Monday
05 Apr 10
Putin's Bushehr pledge slaps Obama's Iran policy
DEBKAfile Special Report
DEBKAfile's intelligence sources report that, far from being a strictly civilian plant, the Bushehr reactor's activation will make a real contribution to Iran's military nuclear program by providing such by-products as plutonium extracted from spent fuel rods.
US Middle East envoy George Mitchell is due to return to Jerusalem Sunday, March 21, to continue his effort to get proximity talks started.
Palestinian terrorists ape Taliban-style motorbike attacks
DEBKAfile Special Analysis 
The last three days have seen a rising level of Qassam missile attacks from Gaza. The most serious killed a Thai farm worker at the border village of Netiv Ha'asara on Thursday.
Obama recalls bomb kits to bar Israeli strike on Iran
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report 
US military sources describe the consignment as consisting of 387 JDAM kits for attachment to the warheads of 2,000-pound BLU-109/MK-84 or the 1,000-pound BLU-110/MK-83 bunker-busters for their conversion into smart bombs.
On March 13, DEBKAfile disclosed that the Obama administration was pondering withholding from Israel military hardware that could be used for an Israeli attack on Iran.
The pair of Israeli Gulfstream Vs converted to spy planes sighted over Budapest on March 17 may have been Israel's signal of its concern over the White House measures for keeping the means of attacking Iran out of its hands. The long-haul flights, demonstrating the Israel Air Force's ability to cover the distance to Iran, took the aircraft over Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania as well as Hungary.
Abbas avoids US envoy Mitchell
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
Abbas may also duck the Arab summit opening this week after Libyan ruler Muammar Qaddafi decided to invite Abbas' rival, the Damascus-based hardline Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, at the head of a large delegation
Israeli soldier killed by friendly fire in Gaza battle
DEBKAfile Special Report
A colonel was appointed to head the inquiry into the incident.
DEBKAfile's military sources report this was the third time in five days that Palestinian intruders were able to creep through the border fence. The intrusions and several Qassam missile attacks occurred during the visits of UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and European Union foreign affairs executive Catherin Ashton to the Gaza Strip, yet both slammed Israel and paid no heed to the Palestinian cross-border violence.
The firefight flared Monday, March 22, when Palestinian infiltrators were sighted already inside Israel in the Kissufim sector. An Israeli tank force opened fire and when the Palestinians fled back into the Gaza Strip, gave pursuit.
A Golani infantry unit mistook the tank force for the fleeing Palestinian gunmen and fired, killing one of the tank crew, Sgt. Gabriel Cepic, 21, from Zichron Yaacov.
Britain to expel Israeli diplomat over Dubai passport affair
DEBKAfile Special Report
Our intelligence sources point out that the British passports could have been copied at any international airport. Furthermore, the British consulate in Jerusalem is staffed entirely by Palestinians who could easily have got hold of the passports held by Britons or dual citizens in Israel and forged them for their own purposes.
It should be noted in this regard that the British prime minister and foreign secretary have repeatedly promised to amend the law which has allowed private individuals to file war crimes charges against Israelis in British courts. No other foreigners have ever been targeted for this treatment, the threat of which caused opposition leader Tzipi Livni to cancel her London visit to London as well as top Israeli officers warned they could be arrested at Heathrow airport.
In January, minister of justice Jack Straw stepped in to postpone the requisite legislation indefinitely. Neither the prime minister nor foreign secretary demurred.
Abbas: No talks until 2,000 terrorists freed DEBKAfile Exclusive Report 
And so another Mitchell mission ran aground.
Our sources report that Palestinian delaying tactics aim at using the Obama administration's willingness to squeeze Israel for more before committing themselves to talks.Netanyahu told the AIPAC conference that Israel had ceded plenty for peace talks and it was time the Palestinians to starting giving something too.
A year ago, the US president declared Jerusalem was Israel's capital, never to be divided. Today, he is pushing Israel to settle for a repartitioned Jerusalem to provide a future Palestinian state with a capital.
The Israeli strategy of adapting to changing US policies and interests without solid bedrock of its own principles is untenable and bound to break down whenever it comes to the crunch.
Israel under veiled US threat of diplomatic isolation
DEBKAfile Special Report
The president made it clear what he expected of Israel on Jerusalem, West Bank settlements and Iran and where he drew the line. As the tension rose in the Oval Office, Netanyahu asked to consult privately with his staff and after an hour, asked to see Obama again.
A second 35-minute conversation followed without a breakthrough.
In the Middle East, Iran, Syria, Hizballah and Palestinians stood ready to exploit the US-Israel rift and Israel's loss of its American shield.
Netanyahu flies home amid crisis with Obama DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
Reporting this, DEBKAfile's Washington sources add that Netanyahu's public renunciation was required to cover also the large Jewish suburbs of the city and remain in force for the duration of negotiations. He must also pledge further concessions to the Palestinians. The president said he intended formulating in detail for the first time the shape of the settlement the US government sought for solving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute.
This would be tantamount to a US diktat and put the lid on negotiations, direct or indirect, because Israel would be dragged to the table in handcuffs to face an Arab partner who would accept nothing less than the terms Washington imposed in advance on Israel.
Such a notice would put a clamp on the close dialogue which has historically characterized US-Israeli ties to the detriment of Israel's international standing.
US president Barack Obama kept on turning the screw on Israeli minister Binyamin Netanyahu Wednesday, March 24, after their harsh conversation in the White House Tuesday: Netanyahu was told bluntly to issue a White House-dictated public pledge to eschew further construction in East Jerusalem, or face a presidential notice condemning Israel and holding its government responsible for the failure to restart indirect Israel-Palestinian talks.
Obama is going after regime change in... Israel
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis 
Common ground between Washington and Jerusalem has shrunk exponentially in the current administration fourteen months in office.
Netanyahu's options have narrowed to three:
1. Resignation and a snap election, campaigning on the sure fire issues of Jerusalem and Iran.
2. A unilateral attack on Iran to restore Israel's fortunes in the region.
3. Doing nothing, an option proving counter-productive against the British expulsion of the Mossad representative at the London embassy in London, by encouraging other governments to follow the UK's lead.
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