Today's Situation

JAW-JAW AND WAR-WAR , June 06, 2007

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has convened his diplomatic-security cabinet on Wednesday, to discuss the subject that has been dominating the local media for some time now: the tension with Syria.

Both Yedioth Ahronoth and Maariv lead their coverage with the message that Olmert is expected to pass on to his ministers today: Tone down the rhetoric. According to Yedioth Ahronoth, Olmert will ask the ministers to let the political echelon conduct its assessment of the situation on the Syrian front, without making statements that could undermine the already fragile situation between the countries. The paper says that Olmert fears that Syria could misread Israel and launch a military operation and says that the prime minister has been stressing in private conversation that Israel does not want to be dragged into a war.

Haaretz, meanwhile, leads with Military Intelligence's assessment that, while Syrian President Bashar Assad is preparing for war, he does not intent to initiate one. That assessment, by MI chief Amos Yadlin, was just one of several made by senior political and military leaders.

Speaking Tuesday during a major military training exercise in the Negev, where IDF forces simulated an assault on a Syrian village, army chief Gabi Ashkenazi said that 'We are preparing for the possibility of deterioration both on the Palestinian front and also, if we have to take action, on the northern front.'

Ahead of the cabinet meeting, Defense Minister Amir Peretz spoke to both Army Radio and Israel Radio. Peretz stressed that, while the IDF was preparing for any scenario, Israel must not give up on diplomacy with Damascus.

'The IDF has to be ready on all fronts, irrespective of intelligence reports on what is going to happen,' he said on Army Radio. 'But we have to relay to the Syrians that our exercises and preparations are a matter of course, and in no way reflect plans to attack Syria.' Later, on Israel Radio, Peretz said that 'Israel must probe any possibility of diplomacy with Syria.'

In a last-minute development on the Palestinian front, the Prime Minister's Office announced Wednesday that a meeting planned for Thursday between Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has been cancelled at the Palestinians' request.

While no explanation was given for the Palestinians' request, it is possible that reports in the Israeli media that Olmert was set to reject several of the requests that Abbas was likely to make played some role. The two were slated to meet in Jericho, as part of a months-old agreement to meet every two weeks. Olmert's aides were reported as saying that Israel would refuse to release tax money collected on behalf of the PA, and would refuse to release terrorist prisoners as long as kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit has not been released. Olmert had also been expected to refuse a ceasefire with terrorist groups, they said, explaining, 'Israel will continue to pursue Islamic Jihad and Hamas, and will not stop.'

Elsewhere, there were violent incidents in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. According to The Jerusalem Post website, at least six mortar shells were fired at the Erez Crossing on Wednesday. The explosions caused a fire on the Palestinian side of the crossing. No one was reported injured.

In Hebron, meanwhile, there were conflicting reports surrounding the death of a 67-year-old man who died during an IDF arrest operation at his home. The army claimed that, during the operation, one of the members of the man's family tried to grab a soldier's gun and that the man was killed in the ensuing gunfire. Earlier Tuesday night, one armed Palestinian was killed and another wounded during an IAF air strike in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian sources reported. According to a report on Israel Radio, the two were trying to plant a bomb when they were hit by the IAF planes. The incident came hours after two Qassam rockets landed in the western Negev. No one was wounded in the rocket attack and no damage was caused, as both landed in open areas.

Finally, Army Radio said Wednesday morning that 100 new housing units are being built in the West Bank by the Amana settlement movement, and that most of the units had already been sold. According to the report, Amana was also negotiating the sale of more potential units, which would be built in the future. The report stated that sources in Jerusalem said the construction of homes in the West Bank would be stopped in accordance with promises made to the U.S. and to Jordan, but that the units in question were approved several years ago, before the commitment was made.

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