DTN News - INTELLIGENCE REPORT/NEWS: Bombers Target Israeli Diplomats In India, Georgia

DTN News - INTELLIGENCE REPORT/NEWS: Bombers Target Israeli Diplomats In India, Georgia
Source: DTN News - - This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources CBS News
 (NSI News Source Info) TORONTO, Canada - February 13, 2012:  Israel blamed Iran on Monday for bomb attacks on its diplomats' cars in India and Georgia, heightening concerns that the Jewish state was moving closer to striking its archenemy.

Iran denied responsibility for the attacks that appeared to mirror the recent killings of Iranian nuclear scientists that Tehran blamed on Israel.

The blast in New Delhi set a car ablaze and injured four people, including an Israeli Embassy driver and a diplomat's wife; the device in Georgia was discovered and safely defused.

"Iran is behind these attacks and it is the largest terror exporter in the world," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told lawmakers from his Likud Party.

The violence added further tension to one of the globe's most contentious standoffs. Iran has been accused of developing a nuclear weapons program that Israel says threatens the existence of the Jewish state. Tehran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.

Comments by Israeli officials in recent weeks have raised fears Israel might be preparing to strike Iranian nuclear facilities. While Israel says it hopes that international sanctions can curb Iran's nuclear program, leaders pointedly note that "all options are on the table" and have warned that as Iran moves closer to weapons capability, time is running out for action. Fearing an Israeli attack could set off a conflict across the region and send oil prices skyrocketing, U.S. and other Western countries have been pressing Israel to give sanctions more time.

Israeli military analyst Reuven Pedatzur said Monday's action was unlikely to have any bearing on whether Israel attacks Iran, calling it an "isolated incident" with rather low impact.

The attackers in India and Georgia appeared to have used "sticky bombs" attached to cars by magnets, similar to weapons used against Iran's nuclear officials. Netanyahu said Israel had thwarted attacks in recent months in Azerbaijan and Thailand and unspecified other countries.

"In all those cases, the elements behind these attacks were Iran and its protege, Hezbollah," Netanyahu said, referring to Iran's Lebanese proxy. He vowed to "act with a strong hand against international terror."

Israeli media reported that the government blamed Iran based on prior intelligence and that security officials feared this could be the start of a wave of attacks against Israeli targets overseas.

Iranian officials rejected Netanyahu's accusation.

"This accusation is within the Zionist regime's psychological war against Iran," the official IRNA news agency quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast as saying.

"The Zionist regime, due to repeated crimes against humanity, is the main party accused of terrorist activities," he said, according to IRNA.

The New Delhi attack took place just after 3 p.m. a few hundred yards (meters) from the prime minister's residence as the diplomat's wife headed to the American Embassy School to pick up her children, said Delhi Police Commissioner B.K. Gupta.

When the minivan approached a crossing, she noticed a motorcyclist ride up and stick something on it that appeared to be a magnetic device, he said. The car drove a short distance, there was a loud sound and then an explosion, and the car caught fire, he said.

"It was a loud explosion. We realized it's not a firecracker, but an explosion, and rushed toward the car," said Ravi Singh, owner of a nearby gas station.

The blast left the vehicle charred and appeared to blow out its rear door.

"The blast was so powerful, the car behind got damaged as well," said Monu, a high school student who uses only one name.

The Israeli Defense Ministry said the woman, Tal Yehoshua-Koren, the wife of a Defense Ministry official based in New Delhi, suffered moderate shrapnel wounds and was treated at a hospital by Israeli doctors.

Her driver, Manoj Sharma, 42, and two people in a nearby car had minor injuries, Gupta said.

Israeli diplomats in India have been on constant alert since Pakistan-based militants rampaged across the Indian city of Mumbai in 2008, targeting luxury hotels, a train station and the Chabad Jewish community center.

India's foreign minister, S.M. Krishna, said India would cooperate closely with Israel in the investigation and promised to bring the assailants to justice.

"I have just spoken to the Israeli foreign minister," he said. "I assured him that the law of the land will take its course."

Authorities in the former Soviet republic of Georgia said an explosive device was planted on the car of a driver for the Israeli Embassy in the capital of Tbilisi.

Shota Utiashvili, spokesman for the Georgian Interior Ministry, said the driver noticed a package on his car's undercarriage and called police, who found and defused a grenade.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton condemned the attacks.

"The United States places a high priority on the safety and security of diplomatic personnel around the world and we stand ready to assist with any investigation of these cowardly actions," she said.

Iranian lawmaker Javad Jahangirzadeh was quoted by the semiofficial Mehr news agency as saying the Israeli charges were meant to provoke the world against Iran and to undermine upcoming nuclear talks between Tehran and the world powers.

Another lawmaker, Avaz Heidarpour, was quoted by Mehr as saying Netanyahu's allegations were an attempt by Israel to justify future operations against Iran.

"It's very likely that the Zionist regime is paving the way to carry out an assassination abroad or hit inside Iran. So, they are making preparations for that," Mehr quoted him as saying.

Hezbollah and Iran have deep grievances against Israel.

Hezbollah battled Israel in a monthlong war in 2006. On Sunday, the Lebanese guerrilla group marked the anniversary of the 2008 assassination of one of its commanders, Imad Mughniyeh, in a bombing widely believed to have been carried out by Israel. Iran has been widely suspected of looking for payback for the covert plots against its nuclear program it has blamed on Israel's spy agency Mossad and Western allies.

"There have been all kinds of mysterious things happening in Iran, and it could be an Iranian counterattack," said Mike Herzog, a retired Israeli general and former top aide to Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak. "It's no secret that Iran uses Hezbollah globally, and Hezbollah has the capacity to carry out attacks around the globe."

Iran and Hezbollah also could be trying to divert attention away from ally Syria's crackdown on protesters.

Were Iran found to be behind the New Delhi attack, it would be a stunning action against one of its more reliable allies.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has resisted U.S. and European Union pressure to curtail trade with Iran over the nuclear issue. Energy-starved India relies heavily on Iranian oil imports, and the two countries are working to find creative ways for India to circumvent banking restrictions to pay for the oil by using rupees and investing in Iranian infrastructure projects.

Israel has urged the international community to consider all means, including military action, to stop Tehran.

Last month, a director of Iran's main uranium enrichment site was killed in a blast from a magnetic bomb placed on his car, at least the fifth member of Iran's scientific community killed in apparent targeted attacks in two years.

In a signal Iran could retaliate, Gen. Masoud Jazayeri, the spokesman for Iran's Joint Armed Forces Staff, was quoted by the semiofficial news agency ISNA last month as saying that Tehran was "reviewing the punishment" of "behind-the-scene elements" involved in the assassination.

"Iran's response will be a tormenting one for supporters of state terrorism," he said. "The enemies of the Iranian nation, especially the United States, Britain and the Zionist regime, or Israel, have to be held responsible for their activities."

Clinton categorically denied any U.S. link to an "act of violence inside Iran." Israel has made no direct comments about Iran's accusations of covert operations, but some officials have made provocative hints that Tehran's many foes could have an interest in efforts to destabilize its nuclear program.

Iran also has blamed the U.S. and allies for a sophisticated computer virus, known as Stuxnet, that was programmed to disrupt the centrifuges used in uranium enrichment. Iran said the virus was detected in its systems, but added there were no serious setbacks.

In January, a foreign suspect with alleged links to Hezbollah militants led Thai police to a warehouse filled with materials commonly used to make bombs.

In 1992, a bombing at the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires killed 29 people. Two years later, a bombing at a Jewish community center there killed 85 people. Argentines have long suspected high-level Iranian diplomats were involved in the 1994 bombing.

___

Federman reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili in Tbilisi and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report. Follow Nessman at http://www.twitter.com/ravinessman and Federman at www.twitter.com/joseffederman

*Link for This article compiled by Roger Smith from reliable sources CBS News
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DTN News: U.S. SouthCom Head Warns Of Iranian Influence In Region

DTN News: U.S. SouthCom Head Warns Of Iranian Influence In Region

*Sources: DTN News / Defense Media

(NSI News Source Info) MIAMI - June 26, 2009: Iran's growing influence in Latin America is a "potential risk" to the region, the newly-appointed head of the U.S. Southern Command has warned. U.S. Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser, who took charge of U.S. military operations in 31 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean on June 25, expressed "real concern" about the Islamic Republic's links with "extremist organizations" in the region. "The real concern is not a nation-to-nation interaction, it is the connection that Iran has with extremist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah, and the potential risk that that could bring to this region," Fraser told journalists ahead of taking up the post. Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has forged close ties with several leftist Latin American leaders in recent years, most notably Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Cuban leader Raul Castro. Commenting on Iran's ties to extremist groups in the region, Fraser said: "It is a concern, and it is an issue we will continue to monitor for any increasing activity." He cited Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which has links to Iran and is accused of being behind a suicide bombing that killed 200 U.S. marines in Beirut in 1983 and the 1996 bombing of the Khobar towers in Saudi Arabia, which killed more than 20 people. The group has denied playing a role in those attacks and the bombing of Israeli and Jewish targets in Buenos Aires. Fraser, who was deputy commander at U.S. Pacific Command, said the illicit trade in arms drugs and people was worrying, and indicated it would be the focus of his work. "The major concern is the illicit trafficking and the impact that that is having in the security and the stability, especially through the northern part of South America through Central America and the Caribbean, and through Mexico and the United States." He added the U.S. needed to ensure links between narcoterrorism and illicit trafficking do not become more pronounced. Fraser played down talk of a conventional threat in the hemisphere, but said Venezuela's military stance was concerning. "I'm concern with the military buildup in Venezuela because I don't understand the threat that they see," he said. "I don't see a conventional military threat in the region. So I don't see why they see a need to build their military to the point that they are pursuing." Fraser, who lived in Colombia for three years as a teenager, said Southern Command would continue to help that country combat leftist guerillas like the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia - the FARC - and narcoterrorist groups. "The FARC is not defeated and we need to continued that effort. That's been a focus for a very specific reason," he said. "But Southern Command has been engaged with all the militaries within the region, with the exception of Cuba," he continued. "My intent is not to focus on one nation or the other because it is together that we build that capacity." Fraser is the first Air Force officer to take the helm of the Southern Command. He replaces U.S. Navy Adm. James Stavridis, who has been tapped to become NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.

DTN News: Israel TODAY June 20, 2009 - Jerusalem Post Poll Published Israelis View President Barack Obama As Pro-Palestinian

DTN News: Israel TODAY June 20, 2009 - Jerusalem Post Poll Published Israelis View President Barack Obama As Pro-Palestinian *Source: DTN News (NSI News Source Info) JERUSALEM, Israel - June 20, 2009: West Bank Jewish settlement of Elazar, about 20 kms south of Jerusalem, on June 19, 2009. Israelis increasingly view US President Barack Obama as pro-Palestinian as Washington has begun ramping up pressure on the Jewish state to halt settlement growth, according to a poll published in the Jerusalem Post. Only six percent of Israelis view the newly elected president as pro-Israel, while 50 percent believe he is pro-Palestinian and 36 percent see him as neutral, according to the poll.A couple walks next to sign hung by an extremist right wing group depicting US President Barack Obama wearing a traditional Arab headdress, next to the settlement of Efrat, seen in the background, in the West Bank, Friday, June 19, 2009. A new poll shows 50 percent of Israeli Jews see President Barack Obama's administration as pro-Palestinian and only 6 percent see it as pro-Israel.

DTN News: Israel TODAY June 17, 2009 - Forget Speeches, Soccer Paves The Path To Peace

DTN News: Israel TODAY June 17, 2009 - Forget Speeches, Soccer Paves The Path To Peace

*Source: The Jerusalem Post By Dov Lieber

(NSI News Source Info) JERUSALEM, Israel - June 17, 2009: Less than 24 hours had passed since Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu called for "two peoples living truly, side-by-side, in amity and mutual respect" when a group of Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs and Palestinian children put their differences behind them to play on mixed teams in a European Union-sponsored soccer event at the Wingate Institute on Monday. "Ahmed, Ahmed, I'm open in the corner," yelled the skullcap-wearing youngster speeding side by side down the field with his Palestinian teammate. Without hesitation, the ball made it to the young Jew's feet, and he proceeded to neatly place the ball past the small Arab goalkeeper into the right corner of the net. The goal-scoring team burst into celebration - everyone hugging the closest teammate. This was just one of many moving scenes where Palestinian and Jewish children joined together in celebration of a goal, like longtime friends rather than enemies on Monday. The friendly relations between the children weren't an instant miracle. For years now, these youngsters have been participating in programs and activities run by the Education and Social Project, a non-profit NGO along with Hapoel Tel-Aviv. More than 25,000 children, from first through eighth grade, from Israel, the West Bank, and even Jordan meet twice weekly with Israeli and Palestinian coaches and educators, mostly university students. One meeting is devoted to soccer, the other for educational activities. "They talk about the value of teamwork in the classroom, then they see the value on the field," explained Brian Gonzales, the consultant for development of resources and partnership for the program. Avraham Burg, director of the Education and Social Project, put the program into simple terms: "Get to know the other; be a better student; use sports as social mobilizer." The European Union sponsored Monday's events through a program called "Football, Our Common Ground," while the Educational and Social Project organized and ran the event. Israeli squads of Jewish and Arab children, usually coming from neighboring villages, hold practices together all over the country every week. Palestinian children can only meet their teammates two to three times a year because they are rarely able to get permission to come into Israel. This was the second time this year the Palestinian children met their Jewish teammates and opponents, yet already relations between them had become friendly. "I was hesitant at first," said 15-year-old Muhammad Hlel from Susiya, south of Hebron, who was sunburned from earlier that morning when the Palestinian children enjoyed Kibbutz Shefayim's water park. "But once we started playing together it worked out." Hlel added that "there is a big change" in how he sees Jews. He now keeps in touch with his Jewish friends by phone and he would like to befriend more in the future. Muhammad Hassan, another 15-year-old Palestinian player from Twainey, another village south of Hebron, sat with his Palestinian friends (also sunburned) in between games. He wore a Barcelona jersey, and spoke with a serious face but gentle tone. Hassan said he was very excited and interested to play with Jews. "I didn't like them before, but once I played with them it was totally different," he said. "They were good people in general." Hassan's friends sat around him in silent agreement. During the closing ceremonies, Sol Gross, an 11-year-old from Kibbutz Evron in the North, sat in a circle with his Jewish friends. He said, "It was fun playing with the Palestinians. They were like me. It was good from the beginning until the end." Ma'ayan, from Kibbutz Shomrot, cutting in front of his friend, added his own experience. "It was interesting. It was a little hard at first but in the end it was good. I will continue to be good friends with [the Palestinians]," he said. Moving back in front of his friend, Sol exclaimed excitedly, "You can trust them!" The highlight of the games wasn't a spectacular goal or the trophies, which went to all participants, said Clive Lessem, one of the developers of the program. Even though the Palestinian children had to leave before trophies were handed out in order to get through the checkpoints in time, Lessem said he was most impressed by the frequent moments when children speedily extended hands to those they knocked down, receiving a hand, smile, and pat on the back in return. "That's the real story," said Lessem. "That's what this is all about."

Israeli Offensive Seeks 'New Security Reality' In Gaza / Overnight Strikes Target Hamas Fighters, IDF Says

Israeli Offensive Seeks 'New Security Reality' In Gaza / Overnight Strikes Target Hamas Fighters, IDF Says / Lebanese PM Condemns Rocket Attack On Israel

(NSI News Source Info) January 10, 2009: Israel is aiming to "create a new security reality in Gaza" through its offensive in the Gaza Strip, even as it seeks a ceasefire agreement that will incorporate a mechanism to monitor arms smuggling to end the operation that began on 27 December 2008. "The message of this operation is that Israel is willing to respond disproportionately for every rocket coming out of Gaza," a senior defence source told. "We want Hamas to consider this before they will fire again." Israel continues to intensify its wide-scale ground assault against the Gaza Strip in an effort to put an end to Hamas rocket attacks against the Jewish State. Despite initial widespread reluctance within both the military and political establishments to confront Hamas, amid concerns about achieving a decisive outcome, the first two weeks of fighting have wrought substantial destruction on the Hamas governmental infrastructure and its military capabilities. Two years of extensive training and preparation supported the initial air strikes into Gaza, which have taken substantially into account the lessons learned from the 2006 conflict in Lebanon with the militant Hizbullah organisation. The level of co-operation between air and ground forces, with the Israel Air Force (IAF) almost serving as the operational front line, is unparalleled, intelligence sources said. Further, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) has deployed its entire alignment of intelligence-gathering sensors to ensure accuracy. Intelligence gathered with the assistance of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank enabled the surprise opening strike on 27 December. A second, land-based phase of Operation 'Cast Lead' began on 3 January in support of three objectives: to prevent rocket fire in the area of operation; to eliminate as many Hamas operatives as possible; and to capture Hamas prisoners.

Additional Info: Related Topic

Overnight Strikes Target Hamas Fighters, IDF Says (NSI News Source Info) CNN - January 10, 2009: The Israeli military said it carried out air attacks on 40 targets in Gaza and killed 15 Hamas fighters in battles overnight and Saturday morning. Smoke rises Saturday over Gaza City from artillery strikes. Five Israeli soldiers were "lightly wounded," the Israel Defense Forces said Saturday. Five rockets launched from Gaza landed in Israel on Saturday morning, the IDF added. A CNN crew witnessed a Qassam rocket hitting near a fuel station in Sderot, about 3 km (2 miles) from the Gaza border, Saturday morning. The impact left a crater two meters wide in a heavily traveled road, but no vehicles were hit and no one was hurt. Palestinian medical sources said at least 800 people have been killed in Gaza since the Israeli offensive began two weeks ago. The dead include 235 children, 90 women and 12 medics, the sources said. Another 3,225 people have been wounded, they said. Thirteen Israelis, including 10 soldiers, have died in the fighting.U.N. soldiers on Thursday inspect the site in Lebanon thought to be the source of rockets fired into Israel. Lebanon's prime minister condemned the firing of rockets into northern Israel after an attack wounded two Israelis on Thursday. He said his government is trying to determine who was responsible. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel was disregarding the U.N. vote because the resolution will not be heeded by "murderous" Palestinian groups. The firing of rockets from Gaza into southern Israel on Friday, he said, "proves the U.N. resolution is not practical." "The state of Israel has never agreed that any outside body would determine its right to defend the security of its citizens. The [Israel Defense Forces] will continue operations in order to defend Israeli citizens and will carry out the missions with which it has been assigned in the operation," Olmert said. The Cabinet also decided to continue humanitarian activity in Gaza and keep up efforts "to prevent the smuggling of war materiel into the Gaza Strip." The Cabinet was briefed on meetings that Israeli Maj. Gen. Amos Gilad had with Egyptian officials over a proposed Egyptian-French truce plan. Hamas also rejected the resolution, the Paris, France, daily newspaper Le Figaro reported. The resolution "does not serve our interests nor that of the people of Palestine," said Hamas official Raafat Morra, speaking from Lebanon. "It does not take into account the aspirations and the principal objectives of the Palestinian people." Israel has repeatedly defended its offensive, which it says is meant to stop Hamas militants from continuing to use the territory to lob rockets into southern Israel. The Security Council called overwhelmingly for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza late Thursday, expressing "grave concern" at a mounting humanitarian crisis and heavy civilian casualties in the Palestinian territory. Fourteen of the council's 15 members voted in favor of Resolution 1860, with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice abstaining from the vote on behalf of the United States. Rice said the United States prefers to wait on the results of ongoing Egyptian-brokered talks in Cairo between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Watch why U.S. abstained from Security Council vote » (Click to watch video) The resolution "stresses the urgency of, and calls for, an immediate, durable and fully respected cease-fire which will lead to the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza." Although the resolution does not mention Hamas by name, it does condemn "all violence and hostilities directed against civilians and all acts of terrorism." A resolution from the council, particularly one that passes with such large support, can put international pressure on parties involved in a conflict. But they are in no way binding, and many in the past have been ignored by warring factions. The IDF said aircraft attacked more than 70 targets in Gaza identified as terrorist sites as Israel's offensive against Hamas stretched into its 14th day. Watch an ambassador denounce Hamas attacks » (Click to watch video) The IDF said its ground forces found a "rigged house containing a number of land mines" and struck "terror operatives who fired anti-tank rockets at them." "In addition, the house used by terrorists that shot and killed Sgt. Amit Robinson yesterday was shot at by IDF forces today," the military said. The 70 targets included 20 "terror operatives," rocket launching areas, three houses of Hamas operatives that had been used to store weapons, two weapons smuggling tunnels and "a vehicle with armed terror operatives." In another attack, Israeli helicopters obliterated the house of a Hamas military commander in northern Gaza City on Friday, sources in the Hamas movement said. Aqsa TV identified the man as Abu Farouk Dababesh. The Hamas sources said Dababesh's house was among 15 houses targeted by Israel on Friday. Palestinian medical sources said 22 Palestinians were killed Friday. The IDF said its missiles hit five Gaza sites where Hamas was launching rockets into Israel Friday morning, including one that was adjacent to a mosque. The Israeli military said more than 30 rockets from Gaza landed in southern Israel on Friday, including two Grad missiles that fell on Beer Sheva. Two rockets hit Ashkelon and one landed at Ashdod. No damage or injuries were reported, the IDF said. Israel took steps before Friday prayers to head off any possible violence in Jerusalem. West Bank entries into Israel have been halted through Saturday night and men younger than 50 were banned from entering Jerusalem mosques. Also Friday, the U.N. said it would resume its suspended aid operations in Gaza. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees suspended food delivery operations Thursday to 750,000 Palestinian refugees after strikes by Israel killed one of its drivers and wounded another. The U.N. said the aid workers "had received Israeli clearance."