Quick Takes: <i>News From Israel You May Have Missed</i>

Quick Takes: News From Israel You May Have Missed

By: Aaron Klein

Published: June 17th, 2009

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The Palestinian Authority has received signs from the U.S. that it shouldn’t take Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent major address seriously, a top PA official told this column.

Nimer Hamad, senior political adviser to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, also said the PA is not concerned about Netanyahu’s policies since Abbas relies on American support for key Palestinian demands.

During Netanyahu’s speech Sunday, the Israeli leader called for a demilitarized Palestinian state and said Jerusalem would always be united under Jewish sovereignty.

Hamad countered: “No matter what is the position of the Israeli government and no matter what are the statements of Netanyahu, what counts is what was promised to us by Obama, which is totally the opposite [of Netanyahu's positions].

“We received encouraging signs from the Americans that we should not take seriously into consideration Netanyahu’s speech,” Hamad said.

“The U.S. is committed to the evacuation of settlements,” he said. “We know from what we understand that also Jerusalem will be determined in the final negotiations that will take place on the basis of an international community that doesn’t recognize eastern Jerusalem as part of the state of Israel.”

Hamad claimed the Obama administration “understands that the Israeli policy is dangerous not only for the region but also for the U.S.”

He said Obama administration’s holds views that strongly differ from Netanyahu’s.

Separately, a top PA official, speaking to WND from Ramallah on condition of anonymity, said the Palestinians “never felt like we had a sympathetic administration like there is now in Washington.”

Former Mossad Chief On Obama And Iran:

‘I Am Really Worried’

President Obama’s “learning curve” regarding his policies toward Iran might buy Tehran enough time to produce nuclear weapons, Shabtai Shavit, former chief of the Mossad intelligence agency, warned in an exclusive WorldNetDaily interview.

“I do know that Obama is taking a very long learning curve experience in order to reach a conclusion about whether his thinking of diplomacy with Iran was right or wrong. I am really worried there will be a heavy price for us,” Shavit said.

“Until Obama is convinced personally that his policies may not work and until he has undergone the whole experience it may be too late,” he said.

Shavit served as director of the Mossad from 1989 through 1996.

Shavit spoke two days after the reelection of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whom the former Mossad chief referred to as “the most evil candidate.”

For A Change, Arabs Receive Eviction Notices

In an unusual move, Arabs who built illegally on Jewish-owned property in key sections of Jerusalem have been hand-delivered eviction notices.

The district containing the illegal houses, Kfar Akeb, consists largely of Jewish-owned land, but over the years Arabs have illegally constructed housing developments there resulting in an Arab majority.

Unless demographics change, the neighborhood seems slated to become part of an eventual Palestinian state. Israel’s previous prime minister, Ehud Olmert, cited the Arab majority as reason to give up the land, as have other Israeli leaders.

But last Thursday, Jerusalem activist Aryeh King distributed the eviction notices to eight private homes constructed illegally on Jewish-owned property. King holds the power of attorney to about 5.5 acres of Kfar Akeb land owned by five Israeli Jews. The notices gave the squatting Arabs seven days to vacate.

Now that the deadline has passed, King plans to bring a private security team to physically boot the Arabs within the next 23 days.

U.S.-Trained Officer Caught Helping Hamas

An officer in a U.S.-trained militia of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah organization was arrested yesterday after he was caught training militants from the rival Hamas terrorist group, according to information obtained by WND.

The officer, from Fatah’s national guard units, was arrested when he was caught training a Hamas cell in the northern West Bank city of Qalqiliya, Palestinian security sources said. Five Hamas members, all in their early 20′s, were arrested along with the officer, who lives in the West Bank city of Jenin, the security sources said.

The arrest highlights fears that Hamas may attempt an eventual takeover of the West Bank, just as it seized the Gaza Strip, and exposes what seems to be a trend of Hamas infiltration of Fatah militias.

The arrest also demonstrates the risk of providing U.S. training to Fatah, which American policy considers moderate even though Fatah maintains a military wing, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades that statistically is responsible for far more terrorism than Hamas. Many members of the Brigades serve openly in the U.S.-trained Fatah forces. Indeed, Brigades members consist of Fatah’s top militia officers.

Hamas Official Slams Netanyahu’s Speech

In an interview with this column, Ahmed Yousef, chief political adviser to Hamas in the Gaza Strip, claimed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a “war criminal” and denounced the Israeli leader’s major recent address as contradicting the policies of President Obama.

Yousef said: “All this doesn’t comply with what Obama suggested, which is to lay the foundations for a settlement to the Palestinian question…. All the things Netanyahu said are contrary to what Obama actually said in the speech in Cairo.”

Aaron Klein is Jerusalem bureau chief for WorldNetDaily.com. He appears throughout the week on leading U.S. radio programs and is the author of the book “The Late Great State of Israel.” Follow Klein on Twitter under the name “AaronKleinWND.”

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About the Author: Aaron Klein is Jerusalem bureau chief and senior reporter for WorldNetDaily.com. He is also host of an investigative radio program on New York's 770-WABC Radio, the largest talk radio station in the U.S., every Sunday between 2-4 p.m (CHANGE TO 7-9 p.m.). His website is KleinOnline.com