2 Israelis Dead in Terror Attack Near Netanya

by INN Staff www.israelnationalnews.com
 
Two armed Israeli security guards were found shot to death at a factory in a small city east of the Mediterranean coastline city of Netanya Friday morning.
The community of Nitzanei Oz is also almost adjacent to the Palestinian Authority-controlled city of Tulkarm, to where security forces speculate the murderer(s) escaped following the shooting.
The two victims were identified as Shimon Mizrachi, 53, of Bat Hefer, and Eli Muserman, 51, of Alfei Menashe.
Around 7 AM Friday morning, the local Magen David Adom emergency services dispatcher received a report of gunshot injuries in the northern area of the town's industrial zone, the area closest to Tulkarm. When its crew arrived on the scene, the paramedics discovered that the two victims were already dead.
Security forces immediately threw a dragnet around the area in an attempt to capture the murderer. IDF forces entered Tulkarm to search for the terrorists as well. Islamic Jihad later claimed responsibility for the attack.
Sources said the terrorists planned a mass murder at the factory, located in the city's Nitzanei Shalom [Buds of Peace] industrial zone. After murdering the two men, however - one of whose guns was found in his car, instead of on his person - the terrorist entered the building only to discover that he was alone, as all the workers were on vacation for the Passover holiday.
Yesha Council Castigates Government
The Yesha Council (Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria) stated, "It is no coincidence that the attack occurred just a day after Israel announces it willingness to pardon more terrorists... These concessions and gestures tell our enemies that terrorism pays off... Palestinian terrorism must be defeated, not negotiated with."

Security sources said it is believed the terrorists came from Tulkarm, which the Israeli government transferred to PA control within the framework of the Oslo Accords.
On August 1, 2002, Shani Ladni, a truck driver who frequented the same industrial zone, was murdered there by terrorists.  The attack was enabled by the Defense Ministry's removal of a curfew around Tulkarm as a confidence-building gesture to the PA shortly beforehand.

The Nitzanei Shalom Industrial Park was one of nine industrial zones established in 1995 to help provide work for Arabs in Judea and Samaria.  Currently there are seven factories in Nitzanei Shalom, which produce cartons, plastic parts, exterminator sprays and other items. Some 700 Arabs are employed in the complex.

 

A Preemptive Attack on Iran's Nuclear Facilities: Possible Consequences

By Sammy Salama and Karen Ruster (September 2004)

At a time when Iraq and the war on terrorism tend to dominate the debate on international affairs, the possibility of an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities has not been a major topic of discussion in the United States. There are reports, however, that the Bush administration has seriously considered this option but opted to put it on the back burner for the time being.[1] Further, on May 6, 2004, the U.S. House of Representatives passed Resolution 398 in a 376-3 vote, calling on the U.S. government "to use all appropriate means to deter, dissuade, and prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons."[2] If a similar resolution passes the Senate, it will give President Bush or any future administration the ability to launch a preemptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities whenever this is deemed necessary.

 

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE ARTICLE: http://cns.miis.edu/pubs/week/040812.htm 

American arrested as nuclear spy for Israel

By Randall Mikkelsen

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. authorities arrested an American engineer on Tuesday on suspicion of giving secrets on nuclear weapons, fighter jets and air defense missiles to Israel during the 1980s, the Justice Department said.

Ben-Ami Kadish, 84, acknowledged his spying in FBI interviews and said he acted out of a belief that he was helping Israel, court papers said.

He was accused of reporting to an Israeli government handler who also dealt with Jonathan Jay Pollard, an American citizen serving a life term on a 1985 charge of spying for Israel.

 

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE ARTICLE:

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSKRA25614320080422?feedType=nl&feedName=ustopnewsafternoon

Inflation in Iran earns criticism of Ahmadinejad

Top Iran clerics criticise president over economy

TEHRAN (AFP) - Three of Iran's top clerics have criticised President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over his handling of the economy, which is currently battling 18 per cent inflation, the press reported Saturday.

 

"We shift problems and faults onto others and in order to say we are innocent we blame others," Ayatollah Mohammad Reza Mahdavikani, a former prime minister and leading traditionalist conservative cleric, said in a speech in Tehran.

 

Ahmadinejad has repeatedly blamed his political rivals and the previous administration of reformist president Mohammad Khatami for stoking inflation and insisted his government is doing all it can to solve the problem.

 

The comments by Mahdavikani, quoted in the reformist Aftab-e Yazd newspaper, represent an unusually sharp attack on the president's policies by such an eminent religious figure.

 

He also called on Ahmadinejad not to use top clerics as political instruments to bring out his supporters to vote in elections.

 

"In my meeting with Mr Ahmadinejad I told him not to use us [clerics] as instruments. We were combatants before the [1979 Islamic] Revolution. We fought against corruption and what was against religion."

 

Ahmadinejad, in a speech in Iran's clerical epicentre of Qom, on Wednesday launched an extraordinary new attack on his domestic rivals, vowing to "cut their hands" to break networks of economic and political corruption.

 

Moderates have long have accused Ahmadinejad of injecting excessive cash into the economy to fund local infrastructure projects, causing an increase in money supply growth and directly triggering the inflation spike.

 

"From different corners of the nation one hears complaints about high prices and inflation," Grand Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, also a traditionalist conservative, was quoted as saying in Qom.

 

"Especially on the issue of housing, where the people's cries can be heard even louder," he added, referring to the surge in housing prices in Tehran which have priced many middle-income families out of the market.

 

Taking issue with Ahmadinejad's fiery rhetoric against his opponents, Makarem Shirazi said criticism of the government on the economy should not be stifled.

 

"Sometimes it is said that if we talk about it [the economic situation], it is weakening the government but no, it is not."

 

"If the economic problems are not solved then we will have political and cultural problems," he added.

 

"The recent soaring prices are not a slogan. They are now felt by all walks of life," said moderate Grand Ayatollah Abdolkarim Mossavi Ardebili, who previously served as head of the judiciary.

 

It is extremely unusual in Iran for leading ayatollahs to speak out so explicitly and in unison over a political issue such as the economy and the comments could further increase pressure on Ahmadinejad.

 

It was announced earlier this month that the president had asked his Economy Minister Davoud Danesh Jaafari to step down, but that has still not taken place amid rumours Ahmadinejad is reconsidering his decision.

 

Ahmadinejad has changed almost all of his economic ministers -including oil and industry - since coming to power in 2005 on a platform of bringing oil money to people's tables.

 

20 April 2008