HIZBULLAH TERROR CELL, PLUS 25 OTHERS CONVICTED IN EGYPTIAN COURT!
by Hana Levi Julian (IsraelNationalNews)

A group of 26 Hizbullah terrorists were convicted Wednesday in Egypt’s emergency state security court, including the head of a terrorist cell that has been operating in the Sinai Peninsula.

Egyptian prosecutors said two weeks ago they would seek the death penalty against Sami Shehab, who had planned attacks against Israeli tourists in the Sinai Peninsula and was planning to smuggle Iranian weapons into Gaza for Hamas terrorists. Also known as Mohamed Youssef Mansour Ahmed, he was present in a cage in the court room when he was sentenced to a term of 15 years in prison. Shehab admitted earlier to being sent to Sinai on the orders of Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah.

Two weeks ago, an unusually severe alert was issued by the Israeli National Security Council’s Counter-Terrorism Bureau, bluntly warning citizens to locate their loved ones traveling in the Sinai Peninsula, and persuade them to immediately return home to the Jewish State. Hizbullah vowed two years ago to take revenge upon Israel, including abroad, following the February 2008 assassination in Damascus of the group’s number two commander, Imad Mughniyeh. Israeli intelligence agents have foiled numerous attempted attacks by the group since then.

Shehab’s attorney, Lebanese lawmaker Emile Rahme, called the verdict “unjust and cruel.” In a statement faxed to the Reuters news service in Beirut, Rahme said, “This verdict can be described as a politicized verdict. It cannot be described as a judicial verdict. If the court had stayed away from politics, then it would have ruled my client innocent.” Rahme has close ties with the Hizbullah terrorist organization.

Others in the group, which included Palestinian Authority Arabs, as well as Lebanese nationals, Egyptians and one Sudanese, received varying prison terms. Three were sentenced to life in prison, some were sentenced to six months in jail. Several were convicted in absentia.

Justice Adel Abdel Salam Goma’a said in handing down the decision that investigators had proved the group intended to “strike Egypt’s economy, destroy the bonds between its people and create chaos and instability throughout the country,” Reuters reported.

Egypt has been criticized by Hizbullah as a “partner in crime” with Israel in allegedly supporting the blockade of Gaza. Cairo has responded by saying that Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah is acting as a proxy in the region to serve the interests of others, presumably Iran, which generously funds the terrorist organization and supplies it with arms.

IRAN: WE ALSO WORRY ABOUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS IN THE WRONG HANDS!
by Maayana Miskin (IsraelNationalNews)

Iranian leaders announced this week that they, too, are concerned over the possibility of nuclear weapons in the hands of terrorists. “We are also worried about the access of terrorist groups to nuclear weapons,” Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ramin Mehman-Parast said, according to Iran’s Fars news agency.

Mehman-Parast added that all nations should worry about terrorist access to nuclear arms.

However, he said, every country should be allowed to use nuclear energy. “Nuclear energy for all, nuclear weapons for none,” should be the world’s motto, he declared.

He expressed concern not only about terrorists, but about Western powers with nuclear weapons. He criticized the United States in particular, accusing the US of failing to disarm and of threatening nuclear attacks on other nations.

US President Barack Obama recently said America would commit not to use nuclear weapons against countries that do not have nuclear weapons, even in the case of an attack with unconventional arms. However, he excluded Iran from the list of countries without nuclear weapons, as Iranian leaders have refused to grant full access to their nuclear facilities. That angered Iranian leaders, who said Obama’s statement was a threat to bomb their country.

Iranian leaders insist that they are seeking nuclear technology for the sole purpose of producing energy. However, they have refused to allow full international supervision of their facilities, and have recently conducted tests on long-range missiles that could reach Europe or Israel. In addition, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has made public threats to wipe Israel “off the map.”

CONGRESS OUTRUNS OBAMA FOR ISRAEL AND SANCTIONS AGAINST IRAN!
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu (Israel National News)

U.S. President Barack Obama’s Democratic majority is turning against him after barely a year in office and is racing ahead of the President to ensure Israel’s security and force harsh sanctions against Iran.

Senate Majority Leader Harold Reid of Nevada, who did not join more than 80 colleagues who recently sent a pro-Israel letter to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, fired off his own missive several days ago.

As the Obama administration increasingly accepts Palestinian Authority demands as non-negotiable, Senator Reid wrote, “I…believe that the United States should clearly and unequivocally state our continuing support for Israel and reiterate the unbreakable bond between the two nations…. I hope that the Obama Administration will do everything possible to reduce recent tensions with Israel while reaffirming the need to move forward with the peace process. I urge you to encourage both sides to participate in direct negotiations, which Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has already agreed to do.

Other leading Democrats, most notably New York Senator Charles Schumer and Representative Anthony Weiner, also have come out swinging against Secretary Clinton’s and President Obama’s unprecedented public condemnation of Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israeli plans to build more residences for Jews in Jerusalem.

The United States does not recognize Israeli sovereignty over parts of the capital where 300,000 Jews now live following the reunification of the city in the 1967 Six-Day War.

Sen. Reid pointedly stated, “A secure Israel is in our national interest.” One of the principle foundations that President Obama has used to advance the PA position for a new Arab state within Israel’s borders is the claim that doing so is in the interests of the national security of the United States.

Sen. Reid also asserted he is “deeply concerned about the continuing threat from Iran’s nuclear weapons program.”

He is among dozens of Congress members who are pushing for legislation to place crippling gas and oil sanctions on Iran, and the Congressional pace appears to be far faster than that of President Obama.

“We cannot allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon which would threaten Israel, our allies in Europe, and our own national interests,” Sen. Reid wrote Secretary Clinton. “We must move forward with a peace process that protects the security of Israel. I strongly believe that our relationship with Israel makes the United States more secure. We cooperate on critical intelligence matters, work together on weapons systems, and rely on Israel as our ally in a volatile part of the world.”

His comments offset recent remarks and hints from U.S. Army generals and Obama advisors that the failure to establish a PA state is an obstacle towards reaching an understanding with Iran on its nuclear weapons program.

A joint Senate-House of Representatives conference is to meet Wednesday to try to reach common language on the proposed Iran Sanctions Act, which would force President Obama’s hand.

The executive branch’s initiatives for tough United Nations sanctions have been met by stiff opposition from Russia and China. President Obama’s main achievement at the recent nuclear summit was to gain a handshake and a noncommittal statement from Beijing.

Another obstacle in the President’s way will pop up on May 1, when Lebanon assumes the month-long rotating Presidency of the United Nations Security Council. The chances of his fulfilling his vow to pass a resolution for sanctions “within weeks, not months” are near zero.

His apparent failure gives Congress, which has been criticized for deep divisions, a chance to show it is leading the country. The House of Representatives last December passed the sanctions bill by a whopping 411-12 vote.

The bill would punish companies that export refined petroleum products to Iran, which has limited refining capacity despite its vast crude oil reserves. The Obama administration’s arguments against the bill are weakening. Fears that it would make it more difficult for the United Nations to pass a resolution on sanctions are less meaningful as the obstacles grow to such a resolution and Iran appears past the point of no return for obtaining nuclear capability.

IRAN, EGYPT LINE UP AGAINST US, ALLIES AT UN NUKE MEETING!
by Hana Levi Julian (Arutz Sheva News)

Iran and Egypt are lining up to fight the United States and its allies over Israel at the upcoming United Nations meeting on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has requested a visa to enter the U.S. to attend the meeting, which begins Monday in New York, but it is not yet clear whether the State Department will approve his application. The Iranian leader is hoping to lead a fight to force Israel to sign the treaty and thereby admit to possessing nuclear weapons – something the Jewish State has never confirmed or denied, but which is widely assumed to be true.

Israel will not participate in the conference, nor will India or Pakistan, who also are not signatories to the treaty.

If Ahmadinejad is granted the visa, he will face U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who heads the American delegation on nuclear non-proliferation.

The treaty, first signed in 1970, calls on those who possess nuclear warheads to abandon them, and is intended to stop the further spread of atomic weapons. Every five years the 189 signatories to the pact gather to review current compliance with its mandate, as well as the progress made towards its worldwide goals.

In 2005, neither objective was reached due to ongoing debates between Iran, the U.S. and Egypt.

The treaty has thus far failed to stop Iran from proceeding with its rush towards nuclear capability, despite a current mandate from the U.N. Security Council ordering the Islamic Republic to suspend its uranium enrichment activities. Nor has it stopped North Korea from building a nuclear weapon, or blocked a Pakistani-led illicit nuclear supply network from providing materials to those who can meet the price.

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, including the U.S., Russia, China, France and Britain plus Germany are already in New York working to draft a resolution on a new set of sanctions aimed at slowing down, if not stopping, Iran from continuing with its nuclear technology development. But the Council is far from united on the issue, as Russia and China continue to balk at the idea of imposing harsh economic sanctions on the Islamic Republic to stop its nuclear development, despite the growing threat to the nations of the world that is becoming clearer as time passes.

Russia has many investments in Iran, not the least of which is a nuclear plant of its own; China has numerous trade agreements, including several involving petroleum products.

By next week, the rotating presidency of the U.N. Security Council again changes hands, and for the next six months, Lebanon will be its new leader. The Lebanese government includes numerous representatives from the Hizbullah terrorist organization, which is patronized by Iran both through generous funding and shipments of arms.

HIZBULLAH HAS ONE OF WORLD’S LARGEST MISSILE ARSENALS!
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu (Arutz Sheva News)

Syria is helping Hizbullah stockpile “far more rockets and missiles than most governments in the world,” U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said at a joint press conference with visiting Defense Minister Ehud Barak.

Without specifically mentioning the Scud missile, which Hizbullah reportedly is adding to its arsenal with Syria’s and Iran’s help, Secretary Gates stated, “Syria and Iran are providing Hizbullah with rockets and missiles of ever-increasing capability… and this is obviously destabilizing for the whole region.”

His comments came at the same time that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has tried to assure Lebanon that Israel has no intention of attacking Hizbullah. The latter’s forces have blended in with the Lebanese army to the level that Prime Minister Netanyahu said it is hard to distinguish between the two.

Defense Minister Barak also tried to soothe fears, saying at the press conference that “we do not intend to provoke any kind of major clash in Lebanon or Syria.” Israel and Hizbullah fought the 34-day Second Lebanon War in 2006, which ended with United Nations guarantees that Hizbullah would be disarmed. However, commanders of UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said at the outset that they were not able to carry out the mandate.

The United Nations has ignored most of Israel’s appeals to put a stop to Hizbullah’s smuggling of missiles, which now number three or four times the 20,000 missiles it possessed before the war and which are far more sophisticated. The Scud missile, used by Iraq against Israel in the 1991 Gulf War, can easily strike Tel Aviv from Lebanon.

Although the United States has not confirmed that Hizbullah has Scuds, the reports on their being shipped by Syria actually may have been leaked by the United States in order to put pressure on UNIFIL. Hizbullah’s dominance in southern Lebanon and its alliance with the Lebanese government would make any counterterrorist measures or diplomatic moves ineffective.

Following the report last week, which was confirmed by President Shimon Peres, the U.S. State Department summoned Syria’s chief of mission for a warning of Damascus’ “provocative behavior,” but Syria has rejected all accusations.

FRANCE JOINS USA IN BLAMING ISRAEL AND PM NETANYAHU FOR LACK OF PEACE!
(Israel Today News)

French President Nicolas Sarkozy reportedly told Israeli President Shimon Peres when the two met in Paris two weeks ago that the current failure of the Middle East peace process is almost entirely the fault of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Senior Israeli officials were briefed on the meeting recently, and told Ha’aretz under condition of anonymity that it was a “very difficult” encounter for Peres.

Sarkozy reportedly spent the first 15 minutes of the meeting railing against Netanyahu.

“I’m disappointed with him,” the French president reportedly said.. “With the friendship, sympathy and commitment we have toward Israel, we still can’t accept this foot-dragging. I don’t understand where Netanyahu is going or what he wants.”

Sarkozy’s increasingly hostile position mirrors that of the Obama Administration, which has made clear that it sees Netanyahu and the right-wing elements in his government as the reason the peace process is not moving forward.

That despite the fact that Netanyahu has already gone against his election platform by publicly accepting the idea of a Palestinian state, has frozen Jewish building in Judea and Samaria and has repeatedly stated that he is ready to immediately restart direct bilateral negotiations with the Palestinians.

That Palestinian leaders outright refuse to sit with Netanyahu and discuss these issues has been almost completely ignored in Western capitals.

SYRIAN-TURKISH JOINT ARMY DRILL INTENSIFIES THREAT TO ISRAEL!
by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu (Arutz Sheva News)

Syria is tightening its military alliance with Turkey as it reinforces its recent threat to send Israel back to “the Stone Age” if it attacks Hizbullah. Syrian President Bashar Assad told a Kuwaiti newspaper on Saturday it has “surprises” in store for Israel.

Turkish military officials said that its soldiers began joint military exercises with Syria on Monday, the second time in a year. The army maneuvers are another sign of closer ties between Damascus and Ankara, which was considered to be a friend of Israel until last year, when it fell in line with most of the Arab world’s anti-Israel campaign.

Turkey also has established closer ties with Iran, and an Iranian-Turkish-Syrian-Lebanese axis would pose a monolithic threat to Israel from the north.

Syrian sources told the Kuwaiti daily Al-Rai that if Israel were to attack the Lebanon-based Hizbullah terrorist army, Syria would impose a naval blockade on Israel, using ground-to-sea missiles.

The regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad also has the capability to fire 60 ballistic missiles and 600 tactical missiles in one day, the sources told the newspaper. They added that if Hizbullah is attacked, Syria would fight alongside the Lebanese army, which has shown signs of being part and parcel of Hizbullah’s forces.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday tried to defuse the hostile atmosphere, stating that Israel has no intentions of staging an attack.

Diplomatic tensions flared up two weeks ago after it was revealed that Syria has been arming Hizbullah with long-range Scud missiles. The report was first carried by Al-Rai and may have been leaked by the United States in order to create pressure for United Nations Interim Forces (UNIFIL) to beef up their patrols in Lebanon.

Syria categorically denied the charges, and the United States officially said it is investigating the report.

ISRAEL PROVIDES ASSISTANCE TO GAZA IN SPITE OF BAN!
by Hana Levi Julian (Israel National News)

An official ban on commercial trade with Israel has not stopped the Palestinian Authority from allowing Gaza to accept weekly deliveries of thousands of tons of humanitarian aid.

Last week, from April 18 to April 24, a total of 439 truckloads bearing 10,983 tons of various food items and other essential products made their way from Israel through the various Gaza crossings, according to the IDF Coordinator of Governmental Activities in the Territories (CoGAT).

Among the food items were 57 truckloads of fruits and vegetables, 42 truckloads of wheat, 24 truckloads of meat, chicken and fish products, 35 truckloads of dairy products and 13 truckloads of sugar.

Dry goods included 31 truckloads of hygiene products and 18 truckloads of clothing and shoes.

At the Karni Crossing, 104 truckloads of animal feed were transferred through the massive conveyer terminal.

At the Nahal Crossing fuel terminal, 1.046 million liters of diesel fuel were pumped into Gaza for the power station, and 99,500 liters of diesel fuel were transferred for regular transportation purposes. In addition, 19,980 liters of gasoline and 502 tons of cooking gas were pumped through the terminal.

Traffic was steady at the Erez Crossing as well, where 228 PA Arab residents of Gaza – medical patients and their escorts – crossed into Israel to travel to various destinations for treatment, including to areas in Judea and Samaria. An additional 50 Gazans entered Israel for various other reasons as well.

Also crossing through the Erez terminal were 149 staff members of international non-governmental aid organizations who entered Gaza, and 146 staff members who crossed from Gaza into Israel.

OBAMA HOSTS MUSLIM ENTREPRENEURS!
by Maayana Miskin (Arutz Sheva News)

U.S. President Barack Obama began a two-day summit Monday bringing together entrepreneurs from dozens of countries, most of them primarily Muslim. The summit is seen as a continuation of Obama’s Cairo address, in which he said he would strive for closer ties with the Muslim world.

The meeting aims to develop economic ties with, and boost development in, the Muslim world. A top Obama aide said the conference was “part of establishing a more multifaceted set of relationships.”

In a similar move, the Obama administration is set to have the U.S. Global Technology and Innovation Fund award contracts to Muslims, in an effort to increase investment in the Muslim world.

Obama’s focus on economic and social issues is intended to enhance, not replace, America’s involvement in political and defense issues in the Middle East, aides said. The President remains committed to a variety of goals in the Middle East, they explained, among them Israeli-Arab negotiations.

Some of Obama’s Middle East policies have proven controversial, particularly his efforts to talk to Iran and his condemnation of Israeli construction in Jerusalem. The latter policy sparked a rally in New York yesterday against Obama’s Israel policy.

PA FACTIONS SAY “NO” TO PEACE TALKS!
by Maayana Miskin (Arutz Sheva News)

Eight Palestinian Authority factions meeting in Syria have rejected peace talks with Israel based on the “two-state solution,” according to Kuwaiti media. Among the factions were Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

The groups called on the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO), the umbrella group that created the PA, to immediately stop talks with Israel. The PA has agreed to indirect talks with Israel, via United States mediators.

The eight factions slammed US negotiators, and accused special U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell of seeking to buy time for Israel to implement its own plans.

While the PA is currently run by Fatah, which supports negotiations, Hamas swept the PA parliamentary elections in 2006 and continues to enjoy significant support in Judea and Samaria as well as Gaza. Fatah won only 45 out of 132 seats in the 2006 elections.

Islamic Jihad has a policy of boycotting elections in the Palestinian Authority.

Hamas has called to postpone new PA elections due to the Hamas-Fatah split, which has left Hamas in charge of Gaza and Fatah in control of Judea and Samaria. However, Fatah officials have announced that elections will be held in the course of 2010 with or without Hamas approval.