It’s far far too soon to count on anything or to rejoice. But there is at least a small reason to hope.
The Jerusalem Post today came out with an "exclusive": an announcement that at least 10 rebels in the Kadima party are planning to leave before the final Winograd report. According to this news, those members who want to depart feel that their futures will be sealed if they are still with Kadima when the damning Winograd final report appears; they want to situate themselves elsewhere before this happens. Some would return to Likud (and reportedly Netanyahu has spoken to a couple of MKs considering this). Some to Labor. Some would seek places for themselves elsewhere, such as Yisrael Beitenu. The sooner they depart, the greater their value to other parties.
Reportedly some ministers in Olmert’s cabinet are among those thinking of leaving.
Predictions until now were that Olmert was safe until after the Winograd report, but the situation may have shifted.
Let’s see…
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I want to address here briefly anti-Israel positions that have become prominent in two places:
The first involves the three part series on CNN hosted by Christiana Amanpour, "God’s Warriors." The first segment, "God’s Jewish Warriors" is biased against Israel and erroneous in its information. CAMERA (The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America) calls it "one of the most grossly distorted programs to appear on mainstream American television in many years." I provide here the link to CAMERA so that you might read more about it:
http://camera.org/index.asp?x_context=3&x_outlet=14&x_article=1354
The second is a new book, "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," by John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen Walt of Harvard, whose thesis is that US support for Israel is a liability and continues only because of the undue influence of the Israel lobby.
Dore Gold, in a briefing paper — "Understanding the U.S.-Israel Alliance: An Israeli Response to the Walt-Mearsheimer Claim" — for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (which he heads) challenges this thesis. Gold explains the ways in which U.S. support for Israel benefits the U.S.
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Muhammad Dahlan has returned to Ramallah this week after some six weeks away from the area. He will not return to Gaza, where Hamas has let it be known he is not welcome. Speculations vary as to what role, if any, he will now play in the PA/Fatah. Some see him as the direct challenger to Abbas. Others expect that he will try to reform the very corrupt Fatah.
Myself, I never miss an opportunity to remind people that Dahlan is a terrorist and cannot legitimately be seen as a reformer. He ordered the attack on the school bus in Kfar Darom in 2000, and was connected to the Karine-A weapons ship.
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Two Kassams have landed in Sderot, one hit a home.
State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss, after doing a tour of Sderot and neighboring areas, declared himself "very worried" about the safety of the children there with the start of school. He says the national government should be doing more to provide protection via bomb shelters and fortified roofs.
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