Qassams/Jimmy Carter - two mis-guided missiles! !

Fred Burton talks about the diversification of al Qaeda into a broadening out organization capable, eventually, of more diverse attacks. (See 1 below.)

Ne'eman delves into Olmert's thinking as it relates to accepting Qassam rocket attacks in the desperate hope that perhaps a civil war will cause the Palestinians to turn on each other. Meanwhile Olmert turned down Gen. Halutz's minimal plan for the IDF to thwart more Qassam attacks after two Israeli youths were seriously injured, while Islamic Jihad hopes their attacks will nullify any progress between Abbas and Olmert.(See 2 and 3 below.)

Is Iran going to transfer or share nuclear technology with Syria? One writer believes so and why not. (See 4 below.)

More explanation about Olmert's attitude towards Qassam rockets and their source of financing. (See 5 below.)

Why do I dwell on Qassam rockets and Jimmy Carter's book linking Israel to Apartheid? Is there a connection? I believe there is, even if unintentional. I will try and explain.

It is incongruous for a nation to even consider negotiating while constantly being attacked during a cease fire period. Yet, Olmert chooses, for whatever inexplicable reason, to do so. Inevitably most everyone believes Olmert is doing so to curry favor with EU nations whom, it is hoped, will then be less critical of Israel when it eventually is forced to go in and clean these terrorists out and destroy, if only for a brief period, their rocket capability. I believe it is wishful thinking because the longer Olmert waits the more the terrorists will have time to locate and inbed among the population and it will be Lebanon all over again. Diplomacy does not work when dealing with terrorists.

Carter's diatribe against Israel, linking it to Apartheid, lays the foundation that Israel is an illegitimate nation state capable of the total disregard of the rights and lives of others. Because he is an ex-president, whether effective or not, his book and theory lends credibility to those who share this warped, distorted viewpoint. Therefore, when Israel eventually responds in defense of its citizens, as one day it must, and, in the process, kills "innocent" Arab civilians, its acts will be seen by many in the light portrayed by Carter. Israel's defense of its people will be viewed thru the prism of Carter's false re-write of history and this is why he must be shown up as the dangerous fool that he is.

Carter readily associates with victims. He has a history of defending the "downtrodden" even when they are the ones doing the downtrodding. Carter sees himself as a victim and he is, but he is a victim of his own incompetence and mean-spiritedness. To justify his self-imposed victim hood status, he has distorted history to fit his neurotic psyche and since we live in an increasingly "Animal Farm World" what he writes is dangerous. (See 6 below.)

Dick



1) Al Qaeda in 2007: The Continuing Devolution
By Fred Burton

The theme of Stratfor's 2006 forecast for al Qaeda and the jihadist movement centered on the evolution -- or the devolution, really -- from al Qaeda "the group" to a broader global jihadist movement. This essentially was a shift from an al Qaeda operational model based on an "all-star team" of operatives that was selected, trained and dispatched by the central leadership to the target, to an operational model that encourages independent "grassroots" jihadists to conduct attacks, or to a model in which al Qaeda provides operational commanders who organize grassroots cells. We refer to this shift as devolution because what we are seeing now is essentially a return to the pre-9/11 model.

This shift has provided al Qaeda "the movement" broader geographic and operational reach than al Qaeda "the group." This larger, dispersed group of actors, however, lacks the operational depth and expertise of the core group and its well-trained terrorist cadre.

The metamorphosis continued in 2006, with al Qaeda announcing the merger of existing jihadist groups such as Gamaah al-Islamiyah (GAI) in Egypt and Algeria's Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC) and others in the Maghreb into their global jihadist umbrella organization. These groups have had long-standing links to al Qaeda, and the announcement of the mergers is really a formalization of the relationship, though these new nodes joined al Qaeda's formal network of affiliate groups in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the Sinai Peninsula and Afghanistan.

Since the announcements, these new groups have not yet demonstrated that they possess the ability to boost al Qaeda's operational effectiveness. We have seen no attacks that can be attributed to GAI, and perhaps the only attacks that can be attributed to the GSPC are the Dec. 11 attack against a bus carrying foreign oil workers and the simultaneous Oct. 30 attacks against two police stations in Algeria. Given this lack of results, the announcements ring somewhat hollow, as the mergers have not given al Qaeda the surge of momentum it might have wanted.

The major attacks in 2006 in Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia; Dahab, Egypt; Dubba and Marib, Yemen; and Damascus, Syria, were all conducted by existing regional nodes and not the main al Qaeda organization. These attacks did show a broad geographic reach stretching across the Middle East but, except for the Dahab attack, they were essentially all failures.

Overall, 2006 was not a good year for the al Qaeda nodes in Saudi Arabia and the Sinai. It also was a dismal year for the Iraq affiliate, whose charismatic leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in June. Twelve months have made a vast difference in the fortunes of the Iraq node. Last year at this time, al-Zarqawi made the headlines almost daily and his organization was conducting frequent and spectacular attacks. Now, following the death of al-Zarqawi, al Qaeda in Iraq has been largely marginalized and eclipsed by Iraqi Sunni and Shiite insurgent groups.

Going into 2007, we anticipate a continuation of this shift toward a movement -- though it will be important to watch for any signs of operational activity by al Qaeda the group, as opposed to its prodigious public relations efforts.

The Shift to Soft Targets

As we noted in January, the shift to the broader movement model allowed for an increase in the number of attacks, although the movement's lack of expertise was forcing it to focus its attacks against soft targets such as hotels, trains and subways. This shift resulted in a larger numbers of casualties than the more spectacular attacks against hardened targets. Indeed, the casualty count from jihadist attacks in the 52 months following 9/11 was more than double that of the 52 months prior -- and those numbers would be vastly increased if the deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan were included.

However, not as many attacks occurred in 2006 as we anticipated. In fact, the number of attacks and the casualties they generated were down for 2006. In many cases, such as Damascus, Abqaiq and Yemen, the attacks resulted in the deaths of more attackers than victims, and the only attack to produce a sizable death toll was in Dahab, where 24 people died. This trend in which attacks against tourist targets in Egypt produce the deadliest jihadist attack of the year continued from 2005, when the attack in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, killed 88 people. (Incidentally, that not only represents far more victims than in the Dahab attack, but also more than all of the 2006 attacks combined.) When Sharm el-Sheikh is combined with the 2005 attacks in Bali, Amman and London, jihadist militants produced far more deaths in 2005 than in 2006. (These statistics do not include attacks conducted in war zones or areas of insurgency such as Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel/Palestine, Chechnya/Russia, Sri Lanka or Kashmir/India.)

The only jihadist strike against a hardened target in 2006 was the failed attack against the U.S. Embassy in Damascus in September. A car bombing was directed against an employee of the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, but that attack happened a block away from the hardened facility. It was, however, the only one of the two to produce an American death.

Target Sets

As we said in January, al Qaeda the group has long been interested in striking financial targets, aircraft and chemical/petroleum plants. Because of that, and al Qaeda's demonstrated history of revisiting targets after failed or foiled attacks, it was logical to project that it would continue to attempt strikes against such targets in 2006.

The petroleum sector indeed was targeted in 2006, as the strikes against petroleum facilities in Abqaiq and Yemen, and against oil contractors in Algiers, demonstrate. Although no attack occurred against financial targets as we anticipated, we still believe that target set remains at risk for the future, along with the others.

Although authorities thwarted the plot to simultaneously destroy several airliners en route from London to the United States, it once again demonstrated that al Qaeda and the jihadist movement maintain a significant interest in airline targets. Details released in February on the Library Tower bombing plot provide another example of this fixation.

Disruption Strategy Continues

Once again in 2006 there has been no successful attack on U.S. soil -- though the thwarted airliner plot was definitely aimed at the United States. Likewise, the anticipated attacks in European locations such as the United Kingdom, Denmark, France and Italy failed to materialize -- again, not for lack of trying on the part of the jihadists.

The U.S. government and its allies have been successful over the past year in disrupting terrorist plots and plans in many locations. The strategy of disruption these countries are following is really quite simple: It is better to pick up an al Qaeda suspect on immigration fraud or another lesser offense than to investigate a smoking hole in the ground. Although there has been significant skepticism over the terrorist credentials of those responsible for some of these plots, such as the one involving the Miami Seven, the plots serve as a reminder that there are people who remain committed to striking the United States. Over the years, Islamist militants have proven to be resilient and adaptable in the face of adversity, and they will certainly continue to adapt.

It is important to remember that more than eight years elapsed between the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 9/11 attacks -- during which time al Qaeda and its jihadist network faced nothing approaching the level of pressure they have endured since then. There were several thwarted terrorist spectaculars between 1993 and 2001, and yet the jihadists persisted and eventually succeeded in carrying out a massive strike on U.S. soil.

Therefore, the string of law enforcement and intelligence successes since 9/11 does not rule out the possibility of another strike on U.S. soil in time. We believe the likelihood of such an attack will increase as memories of 9/11 dim and the public grows weary of the inconvenience and financial burden of increased security measures.

The Jihadist 'War College'

The forecast, which noted that the active armed struggles in Iraq, Afghanistan and the Caucasus still serve as a kind of "jihadist war college," predicted that its graduates would continue to share their training and experience upon returning to their countries of origin.

We already have seen a transfer of terrorism tactics and technology to Afghanistan, and we anticipate that this will continue in the future. In addition, the interpersonal connections that the militants make in places such as Iraq and Chechnya also will link them to the global movement in the same way the jihad in Afghanistan did for the preceding generation.



2) Strengthening the “Moderates”
By Yisrael Ne’eman

For about a month Israel has held to its “cease-fire” declared with the Palestinians. Since then over sixty Kassam rockets were fired into Sderot and the western Negev by different Palestinian factions but Israel did not respond. Other acts of good will towards the Palestinian Authority and its chairman or president, Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) include PM Ehud Olmert’s decision to unfreeze $100 million (out of $500 million) in monies held by Israel in taxes collected for the PA and to remove 27 roadblocks in the West Bank after the two met on Saturday night. It is hoped the funds will be used for humanitarian purposes and not fall into terrorist hands while at the same time strengthening Abu Mazen’s position in his confrontation with Palestinian PM Ismail Haniyah and the Hamas. The idea is to strengthen Fatah and the supposed “moderates”.

But the pressure is on Olmert to end the cease-fire and enter Gaza in a major military operation. The most immediate problem is the Kassams, but according to Israel’s intelligence community the most dangerous medium and long term threat is posed by the continuing highway of arms and ammunition arriving from northeastern Sinai. The Hezbollahization of the Hamas and Gaza is continuing uninterrupted - meaning that Palestinian civilians will be increasingly used as human shields as rockets and launchers will be stored in private homes once again forcing Israel to destroy them and kill supposedly “innocent” bystanders when doing so.

Leaving cynicism aside, there must be a reason for Olmert’s restraint and “good will” gestures besides his rather useless attempts to help Abbas. The Americans want to show “progress” on the Palestinian front, something demanded by Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia and hence Olmert is complying. By pursuing this policy Israel is gaining points with Europe and the Western media. The question is whether such credit is temporary or will it truly be remembered when an Israeli operation into Gaza becomes unavoidable.

But the heaviest consideration concerns the possibility of an outright Palestinian civil war exploding in Gaza (and perhaps the West Bank as well). Olmert and his advisors are not anxious to unify all Palestinian factions against Israel by taking military action, even if entirely focused on those terrorists firing Kassams at Israel. In other words, let the Palestinian internal conflict take its course, do not get involved and expect that their increased arsenals will lead to a level of violence where one side or the other will be victorious.

The whole question is an enormous gamble since no one knows what will happen first – a nursery school will take a direct hit by a Kassam or a Palestinian civil war will explode. Furthermore, as every day passes there are increasing amounts of advanced weapons flowing into the Gaza Strip which will certainly be used against Israel.

And just a few pointers for the future: Greater amounts of Kassams will be fired into Israel. Should the civil conflict turn into a civil war, the Hamas will be victorious. Israel will be forced into a wide ranging military operation in Gaza where Western media “good will” and most European support can be expected to evaporate when the first Palestinian human shields die as a result of stockpiling rockets in their living room.

3) Islamic Jihad: We are firing rockets in bid to sabotage Gaza truce
By Aluf Benn, Amos Harel, Mijal Grinberg and Yoav Stern

The Iranian-backed militant group Islamic Jihad is firing Qassam rockets at Israel with the intention of sabotaging the month-long Gaza truce and provoking Israeli retaliation, members of the group said Wednesday.

"That's one of the main reason for resuming [rocket] attacks," said Abu Ahmad, a spokesman for the group.

Meanwhike two rockets fired at Israel Wednesday evening landed south of Ashkelon. There were no injuries or damages in either incident.

An Islamic Jihad rocket attack Tuesday evening on the nearby Negev town of Sderot seriously wounded two 14-year-old boys and triggered the Israeli decision to resume targeting the rocket squads.

In the wake of the Tuesday night strike on Sderot, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz on Wednesday morning instructed the Israel Defense Forces to resume pinpoint operations targeting rocket launching cells in Gaza.

A short time later, another Qassam rocket struck an open area north of the western Negev town, causing no damage or injuries.

The decision by Olmert and Peretz essentially adopts the defense minister's proposal to alter the policy of restraint in the wake of ongoing fire on southern Israel.

"A directive has been given to the defense establishment to take pinpoint action against the rocket-launching squads," Olmert's office said in a statement, a day after two teenage boys were wounded, one of them critically, by a Qassam rocket that struck the western Negev town of Sderot.

The two met with senior military and intelligence officials to discuss the escalation of rocket fire across the Gaza border on Wednesday morning.

According to the Prime Minister's Office statement, the IDF has also been instructed to uphold the cease-fire in general. "In parallel, Israel will continue to maintain the ceasefire and work with the Palestinian Authority so that immediate steps are taken to halt the Qassam firings."

Government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said Israel would do its best to preserve the truce, even while attacking rocket-launching cells. "Israel has shown restraint," she said. "Israel will continue to be restrained, and we will only take pinpointed action against the launching cells."

Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh said following the decision that the military option cannot completely solve the Qassam rocket problem, and that diplomatic and economic steps were needed in the Gaza Strip, according to Israel Radio.

Responding to decision, Saeb Erekat, a senior aide to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, said maintaining the cease-fire was in the Palestinian national interest, calling on Palestinian militants to stop firing Qassam rockets.

"I also urge Israel to refrain from attacking the Palestinians and to be committed to the ceasefire," he said. "Our past experience taught us that violence begets violence and bullets beget bullets."

Hamas government spokeswoman Ghazi Hamad denounced the decision to
"continue their aggression against our people," but added: "We still believe that this agreement is alive, and both sides should respect this agreement because it is (in) the interest (of) our people."

Islamic Jihad, however, threatened to increase the rocket fire in response to the decision.

"Stop the attacks in the West Bank and Gaza Strip immediately or expect more rockets on Sderot and on Ashkelon and beyond," warned a leaflet issued by Saraya al-Quds, the military arm of Islamic Jihad.

"There will be no truce with the Israeli enemy at the expense of the blood of our people," the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades also threatened, the semi-official, semi-independent armed wing of President Mahmoud Abbas' opposition Fatah party.

A senior aide to Abbas warned the Israeli decision would "negatively affect" the outcome of Saturday's meeting between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

"What was decided in Israel will create an atmosphere that is not encouraging," Nabil Amr told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Peretz and senior IDF officials had called on Olmert to suspend the policy of restraint and let the army fire at Qassam rocket-launcher cells that can be identified during or shortly after operation.

"We cannot continue to restrain ourselves," Peretz told Olmert on Tuesday night. "We cannot let Jihad continue to do what it wants; we must take immediate action against the Qassams."

Peretz has been vocal in recent days about his dissatisfaction with the policy of restraint. He agrees with IDF officials who support identifying missile-launcher cells and destroying them during or immediately after a launch. Peretz believes the risk to Palestinian civilians is low if the IDF operations are confined to unpopulated areas used by terror cells, and that this would not end the cease-fire.

Military sources admitted that the cell responsible for Tuesday's missiles could not be located due to inclement weather. Military officials had warned since close to the beginning of the cease-fire that failure to respond to the attacks would cost Israeli lives.

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) told Israel Radio on Wednesday that the Israel Defense Forces must immediately reoccupy key areas of the Gaza Strip, including the Philadelphi Route along the Gaza-Egypt border, in order to prevent the ongoing Qassam rocket fire and arms smuggling.

"[The government] must take control of the areas from which Qassams are fired - this is not the entire Gaza Strip, it is not even a small part of the Gaza," said the former prime minister. "But it is a defined area. We know the Qassam [range] radius, and where they are firing them."

"[The government] must stop [arms] smuggling, by taking control of key areas," he said. When asked if this includes the Philadelphi Route, Netanyahu responded "definitely," although he said the military presence there would not necessarily be permanent.

Netanyahu also called on the government to work to bring about the fall of the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority government, and "halt all negotiations and all gestures, until a complete end to the terrorism."

"The way to overthrow the Hamas government is to strangle it," he said. "They were under a strangle-hold that almost brought about their collapse, you saw them in a civil war. And this strangle-hold was an economic one - they couldn't pay salaries."

"What has the government done?" he said, referring to the decision to transfer $100 million to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. "The government has opened the flow of money - not just from Israel, [although] $100 million is a lot of money - but also the flow of hundreds of millions of dollars from the Europeans, saving the Hamas government."

"That is a fundamental error, and an additional error is to declare a unilateral cease-fire that essentially allows them to fire at us and demonstrates weakness," he said.

National Infrastructures Minister Benjamin Eliezer echoed the defense minister's sentiment, telling Israel Radio: "We cannot restrain ourselves anymore. We've restrained ourselves, and it's good that we did, because the entire world saw that we did above and beyond [what was called for], but we cannot turn an entire town, excuse me, into a graveyard."

The former defense minister stressed, however, that he would only recommend the IDF resume targeting Qassam rocket cells, saying the military should not reoccupy parts of Gaza.

Qassam wounds two 14-year-old boys, one critically
Two boys, both 14, were injured on Tuesday night when a Qassam rocket landed in the street near where they were walking. Both were treated by Magen David Adom paramedics and taken to Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon.

A total of eight Qassams were fired at Israel Tuesday, the most in a single day since the cease-fire was declared about a month ago.

Late Tuesday night, hospital officials said that Adir Ghasad was in surgery and in critical condition, while Matan Cohen was in moderate to serious condition and in danger of losing his leg.

The hospital's director Dr. Shimon Sherf told Israel Radio on Wednesday morning that Ghasad's condition had stabilized.

"He arrived in very serious condition, in critical condition, [and] was barely able to maintain blood pressure," said Sherf. "He was full of shrapnel from head to toe, and after a lengthy surgery ... we were able to stabilize him. He is currently in recovery and maintaining blood pressure, and I hope he will make it through this trauma."

A Barzilai Hospital official told Israel Radio later Wednesday that Ghasad's life was no longer in any immediate danger, and he would be transferred to the intensive care unit.

"The second boy [Cohen] is stable, he is on a respirator, and he is maintaining blood pressure," said Sherf. "He has shrapnel in soft tissue in various parts of his body. Other than the amputation of four toes ... his condition is relatively stable." Cohen's condition is listed as moderate to serious.

According to the hospital official, Cohen will be transferred to Soroka Medical Center for observation.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for firing the missiles from the Gaza Strip at the western Negev town.

The incident was the most serious since a cease-fire was put into place, although more than 60 rockets have been fired during this period.

The IDF did not respond to the Qassams, observing the policy of restraint set by Olmert.

Another Sderot resident was slightly injured earlier this week by a Qassam.

One of the Qassams fired at Israel Tuesday landed in the industrial area in south Ashkelon, close to a strategic infrastructure installation. Another rocket landed south of the city. Four Qassams landed in open areas in the vicinity of Sderot, while another landed inside the city. Eight people were treated for shock as a result of that missile, which also damaged buildings and cars.

A mortar landed near an IDF base near the Gaza border, across from the center of the Strip.

Palestinian sources said that a Palestinian farmer in the northern Gaza Strip was shot by IDF soldiers. Ismai'il Ghaban, 27, was on land owned by his family, north of Beit Lahia, when he was reportedly shot in the neck and the knee. IDF sources say he was shot while causing damage to the border fence. Palestinians have recently dismantled large parts of the border fence in the area to sell the metal for scrap. IDF soldiers are permitted to shoot anyone damaging the fence.

A resident of Sderot who lives near where the two teenagers were hit Tuesday night described what happened when the missile fell in the street outside. "I was at home, my daughter was on the second floor and suddenly started screaming," Shimon Peretz related.

"I went downstairs and saw the boys. I got my neighbor, he's a medic, and performed first aid on them and then I called for an ambulance. I can't describe the moment when the children were screaming and panicking. Just this morning two Qassams fell here with no warning."

A friend of the two injured boys adds: "I heard the 'red alert,' I was at home, and then I heard a loud noise and suddenly saw my friends lying on the ground, one was lying there with no foot." He added that the home of one of the boys, Matan Cohen, had been hit previously by a Qassam.

Angry residents gathered at the site. Some people were in shock, others expressed anger at the government's impotence and at its failure to protect Sderot's inhabitants.

Two teenage girls who were in shock were evacuated by ambulance after refusing to return to their homes. The families of the two boys,� the Cohens and the Ghasads, � went to Barzilai to be with the injured, as did many friends of the families.

The residents expressed anger at Olmert's failure to visit Sderot and see the true situation of the city. One mother shouted that she cannot go to work because she has to stay at home with her children due to their great anxiety.4)Tehran, (SANA - Syrian news agency)-Chairman of the Iranian Expediency
Council Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani on Wednesday described as
important the Syrian-Iranian relations, calling for enhancing them in all
fields, particularly in the higher education field.

4) By Mazen S Younes:

"Tehran is ready to transform its new scientific and technical expertise to
the regional countries, particularly Syria," Rafsanjani said during a
meeting with Syrian Minister of Higher Education Ghiath Barakat.

"Scientific and cultural ties between Syria and Iran are not on a suitable
level if compared to the distinguished relations in other domains. time is
ripe now to boost the level of scientific and cultural ties between Tehran
and Damascus," he added.

Mr. Rafsanjani referred to the sensitive situations in Palestine, Iraq and
Lebanon, saying "the current situation requires more joint cooperation to
face the current challenges."

For his part, Minister Barakat expressed satisfaction over the scientific
development in Iran, particularly in the peaceful use of the nuclear energy,
saying "we seek to promote cultural, scientific and research ties to the
level of the political relations between the two countries."



5) Exclusive: Hizbullah paying terrorists for Kassam attacks
By HERB KEINON AND YAAKOV KATZ


Hizbullah is paying Palestinian splinter groups "thousands of dollars" for each Kassam rocket fired at the western Negev, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

According to Israeli intelligence information, Hizbullah is smuggling cash into the Gaza Strip and paying "a number of unknown local splinter groups" for each attack.

Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) sources said the Islamist organization paid several thousand dollars for each attack, with the amount dependent on the number of Israelis killed or wounded.

"We know that Hizbullah is involved in funding terrorist activity in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank," a security official said.

"Palestinian terrorists get thousands of dollars per attack. Sometimes they are paid before the attack and sometimes they submit a bill to Lebanon afterward and the money gets transferred a short while later."

According to the officials, while Islamic Jihad was behind most recent rocket attacks - including the one on Tuesday night that critically wounded 14-year-old Adir Basad in Sderot - several splinter terrorists groups are also involved and have received direct funding from Hizbullah.
According to security officials, Islamic Jihad gets the money via its headquarters in Damascus while Fatah's Tanzim terror group and the Popular Resistance Committees receive payment from Hizbullah in Lebanon.

All of the money originated in Iran, the officials said.

Government officials said Hamas was not currently involved in firing missiles, but was doing nothing to stop those who were.

Also Wednesday, the IDF Operations Directorate relayed new orders to the Southern Command following Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's decision earlier in the day to permit the army to once again target Kassam rocket cells.

This decision came after a meeting Olmert held with Defense Minister Amir Peretz, Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh, and other senior security officials.

Following the meeting, the Prime Minister's Office issued a statement saying that in light of the increase of rocket attacks, despite the cease-fire, "an instruction was given to the security forces to take pinpointed action against the launching cells."

At the same time, the statement said, Israel would continue to observe the cease-fire and to work with the Palestinian Authority to get it to take immediate action to stop the firing of the rockets.

Peretz told the cabinet on Sunday that there have been cases over the last month where the IDF spotted terrorists preparing to fire rockets, but - because of the cease-fire - did not act. The new policy would put an end to that situation.

In the past two weeks, OC Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Yoav Galant has recommended taking much more extensive action inside Gaza to stop the rocket fire, but on Wednesday - according to government sources - he was resigned to accepting the new policy.

According to the IDF, troops will not be allowed to operate inside the Palestinian Authority except when provided precise intelligence concerning a specific Kassam rocket cell.

According to government officials, Olmert argued at Wednesday's meeting that the cease-fire had strategic value, and that Israel's policy of restraint had earned it "a lot of understanding and appreciation" around the world that would provide "leeway" in the future.

Israel, according to officials in Olmert's office, can afford to continue to observe the "overall parameters" of the cease-fire, and can always take more forceful action down the line.

These officials also said that even when Israel did employ more force in Gaza it was unable to stop the rocket fire, and that the 64 rockets that have fallen during the monthlong cease-fire were only one-quarter of the number of rockets fired in the month preceding the agreement.

Olmert has argued in recent days that a strong military response would only unite Hamas and Fatah.

Islamic Jihad spokesman Abu Hamza alluded to this when he expressed the hope that renewed fighting with Israel would help end internal Palestinian violence in the Gaza Strip.

A Kassam rocket hit near Sderot after the security meeting. Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility, with Abu Hamza saying it was a response to Israel's arrest of operatives in the West Bank, which is not covered by the cease-fire.

According to the new orders, the IDF is allowed to fire at Kassam cells before and after they launch rockets at Israel. The rules of engagement are dependant on intelligence, primarily on the location of the cell and whether there is a possibility that Palestinian civilians would be harmed. Terrorists often use urban areas to launch sites the rockets.

"We are aware of the sensitivity of the situation," said an officer in the Southern Command. "We do not want to cause diplomatic problems."

According to the officer, the IDF is also allowed to target Kassam launchers if no people are present. Based on the government decision, the IDF will continue to refrain from targeting Kassam workshops and will only fire at people if they are "ticking bombs" - terrorists on their way to, or in the midst of, an attack. Armed gunmen who approach the Gaza security fence were also, the officer said, legitimate targets.

"When there is a danger, we will not stand idly by but will open fire," he said. The IDF plans to utilize the air force to target the Kassam cells and launchers.

"The terrorists need to feel like they are being hunted," said one officer. "We intend to make that happen."

6)Jonathan Gurwitz: Carter's take on Mideast unfair, but not unexpected.

Being a former president does not make one infallible on issues of foreign policy. A month after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Herbert Hoover's book "America's First Crusade" hit bookstands. Here is how Time magazine greeted the book's first run:

"Last week, of all times, sincere, stubborn, tactless Herbert Hoover, of all people, published a book. Of all books, it was the most untimely. It told for the umpteenth bitter time how Britain — now a life-or-death ally of the U.S. — and France cheated the U.S. out of its just deserts at the peace conference of Versailles."

Nor does a Nobel Peace Prize immunize its recipients against moral failure. Witness Yasser Arafat.

So there is nothing exceptional about the fact that as Iran's leader plots to perfect a Holocaust he denies ever took place, sincere, stubborn and tactless Jimmy Carter has published a book that for the umpteenth bitter time tells the story that Israel has cheated the Palestinians out of their homeland.

And it's not surprising that Carter, who in his White House prime warned of "an inordinate fear of communism" before the Soviets invaded Afghanistan, should at 82 be so spectacularly wrong in his moral assessment of the Middle East.

As much has been made of the title of Carter's book as its substance — and appropriately so. "Palestine: Peace not Apartheid" betrays a repugnant rejection of truth and balance before the reader ever gets to the first page.

More than 1 million Arabs are citizens of Israel, constituting 20 percent of the Israeli population. They enjoy civil and political liberties, access to health care and education unimaginable in the Arab world.

There are currently 12 Arabs elected to the 120-member Israeli Knesset representing Arab nationalist, communist and Islamic parties. There is an Arab justice on the Israeli Supreme Court. This is apartheid?

The argument is not that Israel is perfect, that Israeli Arabs are the equals of their Jewish neighbors in social and economic spheres or that discrimination is nonexistent. But given the perpetual Arab siege Israel has lived under, its efforts to achieve equality are fairly remarkable.

In response to widespread condemnation of his mendacious title, Carter explained that the apartheid reference applies only to the territories Israel occupied during the Six Day War. Here Carter employs a favored tactic of apologists for Arab violence and extremism: ignoring history.

The Palestinian-Israeli conflict begins for Carter in 1967. Forgotten is the complete Arab rejection of the 1947 U.N. partition that would have created Palestinian and Israeli states. Unmentioned are 18 years of Jordanian occupation of the West Bank and Egyptian occupation of the Gaza Strip, during which Arabs might have created a Palestinian state.

Carter doesn't do much better in the post-1967 era. He falsely explains the circumstances of the Six Day War. He deplores the building of Israeli settlements, but ignores Israeli efforts from day one to exchange land for peace, efforts that were met by the Arab League's infamous declaration of three "nos" on Sept. 1, 1967: No recognition of Israel, no negotiations and no peace.

He mentions in passing Israel's destruction of Iraq's nuclear reactor, though not Saddam Hussein's threat to Israel. He condemns Israel's construction of a security barrier, but fails to examine the terrorist attacks that necessitated it or the fact that the barrier has saved both Israeli and Palestinian lives. And on and on.

Of course there is apartheid in the Middle East, directed at non-Muslims and non-Arabs in the region. Saudi Arabia proudly boasts Muslim-only roads, hotels and restaurants. The entire cities of Mecca and Medina are off-limits to non-Muslims. Try to build a church on the Arabian Peninsula, or a synagogue? Please.

About the Arab campaign of extermination against the black Africans of Sudan or the annihilation of ancient Jewish communities across the Arab world, Carter says ... nothing.

If silence is the ally of injustice, then Jimmy Carter is one of oppression's best friends.