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By Maayana Miskin, www.IsraelNationalNews.com

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia

Al-Qaeda leaders in Yemen have called to topple Saudi rulers and murder Christians living in Saudi Arabia, according to a taped statement released Wednesday, August 11. The person speaking in the tape identified himself as senior al-Qaeda operative Saeed al-Shihri, but his identity could not be confirmed.

The tape also included a call for rogue terrorist attacks on Israel. Addressing al-Qaeda supporters in the Saudi Arabian army, the speaker said, “Bear arms against Israel… Whoever is a pilot should seek martyrdom in the skies of Palestine, and whoever is in the navy should aim his weapons at the Jews…”

United States officials have issued a warning to Americans staying north of Riyadh. Terrorists may be planning to attack Western nationals in the Al-Qassim province, they said.

The speaker in Wednesday’s tape called on al-Qaeda supporters to collect information on the Saudi royal family. Those who have access to members of the royal family should kill them, he said. He called to murder Christians as well.

Al-Qaeda has called to attack the government of Saudi Arabia for allegedly supporting the US in its wars on terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. The international terrorist group is also engaged in battling the Yemeni army, which it has attacked several times this summer.

Al-Shihri is the deputy leader of al-Qaeda in Yemen, one of al-Qaeda’s larger branches. He was imprisoned for several years in the US-run Guantanamo Bay jail and released in 2007 to Saudi Arabia, where he underwent a rehabilitation program for terrorists.

By Batsheva Sobelman and Jeffrey Fleishman, Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Jerusalem and Cairo —
In the most gripping testimony yet before a commission investigating the deadly commando raid on a Gaza Strip-bound “humanitarian aid flotilla,” Israel’s chief of staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said Wednesday, August 11, that the military mission was hurt by intelligence failures.

The third top Israeli official to testify this week, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, Ashkenazi provided what has been so far the most cohesive, vivid, and sequential account of the Israeli storming of the Gaza Flotilla on May 31. The assault killed nine activists, including a Turkish American.

The committee viewed video showing the unfolding events, including radio contacts warning the flotilla that it was sailing toward a naval blockade and a request that the Mavi Marmara, the Turkish ship on which the deadly clashes took place, change course or head for the Israeli port of Ashdod, where its humanitarian cargo would be inspected
Footage of the Israeli raid followed, depicting commandos’ early attempts to board from the side of the ship before troops rappelled down from a helicopter and were attacked by activists wielding knives and clubs.

The previous sessions had been somewhat sleepy, dealing with policy and the decision-making process, a matter of great, if not visually dramatic, domestic political concern. But Wednesday’s testimony was more visceral as the five Israeli panel members and two international observers became engrossed in the military and operational details of a mission condemned by human rights groups.

Ashkenazi answered questions candidly. Asked about nonlethal weapons, the chief of staff said soldiers were acquainted with the various options but that once in a life-threatening situation they opened live fire. He said they fired only in self-defense and until the bridge was under their control after a 50-minute battle in international waters.

“After the first soldier went down the rope there was no choice but to continue with the plan,” he said.

Ashkenazi, a long-serving career officer, praised the soldiers’ judgment “in keeping with IDF [Israel Defense Forces] values and the purity of arms.” Categorically, the activists had opened fire first, he said, and he rejected “with contempt” Turkish claims that victims were shot execution style, noting that skirmishes were conducted at close range. Ashkenazi also said the army’s choice of 9-millimeter caliber guns caused less damage than would have occurred with higher-velocity weapons.

Perhaps the most pointed question on Israelis’ minds was asked by Jacob Turkel, the commission chairman, who suggested that suspect intelligence caused the military to misread the provocative intentions of the leaders of those aboard the Mavi Marmara. The vessel is owned by a Turkish charity known as IHH and the flotilla was given at least tacit support by the Turkish government, which allowed it to sail out of Istanbul.

Ashkenazi agreed, saying Israel had limited knowledge of IHH, which it has outlawed for its support of the Palestinian militant group Hamas. The military’s “biggest mistake,” said Ashkenazi, was underestimating the level of resistance. The army believed stun grenades thrown from a helicopter over the heads of activists would be enough to clear the deck for 15 soldiers to fast-rope down within a minute and secure the bridge.

Ashkenazi, like Netanyahu and Barak, was careful not to publicly blame Turkey and further damage relations with what had been Israel’s closest Muslim ally before the raid. He instead focused on Israel’s actions and accountability.

“You can’t expect 100% intelligence…. We will never know everything,” the chief of staff said. He added that there will always be split-second decisions and that mistakes will be made. “And we must determine whether these mistakes are legitimate or not,” he said.

By Chana Ya’ar, www.IsraelNationalNews.com

Skies throughout the Holy Land were a bright blue Thursday, clearing the way for Israelis to hopefully get a good view at night of the upcoming Perseid Meteor shower.

The annual “show” is actually expected to light up the skies overnight Thursday for everyone living in the northern hemisphere. The moon is just a few days past “new” at this, the peak of the shower, contributing little if any moonlight to compete with the glow of the faint meteors, which appear as shooting stars.

Viewers should expect to see a maximum of a few dozen meteors per hour, according to the Star Date.org stargazing web site.

The Perseid meteor shower, observed for more than 2,000 years, was first recorded in China. The point from which the meteor shower appears to emanate – called the “radiant” – lies within the constellation Perseus, located in the northern sky and named after the ancient Greeks’ mythical hero Perseus.

Special viewing events have been scheduled for the Perseid Meteor shower all around Israel.

Professor of Astrophysics Tzvi Piran of the Hebrew University told Israel National News when to best view the meteor shower in Israel. “Very late tonight is the best time,” said Prof. Piran. “The peak is between 3:00 – 5:00 AM. In principle you can see it from everywhere, but what you need is a dark place. Therefore, outside the city is good. If you go into the Negev that’s probably the very best place. Near Jerusalem, one of the darkest places is Har HaTayasim. Then, just lay flat on the ground and look at the sky.”

When asked if there have been meteorite landings in Israel, Piran said “None that are known.” Piran added that the well-known Ramon crater and the Large and Small Craters in the Negev desert were definitely not formed from meteorite landings. “The craters in Israel are not meteorite craters. They are unique geological structures.”

Tour guide Denis Weintraub noted that the “show” can be seen from anywhere in the country, but added that it is “best seen from areas where there is little peripheral light from the city landscape” – for example, the Arava or the Ramon Crater. There are a number of activities that have been formally organized, he said, but one need not participate in order to enjoy the sights. Viewing is best at 2:00 a.m., opined Weintraub, who posted an update for English speakers on the Anglobeersheba email list serve, which networks English speaking immigrants in southern Israel.

There is even an official Hebrew-language Internet web site devoted to the subject, Meteors.org, which lists all the official shows and other events connected with the meteor shower. A set of directions (in Hebrew) on how to best view the meteor shower is one of the features posted on the site by the Israel Association for the Preservation of Nature, the Mitzpe Ramon Municipal Council, the Astronomy Club of Tel Aviv University and the Science Authority. (For those readers who cannot find a Hebrew-fluent friend, it is possible to use Google’s “translate” tool to derive a basic translation of the text.)

www.IsraelToday.co.il

The US Congress has put an indefinite hold on $100 million in military assistance to Lebanon after what congressional leaders termed an “outrageous incident” when Lebanese forces opened fire on Israeli troops conducting routine border maintenance last week.

An Israeli commander was killed and one of his deputies was seriously wounded by Lebanese army snipers while pruning a tree that was disrupting the Israeli border security fence. Two Lebanese soldiers were killed when the Israelis returned fire.

The UN confirmed that the Israelis and the tree in question were on the Israeli side of the UN-demarcated Blue Line that acts as the de facto border. Lebanon said it disputes that part of the Blue Line and considers the area to be Lebanese territory, thus justifying the unprovoked attack.

US Rep. Nita Lowey (D-New York), who chairs the House appropriations subcommittee, told The Jerusalem Post that the deadly confrontation was “tragic and entirely avoidable.” Lowey said that US military aid “is intended to enhance our safety and that of our allies,” and will not be given to Lebanon if it uses the assistance to threaten another US ally.

Congress also wants to find out just how closely the Lebanese army is working with the Hizballah terrorist militia, which largely controls southern Lebanon and enjoys veto power in the Lebanese government.

The $100 million in aid was earmarked for 2010, but had not yet been paid out. Sources on Capitol Hill said whether or not the funds are released depends largely on Lebanon’s response to the incident.

Days after the attack, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman visited the site of the border clash and praised Lebanese troops for their “heroic act” of foiling “Israeli aggression.” Suleiman suggested that if the US did not like the way it behaves, Lebanon would look for other countries to supply it with arms and military aid.

By Maggie Haberman, www.politico.com

This went way under the radar more than three weeks ago, but Rudy Giuliani made what, as best as I can tell, were his first public comments about the planned mosque near Ground Zero on the Jeff Katz show on radio (someone will, I’m sure, correct me if I’m wrong).

He takes a very hard line, including saying that “decent Muslims” will not be offended by the opposition because they want peace as much as others do.

I had been struck by how non-visible Giuliani, who is generally known as the face of Ground Zero, had been on this issue. (A Nexis search under his name, Ground Zero, and mosque revealed no TV transcripts for the past month).

Here are as much of the quote as I was able to cull from the temperamental audio (the relevant portion starts at about minute 8:30):

“It sends a particularly bad message, particularly (because) of the background of the imam who is supporting this. This is an Imam who has supported radical causes, who has not been forthright in condemning Islamic (terrorism) and the worst instincts that that brings about.

“So it not only is exactly the wrong place, right at Ground Zero, but it’s a mosque supported by an imam who has a record of support for causes that were sympathetic with terrorism. Come on! We’re gonna allow that at Ground Zero?

“This is a desecration,” he added. “Nobody would allow something like that at Pearl Harbor. Let’s have some respect for who died there and why they died there. Let’s not put this off on some kind of politically correct theory.

“I mean, they died there because of Islamic extremist terrorism. They are our enemy, we can say that, the world will not end when we say that. And the reality is, it will not and should not insult any decent Muslim because decent Muslims should be as opposed to Islamic extremism as you and I are.”

By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu, IsraelNationalNews.com

A “women-only” ship, complete with a nun and a heavily pregnant mother, has cleared political and technical obstacles and is set to sail for Gaza, presenting Israel with a new challenge. The ship is supposed to leave Tripoli by Sunday night, its co-coordinator, Hezbollah-backer Samar al-Hajj, told the London Guardian.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev told Israel National News, “There are no limits on goods going to Gaza, and any ships trying to bring so-called aid to Gaza will be regarded as provocations.”

The sight of women—supposedly unarmed—facing Israeli naval commandos trying to stop it from breaking the sea embargo on Hamas-controlled Gaza faces Israel with a new public relations challenge. The women have dramatized possible violence by preparing to travel equipped with blood test equipment “in case we come under attack from Israel and you need a blood transfusion,” al-Hajj said.

She added, “We will not even bring cooking knives” in order to prevent accusations that they are armed.

Pro-Arab activists have been preparing the Mariam ship for more than a month, but Lebanese and Cypriot authorities had refused to clear the boat and a sister ship for sailing. It must dock in Cyprus to prevent a claim by Israel that it will intercept the ship because it is sailing towards Israel from the declared enemy state of Lebanon.

Israel has succeeded in turning away several attempts to challenge the embargo without violent confrontations—until Turkish terror activists clashed with its navy commandos on May 31. Israel suffered public relations damage following the deaths of nine Turkish members of the IHH organization.

Subsequent documented evidence that IHH is a charity front for terrorists, along with videos of the terror-trained activists assaulting the commandos, has reversed much of the damage. Israel has agreed to participate in a United Nations probe of the violence besides conducting its own investigation under the Turkel Commission.

The sailing of the Mariam has been carefully geared for public consumption. Besides the nun and a pregnant woman, the crew includes Christians and Muslims, and the ship has been named after the Virgin Mary.

Israel has warned that allowing ships, even those with aid, to reach the Gaza coast would set a precedent that would allow Hamas to freely import advanced weapons.

Hamas recently has complained that much of the aid on the six-ship flotilla May 31 included useless medical equipment and outdated medicines. The Mavi Marmara ship, whose activists clashed with Navy commandos, was later found to be sailing without any humanitarian aid.

By Craig Whitlock, WashingtonPost.com

The U.S. military is on the verge of activating a partial missile shield over southern Europe, part of an intensifying global effort to build defenses against Iranian missiles amid a deepening impasse over the country’s nuclear ambitions.

Pentagon officials said they are nearing a deal to establish a key radar ground station, probably in Turkey or Bulgaria. Installation of the high-powered X-band radar would enable the first phase of the shield to become operational next year.

At the same time, the U.S. military is working with Israel and allies in the Persian Gulf to build and upgrade their missile defense capabilities. The United States installed a radar ground station in Israel in 2008 and is looking to place another in an Arab country in the gulf region. The radars would provide a critical early warning of any launches from Iran, improving the odds of shooting down a missile.

The missile defenses in Europe, Israel and the gulf are technically separate and in different stages of development. But they are all designed to plug into command-and-control systems operated by, or with, the U.S. military. The Israeli radar, for example, is operated by U.S. personnel and is already functional, feeding information to U.S. Navy ships operating in the Mediterranean.

Taken together, these initiatives constitute an attempt to contain Iran and negate its growing ability to aim missiles — perhaps one day armed with a nuclear warhead — at targets throughout the Middle East and Europe, including U.S. forces stationed there.

The concept of a missile shield began with former president Ronald Reagan, who first described his vision of a defense against a Soviet nuclear attack in his “Star Wars” speech in 1983. Its development accelerated during the George W. Bush administration, which saw missile defense as a way to deter emerging nuclear powers in Iran and North Korea.

It has expanded further under President Obama, despite the skepticism he expressed during the 2008 campaign about the feasibility and affordability of Bush’s plan for a shield in Europe.

In September, Obama announced that he was changing Bush’s approach. Instead of abandoning the idea, he directed the Pentagon to construct a far more extensive and flexible missile defense system in Europe that will be built in phases between now and 2020.
The missile defense plan for Europe has factored into the Senate’s debate over a new U.S.-Russia arms reduction treaty that would place fresh limits on the two countries’ nuclear arsenals. Russia has strongly opposed the European shield, and some Republican lawmakers have charged that the treaty could constrain the project.
Obama administration officials have dismissed the concerns.
Since last year, the Navy has been deploying Aegis-class destroyers and cruisers equipped with ballistic missile defense (BMD) systems to patrol the Mediterranean Sea. The ships, featuring octagonal Spy-1 radars and arsenals of Standard Missile-3 interceptors, will form the backbone of Obama’s shield in Europe.

Unlike fixed ground-based interceptors, which were the mainstay of the Bush missile defense plan for Europe, Aegis ships are mobile and can easily move to areas considered most at risk of attack.

Another advantage is that Aegis ships can still be used for other missions, such as hunting pirates or submarines, instead of waiting for a missile attack that may never materialize.

“It’s very easily absorbed,” Capt. Mark Young, commanding officer of the Vella Gulf, a Ticonderoga-class cruiser now deployed to the Mediterranean, said of his ship’s new missile defense role. “We’re very capable, and we’ll find a way to advance the mission.”

“The system has to be able to operate to its utmost,” Young said in an interview in the Vella Gulf wardroom as the ship left the East Coast. “We’ve told our junior guys, ‘This is not just another Aegis ship. It’s a BMD platform.’ There’s no margin for error.”

Navy commanders said they have just one or two Aegis ships patrolling the eastern Mediterranean at a time. Pentagon officials said those numbers could eventually triple, with three on deployment and three more as relief ships, depending on the perceived threat from Iran.

The numbers may sound small, but lawmakers are concerned that the demand for Aegis ships worldwide could strain the Navy.

In addition to Europe, the U.S. Central Command in the Middle East and the U.S. Pacific Command require Aegis ships for ballistic missile defense against potential threats from Iran and North Korea. Only about half the Navy’s Aegis fleet is available at any given time; after deployment at sea, ships generally spend an equivalent period at their home ports so their crews can prepare for the next mission.

As a result, the Obama administration has plans to nearly double its number of Aegis ships with ballistic missile defenses, to 38 by 2015.

Vice Adm. Henry B. Harris Jr., commander of the U.S. 6th Fleet, based in Naples, Italy, said an option would be to assign some Aegis ships to home ports in Europe instead of making them sail constantly back and forth to the United States.

“It’s certainly something that’s on the table,” Harris told reporters in June. Other Navy officials have floated the idea of flying in fresh crews so a ship could more or less deploy continuously, obviating the need for long breaks.

U.S. military officials and analysts say it’s easy to dream up a nightmare scenario over the future of Iran’s nuclear program, which Western powers fear is aimed at the development of a nuclear weapon and which Iran insists is entirely peaceful. In an attempt to disable the program, Israel launches a pre-emptive attack. The Iranians retaliate with a wave of conventional missiles, not just against Israel, but also U.S. forces stationed in Europe and the Middle East.

“If Iran were actually to launch a missile attack on Europe, it wouldn’t be just one or two missiles, or a handful,” Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said at a congressional hearing in June. “It would more likely be a salvo kind of attack, where you would be dealing potentially with scores or even hundreds of missiles.”

Such an attack could have “rapidly overwhelmed” the Bush missile defense shield for Europe, Army Lt. Gen. Patrick J. O’Reilly, director of the Defense Department’s Missile Defense Agency, said in an interview.

The Bush plan would have consisted of only 10 ground-based interceptors in Poland and a large radar installation in the Czech Republic. It was designed to shoot down long-range or even intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) fired by Iran against Europe or the United States.

Subsequent U.S. intelligence assessments concluded that Iran’s efforts to build a long-range missile were moving slowly. Today, military officials estimate it would take Iran until 2015 at the earliest, and only with the assistance of another country, to deploy an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States. Even then, military officials said, Iran would probably need much more time to build a reliable arsenal of ICBMs, which can be highly inaccurate in the early stages of development.

In contrast, Iran already has a large inventory of missiles with a range of up to 1,200 miles — putting southeastern Europe at risk. And it is pushing hard to reach other parts of the continent.

In response, Obama announced in September that the Pentagon would scrap Bush’s system for Europe and replace it with what he called a “phased, adaptive approach.” The first phase officially becomes operational next year. Aegis ships, armed with dozens of SM-3 missile interceptors, will patrol the Mediterranean and Black seas and link up with the high-power radar planned for southern Europe.

In 2015, the next phase will begin. Romania has agreed to host a land-based Aegis combat system on its territory.

In 2018, the system will expand further with another land-based Aegis system in Poland, as well as a new generation of SM-3 interceptors and additional sensors. The shield is scheduled to become complete by 2020, with the addition of even more advanced SM-3s.

Until last year, the Pentagon had thought an arsenal of 147 SM-3s would be sufficient for its missile defenses worldwide. Now, the Obama administration is looking to nearly triple that number, to 436, by 2015.

The Pentagon says the purpose of the European missile defense system is threefold: to protect Europe, to protect U.S. forces stationed there and to deter Iran from further development of its missile program.

It “will help us more effectively defend the country, more effectively defend our forces in Europe, and with our allies more effectively defend both their forces and populations and ultimately their territory of Europe as the system expands,” said James N. Miller, principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy.

It is a good deal for Europe, which is largely getting the protection for free. NATO allies, however, may eventually plug their own, more limited missile defense systems into the overall shield.

The Pentagon says countries that are providing territory for radar and ground interceptors will probably make financial contributions as negotiations are finalized. But otherwise, U.S. taxpayers will be footing the bill. U.S. defense officials said it is difficult to provide an overall estimate on what it will cost to build and operate the European shield, given that the Aegis ships and other components either already exist or were going to be built anyway by the U.S. military. The system will require an unspecified number of new SM-3 missiles, which cost between $10 million and $15 million apiece.

In November, during a summit in Lisbon, NATO members will vote on whether to make territorial missile defense part of the alliance’s overall mission.

If that happens, allies will eventually connect their localized missile defense systems — mainly Patriot missiles and other ground-based interceptors — to the larger framework. The United States and NATO would also have to sort out a unified command-and-control system, which could take years, officials said.

O’Reilly said combined defenses would feature the best of both worlds: an “upper layer” framework of SM-3 and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, interceptors, operated by the United States, that could shoot down enemy missiles in space or the upper atmosphere; and a “lower layer” of Patriot batteries, operated by European allies, providing a second layer of defense closer to the ground.

“If you have more than one opportunity to shoot at a missile,” O’Reilly said, “you get very high levels of probability of success.”

By Ryan Mauro, PajamasMedia.com

The problems keep piling up for the Iranian regime. It has lost its very important backers in the bazaars who went on strike to protest a massive tax increase. In the most under-reported Iran-related story, workers continue to go on strikes at factories around the country. Now, the regime is facing a gasoline shortage that is causing even more angst among the populace.

The fear of penalties from the U.S. and Europe is causing Western businesses to flee. Banks aren’t giving loans, and dozens of shipping vessels can’t get insurance. On July 26, Reuters reported that only three cargoes of gasoline had arrived for the month — coming from Turkey and China — and a fourth was expected to arrive soon from Venezuela. Between 11 and 13 cargoes of gasoline normally arrive during this time of year, so this is a major drop.

Security forces have been deployed to major gas stations to prevent them from becoming scenes of discontent. On July 23, there were clashes in Tehran when those waiting in a long line at Roosevelt Gas Station greeted the security forces by shouting “Death to dictatorship.” On July 18, citizens angry at high fuel prices booed the security forces at a station on Mosadegh Street in Tehran, sparking clashes. Other gas stations are rationing their supply because of the shortage, resulting in very long lines that turn into public expressions of dissatisfaction. Some aren’t even operating. Half-hour long lines are being reported around Tehran and in other places such as Tabriz.

Some workers at stations are complaining that they are receiving tainted gasoline that causes two to three percent of the substance to evaporate. The government is reportedly fining them for using poor quality gas — when the government is responsible for delivering it. Additionally, this is all happening while there are intermittent electrical shortages in Tehran. These shortages in electricity and financing are causing some factories to close for weeks at a time.

Scattered protests by workers continue, and they are sure to grow as the high gas prices take a toll on the people. At one factory in Tehran, up to 400 employees are said to have been fired over the past five months. The workers say their jobs have been given to friends of government officials. Predictably, security forces were sent to the scene and high-level officials came to mediate, promising the workers they’d get paid within 15 days. The workers knew it was a gimmick and are threatening to release documents exposing government corruption.

At the same time, nearly 200 workers are protesting in Qazvin because they haven’t been paid in six months.

I am unsure of the bazaars’ current status, but as of July 21, the bazaar in Tehran was open but described as “inactive.” The merchants are being forced to sign an agreement to pay 15 percent more in taxes, with an additional 15 percent penalty for those that refuse. The forms require personal information like home phone numbers the regime can use to track and punish those that challenge the tax increase. Those in power are definitely worried about the bazaars and know they won’t forget the abuses their thugs delivered to them during the recent strike.

The problem for the regime is that there is no short-term solution to the gas crisis, and all of the conflicts are interconnected and exacerbate each other. The discontent will fuel the political activists. The rising fuel prices will cause more workers to be fired or go unpaid just as they face increasing need for income. The bazaar merchants will be hurt as customers become cash-strapped, the cost of products increase, and they have to pay 15 percent more in taxes to the regime that uses violence and intimidation against them. The regime can try to ration the gasoline and reduce subsidies, but the last time that was tried, in 2007, it resulted in burning gas stations.

The regime is moving quickly to try to close the window of time with which the opposition and the West can exploit this vulnerability. It has signed a $6.5 billion deal with the Chinese company Sinopec to build refineries; it plans to build a pipeline that can deliver gas to Turkey that it hopes to finish in three years; and it is hoping to double the production of gasoline by 2012. The International Energy Agency says Iran can reduce their imports by 75 percent by 2015 by expanding their production and getting rid of subsidies — but the decreasing number of fuel providers will be a major obstacle.

www.JTA.org

A Polish appeals court has upheld a decision to extradite an alleged Israeli Mossad agent suspected of involvement in the assassination of a Hamas leader in Dubai.

The court on Thursday, August 5, upheld a Warsaw regional court judge’s decision in July to turn Uri Brodsky over to Germany, where he could face trial for falsification of documents and using false documents. He will be sent to Germany in 10 days.

Brodsky, who was arrested at the Warsaw Airport in early June, is suspected of having helped another Mossad agent, reportedly named Michael Bodenheimer, to illegally obtain a German passport as part of the plot to kill senior Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel room in January. According to the German federal prosecutor’s office, Bodenheimer received German citizenship based on fabricated evidence that his parents had fled Nazi Germany.

Mabhouh co-founded the military wing of the Islamist Hamas movement and allegedly was in Dubai to conclude a weapons deal when he was killed. Dubai police investigations reportedly pointed to the involvement of 33 people in the plot. They were placed on Interpol’s most wanted list, and Germany particularly sought Brodsky, according to reports.

The team allegedly used fake passports from England, Ireland, France, Australia and Germany. All five countries demanded explanations from Israeli diplomats in the case; the use of fake passports and stolen identities appeared to be of primary concern. Israel reportedly has not responded to the requests for explanations and has not said whether it was involved in the assassination of Mabhouh.

Agence France-Presse (AFP)

WASHINGTON — Israel is skeptical that a new round of sanctions targeting Iran’s nuclear program will be effective, but there is “still time” for them to work, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Friday, July 30.

“They’re determined to get nuclear military capability. We see it,” he said on MSNBC’s Morning Joe television program. “I don’t believe that sanctions will work.”

But he said that despite skepticism, Israel was willing to give the latest round of United Nations pressure on Tehran more time to have an effect.

“I think that the essence of it is we still believe it’s still time for sanctions, to see whether they’re working. But as I said, we have to realize we cannot wink in front of tough realities, however tough they might be.”

The UN Security Council slapped a fourth set of sanctions on Iran in June over Tehran’s refusal to halt its uranium enrichment work, the most sensitive part of the country’s controversial nuclear program, which many nations fear masks a drive for nuclear weapons.

Barak said Israel was pleased that sanctions were eventually agreed to after extensive negotiations in the Security Council, but he said the consensus text was “somewhat diluted to get wider foreign support.”

“We say all the way there should be extremely effective sanctions. If they don’t work, we recommend to our friends always not to remove any option from the table. We do the same for ourselves,” he added.

On Friday, Iran said it was ready to return to the table for talks with the United State, Russia, and France over an exchange of nuclear fuel, adding it was against stockpiling higher enriched uranium.

But Barak warned that Tehran has previously played for time, and cautioned that Iran was engaged in “a sophisticated dance.”

“They move. They stop. They open. They close. They go two steps to the right and then once again forward, backward, whatever. They’re determined to get nuclear military capability. We see it,” he said.