother-of-ten Ettie Medad, whose husband Shmuel Medad heads the Honenu Legal Rights Organization. Ettie spent 25 days in prison in 2005.  In addition, teenager Tzviya Sariel spent nearly four months in prison this year, and several ulpana yeshiva high school girls were imprisoned for a month shortly before that.  All were arrested while engaging in pro-Land of Israel activities.

None of the above agreed to recognize the courts' right to try them on charges related to supporting the Land of Israel, and they were ultimately freed from prison after their cases were widely publicized.

Jerusalem-based Human Rights activist Irving Gendelman sharply criticized the Kfar Saba Magistrates Court for its handling of the Meirchik case. He noted that the "Judge sent Rivka Meirchik to jail for another month deeming her refusal to cooperate with the Police 'an idealogical crime.' This represents a most bizarre statement absent of any legal or judicial authority but rather a statement lacking judicial acumen frought with political overtones."

In a letter to the Minister of Justice, Gendelman added, "This cruel and unusual punishment before any indictment may have been brought about because she refused to cooperate with the police. Again, it is apparent that the Kfar Saba Magistrates Court judges are ill-equipped to understand a basic concept embedded in democratic societies:  namely, the right against self incrimination. If there is an allegation of a commission of a crime,  it is for the prosecution to bring all evidence against the alleged offender. The alleged offender does not have to cooperate in the process."

7. Hamas To Boycott Egyptian Talks on Shalit

Hamas leaders declared Thursday they are boycotting indirect talks with Israel that have been held towards freeing kidnapped IDF Staff Sgt. Gilad Shalit. However, Fatah officials in the Palestinian Authority (PA) said Wednesday that Hamas terrorists are lying when they say they are not sitting down with Egyptian mediators.

Defense Ministry political-security bureau director Amos Gilad traveled to Egypt Thursday to continue negotiations for Shalit’s release.

Hamas said it will not join the negotiations until Israel frees Hamas political leaders, agrees to open the border at Rafiah and promises to carry out conditions of the temporary ceasefire.

Israel has stated that the tahadiyeh, or temporary truce that began June 19, specified that the Egyptian border at Rafiah will only be opened on the condition that Shalit is freed. Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai reiterated that stance earlier this week, saying that Israel would not open the crossing until Shalit, abducted by Hamas two years ago, is returned.

“Forget about it,” he said flatly during a tour of the Kerem Shalom Crossing near the spot where Shalit was taken hostage on June 25, 2006. “Unequivocally, opening the Rafiah Crossing and the crossing of Palestinians into Egypt is conditional on the release of Gilad Shalit.”

In a rare show of consistency and solidarity, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni’s bureau issued a statement several days earlier with exactly the same language.

“The opening of the Rafiah Crossing must be linked to Gilad Shalit, and if it is opened this must be done in coordination with Palestinian Authority forces in a manner that prevents the strengthening of Hamas,” it read.

8. ‘Sniper’ System Scanning Skies for Enemy Aircraft

The Israeli Air Force has acquired a new electro-optical system capable of spotting an aircraft hundreds of kilometers away.

The IAF’s Air Defense Forces installed the system, called “Sniper” late last month, but delayed showing it off to reporters until this week at an air base in Palmachim.

The system includes two cameras with night-vision capability that allows one to identify and track aircraft—or a missile—flying at top speeds hundreds of kilometers away. 

The “Sniper” is used as an adjunct system to the American-made Patriot and Israeli-made Arrow defense systems used to intercept incoming ballistic missiles.

Developed by a group of three Israeli defense firms, the system has been reserved for use in the Jewish State alone.

An upgraded version of the Arrow system, the Arrow-3, is currently in development; the system would stop missiles at a high altitude, and at a distance far from the civilian population. It is expected to make its debut sometime in the next six or seven years.

Also on Tuesday, the IAF unveiled prototypes of the missiles that will be used in two anti-missile systems that are expected to start operating by 2010 – the Iron Dome and David’s Sling.

The Iron Dome, being developed by Rafael Military Industries Ltd., has successfully passed its repeated tests over the past several months, with all systems deemed “Go.” The IDF is currently in the process of determining who will staff the Iron Dome batteries, designed to intercept short-range rockets, when operational.

By 2012-2013, David’s Sling is expected to join the Iron Dome in protecting Israel’s skies. The system is designed to intercept medium-range rockets, like the Katyushas that struck the port city of Ashkelon earlier this year.

9. 'Kadima is the Most Corrupt Party in Israel'

Kadima Minister Meir Sheetrit declared Wednesday that the recruitment of members to Kadima is even more corrupt than "in the blackest days of the Likud." Danny Danon, head of World Likud, explained in an interview to Israel National News that when Kadima was formed, its founders presented it as a "clean" party: "Ariel Sharon, Tzipi Livni and Shaul Mofaz said that this would be a new party with new ethics," Danon said. "What we are seeing today is that Kadima is becoming the most corrupt party in Israel."

10. County Secretariat Rejects Migron Compromise

Am imminent threat of destruction this very month, as promised by the State to the Supreme Court, hovers over Migron's 45 families - with grave ramifications for the rest of Yesha.

The hot-potato saga of the "unauthorized outpost" of Migron passed another milestone on Wednesday, when the Binyamin Regional District secretariat rejected a plan to relocate Migron to Adam.  The proposal was rejected by a large majority.

The decision was taken in keeping with the "Greater Land of Israel" approach that Jewish towns must not be destroyed.  It must still be approved by the Binyamin Regional Council, however - and even then the national government will have the final word.

The story of Migron (Samuel I 14,2 and Isaiah 10, 28) began in 1999 when its first settlers arrived, but it became an official outpost only in March 2002.  Like many other Jewish communities over the past several decades, Migron never received all its written permits, but its construction was encouraged and rushed along by many national and local government offices. In particular, a road was paved, caravans and playgrounds were stationed at the site, security and other help was provided. All in all, six different government ministries provided aid to Migron during its early years.

The welcome sign at the town's entrance announces its mission statement: "Migron, a communal town, was founded on the 19th of Adar 5762 [March 3, 2002], despite difficulties - out of the belief in the Eternity of Israel. The force that drives us is the knowledge that the unity of Nation, Faith, and Land brings peace and redemption. Welcome." 

Peace Now Steps In
The radical left-wing Peace Now organization sought out Arabs who claimed they owned land in Migron, and legal proceedings were then begun against Migron. The bottom line of this process, as of now, is that the State of Israel informed the Supreme Court, earlier this year, that it would evacuate the Jews of Migron by this month. 

Easier said than done, however.  An attempt to destroy Migron in the end of 2003 fizzled out when it became clear that thousands of people would arrive on the scene to oppose the destruction. The government's fears of out-of-control violence were proven right two years later in Amona - where only nine houses, most of them unoccupied, were destroyed.  Migron today numbers 45 families.

State Wishes to Avoid Tisha B'Av Connotations
The State was supposed to present to the Supreme Court a "progress report" on its plans this week, but has asked for an extention until next week - after the fast of Tisha B'Av.  Observers say the State was anxious to repeat the experience of three years ago in which the destruction of Jewish towns coincided with the day that commemorates the destruction of the two Holy Temples.  The Disengagement/expulsion from Gush Katif and northern Shomron began in 2005 during the week of Tisha B'Av.

Though the Yesha Council stood firmly against any attempt to destroy Migron in 2003, today it favors compromise - specifically, a plan to relocate the 45 families to Adam, a growing community north of Jerusalem and about four kilometers due south of Migron. 

Residents Oppose Yesha Council Compromise
The residents of Migron, for their part, are united against this idea.  A vote taken yesterday in the town stated unanimously, with one abstention, that the Yesha Council does not represent them in this matter.

"We refuse to consider any proposal of relocation," said Gideon Rosenfeld, the head of the Migron secretariat, to Arutz-7. "Relocation is just another word for destruction. This is a thriving community, which has received help from many different government bodies, and there is no reason or justification to destroy it. The fact that Peace Now went to the Supreme Court against us - first of all, we have plenty of legal claims as well, involving forging of documents, and our documentation of our purchase of properties here - yet the Supreme Court dismissed us."

"Not to mention," Rosenfeld continued, "that it is quite unheard of that Peace Now went to the Supreme Court with this; property disputes are supposed to be judged in local courts, not the country's highest.  It must be that Peace Now knew what it was doing when it went directly to the Supreme Court - and this was proven correct."

Binymain Regional Council to Decide
The refusal by the Binyamin secretariat to consider relocation gives a boost to the Migron residents, but the decision must still be approved by the Binyamin Regional Council.  The Council is expected to convene in the coming days, and will make a decision after hearing leading rabbis and settlement leaders. 

Whatever decision it makes, however, may not matter to the government, whose promise to destroy the community this month still stands.  One possibility is that a compromise will be reached, over the heads of the Migronites, stating that they will be relocated - but only after houses are already built and ready for occupancy.  This could take months or years, Yesha Council sources say.

What About Ofra?
Migron's Rosenfeld says that even such a decision could have grave ramifications for many other Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria.  "Ofra, for instance," he noted, referring to one of Yesha's oldest and largest Jewish communities, with close to 3,000 residents. "There are hundreds of homes there, and Peace Now has already begun claiming that they were built on private Arab land.  If the government wants to solve this problem, as it has over the course of decades, it can."

11. Sound the Bagpipes: First Jewish Tartan and Kosher Kilt

A new kosher kilt for Jews in Scotland is blue and white and adheres to the Torah prohibition against mixing linen and wool.

The first kosher Scottish kilt, made completely of wool in keeping the Torah prohibition against mixing wool and linen, soon will be available with a special blue and white tartan dedicated to the Jewish community in Scotland. The tartan also will be used for Kippot (skullcaps), according to the Scotland Herald.

The idea was dreamed up by dentist Dr. Clive Shmulian, who thought about a Jewish tartan while wearing his Flower of Scotland tartan kilt. "Our tartans can be worn by anybody linked to Judaism or Israel, so we expect interest from expats and Jewish people in Scotland," he said. All profits from sales of the kilts will be donated to charity.
 
The tartan features a blue pattern with intersecting lines of red and gold, and was designed with Jewish heritage in mind, Chabad Rabbi Mendel Jacobs said. "The blue and white represent the colors of the Israeli and Scottish flags, with the central gold line representing the gold from the biblical Tabernacle, the Ark of the Covenant and the many ceremonial vessels. The silver is from the decorations adorning our Torah scrolls, and the red represents the wine we use for Kiddush.”

Jews have resided in Scotland for more than three centuries without their own tartan. Rabbi Jacobs, who may be the only Scottish-born rabbi in the country, said that the new tartan gives the Jewish community special pride.
 
"Scotland has a rich tapestry of culture and history, Rabbi Jacobs said, noting that the first Jewish resident of Edinburgh was recorded in 1691."When England was exiling its Jews in the Middle Ages, Scotland provided a safe haven from English and European anti-Semitism."

Stanley Lovatt, chairman of the JewishNational Fund in Scotland, helped raise cash for the project. "I think this is a wonderful idea. I think it is innovative and novel. It's more than likely that I'll get a kilt myself," he told the Herald.

"Those of us that were born in Scotland are very proud to wear the kilt and be associated with tartan and we wear it with pride. I know, having worn tartan abroad, that it creates an incredible reaction."