'Death to America! - and now for the weather...' (Al Jazeera in English)

Wonder what Dave Marash thinks of this...

Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up Jihadis

Terrorists ain't easy to love and they're harder to hold.
They'd rather give you a bomb than diamonds or gold.
Suicide bomb buckles and old faded kaffiyehs,
And each night begins a new day.
If you don't understand him, an' he don't die young,
He'll just hack your head away.

Mamas, don't let your babies grow up jihadis.
Don't let 'em bomb cafes or explode them old trucks.
Let 'em be imams and mullahs and such.
Mamas don't let your babies grow up jihadis.
'Cos they'll never stay home and they're always alone.
Even with those virgins to love.

Terrorists like smokey old road bombs and clear mountain hideouts,
Little warm AK's and cell phones and hijacked flights.
Them that don't know him won't like him and them that do,
Sometimes won't know how to take him.
He ain't wrong, he's just different but Islam won't let him,
Do things to make you think he's right.

Mamas, don't let your babies grow up jihadis.
Don't let 'em bomb cafes or explode them old trucks.
Let 'em be imams and mullahs and such.
Mamas don't let your babies grow up jihadis.
'Cos they'll never stay home and they're always alone.
Even with those virgins to love.

(Apologies to Willie Nelson and his original lyrics)

IDF strategic intel expert: talking with Syria, worrying about Iran (Exclusive video interview)

Dr. Eran Lerman, former IDF Intelligence Dep. Chief of Strategic Planning takes a dim view of the "non-paper" peace talks between Israel and Syria.

Lerman, in an exclusive interview with Israel At Level Ground's Dave Bender, also takes a look forward to coming developments with Iran.

Haaretz has more:

Alon Liel: PM's Office was updated about Syria
talks

'It's Good Now!' (music video)

Here's has a great video of Israeli pop rocker Gilad Segev, doing (what I think - correct me if I'm wrong) a cover of "Ach'shav Tov - It's Good Now."

Opening with notes picked on a cleanly amped acoustic/electric guitar that's reminiscent, to me at least, of the Eagles' Hotel California, the tempo and rhythm pick up from there.

Essentially, it's a "road trip" type of song in genre and content, as Segev meanders back in his memories to scenes of youth and childhood innocence. The soft-focus camera work also serves to amplify the theme. Sweet.

Give a look and listen, as I try to find a translation of the lyrics.

BREAKING NEWS: IDF Chief of Staff resigns (UPDATED)

IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz has resigned, according to Israel Army Radio (00:30 IST).

Halutz, in a letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said, in brief, that he had fulfilled his duties and that it was time to step down. Halutz praised the political echelon.

In an earlier telephone conversation between the two, Olmert tried to convince Halutz to remain in his position, to no avail according to the report.

Both Halutz and the government came in for severe criticism over their handling of the war against Hizbullah in Lebanon in the summer of 2006, as reported by the investigating Winograd Commission.

Haaretz: Olmert expresses regret.

Hinting at the mistakes of the political echelon during the war in Lebanon in the summer, OC IDF Ground Forces Command Maj.-Gen. Benny Gantz said Tuesday that the length of the war - fighting inside Lebanon lasted 33 days - was a factor in the feeling of disappointment in Israel and Hizbullah's sense of victory.

Speaking at a Tel Aviv University conference, Gantz said the war went on for too long and that its length was one of the reasons that Israel did not emerge with a clear victory. Read more.

YnetNews:

Tuesday morning, former IDF Chief of General Staff Lt. Gen (res.) Dan Shomron, who reviewed Halutz's performance during the recent war, criticized him harshly for his flawed management of the conflict.

Tuesday afternoon, he presented the Knesset's Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee with his conclusions, declaring that this summer's war "was run without any goal."

Jerusalem of Gold and Blue (Original Photo)

Looking north to Jerusalem, from the capital's southernmost neighborhood, Gilo. I shot
this photograph with a cellphone camera, and then tweaked it in Photoshop to get that
"painted" look.


Same idea, different effect. This one from a skyline promenade.

More photos are here.

Israel, Syria deny 'peace talks'

From The Jerusalem Post:

Israel and Syria both issued vehement denials on Tuesday to a report
that there had been secret agreements between the two countries during former prime minister Ariel Sharon's term as prime minister.

David Baker, an official in the Prime Minister's Office, said that "the Israeli government is unaware of any such meetings."

The Syrian Foreign Ministry also denied the reports. "That there were no contacts and the report is totally false," said a statement released by the ministry.

Meanwhile, Knesset Member Jamal Zahalka (National Democratic Assembly), who visited Syria about four months ago, told Ynet that the Haaretz report that Israeli and Syrian representatives held talks for two years and formulated a document of understandings for a peace agreement between the two countries was "a virtual agreement of academics."

According to the MK, to the best of his knowledge no direct or indirect talks were being held between Israel and Syria.

What's more, Meir Dagan, chief of the Israeli spy agency, Mossad, confirmed Syria's arms ramp-up last month, saying that the dictator-led Arab nation to Israel northeast has exhibited no signs of desiring peace with Israel.

"Israel's military deterrence was damaged in the [Second Lebanon] war. Therefore, Assad's self-confidence grew. They are prepared to take more risks than in the past," Dagan said.

I am currently (14:30 IST) uploading to YouTube an exclusive interview with Dr. Eran Lerman, former IDF Intelligence Dep. Chief of Strategic Planning about the reputed "non-paper" talks between Israel and Syria. Lerman also takes a look forward to possible regional developments with Iran. I will embed the report soon, so come back soon and refresh this page to watch.

More on this report here.

BREAKING: Israel-Syria cut secret peace deal (UPDATED)

Both Israeli and Syrian officials have strongly denied the following report. Go here for more.

Haaretz is reporting:

In a series of secret meetings in Europe between September 2004 and July 2006, Syrians and Israelis formulated understandings for a peace agreement between Israel and Syria.

The main points of the understandings are as follows:

An agreement of principles will be signed between the two countries, and following the fulfillment of all commitments, a peace agreement will be signed. As part of the agreement on principles, Israel will withdraw from the Golan Heights to the lines of 4 June, 1967. The timetable for the withdrawal remained open: Syria demanded the pullout be carried out over a five-year period, while Israel asked for the withdrawal to be spread out over 15 years. At the buffer zone, along Lake Kinneret, a park will be set up for joint use by Israelis and Syrians. The park will cover a significant portion of the Golan Heights. Israelis will be free to access the park and their presence will not be dependent on Syrian approval. More details here.

Text of draft.

Map.


Israel: Northern Hula Valley, looking east towards Golan Heights. (Photo: Dave Bender)

Israel: Eastern bank of Sea of Galilee (Lake Kinneret), looking west
towards Tiberias, Arbel areas. (Photo: Dave Bender)

'New Historian' glum over national survival prospects vis a vis Iran

Text: "Mahmoud Ahmedinejad showing the West
what both a peace sign and middle finger look like
when they're being developed separately."

"Glum?!" Did I write "glum" up there? Shyeah - professional discretion my *** - make that a notch short of suicide...

Benny Morris is considered the most influential and prolific member of the New Historians, a controversial group of scholars who have challenged much of the received wisdom of the origins of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Warning: Benny has penned a serious downer of a read ahead. But read it anyway.

One bright morning, in five or ten years' time, perhaps during a regional crisis, perhaps out of the blue, a day or a year or five years after Iran's acquisition of the Bomb, the mullahs in Qom will convene in secret session, under a portrait of the steely-eyed Ayatollah Khomeini, and give President Ahmedinejad, by then in his second or third term, the go ahead. The orders will go out and the Shihab III and IV missiles will take off for Tel Aviv, Beersheba, Haifa, and Jerusalem, and probably some military sites, including Israel's half dozen air and (reported) nuclear missile bases. Some of the Shihabs will be nuclear-tipped, perhaps even with multiple warheads. Others will be dupes, packed merely with biological or chemical agents, or old newspapers, to draw off or confuse Israel's anti-missile batteries and Home Guard units.

With a country the size and shape of Israel (an elongated 8,000 square miles), probably four or five hits will suffice: No more Israel. A million or more Israelis, in the greater Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem areas, will die immediately. Millions will be seriously irradiated. Israel has about seven million inhabitants. No Iranian will see or touch an Israeli. It will be quite impersonal.

Hmm... Maybe this will cheer up ole, Benny...

Earlier posts about Israel and Iran here, here, here, here, here, and the linkdump is here.

(Google) bombing Olmert

Taking a page from google bombs in the past such as this one and this one, an Israeli blogger initiated a google bomb against Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Go to Google and type in "Kishalon Harutz" - "Utter Failure" - (this only works in Hebrew fonting, by the way), Google's Israel portal will send you to the Prime Ministers Office.

Try it here.

"Eye" know! Maybe it had something to do with Olmert's "blepharoplasty."

(H-T: The View From Here)