China pressuring Israel to drop support for Wultz family lawsuit
I'm sure many of you also recall the murder of 16-year old American Daniel Wultz
from Florida (pictured, top left) HY"D (may God avenge his blood) in a
Tel Aviv suicide bombing in April 2006, while he and his father were visiting for Passover. You may recall that a
'Palestinian' terror leader referred to Wultz as "the best target we can dream of."
In May of 2012, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia awarded Wultz's parents and siblings $332 million from Iran and Syria for providing material support to the Islamic Jihad suicide bomber who carried out the attack.
Daniel’s father Yekutiel “Tuly” Wultz, who was
seriously wounded in the attack; his mother, Sheryl; and his siblings Amanda and
Abraham brought the civil lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of
Columbia, under powerful US anti-terrorism laws that permit American civilians
to sue sovereign states who sponsor acts of terror.
Via their lawyers –
New York attorney Robert Tolchin and Tel Aviv attorney Nitsana Darshan- Leitner
– the Wultz family alleged that the Syrian and Iranian governments, both of
which the US has designated as state sponsors of terrorism, provided Islamic
Jihad with the material support and resources it needed to carry out the deadly attack.
The court learned that Daniel had been conscious immediately
after the bombing and up until his death, and had suffered extreme physical and
emotional pain both because he knew the horrific extent of his injuries and
because he was aware he would die from them.
The 16-year-old suffered
wounds including severe bleeding from multiple shrapnel wounds, a perforated
bowel and multiple infections, including gangrene.
In their fight to save
his life, surgeons at Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital removed several of Daniel’s
organs, and amputated two fingers and part of his right leg, but the teenager
succumbed to his injuries and died on May 14, 2006.
His father, who was
sitting with Daniel at the time of the bombing, endured extensive physical
injuries as well as severe psychological damage. He still suffers pain and
post-traumatic stress disorder, including terrifying nightmares and daily
flashbacks of the attack.
The other members of the Wultz family,
including Daniel’s mother, suffered serious psychological and emotional damage
as a result of the bombing.
In addition to Iran and Syria, the Wultz
family’s lawsuit named as defendants the Iranian Ministry of Information and
Security, the Syrian Ministry of Defense, Syrian Military Intelligence and the
Syrian Air Force Intelligence Directorate.
Wultz's parents are now suing the Bank of China for its alleged part
in the attack, a lawsuit which hinges on the testimony of a former
Israeli intelligence official, scheduled to testify in a New York
federal court in July.
The Wall Street Journal
quoted the plaintiffs as saying the official is expected to testify
that at a 2005 meeting, Israeli officials told China that Bank of China
accounts were being used to fund terror groups including the Islamic
Jihad, but they refused to close the accounts.
The Wultzes,
however, are saying that China is pressuring Netanyahu not to allow the
former Israel intelligence official to testify, amid growing trade with
China, worth billions of dollars annually to the Israeli economy.
The
paper cited a congressional staffer who has coordinated between the
Wultzes and the Israeli government as saying the Prime Minister's Office
is now undecided about giving the former intelligence official
permission to testify, despite previous commitments to do so.
US
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen wrote a letter to Netanyahu this week
on behalf of the Wultzes, imploring Netanyahu to allow the official to
testify, according to the Journal.
"We
are aware of mounting pressure by the BOC and other Chinese
interests…to interfere with the US proceedings and the deposition," she
wrote, adding that by allowing the official to testify, Netanyahu would "
reaffirm Israel's solemn commitment to the victims of terror to ensure
that justice be done."
Exclusive: US to train and arm terrorist responsible for Wultz murder
There's a story today on WorldNetDaily which describes how the US government - going back to the late 1990's - has been training 'Palestinian' terrorists who are members of 'moderate' 'Palestinian' President Mahmoud AbbasAbu Mazen's 'Preventive Security Services' and Force 17. As documented by World Net Daily's Jerusalem editor Aaron Klein in his book, Schmoozing with terrorists, many of the members of Force 17 and the 'Preventive Security Services' are also members of the 'al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades'. The 'Brigades' are Abu Mazen's Fatah's 'armed wing' that has carried out hundreds of terror attacks in the last seven years. As you may recall, over the course of the past year, the United States has decided to increase training and arms for Force 17, so as to strengthen the 'good terrorist' Abu Mazen against the 'bad terrorists' of Hamas. Congress specifically allocated funding for that purpose.
I'm sure many of you also recall the murder of 16-year old American Daniel Wultz from Florida (pictured, top left) HY"D (may God avenge his blood) in a Tel Aviv suicide bombing in April 2006. You may recall that a 'Palestinian' terror leader referred to Wultz as "the best target we can dream of."
Within a few weeks, a new American-run 'training course' is starting in Jericho. One of the 'students' is going to be a member of the terror cell that pulled off that suicide bombing in Tel Aviv in April 2006 and murdered 16-year old American Daniel Wultz. Here's what I was told in an email received this afternoon:
There's a new US-led, US-funded training course coming up within a few weeks in Jericho. It's for the "official" Pal. security services. One of those in attendance is a member of the Al Aqsa Martyr's cell that did the Passover bombing in 2006 that killed American Daniel Wultz.
So, in effect, the US is training one of the terrorists responsible for the murder of an American just last year.
- Further: the US is sending gear, including assault rifles, to Jericho within a few weeks. Numerous members of Al Aqsa will receive the weapons (as they will receive them in their Force 17 or PSS [Preventive Security Services. CiJ] roles). Again, one of those to receive the weapons is the member of Al Aqsa who belongs to the Passover bombing cell and will be training in Jericho.
As some of you may recall, the suicide bombing in which Daniel Wultz was murdered was carried out by a cell led by Nasser Abu Aziz, who is the number 2 in the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades and the main deputy of Ala Senakreh, the overall chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank. Senakreh is based in the Balata refugee camp in the northern Samaria town of Nablus. As was noted in the article linked above,
Aziz's group is suspected of directing all suicide bombings in Israel the past three years together with Islamic Jihad, including the Tel Aviv attack that killed Wultz and nine others. Although Islamic Jihad and the Brigades took joint credit for the Tel Aviv attack, Brigades sources told WND their group directed the suicide bombing, supplying the bomber and infiltrating him into Tel Aviv. The sources said Islamic Jihad provided the explosives belt as a symbolic act so the terror group could also take part in the attack.
So if my source could find out that a member of Aziz's cell (not Aziz himself - I asked that question) is going to be part of this training course, why can't the CIA? Or if the CIA has figured it out, why don't they care? We're not talking about someone who committed an act of terrorism in the pre-Oslo period. We're talking about someone who was part of a group that murdered ten people, including a 16-year old American, in April 2006.
If I'm Tuly Wultz (Daniel's father) and I see this post, I'd be on the phone to my Representative and Senators immediately. In fact, all of you in the US should be on the phone to your Representatives and Senators immediately. This is outrageous!
The family of a Weston teen killed in a 2006 suicide bombing in Israel has won a $332 million court judgment against the governments of Syria and Iran for sponsoring the terrorist group responsible for the attack.
On Monday, a federal judge in Washington ordered the judgment in a lawsuit brought by the family of Daniel Wultz, a 16-year-old who was among 11 people killed by a suicide bomber who attacked a Tel Aviv restaurant on April 17, 2006. Daniel, a student at David Posnack Hebrew Day School in Plantation, was visiting Tel Aviv with his father, Yekutiel “Tuly” Wultz, who also was injured in the blast.
“We don’t look for any revenge,” Tuly Wultz said Tuesday. “Our purpose in our fight is to fight terrorism. We don’t want any more Daniels to die.”
Investigators tied the bombing to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a terrorist group based in Syria’s capital, Damascus, and which claimed responsibility for the attack. Lawyers for the Wultz family presented evidence that the group has received financing and other support from both the Iranian and Syrian governments over the years — making them liable for Daniel’s death.
The lawsuit was brought under a special provision of federal law that allows U.S. citizens to bring claims against foreign governments for terrorist acts. Some $300 million of the judgment was in punitive damages designed to punish Iran and Syria for their roles in the bombing.
There's much more about Daniel Wultz and his family here.
It's been reported this evening that Tel Aviv resident Lior (Eliyahu) Anidzor, who was wounded in the suicide bombing near the city's central bus station during Passover, died of his wounds at Ichilov Hospital before dawn this morning. He was 26.
This is perhaps as good a time as any to ask about Daniel Wultz.
You may recall that Daniel is a 16-year old from Florida who was gravely wounded in the Passover suicide bombing. Of course, if you rely on the American mainstream media for your news - rather than on this blog - you may not even know who Daniel Wultz is. Why? Lori Lowenthal Marcus, a writer, a lawyer and the President of the Zionist Organization of America, Greater Philadelphia District, took a look at that question in an article published this week on Arutz Sheva's web site:
Daniel Wultz is a 16-year-old Florida teen who accompanied his father to Israel to visit relatives during Passover. On April 17th, Daniel and his father were eating in one of the few kosher shawarma restaurants in Tel Aviv. Daniel was almost killed by the homicide bombing. In a coma for two weeks, Daniel's spleen and one of his kidneys had to be removed. Then, this basketball-loving teenager had to have one leg amputated at the knee. As of this writing, it is still unknown whether the doctors will be able to save Daniel's other leg.
An American teenager, a healthy, athletic boy from sunny Florida, is transformed in a split second into a shattered vessel, a soul hovering between life and death. More and more parts of his body, instead of providing him with mobility and life support, turn against him, and are pared away in an effort to save his life.
Islamic Jihad claimed credit for the April 17th bombing. One of the terror group's leaders expressed sorrow that Daniel had not been killed, according to WorldNetDaily, one of the few media sources to cover the story.
Another Arab terrorist group seeking to share credit for the bombing extolled the double treat of having almost murdered an American and a Zionist. Islamic Jihad threatened Americans and Jews everywhere, saying they are all legitimate targets.
What American could hear this story and not become riveted, eager for updates, eager to cheer his progress or despair at any further impediments? But other than the Florida newspapers, such as the Sun Sentinel and the Miami Herald, and an AP story picked up by the Los Angeles Times (but by none of AP's other major subscribers), the rest of the mainstream American media has ignored the continuing and profoundly moving story of Daniel Wultz.
Is it because his parents, so focused on praying for their broken son, will not share his story with the media? That is true, but there is quite a bit of information available about Daniel; information that fleshes out the cold anonymity of just a name and hometown, information that one would think would draw the interest of caring Americans; information that is likely to interest news consumers, if only the news sources would provide it.
Daniel Wultz has been a student of the David Posnack Hebrew Day School in Plantation, Florida since elementary school. One of Daniel's passions is playing basketball; he played competitively at his local YMCA. It will be a miracle if Daniel, who has already spent days in surgery, will ever be able to walk, let alone play basketball. He will probably remain in hospital in Israel for at least six months.
The Wultz family synagogue, Chabad Lubavitch of Weston, Florida, distributed blue and white rubber wrist bands imprinted with the words "Pray for Daniel". The synagogue also set up a fund through its website to help assist the family with the extraordinary expenses it is suddenly facing.
Daniel's parents, Sheryl (Sarah) and Tuly, changed Daniel's Hebrew name to Chaim Meir Naftali. Following Jewish custom, the word for life was added to the beginning of his name in an effort to guard him from further danger.
How can it be that an American Jewish teenager whose survival of a terrorist bombing has been called a miracle is something most American media sources consider inconsequential? Why is his story not newsworthy - because Daniel Wultz is a teenager, an American, now an amputee, or because he is a Jewish Zionist? Or is it because the media thinks we are only interested in the personal lives of homicide bombers and their families? And whose fault is that?
This article will give you some idea of the animals we are dealing with in the 'Palestinian Authority.' As I have reported several times in the past ten days, 16-year old Daniel Wultz of Florida was critically injured in the Tel Aviv suicide bombing two weeks ago. Today, the Jerusalem Post reported that some of his classmates have come to Israel to pray for Daniel, who R"L had a leg amputated. And today, WorldNetDaily reports that the Fatah-affiliated al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, nominally controlled by Mahmoud Abbas Abu Mazen, say that Daniel is "the best target we can dream of." Words aren't sufficient to describe the callous cruelty of these fiends....
Hat Tip: Gershon in the Flatbush section of Brooklyn, New York
Daniel Wultz, a Florida teenager lying in a coma after being critically injured last week in a suicide bombing at an Israeli restaurant, is the "best target combination we can dream of – American and Zionist," Abu Nasser, a leader of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, one of the groups responsible for the deadly blast, told WorldNetDaily.
Abu Ayman, a leader of the Islamic Jihad, which also took responsibility for the April 17 bombing in which Wultz was injured, threatened all Americans and Jews worldwide and expressed regret Wultz is still alive.
...
Described as an avid basketball player, Wultz lost his spleen and a kidney in the attack. Last Friday, one of his legs was amputated, and doctors at Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital have reportedly been fighting to save his other leg, which is suffering from severely reduced blood flow.
...
Wultz has been lying in a coma in the intensive care unit since the bombing, though he briefly was aroused earlier this week.
His story has generated extensive media coverage and has prompted a flurry of e-mails across the Internet asking people worldwide to pray for the young terror victim.
In a WND exclusive interview yesterday, Abu Nasser, a senior leader of the Al Aqsa Brigades in the West Bank, rejoiced in Wultz' injuries. Abu Nasser is part of the Brigades leadership in the Balata refugee camp suspected of plotting the attack.
"We are sorry there was not more of this stuff. American and Zionist – this is the best target combination we could dream of. This is the ideal target. He is a young American who came to encourage the enemy to continue his war against us," Abu Nasser said.
The terror leader went on to blast America's role in the Middle East, which he said was aimed at achieving Jewish world domination:
"I want to use this occasion of speaking to the American people to tell them that the unfair support of your people to Israel is the reason that you are targeted almost everywhere in the world. Second, I want to bring to your knowledge that the most cruel settlers are those who came from America. It is known that the Jews are sly and not honest, and they are leading into this trap of the Middle East in order to carry out their plan of controlling the world."
Also speaking to WND, Islamic Jihad senior member Abu Ayman warned Americans are now enemies of the Palestinian people.
"The Americans are now the typical enemy of the believers like it is mentioned in the holy Quran. They think that they are all mighty and invincible, and they seem to not have the right conclusions from what happened to them in the last few years. The Americans are now the best representatives of the devil on earth," Abu Ayman said.
It's come to this: Terror victims win legal battle against Government of Israel in US court
The parents of terror victim Daniel Wultz HY"D (May God Avenge his blood) and 22 other families of American victims of terror in Israel have won a legal victory against the Government of Israel in an American court.
The lawsuits are in connection to attacks in Israel,
against Americans, between 2003 and 2008 and the ruling in the context
of the Wultz case (one of a number of parallel cases, this one on behalf
of their murdered son Daniel) and made in favor of a motion to
intervene filed by NGO Shurat Hadin, who represents 22 additional
victims' families.
The bottom-line on the actual decision handed down late Friday, and
as yet unreported elsewhere, by Washington DC federal court Judge
Reggie Walton, was that he would not decide whether the case's key
witness, former Israeli government agent Uzi Shaya, would need to
testify in the case, but would leave that decision to New York federal
court Judge Shira Scheindlin.
The decision is potentially huge, as the Israeli government and the
bank had fought with all of their might to keep this issue in
Washington DC, knowing that Judge Scheindlin has essentially already
ordered Shaya to testify.
Shaya's testimony could break the case open for the Wultz's, and
for the 22 other American victims' families represented by Shurat Hadin,
seriously concerning China, and therefore, seriously concerning the
Israeli government which (despite alleged promises to help the victims)
has turned against the case.
The plaintiffs allege that Israel turned against the case in
mid-November 2013 to maintain Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's past
state visit to China and out of concern of business interests with
China, while the PMO has said that its reasons for blocking Shaya from
testifying relate to preserving classified national security information
and international cooperation in fighting terror financing.
Procedurally, Israel, the Wultz's and Shurat Hadin all filed
extensive legal briefs, with Shurat Hadin's intervenor motion being
partially granted by the court to have the issue decided by Scheindlin.
Israel had argued that certain rules about which court hears a case
mandated that Walton hear the case and that the plaintiffs had not
properly communicated with Israel about Shaya's testimony.
Walton rejected these procedural arguments saying that Israel's
arguments were based on old rules which have been amended, eliminating
Israel's procedural arguments.
The good guys win one. But it's sad that it's come to this.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu promised a terror victim's family,
through a telephone call from Jordana Cutler of his office, that he
would allow former government agent Uzi Shaya to testify against the Bank of China in a major US terror financing case, according to a response filed by the family's lawyers on Tuesday.
The
response said that the telephone call was from Cutler in Israel to the
parents of terror victim Daniel Wulz in Florida in April 1, 2012.
Also, on May 14, 2012, then Israeli Ambassador to the US Michael Oren
called US Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen to confirm that Shaya would
testify - all of this after Ros-Lehtinen had personally delivered
Netanyahu a letter from the Wultz family in March 2012, said the
response.
...
Shaya's testimony was planned to be a major part of the terror victims families' case against the bank.
More
specifically, he was due to testify about Israeli warnings to China
that the bank was being used to fund attacks on civilians in Israel.
...
The Wultz's also discussed personal communications in which they say
they were encouraged to pursue the case by senior Israeli government and
intelligence officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
former Mossad chief Meir Dagan, former National Security Council head
Yaacov Amidror and Shaya himself.
In addition, the response says
that the government actively participated in preparing Shaya to be
deposed in the case, including by arranging a face-to-face meeting
between Daniel Wultz's father, Yekutiel (Tuly) Wultz, and Shaya.
It
continued stating that the government directed Shaya to "review
government files, instructed Shaya to meet with senior government
lawyers, and prepared a letter that set the government's ground rules
for Shaya’s testimony."
Further, the response says that the
government provided the Wultzes bank account numbers and details about
how money was being laundered for Palestinian terrorists through the
bank.
Most importantly, says the response, the government
disclosed "the content of discussions between Israeli officials and
officials of the People’s Republic of China" which made filing the case
possible.
In related developments, Shurat Hadin, an NGO
representing 22 families of victims in a parallel case, demanded the
depositions of Israeli Ambassador to China Matan Vil'nai and Amidror.
The brief filed Tuesday by David Boies, lead attorney for the
Wultzes, states "the State of Israel should not be allowed to sabotage a
case, which it set in motion in the courts of the United States to
advance its own national agenda, by using the expansive pretense of
national security – an interest that it has never previously raised
during the five-year pendency of this lawsuit, or in any similar case."
Much more than that, Mr. Boies (whose name I recognize from my days practicing law in New York in the 80's and early 90's). The State of Israel should not be trying to block victims of terror attacks in Israel from seeking justice through American courts whether or not the State of Israel had a role in setting the case in motion. We're just plain taking the wrong side in this case. And it's shameful. Downright shameful.
China trying to cover up warning Bank was being used to finance terror
This case seems to get more outrageous by the minute.
You might recall that the government of China is pressuring Prime Minister Netanyahu to prevent an Israeli intelligence officer from testifying about the involvement of the Bank of China in financing the Tel Aviv suicide bombing that murdered 16-year old Floridian Daniel Wultz HY"D (May God Avenge his blood). Wultz succumbed to injuries sustained in a
Tel Aviv suicide bombing in April 2006, while he and his father were visiting for Passover. You may recall that a
'Palestinian' terror leader referred to Wultz as "the best target we can dream of."
The government of China is the majority shareholder in the Bank of China, so the lawsuit - which has been brought in the United States - is essentially against the Chinese government.
The court transcript from a hearing on Friday before US District
Court Judge Shira Scheindlin in Manhattan indicated that at some later point,
the Bank of China was in possession of an internal Chinese government letter
recommending that the various agencies involved in the issue deny that the 2005
meeting had occurred.
The implied legal purpose of such a denial would be
for the Bank of China to deny that the Chinese government or the bank had any
prior notice from Israel, other than the lawsuit itself, that the bank was being
used as a money-laundering hub for terrorist financing for Islamic Jihad and
Hamas.
If such a denial could be pulled off, then even if the bank was
being used by Islamic Jihad and Hamas, it could be difficult or impossible to
prove the bank had any criminal intent.
Another reason the bank and China
would have wanted to deny the meeting’s occurrence would be to block Israeli
intelligence official Uzi Shaya from testifying in the case about what happened
at the meeting.
Previously, Shurat HaDin – Israel Law Center head Nitsana
Dershan-Leitner told the Post that she could be compelled by the court to
testify that the government broke its promise to offer Shaya (she referred to
him only as the witness, but his name appears in the public record), as the key
witness, to testify about having put China and the bank on notice at the 2005
meeting.
...
At the hearing, Bank of China lawyer Mitchell
Berger still protested that no one from the bank was present at the meeting and
that the bank had no record of the meeting.
Berger and lawyer Lanier
Saperstein were forced, however, to admit that the 2005 meeting took place,
whether a bank representative attended or not.
Also, the lawyers appeared
uncomfortable explaining the letter suggesting that the meeting’s occurrence be
denied and the fact exploited by the plaintiff’s lawyer Lee Wolosky – that the
Chinese government is the majority shareholder of the bank.
Based on the
majority ownership, arguments could be made that if China was on notice, then
the bank was also on notice, or should have been.
I must be missing something here. Wultz was an American citizen. His parents are American citizens. This case is pending in an American court. It's no secret that the Chinese government is pressuring Bibi not to let Shaya testify. Why is there no pushback from the US government? Why isn't the US government pushing Bibi to let Shaya testify? Isn't our alliance with the US still more valuable than our trade relations with China?
Daniel's death brings the death toll from the Tel Aviv bombing to eleven, with 26-year old Lior Enidzer having passed away Friday night. Daniel will be buried in Florida tomorrow.
Wultz had initially regained consciousness, although doctors continued to say that his life was in danger.
Daniel's father, Tuly (Yekutiel) Wultz, was lightly wounded while seated beside his son at the eatery where the bombing occurred. Speaking to a group of students who came from Florida to pray for Daniel, he said "Unfortunately, I remember everything. Daniel was thrown into my hands, and asked me to pick him up. But when I saw the extent of his injuries, I laid him down to wait for an ambulance. I held his hand and told him I loved him, and he told me he loved me."
Daniel's mother Cheryl was on her way to meet her husband and son when the attack took place, and has been at his bedside ever since. His sister Amanda, a college student at Tufts University in Massachusetts, arrived in Israel with Cheryl's mother, Margie Cantor, several days later. Additional family members from the US had also arrived to offer their support.
Immunized terrorists include murderers of Daniel Wultz and Binyamin and Talia Kahane HY"D
WorldNetDaily has some of the 178 names of Fatah terrorists who each turned in a weapon, got paid for it and stopped being hunted tonight. You're all going to be sick over this. I am too:
# Ala Senakreh, overall chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank. Based in the Balata refugee camp in the northern West Bank town of Nablus, Senakreh's cell, along with the Islamic Jihad terror group, is suspected of directing all suicide bombings in Israel in 2005 and 2006.
Among the suicide bombings Senakreh is suspected of personally directing is one attack that killed two people and wounded 33 others in a crowded bus station in Jerusalem's French Hill neighborhood. [That's less than five minutes by car from my house and about fifteen minutes by foot. CiJ]
Senakreh doubles as an officer on Fatah's Preventative Security Services. He will continue his duties as a Fatah security officer.
Senakreh yesterday told WND he hasn't yet signed the amnesty agreement because his brother, also a Brigades member, wasn't among those offered immunity. He said Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat is asking Olmert's office to grant Senakreh's brother immunity.
# Kamal Ranam, chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Ramallah. Ranam's cell is suspected of carrying out dozens of anti-Israel shooting attacks, including three Israeli highway shootings in June 2006 – one that killed a 35-year-old Israeli Arab on a major West Bank highway on the outskirts of Jerusalem; a second that wounded an Israeli two days later; and a shooting of a busload of schoolgirls on June 19, 2006. Israeli security officials say the perpetuators of the attack that killed the Israeli Arab likely mistook the victim for a Jew.
Ranam signed the amnesty agreement yesterday.
# Zacharia Zbeidi, chief of the Brigades in the West Bank city of Jenin. Most suicide bombers to infiltrate Israel since September 2000 originated in Jenin, some were sent by the Brigades. Zbeidi is suspected of directing at least two suicide bombings and scores of deadly shooting attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers.
Zbeidi told WND he signed the amnesty agreement.
# Abu Yousuf, a senior leader of the Brigades in Ramallah, is suspected of shooting at Israeli forces operating in Ramallah and carried out a shooting attack in northern Samaria in December 2000 that killed [Binyamin Zev. CiJ] Kahane, leader of the nationalist Kahane Chai organization.
After the Kahane murder, Yousuf was extended refuge by Yasser Arafat to live in the late PLO leader's Ramallah compound, widely known as the Muqata. Yousuf still lives in the compound, to which U.S. assault rifles have previously been delivered as part of aid to Abbas. Yousuf doubles as an officer in Abbas' Force 17 security detail.
Yousuf told WND he signed the amnesty agreement. He said he will continue serving in Force 17.
# Nasser Abu Aziz, the No. 2 of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and Senakreh's main deputy. Aziz's group is suspected of directing all suicide bombings in Israel the past three years together with Islamic Jihad, including the Tel Aviv attack that killed [Daniel CiJ] Wultz and nine others. Although Islamic Jihad and the Brigades took joint credit for the Tel Aviv attack, Brigades sources told WND their group directed the suicide bombing, supplying the bomber and infiltrating him into Tel Aviv. The sources said Islamic Jihad provided the explosives belt as a symbolic act so the terror group could also take part in the attack.
Wultz, who was vacationing in Israel from Florida, was gravely injured in the bombing and died of his wounds about two weeks later. Wultz's father, Tuly, was also injured in the bombing.
At the time of the bombing, Aziz called Wultz's death a "gift from Allah" in a WND interview.
Aziz yesterday told WND he is one of the few Brigades leaders not singing the amnesty agreement, saying the document is "too good to be true."
"I am sure this is part of an Israeli conspiracy against our fighters," Aziz said.
Senior Olmert spokeswoman Miri Eisin would neither confirm nor deny the list of terror suspects granted amnesty obtained by WND.
"I do not know the list of names but all included will have to renounce terrorism," Eisin said.
Eisin said Olmert granted the terror suspects amnesty "as part of developing a relationship with Abbas and the PA government in the realm of security, economy and many other levels."
"The Israeli government is committed to cooperating with the PA just as the PA committed to international principles and they are already taking concrete steps on their side. We hope this (amnesty) deal adds to the momentum to bring about a Palestinian state living securely alongside Israel," said Eisin.
Asked whether Olmert is willing to add more terrorists – such as Brigades chief Senakreh's brother – to the amnesty list, Eisin replied, "there is always a possibility that more who want to renounce terror may be added. We are willing to address this issue."
Multiple media reports yesterday stated as part of their amnesty agreement, Fatah fighters were turning their weapons in to the PA in exchange for cash payments.
Brigades members contacted by WND said about a dozen of the nearly 200 wanted militants handed in their personal weapons but said those who did are keeping assault rifles issued to them by Fatah as part of the Fatah security forces.
Asked if he will continue participating in attacks against Israel, one top Brigades leader speaking on condition his name be withheld since he just signed an amnesty agreement, replied, "If Israel doesn't give us a reason to carry out attacks then why should we? But if we see the Israelis are looking to escalate things in the West Bank, the resistance will continue."
Brigades No. 2 Aziz told WND even though senior leaders were signing amnesty agreements, the Brigades is not disbanding.
"We have conditions. We don't trust the Israelis. The Brigades will not disband. We are ready to negotiate a deal of amnesty but we won't sell out our principals and arms."
Caroline Glick reports in tomorrow's JPost that the terrorists are treating the weapons handover as a joke - and the joke is on us:
The deal between Prime Minister Olmert and Abbas claims that 178 members of Fatah's Aksa Martyrs' Brigades terror organization will hand in their weapons and pledge to stop being terrorists. From now on the only Palestinians in Judea and Samaria who will bear arms will be members of Abbas's "official" security forces. But since most of these men are already members of those official militias, and the rest are set to be commissioned in short order, the deal has no impact on any of them.
In anticipation of the formalization of the agreement at the Olmert-Abbas meeting yesterday, the IDF ended its nightly raids in Judea and Samaria for the first time in five years. Those raids, in which thousands of terrorists were apprehended in their sleep and their networks disrupted, were the main reason that Israelis in Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv, Netanya and Hadera have been able to sleep in a modicum of safety for the past three years.
It is these raids, rather than Abbas's vaunted efforts to strengthen the so-called peace camp in Palestinian society or the security fence that have prevented suicide bombers from entering Israeli cities with any frequency.
SATURDAY the IDF's General Staff ordered Central Command to receive prior General Staff approval for any such raids in the future. By taking the ability to fight terrorists away from the commanders in the field, the General Staff essentially made fighting terrorists off limits for IDF forces in Judea and Samaria. That is, without officially announcing it, Israel has agreed to Abbas's demand that it extend its "unilateral cease-fire" in Gaza (which existed until Hamas rose to power last month), to Judea and Samaria.
It should be recalled that the Hamas takeover of Gaza was abetted by Israel's decision to declare a unilateral cease-fire there. Israel stood down in Gaza in an effort to strengthen Abbas's control over that area. Since Abbas refused to use his US and Egyptian supplied arsenal to take on Hamas, Israel's decision to stand down in Gaza played a central role in enabling Hamas to raise its Iranian-trained terror army in the area to which Abbas's forces abjectly surrendered.
Caroline also takes some entertaining swipes at Shimon Peres.
It is not coincidental that this entire exercise in national suicide has taken place this week. It is a fitting backdrop to the ascension of Israel's high priest of national delusion - Shimon Peres - to the presidency. Peres is the architect of Israel's decision to embrace lies and reject truth as a national strategy.
Israel's new head of state is the man who, as Israel's foreign minister in 2001 traveled to the US in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks and told the UN General Assembly that the proper response to the attacks on Washington and New York was Palestinian statehood and nanotechnology.
This is the man who demands an end to the study of history which he deems counterproductive to looking toward the nanotechnological future.
This is the man who in 1993 forced Israel's Zionist establishment to its knees by insisting that Yasser Arafat was a man of peace.
This is the man who in 2002 oversaw US President George W. Bush's abandonment of his demand that the Palestinians fight terror as a condition for US support of Palestinian statehood.
The role of Israel's president is by law restricted to ceremonial functions. But Peres didn't even wait to be sworn in before he announced his intention to ignore both the letter and spirit of the law in his single-minded quest to realize his dream of peace through Israeli capitulation to terror.
And really, why should he care what the law says? Peres is arguably the strongest man in Israeli politics since David Ben Gurion. He controls Kadima and Labor. He enjoys the complete backing of the print and broadcast media and the legal establishment. He enjoys massive support from Israel's plutocrats. And so, as he enters his 85th year, Peres is right to feel unfettered in backing the Palestinians against Israel in the name of peace.
For the Palestinians this is a joke. For Peres this is a dream. And for the Olmert government this is national policy.
The Israeli people must remember to laugh when the bombs begin to drop.
When I posted about Daniel Wultz on Sunday, what I didn't post (because I didn't know it) is that Daniel was in a coma. Today, he woke up:
Daniel Wultz, a high school student from Weston, Florida, was in Israel with his parents to visit relatives during Passover. He and his Israeli-born father, Tuly, were lunching near Tel Aviv's central bus station on April 17, when a Palestinian suicide bomber ignited 4.5 kilograms (10 pounds) of explosives at the entrance of the restaurant. The bomb killed nine people and wounded dozens.
On Tuesday, Daniel regained consciousness, said Yael Tsubary, spokeswoman for Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital, where the youth is being treated. He is not yet able to speak, she said, but he can communicate with his eyes.
Although the teenager's condition is still listed as critical, Tsubary said he is likely to recover.
Tuly Wultz sustained moderate injuries and was pronounced "out of danger" by hospital officials on Monday.
A US trial court has ordered Stuart Levey, former Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence within the United States Department of the Treasury, to either testify in the case of Wultz v. Bank of China by January 22, or to show cause why he should not have to testify.
Former first Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence
Stuart Levey left government service after around a decade in 2011, but
according to Shurat Hadin – Israel Law Center, various disclosed
Wikileaks documents show that, while in government, he had meetings with
the bank in which he warned them that their banking services were indirectly aiding and abetting Hamas and Islamic Jihad terror operations in Israel.
The order is part of a case by the NGO (on behalf of 22 terror
victims’ families), and a parallel case by the family of victim Daniel
Wultz, against the bank for its indirect involvement in terror attacks
in Israel against Americans in 2006-2007.
Such evidence would harm
the bank’s defense that it did not know its accounts were being used by
the terror groups until a much later date.
Shurat Hadin expects
the US to try to block the deposition, though Levey is no longer in
government service. Certain legal principles sometimes empower
governments to hold back former officials from giving confidential
information obtained during their public service.
Last week,
Shurat Hadin retained a former Bush homeland security official to argue
the issue of whether a federal court in Washington DC will order former Israeli government agent Uzi Shaya to testify regarding his alleged warnings to the bank about its terror connections.
I find incredible the extent to which the American and Israeli governments are attempting to prevent recovery from the supporters of terrorism.
Fayyad's political adviser on official PATV: 'The bus wasn't that badly damaged'
This is gratuitous, but it also shows that we are light years away from true peace with even the 'moderate' 'Palestinian Authority.'
You will recall that last Thursday, Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip shot a Cornet anti-tank missile at an Israeli school bus in the Gaza envelope. Fortunately, most of the children had already gotten off the bus, but the driver was lightly wounded and 16-year old Daniel Viflic was seriously wounded. On Tuesday, it was reported that Viflic's condition has worsened and is now 'extremely critical.'
Into this situation steps one Omar al-Ghoul (yes, I know, what an appropriate name). Ghoul is the political adviser of 'westernized' 'Palestinian Prime Minister' Salam Fayyad. On Friday, Ghoul told official 'Palestinian Authority' television (which is owned by the 'Palestinian Authority') that the bus 'wasn't that badly damaged' (look at the pictures and decide for yourself). He also used the occasion to criticize Israel for attacking Hamas in response to the bus attack, saying that "Israel wants to use the attack on the bus as an excuse for its latest war crime against our people." And you thought Hamas and Fatah weren't on speaking terms.
But Ghoul went further and attacked Israel's legitimacy.
"Israel is a country that was founded on aggression and colonialism, and it lives on the continuation of bloodshed, war and violence. The racist Israeli apartheid state is incapable of turning to peace and coexistence between nations... This aggression is currently focused on Gaza, under the pretext of a shell being fired at an Israeli bus. The [school] bus wasn't that badly damaged, but Israel wants to use the attack on the bus as an excuse for its latest war crime against our people."
Let's go to the videotape.
As I was reading this story, I thought of another Daniel, who unfortunately did not survive the terror attack in which he was mortally wounded. That was Daniel Wultz HY"D (may God avenge his blood), who was critically wounded in a terror attack five years ago during the Passover holiday and eventually succumbed to his injuries R"L (God save us). Daniel Wultz was also 16 at the time. Sickeningly, the 'Palestinians' called him "the best target we can dream of."
We are no closer to peace today than we were then.
Speaking about the unspeakable... Rabbi Yisroel Spalter of Florida talks about Daniel Wultz HY"D in the past tense....
"People here are left speechless," said Rabbi Yisroel Spalter of the Chabad of Weston, to which the Wultz family belongs.
"Everyone is gathering and looking at each other and crying. That is all there is do. It's too fresh, the shock is overwhelming," Spalter told The Jerusalem Post by phone from the Chabad center in Weston.
...
"He embarked on a journey to an observant Jewish life, and as a result I've been in touch with him almost daily, sometimes more than once a day," Spalter said.
...
"I saw him wake up and open his eyes for first time -- there was such emotion, such wonderful hope that God would listen favorably to our prayers," he said. "The whole community was praying for his recovery, but God wanted something different. We are in mourning and shock, it is an open wound."
...
"Talking about Daniel in the past tense is just beyond belief," Spalter said. "It's an enormous tragedy. Right now our hearts are with the family, they're far from us right now, but we will pick them up when they arrive and be there to support them for the rest of their lives."
"Daniel was a young man that everyone loved," Spalter added. "If there was one word that could describe him was that he loved - people, living creatures, God. He was such a good soul; so determined; so committed; there were no compromises with him. Jewish life was all-consuming for him. He wanted to do everything right, and our relationship grew because of it. I feel now as if a hand of mine has been cut off."
...
"Daniel will be missed terribly, terribly," Spalter said. Every tragedy in Israel and among the Jewish people, especially the tragedies of victims of terror, is enormous. But in Daniel's case the whole world was praying for his recovery. He did believe, and his belief was so strong that he attracted all this energy around him, which was felt by the whole community and even by those who didn't know him. It's a testament to his faith and commitment. He sanctified God's name in life and in death."
A 16-year old American boy is still in critical condition from Monday's terror attack. While I have seen several references to him, it was only today that I was able to find out details about him from this article in the New York Daily News:
Daniel Wultz of Weston, Fla., near Fort Lauderdale, was in critical condition and fighting for his life last night after hours of surgery, said Karen Bronner, a spokeswoman for the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.
The teen, a sophomore at the David Posnack Hebrew Day School in Plantation, Fla., suffered a torn aorta and lost a kidney and his spleen. His father, Tuly Wultz, an Israeli Army vet, suffered a broken leg in the attack.
Hamas threatens to target Israeli and Jewish children
Hamas 'foreign minister' Mahmoud al-Zahar emerged from his cave on Monday long enough to issue a threat to target Israeli and Jewish children.
The Hamas leader called to murder Israelis and Jews worldwide, including children. “The Israelis have sentenced their children to death... They have legitimized the killing of their people all over the world,” he said. Hamas' platform calls for all Jews to convert to Islam or be killed, based on an Islamic saying (Hadith), and the group has not refrained from targeting children in the past.
Hamas will destroy synagogues and Jewish schools as well, Zahar said, just as Israel destroyed mosques in Gaza. Israel bombed several mosques used to store rockets and ammunition.
Zahar suggested Hamas was prepared to seek a ceasefire, saying Hamas would discuss “whatever is good for our people.” He issued a list of demands, saying any ceasefire must include a complete end to IDF counterterrorism activities, Hamas control of the Gaza coast and the opening of Israeli crossings.
Israel has not offered Hamas a ceasefire, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recently said operations in Gaza would continue “until we achieve our goals.”
I would take Hamas' threat seriously. Remember Daniel Wultz HY"D (may God avenge his blood)? Hamas called him the 'best target we can dream of' after the American Jewish teenager was murdered in a Hamas suicide bombing in Tel Aviv in 2006.
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Dozens of Americans murdered in Israel missing from US State Dept. award offers
The US State Department maintains a website called Rewards for Justice, which offers rewards for the arrest and conviction of persons involved in terror attacks against American citizens around the World. The page that deals with our region is here. It's called Violence in Opposition to Middle East Peace Negotiations. It hasn't been updated since 2003. And it's missing an awful lot of victims.
Dozens of names are missing from the list, according to a compilation on the Jewish Virtual Library list of American victims of terror. It is not known if the families of the victims have contacted the State Dept.
Among the missing names are Nachshon Wachsman, who was kidnapped and murdered by Hamas terrorists in 1994; Dov Driben, an American Israeli who was killed at his farm in 1996; and Eish Kodesh Gilmore, an American Israeli who was killed while guarding the National Insurance Institute in Jerusalem in 2000.
The State Dept. list concludes with a suicide bombing in May 2003 and does not include at least seven subsequent terrorist attacks that have killed or wounded American citizens. The attacks include the 2006 murder of Florida teenager Daniel Wultz at a Tel Aviv food stand; the bombing of an American convoy in Gaza in October 2003; and the September 2003 suicide bombing in Jerusalem that killed David Applebaum and his daughter Nava, originally from Cleveland.
Also missing are the names of several wounded in the 2002 suicide bombing at Sbarro's Restaurant in Jerusalem.
A suicide bomber entered Tel Aviv on the night of the Seder (last Monday night) with more than 100 kilos (220 pounds) of explosives, planning an attack that was reminiscent of the 2002 Seder night massacre in Netanya. But miraculously, the terrorist returned to Kalkilya, where the car exploded in what the General Security Service (SHABAK) is calling a 'work accident.'
The terrorist who drove the car into Tel Aviv made use of the fact that he carries a blue Israeli ID card. He received the ID as a result of his marriage to an Arab Israeli citizen from Taibeh. The ID made it easy for him to drive past IDF roadblocks from Kalkilya – which is under Hamas/Palestinian Authority control – into the nearby Tel Aviv area. His vehicle, too, carried Israel license plates.
For those who have forgotten several months ago a divided Israeli Supreme Court barely upheld the law that now allows Israel to deny citizenship to Arabs from Judea and Samaria who marry 'Israeli Arabs.' Some of you may also recall the remarks of then-Chief Justice Barak about the ruling. If you didn't know before, now you see why that ruling - and the continued enforcement of that law - are so important to Israel's security. Here's another reason why:
Security officials note that Arab terror organizations routinely make use of family ties to Israeli Arabs in order to facilitate terror attacks. The security services have been enabling relative freedom of movement to and from Kalkilya, which is situated in close proximity to the Greater Tel Aviv area, so as not to harm its economy.
Now you all know why the border crossings with Gaza are closed all the time.
The Kalkilya Hamas infrastructure was responsible for the massacre of 21 young Israelis outside the Dolphinarium discotheque in June 2001. After a period of dormancy it has now rebuilt itself, according to security officials. The officials say that from November 2006, Hamas has been upgrading its terror abilities in Judea and Samaria, and preparing attacks that can be carried out at short notice. Iran and Syria have been assisting this project.
The officials say that Hamas has switched phases from preparation of the attacks to implementation, and is now about to launch additional attacks.
For those who have forgotten the Dolphinarium, here is what I reported about it in June 2001:
The big news in Israel tonight is something about which many of you knew before Shabbos, but which I only heard about after Shabbos. I speak of course of the suicide bombing attack outside a Tel Aviv discotheque late last night Israel time. Another of the wounded died today R"L, raising the death toll to eighteen, and there are at least four more wounded, all of whom are young people, who are R"L "pzuyim anushot" (critical condition). Hashem yerachem.
This afternoon, Arafat YMS"H, under enormous pressure from the United States and the European Union (do they finally get it?) called for a cease fire. This time, for the first time, he did so in Arabic. The government does not put much credence in Arafat's call, and apparently has already decided on military measures, but they are giving Arafat several more hours to see if the cease fire is really implemented. There were already stories on the news tonight that Arafat is claiming that he cannot implement the cease fire because of the closure around the Palestinian territories, and there has been shooting tonight at Israeli positions in Azza.
But perhaps this story, posted to the Jerusalem Post web site this morning, sums up why many of us in Israel have had it with the "Palestinians."
(11:30 Saturday) Palestinians celebrating Tel Aviv bombing By Arieh O'Sullivan
Upon hearing of the Tel Aviv suicide bombing, scores of Palestinians reportedly took the streets of the West Bank town of Ramallah in celebration. Some armed men fired wildly into the air.
Meanwhile, Palestinian leaders have warned of an expected Israeli retaliation to the bombing, which killed 17 Israelis, mostly young women.
According to reports, Palestinian security forces have evacuated headquarters and other buildings they suspect Israel may target.
***********************
Here's another example (from the Associated Press, no less, which is not exactly known for being sympathetic to Israel):
(23:00 Saturday) Arab League does not condemn bombing By The Associated Press
All civilians should be protected and spared the Israeli-Palestinian violence, the head of the Arab League said today, a day after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Tel Aviv disco, killing 18 Israelis and wounding 90.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, however, stopped short of condemning the suicide bombing, the bloodiest in five years. Foreign ministers of Egypt and Jordan, two Arab nations that have peace treaties with Israel, condemned civilian killings, while radical Palestinian groups hailed the bombing as a show of Palestinian determination.
In a statement, Moussa said Israel's heavy hand dealing with the Palestinians only leads to stronger Palestinian resistance.
Moussa said civilians are paying the price for the collapse of the peace process. He called for peace talks to resume with US mediation.
In Jordan, Foreign Minister Abdul-Illah Khatib more directly condemned the disco bombing and urged Israel to "resort to the language of sanity and reason and refrain from being carried away in reactions that would only lead to escalating the crisis."
"Jordan condemns any action that targets innocent civilians no matter what the justification was and regrets that innocent civilians fell victim in the bombing attack in Tel Aviv," Khatib said.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said he was in contact with US, Palestinian and Israeli officials to try to contain the situation.
"Egypt has confirmed in the past that it condemns any attacks on civilians whether Palestinians or Israelis, taking into consideration that the number of civilian victims of Israeli actions is much higher than the Israeli victims. This clearly shows who the source of violence is," Maher told reporters.
Maher said he asked of Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres that Israel avoid any violent reaction that would increase tension in the region. Israeli violence, he said, "increases the possibilities of counter-violence and the situation today should be handled with diplomacy and wisdom."
Syria's state-run Damascus radio said in a commentary that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon promised his people security but "came away with nothing but the death of any opportunity for peace, as expected, from a terrorist overburdened by crimes against Arabs."
Moussa, apparently referring to the likelihood of Israeli retaliation for the suicide bombing, said further reactions would only add to a vicious circle of violence. He also warned against pointing fingers of blame.
The Islamic Jihad representative in Lebanon said Saturday that Israel "will not dare to widen the scale of the conflict."
"Any comprehensive military response against the Palestinian Authority or against our people in Palestine will push the entire region into a (united) front to confront the Zionist entity," Abu Imad Al-Rifai told the privately owned Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation-International TV station.
In Syria, Damascus-based radical Palestinian groups blamed Israel.
Israel is responsible "because it has spared no weapon to repress the Palestinian people and to kill innocent civilians," said Ali Badwan, spokesman for the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, in a statement.
Moussa Abu Marzouk, member of Hamas' political bureau said, "It's the right of the Palestinian people, who are languishing under the Israeli occupation, to resist this occupation by all available means." He predicted further attacks.
Other groups echoed similar sentiments.
"Resistance in all its forms is legitimate according to the principles of international law and the Palestinian people would never surrender or accept occupation," Maher Taher of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, told reporters in Damascus.
He added that the United States shares the responsibility with Israel for the latest flare-up because of its silence over Israeli practices.
Lebanon's Hizbullah, which led a guerrilla war against Israeli forces in Lebanon, praised the attack in a statement issued after a meeting involving Hizbullah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah and Sheik Faisal Moulawi, secretary-general of the Islamic Grouping, a Lebanese Sunni Muslim fundamentalist group.
"Participants offer congratulations and blessing over the victorious suicide operation," the statement said, adding that the blast shows Palestinians' determination to "break the enemy's security and military measures."
According to a report in the Politico, Republican Presidential nominee John Sidney McCain is vetting Virginia Republican Representative Eric Cantor as a possible running mate (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).
Cantor, 45, has provided records to the running-mate search team of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the adviser said.
With a Southern lilt and that belies his talent for raw politics, Cantor is one of the nation’s most prominent Jewish Republicans, and has impressed the McCain team by becoming a prolific fund-raiser for the campaign.
A young fiscal conservative who could help keep Virginia from tipping blue, Cantor could also be an asset in such battlegrounds as Florida, Pennsylvania and Ohio. He has shown appeal to the party's base as well as to independents, and would be an unconventional choice at a time when McCain is looking to add excitement to his campaign.
"McCain needs to do something different," said Chris LaCivita, a top Virginia Republican strategist. Citing his youth, ties to the business community, strong relationship with conservative activists and proven ability to raise money, LaCivita said Cantor "fits all the bills."
The commonwealth, which has been reliably Republican in presidential races, has become more Democratic, making it a top target for Obama and a huge concern for McCain.
Cantor, who lives in suburban Richmond, would bring to the ticket a photogenic family and a track record of raising prodigious amounts of money from his own national network. On weekends, he travels constantly on behalf of Republican House candidates and the national party
Known on Capitol Hill as squeaky clean, Cantor has successfully campaigned and raised money in key states like Missouri, New Jersey and New York.
Mark Warner, the former Virginia governor and now Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Virginia, has said that Cantor was his toughest potential opponent. Cantor decided to stay in the House to continue rising the leadership ladder.
Cantor, the Chairman of the GOP's Jewish Victory Coalition, would certainly be good news for Israel. He has been in the forefront of those fighting claims that support for Israel is forced on Congress by the 'Israel lobby,' he has introduced legislation in Congress condemning Muslim destruction of the Temple Mount. This is from Wikipedia (link above):
Cantor is a supporter of strong US-Israel, cosponsoring legislation that would cut off all U.S. taxpayer aid to the Palestinian Authority and another bill calling for an end to taxpayer aid to the Palestinians until they stop unauthorized excavations on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Responding to a claim by the State Department that the United States provides no "direct" aid to the Palestinian Authority, Cantor stated that United States sends about $75 million in aid annually to the Palestinian Authority, which is administered by the U.S. Agency for International Development. Cantor also stated that Congress approved a three-year package of $400 million in aid for the Palestinian Authority in 2000. Cantor's cousin, Daniel Cantor Wultz, died as the result of a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv which was carried out by Islamic Jihad on April 17, 2006.
Wikipedia also notes that Cantor maintains a Kosher home.
Israel's Channel 10 has signed a content sharing agreement with Communist Chinese television (Hat Tip: Sunlight).
CCTV, the central broadcaster of the People’s
Republic, will team up with the debt-ridden channel to share content on
each other’s airwaves and also create joint productions.
According to the reports, the deal will soon
see Israeli audiences exposed to CCTV documentaries and a Chinese
program about growing up Chinese.
Channel 10, which has been struggling with
debt for several years and has on numerous occasions been bailed out by
the government just before going dark, last week lost its biggest
investor, cosmetics mogul Ron Lauder. Lauder reportedly pulled out of
the station after sparring with co-shareholder Yossi Maimon over how to
handle its financial crisis. Channel 10 is one of only two independent
television stations in Israel.
So we get to watch the Communist military parade every year? Or maybe this is why the government is resisting having that Mossad agent testify against the Bank of China in the Wultz case? What could go wrong?
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
