"Peace" Initiative Near Death ---and thats a Good Thing

It looks like the the attempts to sell out Israel being made by the Leaning Tower of Jell-o Prime Minister Ehud Olmert might soon be dead on the vine. After announcing his interest in the Saudi "Peace" Plan as a starting point for negotiations, Israel's hapless Prime Minister got "Bitch-Slapped" by much of the Arab League. Lead by the racist monarchy of Saudi Arabia, Olmert was told that the Saudi plan could not be changed. In so many words, PM Goofball was told that any peace plan must result in the destruction of Israel (also known as the right of return).

Saudi Foreign Affairs Minister Saud al-Faisal slammed reports that Israel is seeking to revise the language of a Saudi peace initiative adopted by the Arab League in Beirut in 200

We have no desire to negotiate over this,'' said al-Faisal in a joint press conference with EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Javier Solana in Riyadh

''They accept the resolution and then they talk about putting preconditions that should be accepted before negotiations or discussions or even the acceptance of the proposal. This is not a good way to do business.''

The peace initiative calls for a full Israeli withdrawal from areas captured in the 1967 Middle East war and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. In exchange, Israel would receive full diplomatic recognition from the Arab world.

Meanwhile, Egypt and Syria said Tuesday that there should be no changes made to the initiative, particularly regarding the Palestinian right of return.

''We have the Arab peace plan and we are committed to it as a whole. Talk about amending it is baseless,'' Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa said after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. ''What we want is returning all the occupied land including Jerusalem. (YNET News)

That might soon be a moot point because it looks like there may be another "Civil" war erupting in the Palestinian Terrorist run territories. This time it looks like the murderous baby killers of Hamas may be turning on each other.

...fierce fighting erupted Tuesday evening between Hamas members and gunmen belonging to a large clan in Gaza City, Palestinian security officials reported. The clashes began after a car carrying several Hamas members was fire upon in the Zeitoun neighborhood, they said, adding that Ala Hadad, a senior Hamas operative, was killed and four others injured.

"Hamas is facing a serious split," the sources said. "Opposition in Hamas to the Mecca agreement is growing as some of the movement's senior officials are talking about a possible revolt."

The "rejectionist" camp in Hamas, led by Interior Minister Said Siam and Foreign Affairs Minister Mahmoud a-Zahar, is opposed to the Mecca agreement under the pretext that Hamas made too many concessions to Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction......

....."Siam and Zahar are unhappy with the agreement not only because they won't serve in the unity government, but because they believe that Hamas has made far-reaching political concessions," the official said. "They are convinced that Hamas is gradually abandoning its ideology as Fatah did when it signed the Oslo Accords with Israel more than a decade ago."

Although Siam and Zahar have thus far refrained from public criticism of the Mecca agreement, the two are said to be quietly campaigning against the accord. Siam, for instance, has made it clear that he and his supporters will resist any attempt to dismantle Hamas's Executive Force that he established in the Gaza Strip last year. Zahar, on the other hand, is said to have warned that Hamas was headed toward a serious crisis because of its agreement to sit with Fatah in the same coalition.

Siam and another prominent Hamas figure, Sami Abu Zuhri, were recently summoned to Damascus for emergency talks with Mashaal, who reportedly reprimanded them for campaigning against the Mecca agreement.

The tensions among the political leaders of Hamas have have also hit the movement's field activists. Hamas's two main militias, the Executive Force and Izzadin al-Kassam, are also facing divisions over the Mecca agreement. Leaders of the two groups have warned the Hamas leadership against falling into what they consider "a trap" by Abbas and the US.

Some Hamas preachers have also joined the "rejectionist" camp by speaking out in the mosques against the deal with Fatah.

The rejectionists cited a number of "changes" in Hamas's traditional policy as evidence that the movement was on the verge of betraying its ideology. These include: Hamas's readiness to accept a temporary state in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem; its readiness to abandon the armed struggle by accepting a long-term truce with Israel; its readiness to remain committed to the current cease-fire with Israel in the Gaza Strip; its readiness to endorse the Saudi peace initiative from 2002 and Haniyeh's announcement that he will attend the upcoming Arab summit in Riyadh later this month and Mashaal's reported promise to the Russians to work toward halting rocket attacks on Israel from the Gaza Strip.

Criminals usually find a way to turn on each other, and it looks as if the Hamas murderers will be no different. Hopefully this will give Israel enough time vote out its horrible, destructive "leadership" and elect a Prime Minister with some backbone.

OMG!!---Peretz Hires People to Name the War He Helped Screw UP !!!

Sometimes a Politician does something so ridiculous, so idiotic that you have to wonder if its a Joke. After I read this story about Israeli Defense Minister Peretz I had to double check my calendar. But I was right Purim was two weeks ago.

Israel is facing a difficult situation, Hezbollah has rearmed itself, Syria has lined its side of the Golan with missiles. Rockets are being fired into the Negev on a daily basis, and the terrorist have better missiles. On top of all of that, last week's call up training exercise for the IDF reserves produced dreadful results.

It is very clear that Israel's defense minister has to act and act very fast. Well world-- Amir Peretz Defense Minister and Major League "Behaimeh" HAS decided to act. With all of the threats facing Israel, this non-savant idiot is waisting his country's time and resources trying to find a name for the war helped screw up this past summer. Instead of finding a name for the stupid war, he should be writing an EFFING resignation letter.

Israel seeks a name for war

Jerusalem - (News 24.com)Defence minister Amir Peretz, who faces nationwide calls to resign over last year's war in Lebanon, has ordered aides to find a name for the conflict, widely perceived in Israel as a failure.

The minister has commissioned two reserve generals and a law professor to drum up a name, said his office in a statement on Tuesday.

The army initially called its 34-day campaign in Lebanon "Operation Just Reward" before renaming it "Operation Change of Direction".

Cabinet minister Yaacov Ederi, who chairs a committee responsible for official ceremonies, said he was also on the hunt for a name and would convene his committee to discuss the matter on Monday.

"I've been working on this for 10 days at the request of the bereaved families," he said.

"Defence officials can bring their suggestions to the committee on Monday," he said, denying there was any competition between rival departments and preferring talk of a "military operation" rather than war.

The media coined the conflict the Second Lebanon War following Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, dubbed Operation Peace in Galilee.

Israel has commissioned multiple investigations into the widely perceived failures of the conflict, most notably a government commission, in a bid to appease public criticism and protests from thousands of army reservists.

Although members of the public urged Peretz and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to step down due to the war, Israel's military chief of staff Dan Halutz has been the only top level leader so far to resign as a result of the conflict.

Peace Now=Stupid Again

You know, this one reminds me of a game show. I am talking about those times when the contestant should keep their 100 thousand dollars and go home, but he decides to try to double the money just one more time--even though the entire audience is screaming "don't be an ass !" When this guy opens up whats behind door number 3 on national television and it turns out he traded 100 grand for 12 dollars and a stick of bazooka Joe, he looks like the biggest ass that ever lived, the only redeeming feature is the confused look of horror on his face because he know that everyone who ever knew him knows how stupid he looks.

Since November, Peace Now has been working its way through the courts, trying to get the IDF to release papers they thought would prove their contention that 86% of settlements were built on private land. Well yesterday they got to open up door number three and they have that stupid, confused look of horror on their faces, because the IDF, pressured by the courts, released the information they were looking for and Peace Now's 86% number was only off by 85.5%. I only wish I could have been a bug on the wall of that meeting. Hey Shmuly, what happened ? You said 86% !!! Do you know how stupid we look?

Yes Peace Now, we know how stupid you always look---But you look especially stupid today.

IDF data show flaws in Peace Now report

AP and jpost.com staff, THE JERUSALEM POST

A military database released to the left-wing anti-settlement organization Peace Now under court pressure shows that very little private land was seized from Palestinians to build Israel's largest West Bank settlement, the watchdog group reported on Wednesday.

The new numbers are vastly smaller than numbers Peace Now issued in a November report based on leaked information.

In November, Peace Now claimed that 86 percent of Ma'aleh Adumim was built on private Palestinian land. After successfully petitioning the court to see the database, the group reported Wednesday that data show that only 0.5% of the settlement was built on private land.

"The first report they released had major mistakes," said Capt. Zidki Maman, spokesman for the Civil Administration in the West Bank.

Israeli settlements are one of the most contentious issues between Israel and the Palestinians. In 1979, the Supreme Court outlawed the seizure of privately owned Palestinian land for settlement purposes.

Dror Etkes, Peace Now's settlement expert, said that if the original information it published was inaccurate, then the IDF was to blame for refusing to release the database until the court ordered it to do so after the November report.

The original report said that 130 settlements were constructed either entirely or partly on approximately 60 thousand dunams of private Palestinian land, thus rendering them illegal according to the 1979 court ruling.

According to the report, Palestinian land accounts for 40 percent of the land used for settlements.

"The claim by the State and settlers that the settlements have been constructed on state land is misleading and false," the group said on its Web site. "The vast majority of settlement construction was done against the law of the land and the Supreme Court ruling and therefore unauthorized."

The organization also claimed that the State of Israel had been aware of these facts for years, but hid them "for fear that the revelation of these facts could damage its international relations."

The Civil Administration sent an official letter in response, saying that "the report mentions the fact that prior to 1979, some of the settlements had indeed been established as the result of injunctions that allowed for the seizure of land for military purposes, and for the most part, this was privately held land. However, it is important to point out that at some point in time it was made clear that a large section of this land was State land and the issue of those court orders had not been necessary at all."

The Civil Administration noted that the Peace Now report was full of inaccuracies, and implied that it had included in its figures outposts that the state considered illegal.

"There are only 120 settlements in Judea and Samaria," the letter said.

"For a number of years, the Civil Administration routinely examined the status of land prior to approving planning procedures and/or prior to allocating land," the letter stated. "This is done carrying out an in-depth re-examination of the status of the land in order to ensure that no harm comes to or use is made of privately held Palestinian land for the needs of Israeli settlement."

CAIR: Bullies Financed by Terrorist Dollars

CAIR--The Council on American-Islamic Relations has been able to exploit this age of Political Correctness to become a bully to anyone who tells the truth about what is happening in the world. They fight against most efforts to prevent terror by invoking terms like "racial profiling" (we all know how many 90 year-old Mah-Jongg playing old Jewish lady's from Miami have blown themselves up on a bus. Sometimes they skip that and go straight to the courts to intimidate people from speaking out (are they using Jewish lawyers?)

CAIR has been critical of a number of U.S. criminal prosecutions, arguing, for example in one of many cases, that Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, the ringleader of the World Trade Center bombing in 1993, and convicted of conspiring to blow up the Lincoln Tunnel and other New York City landmarks, did not receive a fair trial.

CAIR commonly works to defend supposed "Islamic Charities" accused of sending money to terrorist groups in the Middle East. CAIR has issued a statement condemning the most recent indictments against members of the Islamic American Relief Agency, the American branch of which was closed in 2004 after being declared a global terrorist organization

Basically CAIR is a terrorist alligned organization designed to promote terrorist inteterests
Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, CAIR's website solicited donations for what it called the "NY/DC Emergency Relief Fund."^[9] However, clicking on the donation link led to a website for donations to the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF). It was later designated as a terrorist organization by the European Union and U.S., and shut down by the U.S. government.

CAIR has also been accused of doctoring photographs and reporting fraudulent statistics about the Muslim population of the United States in support of its own private agenda. Finally, another source of criticism is that CAIR attempts to suppress criticism of Islamic terrorism and intolerance through accusations of racism and anti-Muslim bias.

Investor's Business Daily publicly condemned CAIR as being "the PR machine of militant Islam" after CAIR "dispatched its henchmen" to try to shut down the first Secular Islam Summit.

Among the numerous books donated to libraries in CAIR's "library project" was former congressman Paul Findley's 'Silent No More', which includes positive statements about convicted terrorist Abdul Rahman al-Amoudi.(source Wikopedia)

CAIR monitors Jblog websites from international sites, as some of my blogging friends have been graced by their presence. CAIR is an organization that we need to keep our collective eyes on and remain vigilant in reminding people that it is just another arm of the Islamic Cosa Nostra. This article from Frontpage.com is a great one to pass along.

CAIR’s Blood Money
By Patrick Poole
FrontPageMagazine.com | March 13, 2007At 12:17 pm on February 26, 1993, a 1,500lb urea-nitrate fuel-oil bomb hidden inside a rental van caused a massive explosion that ripped through the parking garage of the World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring another 1,042 – the first large-scale terrorist attack on U.S. soil by Islamic extremists. The terrorists had intended to topple one of the buildings onto the other, potentially killing tens of thousands of innocent Americans. Sadly, the fourteenth anniversary of that event passed last week with very little discussion by major media outlets, even though that lethal attack by Islamic terrorists ominously foreshadowed the unspeakable horror of 9/11.

At 8:00 pm on June 6, 2006, the Ohio affiliate of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-OH) honored one of the unindicted conspirators in that 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Siraj Wahhaj, a Brooklyn, NY imam that had also served as a defense witness at the trial of one of the men convicted for that terrorist attack, the “Blind Sheikh” Omar Abdel-Rahman (a conviction that CAIR has labeled “a travesty of justice”). More than 400 CAIR-OH supporters gathered at this fundraising banquet.

Following the event, CAIR-OH issued a press release heralding the more than $100,000 that Siraj Wahhaj had helped raise that evening for the organization’s “civil liberties work”. CAIR-OH Director Adnan Mirza attributed the fundraiser’s success to the popularity of CAIR-OH’s agenda with Ohio Muslims. “Our community sent a very clear message that the work we do is vital to the well-being of the Ohio Muslim community and that CAIR-Ohio’s efforts are appreciated,” she said.

Of course, Siraj Wahhaj’s ties to the 1993 World Trade Center terrorist attack may not have been known to the hundreds of CAIR supporters who were in attendance that evening, but they were certainly known to CAIR. On repeated occasions, CAIR officials on the state and national level have not only risen to the defense of Wahhaj, but they have gone to great lengths to embrace the unindicted terror co-conspirator and involve him in the inner workings of the organization, such as having him serve on their Advisory Board. CAIR National spokesman, Ibrahim Hooper, has gone so far as to call Wahhaj “one of the most respected Muslim leaders in America.” Curiously, that article by Hooper praising Wahhaj has disappeared from CAIR’s website.

Hooper was defending his terror-linked comrade after Dr. Daniel Pipes had noted the connections between CAIR and Wahhaj, yet without substantively dealing with criticism offered by many noting the inconsistency of an organization that loudly proclaims itself a “moderate” voice representing the American Muslim community and a self-proclaimed staunch opponent of terrorism would so consciously embrace and promote an individual that bore responsibility for one of the deadliest terror attacks in the US prior to Oklahoma City and 9/11.

In that same article by Hooper, he further attacks Pipes:

Pipes continues to promote a spurious distinction between "patriotic" Muslims and "chauvinists" who "want to impose Islamic law and other Middle Eastern ways on this country." Of course Pipes fails to mention even one instance in which CAIR called for the imposition of Islamic law in America.

This is an outright lie, as Pipes has posted on his website a July 1998 news article in which CAIR co-founder Omar Ahmad is quoted speaking to a group of California Muslims expressing his hope of seeing an America under the domination of Islam. In that article, Ahmad is quoted as saying,

Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran ... should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on earth.

It is hardly an extraordinary leap to conclude that Omar Ahmad, who again was one of Hooper’s organization’s co-founders, who is listed on CAIR National’s website as a member of the Board of Directors, and who was addressing the crowd in question in his capacity as a representative of CAIR, was in fact representing the views of CAIR when he called for the establishment of shari’a as the highest legal authority in America, which presumably would also mean higher than the US Constitution. Nonetheless, CAIR deliberately savages any commentator who dares to draw that conclusion.

Years after Ahmad was reported to have made that statement, CAIR began waging a media campaign to attack the journalist who recorded Ahmad’s statement, with Ahmad saying “she’s lying”. CAIR’s protests notwithstanding, the newspaper in question has stood by the journalist’s reporting.

With respect to the “civil rights work” that Siraj Wahhaj was helping CAIR-OH raise funds for, it might be that CAIR will soon start waging a campaign against the Columbus Dispatch to expunge from the public record its report in February of last year where former CAIR-OH president and current CAIR National Board Vice Chairman, Ahmad Al-Akhras, likened the publication of the Danish Mohammad cartoons to a physical assault against Muslims, thus a crime. The Dispatch, which identified Al-Akhras as “an advocate of free speech”, said that he

was insulted by a Danish newspaper’s publication of cartoons depicting the prophet. Most American newspapers, including The Dispatch, have refused to publish the cartoons. "Your fist should stop where my chin is," Al-Akhras said.

This was the same CAIR official who just weeks after the Wahhaj fundraiser had submitted a letter to the editor in the Dispatch saying that the jihad being waged by the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic Courts Union against the UN-backed Somali government, and which was beginning to brutally impose shari’a law on the citizens of that country, was “a positive development”.

Ahmad “Free Speech” Al-Akhras, who lives in the Columbus, Ohio-area and is still active with the local CAIR-OH affiliate, was the subject of a FrontPage Magazine article last August (“CAIR, Assault, and Videotape”) for assaulting a local independent journalist who was taping his speech at a rally in support of the Hezbollah terrorist organization. But woe unto those who dare note the support given by CAIR officials to terrorist organizations, such as Hezbollah and HAMAS.

I also reported last year (“Kafir-phobia: Americans as Anti-Muslim Bigots”), about the public campaign led by CAIR-OH against non-Muslims in an Ohio community, implying that the community was seething with racial and religious hatred against Muslims in response to repeated acts of arson against a Muslim-owned business. CAIR-OH called on law enforcement authorities to investigate the arsons as hate crimes, even after it was discovered that the business owners themselves were responsible for the acts of arson. In that incident, CAIR-OH issued no apology for inciting hatred and displaying their bigotry against the non-Muslims in the community that they had falsely blamed for the fires.

This is indicative of the “civil liberties work” conducted by CAIR-OH that is being supported with the funds raised in the event featuring Siraj Wahhaj. The organizers of the CAIR-OH event may have believed that the fourteen years that had passed since the 1993 World Trade Center bombing may have been sufficient for memories of Wahhaj’s personal involvement in that terrorist attack to fade, but the support and praise showered on Siraj Wahhaj over the years by CAIR officials only stains the $100,000 he helped CAIR-OH raise that evening with a deeper blood red.

UN Says Temple Mount Dig Is NOT Causing Damage

Hey what do you know? Israel isn't trying to destroy the Holiest site in all of Judaism. A few months of Muslim whining about the Dig at at the temple mount. and the UNESCO is actually saying that there is no damage to the Mosque. A UN organization with a pro Israel announcement? Who says the Lord no longer performs miracles.

Don't get too excited the UN also said that Israel should allow closer supervision. THEY HAVE IT ON A 24 HOUR WEB CAM WHAT THE HELL ELSE DO THEY WANT.

Israel would never harm the mosque, especially since it sits on holy ground, the Temple Mount. Now UNESCO finish the job...take a look at how the Palestinians treat Jewish Site, remember the destruction of Joseph's Tomb? Or the attacks on Rachel’s Tomb? What about the new mosque they built near Solomon's Stables? Ask them why each time a Jewish artifact was found the Arabs working the site threw it in the trash. We have teams of Archaeologists digging through their dump site finding treasures. To date there have been many amazing finds (just Temple relics--no sightings of Jimmy Hoffa)

This controversy has nothing to do with a Mosque. It is about denying the Jewish people any legacy to the land. By removing the Jewish historical connection to Israel they take away some of Israel's legitimacy.

Remember in Israel Muslim's pray five times a day facing Mecca, which means that most of the people on Muslim prayer mats have their backsides pointing toward the Temple Mount (their supposed "third most holy site"). Three times a day Jews in Israel face the temple mount to pray, begging Hashem to rebuild the Holy Temple on top. For us there is no other place even close to its status of Holiness.


UNESCO says Jerusalem dig not damaging Temple Mount

The UNESCO report on the controversial Antiquities Authority excavation near the Temple Mount has concluded that it is not damaging the holy site. Nevertheless, the report calls on Israel to suspend the dig to allow for international observation, Israeli officials said on Tuesday.

The report is expected to be presented to UNESCO's director-general, Koichiro Matsuura, on Wednesday.

The report, which was compiled by a four-member team that visited the site last month, finds that the excavation was being done with complete transparency, and in no way damages the Temple Mount, according to Israeli officials.

At the same time, the report concludes that Israel should have consulted with all relevant parties ahead of the dig - referring to UNESCO and the Wakf (Islamic trust) that administers the Mount.
Both the Foreign Ministry and the Antiquities Authority deferred comment on the report until its official publication.

Israeli officials who have seen the document said it sent a very "mixed message," in that the findings were supportive of Israel and the conclusions were to the contrary.

UNESCO spokeswoman Sue Williams said on Tuesday the organization would have no comment on the report before an executive board meeting that starts on April 10.

The routine salvage excavation, which began last month in the archeological garden adjacent to the Western Wall ahead of the planned construction of a new bridge to the Temple Mount's Mughrabi Gate, has triggered protests throughout the Muslim world.

The dig touched off low-level Arab violence in Jerusalem following assertions by Islamic leaders that the work, which is taking place dozens of meters outside the Mount, could damage the Al-Aksa mosque on the Mount.

The UNESCO technical team members who visited the excavation were shown the real-time 24 hour video system set up by Israel at the site, which can be viewed on the Internet.

The dig began after the decades-old stone walkway leading to the Temple Mount was deemed unsafe after it was damaged by a snowstorm and a minor earthquake in 2004.

Israeli law requires such an archeological excavation in advance of any construction.

The UNESCO team came to Jerusalem at the invitation of the State of Israel as part of its efforts to display "full transparency" over the dig.

Direct Israel Hezbollah Negotiations?

Apparently Hezbollah wants to talk to the little Satan. Negotiations regarding the release of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regevhad been going on between Israel and the Lebanese terror group had been going on through a German intermediary. But now Hezbollah wants direct talks. (there has never been direct talks between Israel and the Hezzys).

Uncharacteristically Olmert the man who admits he has been continually fooled by Abbas (thrice is the word), thinks that something may be rotten in the state of Denmark. Is it their handlers from Iran, trying to learn more about their missing General? Read this report from Debka.

What Has Tehran to Gain from Hizballah’s New Face?

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report

March 13, 2007, 6:48 PM (GMT+02:00)

For the first time in its 20-year history as a reviled international kidnapper, Hizballah is demanding that its representatives be allowed to hold direct talks with Israel.

The demand interrupted the efforts by a German BND intelligence go-between to negotiate the release of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, the Israeli soldiers whose abduction on the Israeli side of the Lebanese border touched of a 33-day war.

If the Olmert government responds positively, it will also be the first time that Israeli military intelligence officers have ever come face to face with Hizballah’s military officials.

The Hizballah demand was specific. They asked to meet with “Ofer Dekel and his people,” thereby identifying the former Shin Bet deputy chief who is in charge of the effort to obtain the release of the two soldiers snatched by Hizballah and Gilead Shalit, who was kidnapped in a Hamas-led incursion from the Gaza Strip a month earlier.

In addition to the German middleman, the Lebanese Shiite terror group has also asked Qatar to open up a direct link with Israel for talks on the two hostages.

One conjecture by Israeli intelligence officials is that Hizballah has been told to offer to trade information about Goldwasser and Regev for word about Iranian ex-general Ali Reza Asgari, said to have disappeared in Istanbul on Feb. 7.

Before deciding on a response to Hizballah’s surprise approach, Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has asked for intelligence evaluations on what is behind it.

One theory speaks of a fresh Hizballah trap.

But, more seriously, the case of the missing Asgari, who according to some reports is in the process of debriefing by Western intelligence somewhere in Europe, has completely stumped Tehran. The Iranian government is at sea over how, when and why the former deputy defense minister disappeared, and who is holding him now. They refuse to believe that he spied for the West for many years or that he defected voluntarily.

To support this conviction, Tehran put Ziba Ahmadi, Asgari’s wife, their three children and his brother, on television to deny his defection. Their appearance was meant to belie the reports that he had asked for asylum in the West for himself and family.

But there were two slips in the TV interview.

Mrs. Asgari said he had been missing since Dec. 9, 2006, whereas he was generally reported to have disappeared in Istanbul on Feb. 7.

His brother Davoud admitted that Asgari had two wives.

This hypothesis postulates that, after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appealed to the Saudis for help in tracing the missing general and was turned down, Tehran sent Hizballah to dig information from Israel. It was understood that the Olmert government would not to agree to sensitive negotiations of this kind going forward through a third party. The German middleman was therefore dispensed with and a direct encounter demanded.

A third hypothesis current in Israeli intelligence is that Hizballah’s initiative is part and parcel of the newly-launched US-Iran diplomatic track on Tehran’s nuclear misdoings and its disruptive role in Iraq. The first steps went forward discreetly through Saudi Arabia. Since the Baghdad neighbors’ meeting for stabilizing Iraq Saturday, March 10, the exchanges are out in the open. A follow-up between foreign ministers is expected to take place in Istanbul in April.

The first positive action by Tehran has been to call its proxies off from hounding the pro-Western Fouad Siniora government of Lebanon; Hizballah has been told to end its boycott of the government in return for additional cabinet seats. Therefore, Iran emerges with its Lebanese cat’s paw’s position in Beirut enhanced, well before diplomacy for an accommodation on Tehran’s nuclear ambitions and the stabilization of Iraq has gone anywhere.

To solidify its position, Hizballah must behave like a respectable political party rather than terrorists who conduct terrorist and kidnapping raids against the neighbors. The comprehensive face-lift Hizballah is aiming for, according to this third theory, is to be accomplished through a new mode of behavior, which would relegate the Goldwasser and Regev abduction affair as far as possible to its murky past.