Israel Update for January 2011

Israeli officials were shocked and saddened when a group of Egyptian attorneys charged that a devastating New Year's Eve assault in Alexandria was carried out by Israeli Mossad agents. The vicious bomb attack left 21 Coptic Christians dead and nearly 80 others wounded. The lawyers made the totally unsubstantiated allegation during a meeting with families of the slain Egyptians. The explosion sparked off violent confrontations between Christians and Muslims all over Egypt, which left many injured and lasted for several days. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak hinted that Al Qaida was also behind the Alexandria incident, vowing to 'cut off the hands of terrorists and those plotting against Egypt's security'. Officials later said the assault was carried out by local and foreign Muslim extremists who were influenced by Al Qaida's terrorist actions and hostile rhetoric. Around 10% of Egypt's nearly 80 million citizens are Coptic Christians, the largest single Christian community in the turbulent region.

Anti-Israel sentiments by many Arabs were also apparently displayed when visitors to the CNN website in Arabic voted overwhelmingly to name Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan as 'Man of the Year' for 2010. He received nearly three quarters of the vote, with most of the rest choosing Syrian dictator Bashar Assad as their most admired regional leader. Erdogan's popularity in the Arab world soared after the clash at sea last May between Israeli military personnel and mostly Turkish Muslims attempting to break an IDF naval blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. A blue ribbon commission appointed by the Israeli government to investigate the clash released a report in late January exonerating IDF forces who took part in the operation.

More Rockets From Gaza

The new year began with fresh clashes between Israelis and Palestinians. A violent protest demonstration was held early in the month next to the Israeli security barrier near the Palestinian town of Bil'in. An Arab woman died after inhaling tear gas fired by IDF forces at the protestors, who were hurling stones and bottles at them. A young Palestinian man was later shot dead after he disobeyed orders to halt at an IDF checkpoint in the Jordan Valley. Two other Arabs who worked for the British Consulate in eastern Jerusalem were arrested and charged with plotting an armed attack upon football spectators at Jerusalem's Teddy Stadium. Officials said one of the men had traveled to Saudi Arabia to receive funds from Muslim Brotherhood agents to purchase lethal weapons, including shoulder-fired rockets. However plans to launch the attack were subsequently dropped after the two suspects realized it would be logistically impossible to carry out such an attack.

The worst violence during January was once again in the Gaza Strip. Saying it was marking the 'second anniversary of the Palestinian victory' over IDF forces during the Cast Iron military operation, the Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad group launched a series of mortar and rocket attacks at Israeli targets near the Gaza Strip. Three Israeli civilians were wounded in the assaults which lasted for several days. An Israeli soldier was killed when mortar shrapnel struck his unit. Military investigators later said that they suspected he was mistakenly hit by IDF mortar fire during intense clashes with Palestinian militiamen.

In response to the unprovoked Palestinian rocket and mortar barrage, Israeli military aircraft bombed several positions inside the Gaza Strip, including arms-smuggling tunnels along the border with Egypt and Hamas and Islamic Jihad militia bases. After Israeli leaders warned that a new full-scale military operation might be launched if the Palestinian fire did not quickly end, Gaza Strip Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh instructed his security forces to enforce a ceasefire. However additional mortar shells landed in Israel later in the month and a Palestinian militant was killed as he attempted to infiltrate the border fence.

International Intrigues

On January 19, Lebanon (of all countries) submitted a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlement building in Judea and Samaria, and construction in parts of Jerusalem. Possessing veto power, the US has already announced opposition to the resolution, saying it will only further hamper efforts to get stalled peace talks moving again. This came as both Israeli and PA officials confirmed that the American-sponsored peace process has ground to a halt. PA leaders stated again in January they will not resume negotiations with the Netanyahu government until all settlement construction is halted.

Meanwhile Israeli leaders hinted during January that they have been involved in joint Western efforts to disrupt Iran's nuclear programme. This came after a French newspaper reported that Israel's Mossad spy agency is working with the American CIA and Britain's MI6 to sabotage the programme. It said the three agencies cooperated to blow up an Iranian missile factory last October, and to infiltrate the Stuxnet virus into computers controlling Iran's uranium enrichment centrifuges, causing up to 10% of them to be destroyed. The New York Times later reported that the Americans and Israelis had tested the powerful virus on similar computers operating in Israel. The virus, still active, has reportedly set back Iran's nuclear development plans by many months, if not years.

Israeli Mossad chief Meir Dagan, who retired in January after eight years on the job, caused a stir when he told a Knesset committee that Iran may not be able to build nuclear bombs until 2015. Several Israeli experts on Iran and some politicians blasted his estimation, saying it could hurt efforts to halt the rogue regime's nuclear programme. The outgoing security chief replied to his critics by stating that Iran could well be closer than he predicted to either developing or acquiring nuclear warheads.

Amid fresh regional strife, the God of Israel has not forgotten His covenant people or His many promises to them. 'For He is the living God who endures forever, and His kingdom is one which will never be destroyed, and His dominion will be forever' (Daniel 6:26).