Syria moves missiles closer to Israel

Syria moves missiles closer to Israel
By HERB KEINON AND JPOST STAFF

The cabinet at its weekly meeting heard a dismal assessment of the regional situation, as Brig.-Gen. Yossi Baidatz informed the government that Syria, concerned by the possibility of an Israeli attack, has stepped up its production of long-range missiles and moved anti-aircraft missiles to the front with Israel.

"Everywhere you look, the extremists are on the rise, while those who want to bring about a new order in the Middle East are on the decline," Baidatz said, proceeding to paint a situation in the Gaza Strip in which Hamas was taking advantage of the cease-fire to strengthen itself and its military capabilities.

While for the most part, Baidatz said, the cease-fire has held, there have been 17 rocket attacks on southern Israel from Gaza.

In addition, he reported, Hamas was the main beneficiary of the current calm, shoring up its political position by moving into the area of the former Gush Katif hothouses and placing security guards at schools, a move which will likely bolter the group's popular support.

Turning to the West Bank, Baidatz reported that the security situation there had not changed.

Attempts were still being made to launch terror attacks, he said, mainly from northern Samaria.
Meanwhile, he said, Hamas was showing it can stand firm against all attempts to weaken it. The group won't flinch in the face of the growing financial crisis, he said, adding that there was a sense of relief within Hamas, which lessened their motivation to reach an agreement on a unity government with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Shin Bet head Yuval Diskin pointed out that thus far, between 40 and 50 percent of the PA government salaries have been paid since Hamas rose to power. Diskin agreed with Baidatz's assessment that Hamas was taking the opportunity presented by the cease-fire to consolidate money and build strength. The tension between Hamas and Fatah was still escalating, Diskin, cautioned, with each side preparing to face off with the other, as well as with Israel.

Hamas, Diskin said, would not make any effort to stop the Kassam rocket attacks on Israel, despite the cease-fire.

Diskin also addressed the problem of an identity shift among Israeli Arabs, who are increasingly defining themselves as an "oppressed local minority," challenging the Jewish democratic nature of the State of Israel, and adopting the Palestinian narrative [of displacement].

Turning to Lebanon, Baidatz said that Hizbullah was taking a three-stage approach to toppling Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's government: first, mass protests; second, a tent city; and third, discussing nonviolent means of bringing about Saniora's downfall. Baidatz said Hizbullah appeared to be at the third stage, and was looking to win a third of the seats in Lebanon's cabinet in order to be a blocking faction.

Baidatz said that despite reports to the contrary, Hizbullah was having difficulty establishing a presence in the villages.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert spoke at the meeting in praise of former US ambassador to the UN Jeane Kirkpatrick, who died Thursday, calling her a close personal friend and a "good friend to Israel."

Olmert advised government to avoid commenting on the Baker-Hamilton report released last week, saying that Israel should refrain from interfering in "internal" US policy issues.

The prime minister said that US President George W. Bush had told him that the US does not intend to alter its policy on Iran and Syria.