At the time of writing this Israel and Gaza have declared a ceasefire. By the time this article has been published this may no longer be the case. Already there are reports on Twitter that rockets are being fired out of Gaza. How long the ceasefire will last, we do not know. However, unless further steps are taken both groups will be at war again soon.

On the 20th peace talks were held in Egypt, with the press saying that a truce deal was to be announced later that day. That time never came however. Talks were resumed on the 21st and it was announced by Hilary Clinton and Mohamed Morsi. Following the announcement there were celebration’s in Gaza, where civilians are celebrating surviving the conflict. While in Israel there were protests with Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to agree to a ceasefire proving to be very unpopular.

While a ceasefire has been called by both sides, it is not be enough. This is simply a calm in the fighting while both parties attempt to reach a longer agreement. Until such an agreement could be reached any ceasefire will be short lived and it is likely we will soon find ourselves in exactly the same position again.

What is needed now is a way to stop this completely. No half measures.

Simply agreeing to a ceasefire and hoping that this time it lasts will not work. For a few years, maybe more, the peace would last, the amount of rockets fired by both sides would die down, for a while. But all that would happen is that both sides would quietly lick their wounds and restock their armories. Then another event would stoke the embers and cause all the old tension and anger to rise up again. Then we would find ourselves in the exact same position yet again.

Hamas have been firing rockets at Israel for over 10 years. The Israel Defense Forces has entered Gaza already with Operations Summer Rains and Cast Lead. If, like last time a ceasefire is announced, and nothing more, then both these things will happen again. These two groups are locked in a perpetual war that can only fully end if one of them was to be totally destroyed, or if they were to compromise and sort out their disputes over the region.

Which way would we rather the endless fighting end? With the destruction of Hamas or Israel? Obviously this way would result in many more people dying, soldiers and civilians. It would also take a very long time to happen. Already this war has gone on for years with no end in sight. Hamas are not strong enough to wipe out Israel, much as they might wish to. While Israel have the military strength to wipe out Hamas, they can not do so without angering the international community and possibly dragging other countries into the conflict.

But if an agreement could be made where both groups were happy, perhaps if Jerusalem was to be made an International city, with independent Jewish and Arab states established like was proposed many years ago. Then finally this war between Hamas and Israel could end properly, rather than endlessly going on punctuated with the occasional short lived ceasefire.

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Washington, U.S.A. — The following is being released by the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy – The FBI partially declassified and released files linking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a nuclear technology smuggling ring that targeted the United States. The declassified files are now publicly available online at http://www.IRmep.org/ila/krytons/06272012_milco_mdr.pdf

FBI agents interviewed indicted American smuggler Richard Kelly Smyth on April 16-17, 2002, at the U.S. attorney’s office in Los Angeles. The secret interview report details how during trips to Israel Smyth’s handler placed him in contact with Benjamin Netanyahu at Heli Trading Company. The FBI report suggests that “Smyth and [Netanyahu] would meet in restaurants in Tel Aviv and in [Netanyahu's] home and/or business. It was not uncommon for [Netanyahu] to ask Smyth for unclassified material.”

Smyth was indicted in the mid-1980s for smuggling 800 dual use “krytrons” without proper export licenses through a multi-front company network. Smyth fled the U.S. and lived abroad, supported by unknown means, until he was captured by Interpol and returned to the U.S. in 2001. He was convicted in 2002.

During the 2002 Smyth counterintelligence debriefing, the FBI learned that the Israeli Ministry of Defense ordered and paid an Israeli company called Heli Trading for krytrons. Heli in turn sourced them fromCalifornia-based MILCO in a clandestine operation codenamed “Project Pinto.” The report reveals how MILCO illegally shipped other prohibited military articles under general Commerce Department export licenses rather than smuggling them out via Israeli diplomatic pouches.

Released on the Internet on July 4, 2012, the files have been the subject of reporting in the Israeli press, including Israeli National News, Ma’ariv and The Marker. Some U.S. alternative media also explored the implications of the formerly secret files including Antiwar.com, Tikkun Olam, Mondoweiss and CounterPunch. WBAI radio and the Scott Horton Show have hosted interviews.

Although the FBI report has now been sent to the New York Times, Washington Post, all members of Congress and United Nations members, no top-tier establishment news coverage, Congressional or UN investigations have been made public. On Friday, National Public Radio syndicated host Diane Rehmimmediately disconnected IRmep Research Director Grant F. Smith when he asked her reporter roundtable to assess the implications of the Netanyahu espionage ring. An audio clip of the brief exchange is available at: http://www.IRmep.org/NPR.mp3

IRmep is a private nonprofit that studies how warranted law enforcement and civil action can improve U.S. Middle East policy.

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New York, U.S.A. — AJC called on the Knesset to censure one of its members for desecrating the Christian Bible.

MK Michael Ben-Ari of the National Union Party, in his Knesset office, tore pages from the New Testament as he condemned the Christian holy book for fostering anti-Semitism.

“MK Ben-Ari’s extremist views and actions are outrageous,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris. “The photograph of MK Ben-Ari tearing up the Christian Bible, holy to many around the world, is a sacrilegious outrage, an abominable assault on an entire religion.”

Ben-Ari has a long record of open hostility towards Israel’s Arab citizens, and has been barred from visiting the U.S., his country of birth, due to his association with the extremist Kach movement, banned in Israel. The Kach party was banned in Israel after a law was passed that stated political parties who incited racism could not be elected to office. Today the party is considered a terrorist organization in Israel, Canada, the United States, and the European Union.

Harris, praising today’s remarks by Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, and by Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, urged other Israeli leaders to speak out and take appropriate action against Ben-Ari.

“I condemn all disrespect of holy writings, including the tearing of the New Testament by an MK last night. Imagine a foreign parliament member tore the bible, relating to it as a provocation,” Rivlin said at today’s Knesset session in Jerusalem. “Democracy means freedom of speech but not freedom to disrespect other religions. A foundation of the state is freedom of worship and belief.”

Speaking for the Israeli government, Regev said, “We totally deplore this behavior and condemn it outright. This action stands in complete contrast to our values and our traditions. Israel is a tolerant society, but we have zero tolerance for this despicable and hateful act.”

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Israel has begun an “emergency plan” to battle its illegal immigration problems that will involve interning and deporting thousands. So far authorities have arrested sixty-two African migrants in on-going raids. Most of the migrants are from South Sudan, with some from the Darfur region. The government hopes to repatriate 60,000 African refugees. The immigrants are being detained at the Red Sea resort of Eilat.

After two months of heated debate, the Israeli government has declared that the African migrants have become a threat to the Jewish character of the state and that they are here illegally. Many illegal immigrants have also caused problems with labor and work, similar to those in the United States.

The main area being targeted for removing these African refugees is in the poor area to the south of Tel Aviv. Israelis living in the south of Tel Aviv claim that the wealthy northern residents of Tel Aviv can afford to be liberal and support the plight of the African refugee because their jobs are not being threatened by these Africans.

The decision has also arisen after a wave of hostility has arisen against blacks in general. A recent opinion poll in Israel showed that fifty-two percent of Israelis think that Africans are a “cancer” according to the Times of Israel. According to Jacob Berri, a Sudanese refugee at a protest, the refugees are “being called a cancer and an AIDS virus on the Israeli people, by politicians.” Berri claims that many in the South Sudanese community recognize they are not wanted and will leave as long as they are guaranteed refugee status and are helped by the UN.

African migrants marched on Sunday to the UN Refugee Agency offices in Tel Aviv to protest the mistreatment of refugees. Several protests have occurred due to these decisions including one with five hundred Sudanese men. These men chanted “we are refugees, not criminals” due to allegations that Africans are preying on Israeli citizens and raping Israeli women.

The rhetoric used against these immigrants suggests some personal bias. Interior Minister Eli Yishai stated, “this is only a small group of infiltrators…I’m not acting out of hatred of strangers but love of my people and to rescue my homeland.” According to Reuters, “infiltrators” is the the same word often used to describe Palestinian militants.

Many Israelis are worried that the deportations could damage Israel’s international image; in previous years, Israel was considered a champion of human rights and protector of these African refugees. Israeli human rights and activist groups are on the side of the African refugees, whereas the right wing and certain religious parties are against them.

Some of these refugees have lived in Israel for years – some of their children only know of Israel as home and only speak Hebrew – but these individuals have lived in legal limbo for too long.

An Israeli court upheld the government’s decision of internment and deportation of all migrants of South Sudanese origin. The government and courts agree that although South Sudan is still at war with Sudan, the region is safe enough for the refugees to return. The government has also claimed that all of the immigrants are in Israel looking for work when many are there to escape persecution and violence. Israeli activists have urged the government to consider each case individually rather than indiscriminately sending people back.

The Israeli government has offered financial incentives to all of those who leave voluntarily. Since many refugees recognize that their deportations are inevitable, they have begun registering to leave. The Interior Minister Eli Yishai has claimed, “whoever comes forward will get his grant…from the moment you come to immigration authorities and say you will pack up, from that moment you will be given an opportunity to pack up, and the grant of 1,000 euros.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is completely behind the new immigration policy, although he has urged Israelis to not harm the African refugees. Netanyahu claimed, “we are a moral people and we will act accordingly. We denounce violence; we denounce invective. We respect human rights…[but] Israel cannot accept infiltrators from an entire continent.”

According to Reuters, migration into Israel from Africa has been increasing since 2006, but the past year has seen an incredible increase in the number of refugees. The revolution in Egypt has prevented the Egyptian government from policing the border of the Sinai peninsula which has allowed the Bedouin people-smugglers to increase their operations.

In response to these high levels of immigration, Israel has built a high fence along its border to Egypt. Netanyahu said in a May 29th speech, “my policy with regard to the illegal infiltrators seeking work is clear… first of all, to stop their entry with the fence and at the same time to deport the infiltrators who are in Israel.” Netanyahu also claimed that in transition the African refugees would be held in “detention facilities with thousands of units.” The prime minister justified his actions by claiming that these migrants are threatening “the character of the country.”

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Israeli women have been under pressure for years to sit in the back of buses that serve strictly religious Jews. Like Rosa Parks, women are beginning to fight back against discrimination. A young solider named Doron Matalon said she was at the front of the bus after a night shift at her Jerusalem base on Wednesday morning last week. When an ultra-Orthodox man boarded the bus, he told her to go sit in the back. “I said that I have the right to sit here,” she stated. “Then a commotion ensued, and other people gathered around and started shouting…. It was scary.”

The situation drew media attention and highlighted tensions in Israel as ultra-Orthodox Jews move beyond Jerusalem’s urban enclaves and Bnei Brak, a Tel Aviv suburb where they have resided for decades. As they look for jobs and houses in new areas, they interact more with mainstream Israelis, who view their strict religious code as a threat to democracy. “It’s a slippery slope. What starts with women boarding the bus in the back because of modesty can end up with women not voting,” affirmed Mickey Gitzin, the director of Be Free Israel, a nonprofit that promotes religious pluralism. “It could turn Israeli society into a segregated society in which women don’t have a place in public life.”

Public outrage grew this past week following a news report on the harassment of an eight-year-old girl by a group of ultra-Orthodox men. They thought she was dressed immodestly, so they spat on her and accused her of being a prostitute. This event caused thousands of people to protest against the segregation of women on December 27. A counterprotest followed two days later, which resulted in clashes in Beit Shemesh and Jerusalem.

The Haredi rabbis of Beit Shemesh claimed their women voluntarily observed the segregation and modesty rules for their own honor. Other ultra-Orthodox Jews do not disagree with the segregation of men and women, but went on the defensive, one man, Israel Eichler, saying “The problem is that they want to make a secular state in the Holy Land. That’s what creates the friction.” He is a parliament member from the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party. Eichler thinks that the secular media of Israel is focusing on the discrimination against women as a way to attack Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a political ally of the Haredis, who has denounced the segregation of men and women in the past.

Since the first public buses went into operation 14 years ago in Jerusalem, discrimination against women has grown to men-only sidewalks in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, the steady disappearance of women from Jerusalem’s billboards, and segregated waiting rooms at health clinics. Haredi birthrates are double the average families in Israel, and economists believe that since Haredi men do not work, they will hurt the economy. The liberal Israel Religious Action Center petitioned the Supreme Court to ban segregation on public buses after complaints of discrimination were made. In January 2011, the court said forced segregation was illegal, but the buses could continue to operate for one year on a voluntary basis.

Their ruling showed the problem Israel’s government faces in deciding how to address religious and national groups that do not accept its principles. “The deeper question is how does a democracy deal with separatist fundamentalist communities in its midst,” asserted Yossi Klein Halevi, a fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem. “Israel’s great domestic challenge is to figure out the balance between allowing cultural autonomy and reinforcing its sovereign authority.” The one-year trial period is about to end, and petitioners say that they will bring up the issue with the Supreme Court again. However, Matalon believes it might be too late. She is afraid of riding the bus and no longer uses it out of her fear of being harassed. “It wasn’t the first time and it won’t be the last time,” she said.

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Ilan Grapel, 27, was arrested in Cairo during a protest rally on June 12 and accused of being a spy. He was put in an Egyptian jail for over four months, but was let out on Thursday in exchange for the release of 25 Egyptians that were locked up in Israel. The released prisoners were mostly smugglers and included two minors.

Before his return to the United States, Grapel met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who gave him a burger, fries, and red wine, and was debriefed by security officials. The Emory University law student was greeted by family and friends upon his arrival in New York City on Saturday.

Grapel’s flight was delayed due to a mechanical problem and would have been cancelled if the Delta flight crew had not volunteered to work overtime, so he could make it home. Grapel holds both U.S. and Israeli citizenship and was in Egypt with a volunteer group who helps Sudanese refugees.

He speaks Hebrew and Arabic and had at one time served in Israel’s military.  Grapel claims he is not a spy, which Israel has also confirmed. United States Representative Gary Ackerman, with whom Grapel once interned, lobbied to have him released. Because Grapel had been cut off for over four months, Ackerman played a prank on him and told him the Mets had won the World Series.

Grapel thanked the U.S. and Israeli officials who fought to have him set free. He said that the Egyptians treated and fed him well in prison and allowed his mother a visit, though he was kept in solitary confinement. He stated, “”It was a tough ordeal as I was isolated, but the guards were okay.

What I wanted to eat, they gave me, including fresh fish.” Grapel’s father, however, did not share his son’s forgiving attitude and claimed he would sue them. Grapel stated, in regard to the months of Egyptian interrogations, “It’s hard for me to describe. It was overwhelming.” His mother helped him to stay calm and not lose hope during his ordeal.

After Grapel was released from prison, he was happily reunited with his mother at Ben-Gurion Airport in Israel and was then reunited with his emotional father in New York. During an airport news conference, Grapel spoke of his fondness for pancakes.

He declared, “What I have not had are chocolate chip pancakes from IHOP!” He also expressed his only disappointment during his flight home was the fact that his flight attendant was married.

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A recent controversial agreement between Israelis and Palestinians has led to the release of one Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, in return for 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. Gilad Shalit, now 25 years old, was captured by Hamas at the age of 19. He was held captive in Gaza after his 2006 kidnapping.

The decision of releasing 1,000 Palestinian prisoners came just one week ago, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided it to be imperative for the return of Shalit. Shalit returned to Israel on October 18. Gilad Shalit was taken by Hamas militants to Egypt, where the swap was finalized.

Shalit was welcomed back into Israel by hugs from his family, as well as Prime Minister Netanyahu and Lieutenant General Benny Gantz, Israel’s military chief. He was seen to be thin and frail. After medical examinations, Shalit has shown to have malnutrition signs and a lack of exposure to the sun.

Shalit stated in an interview of the conditions of the prison he was held in, stating that he was in solitary confinement most of the time. Shalit’s father explained in an interview that his son received harsh conditions at the beginning of his imprisonment, but the conditions improved as time went on.

“I knew all along that my family and many people in Israel are doing everything possible in order to release me,” said Gilad Shalit in an interview with Egyptian television.

Thousands of Israelis descended onto the streets to celebrate the arrival of Shalit. Israelis were singing, cheering, and opening bottles of champagne upon his release. People waved the Israeli flag as Shalit was ushered to his home to be with his family.

Although there was a large support for Shalit’s release and return to Israel, many Isarelis do not agree with the recent events. The unbalanced proportion of released Palestinian prisoners comes as a shock to many. Many family members of those who were killed by Palestinian prisoners are opposed to their release.

Many of those who were released for Shilat were imprisoned for life sentences. Their charges include the deaths of Israelis through a number of attacks. Nasser Yateima killed 30 Isarelis in a hotel bombing in 2002, occurring on the Jewish holiday of Passover. Abdel Aziz Salha assisted in the deadly stabbing of two Israeli soldiers when they made a wrong turn into the West Bank.

An overwhelming crowd of support greeted the Palestinian prisoners as they returned home. As per the agreement of the prisoner swap, 450 Palestinian prisoners were released from Israeli captivity. The second group of prisoners which total 550, will be released in two months time.

The West Bank and Gaza lit up with jubilation as people celebrated in the streets. Thousands of supporters greeted the newly released prisoners with green flags, the dominate color associated with Hamas. Hamas has controlled Gaza through militant tactics. The release of these 1,000 prisoners in exchange for one Israeli soldier comes as an undeniable success in the viewpoint of Palestinians.

Palestinian crowds loudly chanted “The people want a new Gilad.” This message displays the idea that if more Israeli soldiers are kidnapped, future prisoner swaps can be created, potentially leading to the release of hundreds more Palestinian prisoners.

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The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told reporters on Saturday that he expects the Palestinian application for full United Nations membership to be seriously considered by the Security Council members. At a speech to the General Assembly on Friday, Abbas pressed for the recognition of an independent Palestinian State alongside the Israeli State.

The Palestinian leader has been expressing his government’s desire to move forward on the matter of independence for some time, to the great irritation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The bid for statehood reflects Abbas’s lack of confidence in the US-sponsored peace talks after 20 years without tangible results, and he is now taking a diplomatic step without the oversight of the Israel-American alliance. Furthermore, the continued expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied land that Palestinians hope to constitute their future state is another strong incentive for Abbas’s request to act now.

In an interview with the pan-Arab newspaper al-Sharq al-Awsat, Mahmoud Abbas is quoted for saying that Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu is the ‘most inflexible Israeli leader he had ever known’. “With Rabin, Peres, Sharon, Olmert, and Livni, negotiations were possible,” Abbas stated according to Haaretz.com

In response to the Palestinian statehood bid, the so-called Mideast Quartet proposed an immediate restart of peace talks. The Quartet, which comprises the US, United Nations, the European Union and Russia, laid out a timeline for peace talks in which a final status agreement would be reached by December 2012, said Businessweek.com.

But the Palestinians are unlikely to accept the conditions of the proposal because it’s based on negotiations without specifying preconditions. “The Palestinians cannot negotiate any proposal that is not based on 1967 borders and does not ensure a settlement freeze in the West Bank,” said Mahmoud Abbas.

However, the president did not reject the idea of renewed direct negotiations but said he would need to consult his government in Ramallah.

In recent years, the Palestinian people have received growing sympathy from the world community as their objection to the occupation by Israel has moved from terrorist campaigns to nonviolent resistance. Especially in the West Bank has civil demonstrations secured the world’s focus on the plight of Palestinians as opposed to the negative imagery of suicide bombers.

Foreign governments and powerful NGOs have been monumental in the organization of for example “the ‘Nakba’ and ‘Naksa’ day border marches, the weekly Bil’in and Na’lin security fence protests, and, perhaps the most prominent example, the Gaza Flotilla movement,” wrote Daniel Nisman, an Argov Fellow for leadership and Diplomacy at the Inter-Disciplinary Center in Herzliya, Israel for The Jerusalem Post.

This development has placed the Israeli government in a tough spot. Recently they were criticized by the UN for using ‘excessive and unreasonable’ violence during the 2010 raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla and more importantly, with the rise of non-violent movements in the West Bank, the Israeli argument against Palestinian statehood loses credibility.

Speaking of which, the Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman warned that the Palestinian application would “bring us to an altogether new situation and this would have repercussions, severe repercussions,” according to Businessweek.com. Who the recipient of these repercussions will be was unclear.

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