Israel hopes to step up mosque surveillance

[2RHPZ]

Israel hopes to step up mosque surveillance

By Agence France Presse (AFP)

Tuesday, August 03, 2004

JERUSALEM: Israeli Public Security Minister Tzahi Hanegbi said Monday he was
hoping to set up extra surveillance equipment in Jerusalem's disputed mosque
compound in a bid to prevent an attack by Jewish extremists.

Hanegbi, who has previously warned that extremist groups could try and
attack the compound in order to disrupt the planned pullout of the Gaza
Strip, said that he did not have the funds to swamp the area with security
forces.

"On the other hand, I hope to obtain the funds to provide electronic
surveillance in the form of cameras in areas where it is not possible to
deploy our people," he told Israeli public radio.

Hanegbi warned late last month of a high risk of an attack against Islamic
holy places on the compound, which is known as the Temple Mount by Jews and
Al-Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary) to Muslims.

The compound shelters the Dome of the Rock (Omar Mosque) and Al-Aqsa Mosque,
the third holiest site in Islam, as well as the Western Wall, the holiest
site for Jews.

The minister said that the threat was only posed by a tiny minority but that
it was a real cause for concern.

"A fraction of the population have demonstrated in recent months more and
more frustration with the advance of the political process which they regard
as an apocalyptic scenario," he said.

"We have already seen in the past that these kind of feelings lead to action
against the Temple Mount." The internal security service Shin Beth managed
to foil a bomb plot at the compound in the early 1980s by extremists opposed
to the peace deal with Egypt.

Yehuda Etzion, one of the organizers of that plot, recently called for "the
Temple Mount to be cleansed of the presence of Muslims." Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon's plans to dismantle all the Jewish settlements in the Gaza
Strip and four small enclaves in the northern West Bank have been vigorously
condemned by nationalist groups who have accused him of planning a forcible
"transfer of Jews."

[2RHPZ]

MI chief: Terror can't be eliminated using military means alone

By Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondent

Terrorism cannot be eliminated using military means alone, Israel Defense Forces intelligence chief Major General Aharon Ze'evi-Farkash told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday.

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasite/images/iht_daily/D030804/farkash147.jpg
IDF intelligence chief Major General Aharon Ze'evi-Farkash believes struggles for reform will continue in the Palestinian territories.

Ze'evi-Farkash's statements contradicted those made some two weeks ago by Shin Bet internal security service director Avi Dichter during a session of the same Knesset committee. At that time, Dichter said it is possible to get to the bottom of the terrorism problem.

However, Ze'evi-Farkash said Tuesday that terrorism can be described as a bottomless well and confronting it is an endless task.

Regarding the intra-Palestinian violence in the territories, Ze'evi-Farkash said former Palestinian Authority Gaza security chief Mohammed Dahlan is failing in his struggle with PA Chairman Yasser Arafat. Ze'evi-Farkash said he believes Dahlan commenced his struggle against the PA chairman too soon.

The military intelligence chief also said Arafat is deceiving his prime minister, Ahmed Qureia, and added that the promises the PA chairman made to Qureia regarding transfer of responsibility for PA security forces were without basis.

Ze'evi-Farkash believes there will be further Palestinian opposition to Arafat in the territories and called the PA chairman's reforms deceitful and fictitious.

The intra-Palestinian struggle is focusing on the question of who will control the territories from which Israel evacuates.

The head of the Israel Air Force's anti-aircraft corps told the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee the new Arrow missile defense system does not provide protection against the Iran's Shihab missiles but only against Scud and long-range Katyusha missiles.

Committee members were briefed on the successful Arrow test firing held last week in California.

The head of Israel Aviation Industries told the committee he convinced the United States Congress to grant another $82 million to joint development of the Arrow being conducted by IAI and Boeing.

[2RHPZ]

International terror too big a job for Mossad

By Yossi Melman

The attack against the Israeli Embassy in Tashkent has brought to the fore once more the fact that the priorities of the Mossad, Israel's external intelligence service, are changing. Even before 9/11, then Mossad head, Ephraim Halevy, understood that the threat of Al-Qaida to the United States was also directed against Israel and Jewish targets abroad. It was not difficult to link the two, as the public declarations of the radical Islamists called, in one breath, for war against the "Crusaders and the Jews."

Throughout his tenure in the organization Halevy kept receiving warnings of pending attacks against Israeli targets around the world: in southeast Asia and Australia. Meir Dagan, who took over the job two years ago, gave great emphasis to reorganizing the priorities of the Mossad against international terrorism. In addition to collecting information on the nuclear developments in Iran, combating international Islamic terrorism became a priority for the Mossad.

In a series of attacks since November 2002, when an explosives-laden jeep was detonated near an Israeli-owned hotel in Kenya and missiles were fired against an Arkia aircraft, the intentions of the Islamic organizations have been clear. But will and determinations are not sufficient. Capabilities are also necessary if the effort will be efficient, and this is a weakness of the Mossad in particular and of the whole Israeli intelligence apparatus in general.

While Israel's intelligence organizations have had clear successes in their four decades of war against Palestinian terrorism, and have full knowledge of operational and organizational aspects of their adversaries, radical Islamic terrorism is a different story. The arenas, ranging from the Horn of Africa, to North Africa, to Southeast Asia, are not well known. Even the names of the organizations are new and somewhat enigmatic. The ability of the Mossad to penetrate these groups is very limited and it finds it difficult to disperse its resources across such a broad geographic region.

The truth is that the Mossad is unable to handle the task give to it by Dagan. It is simply too big a job, both for Dagan and the Mossad. But this is not necessarily their fault. The CIA, whose resources and capabilities are enormous, is finding it difficult to confront the challenge. What remains is to improve the security of Israeli delegations abroad.

It is important for Dagan and co. to understand that talk of "operations," and electronic technology will not bring results. This is a long-term, brutal confrontation. It is necessary to improve "humint," human intelligence, and most of all, improve the interaction with other intelligence organizations around the world.

But the iron rule of the intelligence market is "give and take," and the Mossad must acquire something to give if it intends to take.