Israel Matzav

Israel allows Fatah to bring in re-enforcements; IDF not consulted on hudna

About a month ago, 'moderate Palestinian President' Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen asked Israel for permission to bring in 1200 armed troops that are loyal to him from Jordan, and to deploy them in Gaza. The troops are part of what is know as the Badr Brigade. Today, Israel rewarded Abu Mazen for mouthing the word hudna. It allowed Abu Mazen to import the Badr Brigade into Gaza, ostensibly to shore up the truce cease fire hudna. I trust that you are all savvy enough to realize that the Badr Brigade is not going to return to Jordan anytime soon, even if the hudna ends tomorrow.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said Israel's decision is part of the truce deal that ended five months of fighting in Gaza.

The Jordanian-based Badr forces would be deployed along the Israel-Gaza border to beef up Palestinian troops trying to prevent terrorists from firing homemade rockets at Israeli border communities.

In the past, Israel has been reluctant to let armed PLO forces into the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but apparently hopes the Badr troops will strengthen Abbas and support the fledgling truce, possibly leading to a renewal of long-stalled peace talks.

In the meantime, Chief of Staff Dan Halutz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee today that "The IDF played only a partial role in the decision to reach a cease-fire agreement with the Palestinians." Whatever that means. To me that sounds remarkably like being "a little bit pregnant" and what Halutz was really saying was "we had nothing to do with this and it was done without consulting us." Halutz also said that the hudna should not be extended to Judea and Samaria:

"It is important that the IDF maintains its freedom of movement in the West Bank," he said.

And it goes without saying that the opposition representatives in the Knesset Committee slammed the government for its stupidity. Someone needs to ask them what they have done today to bring down the government. Especially Silvan Shalom, who has done everything possible to undermine the most viable candidate to bring down the government from his leadership position in the Likud.

MK Silvan Shalom (Likud) was equally harsh in his criticism of the cease-fire. "We are all dependant upon the good will of the other side," he said. "We are giving Hamas a break to rearm, and in the mean time, the prime minister delivers a speech to regain the support of the public and the media," Shalom continued.

He went on to say that the cease-fire did not help Israel's security, but just kept "Olmert's and Peretz's jobs safe."

Yes, Silvan, that's true. But until you stop undermining Bibi, their jobs are quite safe, thank you.

For the record, I am not surprised that Olmert did not consult the IDF before undertaking this stupidity. His behavior is completely in character.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:08 PM