Today's Situation

STILL SYRIA, June 11, 2007

After a weekend in which the headlines were dominated by reports that Russian-Israeli tycoon has purchased a supermarket chain (in)famous for selling non-kosher products and has vowed to make it kosher, the Israeli media turned its attention back to more serious issues on Monday.

The headlines in the three main Hebrew papers reflect a diverse agenda: politics (Tuesday's second round of voting for leader of the Labor Party in Haaretz) economics (cancellation of sales tax on hundreds of electric products in Yedioth Ahronoth) and defense (concerns among of Israel's military leadership over an arms deal between the United States and Saudi Arabia in Maariv).

One story that did not make it into any of the morning papers, however, was the overnight launch of the Ofek 7 spy satellite from the Palmahim Air Force base early Monday. The launch was carried out at 2:40 am, Israel Radio reported. Security officials said it would take several days to determine whether the satellite's systems are operational .

According to Haaretz's website, Ofek 7, which weighs 300 kilograms, will orbit the earth from up to 600 kilometers in space. It will communicate images from around the world, including Iran. Israel's first satellite, Ofek 5, was launched in 2002, but Ofek 7 promises to significantly improve its operational capabilities 24 hours a day for the next four years.

Speaking in Army Radio, Defense Minister Amir Peretz welcomed the successful launch, saying it provides an important contribution to Israel's defense and is a testimony to Israel's technological strength .

The issue which dominated the weekend edition of the newspapers - the possible re-launch of a dialog between Israel and Syria - is relegated to the inside pages, although Israel Radio reports Monday that a political commentator on Radio Damascus said if Israel is serious about peace then there is no need for miracles and progress can be made. The commentator on the state-run radio said, however, that all Israeli governments since the Rabin government have missed a real opportunity to make peace with Syria.

The comments came after two Israeli ministers, Shaul Mofaz and Amir Peretz, confirmed Sunday a report in Yedioth Ahronoth that Israel has sent secret messages to Syria. Speaking Monday to Israel Radio, Alon Liel , the former director general of the Foreign Ministry who heads the Israel-Syria Peace Society , said that there has definitely been a shift in the policy of the Israeli government vis-à-vis Syria over recent weeks.

Meanwhile, former Israeli negotiator and one-time cabinet secretary Yossi Ben-Aharon says that talk of giving away the Golan merely encourages Syrian aggression.

Ben-Aharon, who handled previous negotiations with Syria on behalf of the Yitzhak Shamir government over 20 years ago, said that talk of giving away the Golan 'folly and vanity. Every once in a while,' Ben-Aharon told Arutz 7's Hebrew newsmagazine, 'a prime minister comes up with this idea of giving up the Golan Heights - as if he received the Golan as some kind of gift, when in fact it cost us much blood. Or as if he has some kind of guarantee -other than what is written on some piece of paper - that Syria will really cut off relations with Iran or stop supporting terrorism. Or as if he knows for sure that they will truly stop supplying terrorists in Lebanon with rockets and weapons.'

In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, two days of violence, during which six people were killed in inter-factional violence, appear to have been stemmed thanks to a ceasefire brokered by Egypt. Previous ceasefires - too numerous to list - have been short-lived. The latest ceasefire was called after gunmen fired at the house of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh (Hamas) in the Shati refugee camp early Monday morning. No one was hurt in the attack, which marks the first time in the fighting between Fatah and Hamas that Haniyeh has become a target. According to Israel Radio, one reason for the truce may be students taking matriculation exams, who were forced to circumvent armed terrorists in order to attend schools.

In the meantime, the rocket attacks against Sderot and the surrounding communities in the western Negev resumes Monday morning after a short lull. Six rockets were been fired, the last one exploding in an open area. No injuries or damage was reported from the morning attacks.

According to Arutz 7 - the former settler pirate radio station which moved its operations exclusively to the Internet - the reason for last week's lull was the planned meeting between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. In an attempt to give Abbas more leverage in negotiations, the groups behind the attacks held off their fire. However, once Abbas called off the meeting because Israel did not agree to its demands for releasing tax revenues and halting counter-terrorist operations throughout the West Bank, the bombardment resumed.

Finally, the race between Ami Ayalon and Ehud Barak for leadership of Israel's second-largest party - Labor - enters its final 24 hours with Haaretz leading on a report that Olmert is set to offer Ayalon - if he is victorious - the finance portfolio. Sources close to Ayalon, a former Shin Bet head, say however that he would prefer the Defense Ministry. The paper adds that Olmert is keen to present his new-look government to the public within two weeks.

If Barak wins, Olmert will not offer the Finance Ministry, they said, because 'he does not want to make a laughingstock out of himself.' Barak has repeatedly said that he will not sit in a coalition with Olmert no matter what ministry is offered.

If Ayalon were to accept the offer, Olmert's aides said, Labor would have to give up the Defense Ministry, and Olmert would bring back former defense minister Shaul Mofaz.

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