Washington demands Iran's urgent and unconditional release of British sailors
March 28, 2007, 9:33 PM (GMT+02:00)
President Bush gave his full backing to PM Blair in the crisis after they spoke by telephone Wednesday night. The US statement adds that the US military maneuver in the Gulf is completely unrelated to the capture of the British personnel, having been planned as far back as January. Earlier, the White House spokesperson said there is no escalation of tensions “on our part' with Iran
DEBKAfile, Political Analysis, Espionage, Terrorism, Security
March 28, 2007, 7:07 PM (GMT+02:00)
At his first appearance before the Knesset foreign affairs and security committee, Wednesday, March 28, Lt.-Gen Gaby Ashkenazi did not specify what solution he had in mind, but it was presumed to be military. The chief of staff declared: What happened in the Lebanon war will not happen to the IDF again.
The general said one of his first priorities in the immediate future is to block the transfer of terrorist weapons and technology from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank.
DEBKAfile's military sources estimate that Ashkenazi may be too late. The technology for the manufacture of missiles and weapons is already located in the West Bank. What remains to be done is to prevent the transfer of sophisticated hardware.
March 27, 2007, 8:43 AM (GMT+02:00)
These words were spoken 24 hours before the Saudi peace plan was presented to the Arab League summit in Riyadh and Hamas PM Ismail Haniyeh takes his seat alongside Mahmoud Abbas at the head of the Palestinian delegation.
March 26, 2007, 11:56 PM (GMT+02:00)
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Our Arab sources reveal that the two conditions will be incorporated in the final resolutions approved by the Arab League summit in Riyadh on Thursday.
1. Israel must halt Jewish immigration so that the Israelis leaving the country or revoking their citizenship are not replaced by newcomers.
2. The international community must condemn Israel's High Court of Justice for authorizing targeted assassination of Palestinians in cases of security threats. Arab justice ministers will lobby international judicial bodies to elicit this condemnation.
Israel Goes through the Motions of a Home Front Drill
DEBKAfile Special Report
March 19, 2007, 10:40 PM (GMT+02:00)
The warning sirens wailed across central and southern Israel Tuesday, March 20 purportedly to prepare the most densely populated parts of the country for unconventional terrorist strikes and mega-attacks, rocket strikes and missile attacks on three fronts. The official announcement promised the incorporation of lessons drawn from the Lebanon war when more than a million Israeli civilians were blasted by 4,000 Hizballah rockets for 33 days.
Monday, the day before the exercise, the new chief of staff Lt. General Gaby Ashkenazi called his first general meeting of the IDF's high command, announcing he would present next year's work schedule and his “vision for the future.'
DEBKAfile's military sources
would advise Gen. Ashkenazi to concentrate on more urgent practical tasks
because the public needs some convincing that the various branches of the
Olmert government, including the military, are seriously setting in motion...
In full
Maranatha!
Deborah
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