Caricature of the day (June 6, 2011)

A great caricature from NRG that illustrates what Israel is up against these days:

Video: Jerusalem just moments after the Six-Day War

Egyptian justice minister: Israel destroying the revolution, planned to smuggle Mubarak out of Egypt

Anti-Israel incitement continues in post-revolution-"democratic" Egypt. The Egyptian paper Al-Wafd quotes Egypt's justice minister Abd al-Aziz al-Jundi as saying (auto-translation here, Hebrew here) at a political conference that Israel planned to smuggle Mubarak out of Egypt. He also accused Israel of "trying to create anarchy and civil war in Egypt" by paying thugs to sow violence and disorder in the country. He went on to say that "Israel wants to destroy the revolution and is also trying to destroy Egyptian society and harm the state's security by sending thugs. People who are in contact with elements outside the country, including Israel, are behind the latest violent events in Egypt" he said. According to him it all started after Netanyahu's speech.

This is in contradiction with what another Egyptian paper reported:

According to Rose al-Yousef, an Egyptian weekly magazine, Mubarak made phone calls to US President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, head of Mossad Tamir Pardo and several European officials in late February, but none of them offered him any support.

When Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for 30 years under direct support of the US and Israel, contacted to talk to Obama his call was disconnected, the report said.

The Egyptian dictator also called Netanyahu by a satellite mobile phone -- with a Saudi-based service provider -- to ask for his assistance, but the Israeli premier said there was nothing he could do about it.

The head of Israel's Mossad also rejected Mubarak's request, citing fears that any interference by Tel Aviv will aggravate anti-Mubarak sentiments.

According to the report, Mubarak contacted Israeli officials every one hour on a certain day, but all his calls were dropped the day after.

Other European leaders, whom Mubarak approached, reportedly gave similar responses, arguing that according to international protocols he was not the president of Egypt anymore.

So one Egyptian paper says Israel tried to help Mubarak while another says it didn't. Go figure.

The IDF's boarding of the "Victoria" - the videos

Iran's weapons smuggling operations suffer a severe blow

After Nigeria and the IDFcaptured Iranian arms shipments so did Egypt:

CAIRO - Security officials say Egyptian armed forces have seized five vehicles carrying weapons into the country from Sudan, apparently headed for Gaza.

The officials say the vehicles were intercepted inside Egypt Sunday near the border with Sudan, following a shootout during which the truck drivers fled. They said the trucks were carrying large quantities of mortars, rocket propelled grenades, rifles and explosives. They said they were headed to Hamas-ruled Gaza through smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border.

The officials spoke Tuesday on condition of anonymity under government regulations.

Israeli intelligence officials say Sudan is a major route for Hamas weapons. Last year Sudan accused Israel of carrying out airstrikes on smugglers inside Sudan. Israel did not comment on that report.

Turkey:

ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey's government says a cargo plane from Iran has been required to land in Turkey so its shipment could be searched.

But the Foreign Ministry denied a Dogan news agency report that Turkish military jets forced the plane to land at Diyarbakir airport on Tuesday night to search it for an alleged cargo of arms from Iran to Syria.

The ministry says it is standard procedure for Iranian cargo planes to request permission to fly over Turkey and sometimes be required to make unscheduled landings to be searched.

Turkey's official Anatolia news agency confirmed that the plane, heading from Tehran to Aleppo, Syria, was searched Wednesday.

But Anatolia and the government did not say what the cargo plane was found to be carrying.

Singapore and South Korea:

South Korea and Singapore have intercepted suspect nuclear and weapons materials bound for Iran that breach UN sanctions imposed on the Islamic republic, diplomats said Thursday.

The two seizures, made in the past six months but only revealed now, add to a growing list of alleged Iranian attempts to breach an international arms embargo, which are bringing mounting pressure to tighten sanctions, they said.

"South Korea authorities found more than 400 suspicious tubes in a jet cargo at Seoul airport in December," one diplomat said, giving details from a report to the UN Iran sanctions committee.

The tubes could be used for nuclear facilities, the diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the seizures haven't been made public.

"In September, aluminum powder that can be used for rockets was found on a ship in Singapore harbor," the diplomat added.

In each case the product was destined for Iran.

The details were confirmed by a second envoy at the UN who said the sanctions committee would study them when it discusses the latest report from Iran experts monitoring the sanctions regime.

All this shows just how global and far-reaching Iran's illegal arms trafficing really is.

IDF stops Gaza-bound ship

From the IDF blog:

Israeli Navy Uncovers Weaponry On-Board Cargo Vessel

Posted on March 15, 2011 by Israel Defense Forces

A short while ago, IDF Navy fighters intercepted the cargo vessel “Victoria” loaded with various weaponry. According to assessments, the weaponry on-board the vessel was intended for the use of terror organizations operating in the Gaza Strip. The vessel, flying under a Liberian flag, was intercepted some 200 miles west of Israel’s coast. This incident was part of the Navy’s routine activity to maintain security and prevent arms smuggling, in light of IDF security assessments.

The force was met with no resistance from the crew on-board and the vessel is now being led by the Israeli Navy to the Israeli port in Ashdod for further searches and detailed inspection of the cargo.

The vessel was on its way from Mersin Port in Turkey to Alexandria Port in Egypt. The IDF would like to note that Turkey is not tied to the incident in any way.

The operation was approved as necessary in accordance with government directives in light of the Chief of the General Staff’s recommendations.

Earlier this morning, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz updated the Minister of Defense, Mr. Ehud Barak, about the findings on-board the vessel.

The IDF and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs alerted about the interception of the “Victoria” to the German authorities, due to the German ownership of the ship. In addition, the government of Liberia, whose flag it was flying under, was notified, as well as France, due to the French shipping company.

The operation was under the command of the IDF Navy Commander, Maj. Gen. Eliezer Marom, and the interception was under the command of the Navy Special Forces Commander.

Update:

According to shipment documents and crew questioning, the vessel initially departed from the Lattakia Port in Syria, and then proceeded to Mersin Port in Turkey. The IDF emphasizes that Turkey has no connection to this incident regarding the weaponry uncovered on-board.

So Syria used a French shipping company and a German ship flying a Liberian flag to arm Hamas via Turkish and Egyptian ports without (?) all of the involved knowing it. Mmmm. Isn't that breaking international law? I wonder if there will be a UN investigation (not!).

Video: jihadist demo in front of Tunisian synagogue

The synagogue in the video is the Great Synagogue of Tunis. The facebook page from which the video is taken says that the demonstrators belong to Hizb ut-Tahrir. I don't know if this is related to the disputed attack on the El Hamma synagogue near Gabes.

(HT Atlas Shrugs)

Is this the new Egypt?

After the Egyptian army's statment that "The Arab Republic of Egypt is committed to all regional and international obligations and treaties" did not mention "peace" and "Israel" and after Obama declined to mention peace in comments on the resignation of Mubarak there are even more disturbing statements and actions coming from Egypt. A retired Egyptian General called Mahmoud Khalaf said on February 3rd that

[...]

The armed forces of the people are considered to be the tenth most powerful military power in the world. I ask the Arabs: Against who was it built? It is no secret that the combat doctrine of the Egyptian military forces considers the enemy to be to the north-east of Africa. That is, and will remain, the main enemy. As Israel knows full well, it will continue to be Egypt's main enemy, until it withdraws from all the Arab lands.

[...]

The Egyptian armed forces operate quietly, under the assumption that the war with Israel might take place tomorrow. I swear by Allah that they are quietly working under this assumption. We will respect the peace treaty as long as the other side does, but in our hearts, we consider it to be no more than a piece of paper.

[...]

Mohamed El-Baradei in an interview with Der Spiegel on February 6th said that

At the moment, they [the Israelis] have a peace treaty with Mubarak, but not one with the Egyptian people

IDF Radio reported yesterday that the Israeli flags on the Israeli embassy in Cairo and on the embassador's house were removed for "security reasons".

Yesterday Ayman Nour of the liberal and democratic El-Ghad Party said that

Much can be said about the Camp David accords. We believe that we should abide by our international commitments, but we should also make the others abide by our rights and by their own international commitments.

With regard to the Camp David accords in particular, the situation is complicated. In practice, the Camp David accords have come to an end. More than 30 years have passed since this agreement was signed, and many things on the ground require amendments. These amendments must be conducted in keeping with the interests and decisions of the Egyptian people. We will not impose anything on the Egyptian people, but I personally believe that if it were up to me, I would ask to conduct a referendum among the people with regard to this agreement, and we would abide by the decision of the people.

[...]

We want true participation of the people, and to gauge the people's position on all the significant issues, one of the most important of which is the Camp David accords. Some people believe that this agreement is a thing of the past, and that it must be developed in a correct manner. They believe that some of the terms are humiliating to the Egyptian side. I belong to this group of people.

Other people believe that the Camp David accords give Egypt certain guarantees on the ground, and that these must not be jeopardized at present.

I don't maintain this position, but at the end of the day, my opinion is not the only one that counts. We should hold a referendum.

If even Egyptian liberals and military men (and not the Muslim Brotherhood) who, we are told time and again, are supposed to uphold the peace treaty see it nothing more than a piece of paper (those are Mubarak's words BTW) the future of Israeli-Egyptian relations is very bleak indeed.

For more on this subject go here.

An Israeli naval commando was injured during a secret operation

From INN:

An IDF soldier has been critically wounded in a top-secret mission abroad, according to Channel 10 news. The soldier is a member of the elite Shayetet 13 naval commando unit.

Commanders who reported the incident did not give information regarding the mission, or the incident in which the soldier was wounded.

“These missions are very complex,” one commander explained. “They are planned with precision, and often include preparation in Israel.”

“What must be understood is that these are among the finest soldiers in Israel,” he continued. “These are brave fighters who know that they are going into the heart of danger, often far from the borders of Israel.”

May he recover quickly. I wonder what mission he was on and where. I guess we'll never know. Anyway, here's a video showing a bit of how the Shayetet 13 train and footage from one of the soldier's helmet cam during the Marmara raid:

Is the Mossad operating in Gambia?

According to reports in the predominant Muslim west African country the answer is yes. This report claims that the Mossad and the CIA are training Gambia's National Intelligence Agency (NIA). An ex-NIA agent called Serg PMJ Banjul said that

After this order [to arrest and murder Omar Bah, former news editor of the pro-government Daily Observer] by [Gambian president Yahya] Jammeh on May 29, I also swear that if it happens, then all the trainings I received from the Mossad and CIA did not benefit me at all and I was going to resign all my commission and retire from the service. Now this is it- an order from a monstrous bloodthirsty dictator.

This report claims that

an Israeli Jew called Danny Shinn has become very active in the operations of the NDEA [National Drug Enforcement Agency]. "Danny" as he is popularly known is widely rumored in the intelligence community to be the Israeli spy agency Mossad's representative in The Gambia. Danny has penetrated The Gambia's security establishment by providing allowances to security officials who have been fired. For example, both Benedict, Kunji, and even Lang Tombong all received allowances something totaling 30,000 dalasi per month whilst they were unemployed.

Danny was actually detained at the NDEA last December as he was suspected to be the source of the leak to the CIA that resulted in the Iranian arms being intercepted in Lagos. Danny has however turned the situation around to the point that he now is providing some of our intelligence officers such as Yusupha Jatta and others written questions that are to be used in interrogations. He is also providing them tips he learnt from torture of Palestinians to be applied to Gambian detainees. He is in regular contact, from his mobile (xxxxxx withheld) with his assets such as Benedict, Kunji, and Yusupha.

The level of corruption and abuse of power at the NDEA is the worst our country has ever seen. Even previously honest Benedict has been so corrupted that one has to now believe the adage "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely". Benedict for example, has installed one of his mistresses in a villa at the Taf Estate that was seized illegally from a drug suspect. Additionally, he awarded Danny a contract to supply CCTV to the new NDEA offices without any bid or adherence to GPPA [Gambia Public Procurement Authority] regulations. It is unclear to me whether Danny is here as part of a secret agreement with the Israeli government or if it is just because of Ben.

Danny's cover is that he owns a company that supplies military hardware and surveillance equipment in The Gambia.

Editors note: The Freedom Newspaper was able to reach Mr. Danny Shinn on the cellular phone number provided to us by our source. The Israel born native first demanded to know who the caller was, and our Editor identified himself to him. Mr. Danny then enquired how we managed to get his cell number, and we told him that as journalists, we had access to multiple sources—thus allaying his curiosity.

We demanded his reaction to the report mentioned above: his ties with the NDEA, him training NDEA officers, his alleged affiliation with the Israel Mossad Intelligence outfit, the CCTV contract he reached with the NDEA, and the alleged monies given to former sacked security officers, such as Lang Tombong Tamba, Ben Jammeh, and Kunji, Mr. Shinn rejected the report—saying don’t make me laugh. He demanded to know what media organization our Editor worked for, and he was told the Freedom Newspaper. It took him few seconds to figure out the Freedom newspaper as a new organization. But he finally affirmed with an exclamation—remarking “ oh Freedom, Freedom.”

“What newspaper are you representing? Or the Freedom, yes, yes, Okay…” signaling that he is aware of a newspaper called the Freedom Newspaper. Mr. Shinn would also not discuss his alleged detention by the NDEA back in December of 2009, following the interception of the Iranian arms destined for President Jammeh’s Kanilai Farm. He will also not explain what he was doing in The Gambia. He merely said that he was a freeman, otherwise he wouldn’t be talking to us on the phone. But was told that the alleged detention took place in December of 2009, but Danny wouldn’t elaborate on the matter.

When asked about the CCTV contract deal he allegedly signed with the NDEA, and the supplying of military hardware to the Government of The Gambia, Mr. Shinn hung up the phone. This particular query never went down well with him. He hung up the phone without notifying us. That ends our phone conversation with Mr. Shinn.

And this report claims that

The Mossad's Station Chief for Gambia, Danny Shinn, fled the country on Thursday. This follows the story on Freedom Newspaper that blew his cover. His departure from The Gambia was a big blow to the Mossad according to Western Embassy sources. Danny was not only Station Chief for Gambia, but was responsible for managing Mossad espionage activities in the whole Anglophone West Africa. According to these sources, the Freedom exposure made it impossible for Danny to meet his agents in The Gambia anymore.

Danny's tenure in The Gambia was a very storied one. He was easily considered as running the best intelligence operation in The Gambia. Taking advantage of the insane hire and fire policies of Jammeh, he recruited agents who had been fired from government service in the hopes that they would be rehired. He provided them allowances whilst they were unemployed and in dire need of money. Once these agents were rehired into the government security service, they would forever be beholden to him. This for example, was how he got his most valuable asset, Benedict Jammeh.

After Benedict was fired as IGP [Inspector-General of Police], he started providing him an allowance of 30 thousand a month. Once Ben got rehired as DG [Director General] of NDEA, he provided Danny with first class intelligence. Danny also relied on the fact that most of the security agents live beyond their means. For example, another important agent, Yusupha Jatta of the NDEA has 3 wives and 15 children. His meager salary is not able to sustain such a big and expensive family. So, Danny would once again provide the allowance.

Because of his good network, Danny was able to get bugs implanted in the State House in Banjul and record sensitive conversations. Practically all of Ben's briefings with the president were also recorded. This is how the information about the Iranian arms were discovered and passed to the xxx. This is also how the drugs cache in Bonto was discovered and passed on to the MI-6.

At some point, Danny was suspected by Jammeh of being a spy and he ordered Ben to have the NDEA to arrest him and investigate. Ben investigating Danny was like the proverbial fox guarding the hen house. Despite the fact that Danny was detained for over 3 weeks, he had an ace up his sleeve.

Danny, the clever Jew, learnt that Ben was going to seize a drug suspect's house at the Taf estates and give it to his mistress, a prominent television personality. Before she could move in, he arranged to install a surveillance camera in the master bedroom. He captured a lot of compromising videos of Ben.

Jammeh even ordered that Danny be deported. But Danny made sure Ben knew that any negative actions by Ben would result in his total exposure. So, Ben just played games and left Danny alone until the Freedom article surfaced and exposed his game. Danny on the other hand had nothing but contempt for what he termed "the Jola Boys". He thought that they were the most stupid tribe in Gambia and nicknamed Jammeh as "Baboon". He felt that Jammeh was only after his own personal interest and was not interested in developing his country.

Danny continued supporting Ben including giving him the money to pay for his mistresses debt when she was sued in court for failing to pay for an air ticket. At the end though, the Freedom article was just too powerful and he had to leave the country.

Editor’s note: Mr. Danny could not be reached by phone for immediate comments. His cellular phone is apparently turned off. Per, the State House insider, he has left The Gambia. Mr. Danny would be accorded the opportunity to respond to the allegations linking him to spying if he so desired. Thanks for your attention.

Mmmm. These reports seem to have some grain of truth in them (the highlighted portions) with a lot of smear, disinformation and a bit of racism. It seems Gambia was about to get arms from the Iranians and the Mossad succeeded in preventing this and this is what is behind the smear campaign against the Mossad.