Will It Be a Hot Summer in Israel?
by Israel HighWay Staff

Over four days last week, Hamas overran the Gaza Strip, took control of the entire territory, and vanquished the better funded and better equipped Fatah forces in the process, all the while continuing to barrage Sderot with Kassam rockets. On Sunday, some Katyusha rockets landed in northern Israel, endangering the fragile ceasefire which had been in place since last summer’s war in Lebanon. These two events encapsulate the current situation in Israel. Since the end of the war 10 months ago, everyone has wondered when the next war would come. Some analysts pegged this summer as a possible time for the next war; this week’s developments may be the warm up to the main event.

In the shadow of the dramatic events in Gaza, the questionable peace overtures from Syria and a fully re-armed Hizbullah sitting on Israel’s northern border, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is in Washington this week for previously scheduled summit meetings with President George Bush and others.

Issue of the Week is continued below

160 Palestinians Killed, 800 Wounded in Gaza Fighting
by Khaled Abu Toameh

At least 160 Palestinians were killed and 796 wounded in last week's fighting between Fatah and Hamas in Gaza, according to a report Sunday by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. More than half of the casualties were Fatah activists and members of the PA security forces. Hamas lost 28 of its men, while 45 civilians were killed during June 10-17. (Jerusalem Post)

Israel Assists Palestinians at Gaza Crossing

The IDF has allowed paramedics to administer immediate treatment to wounded Palestinians at the Erez crossing, and enable the evacuation of those suffering from serious injuries to hospitals in Israel, as a goodwill gesture and a humanitarian act. In addition, the IDF has started allowing West Bank residents who were in Gaza during Hamas' takeover to cross into Israel on their way back to the West Bank. (YNetNews)

Barak Sworn in as Israel's New Defense Minister

Former prime minister Ehud Barak was sworn in as Israel's defense minister on Monday in a cabinet shakeup rushed through in response to violence in Gaza. Barak received a vote of approval from parliament to replace Amir Peretz, who lost to Barak in last week's Labor Party leadership election. Barak, a decorated former commando and armed forces chief, built his comeback on Labor chagrin at the way Olmert and Peretz, who both lack military pedigrees, handled last year's Lebanon war. (Reuters)

Columbia U. President: Boycott Us, Too by Haviv Rettig

Last week, Columbia University President Lee Bollinger (pictured) penned a public condemnation of the British Union of Colleges and University boycott initiative. "If the British UCU is intent on pursuing its deeply misguided policy, then it should add Columbia to its boycott list," Bollinger wrote, "for we do not intend to draw distinctions between our mission and that of the universities you are seeking to punish. Boycott us, then, for we gladly stand together with our many colleagues in British, American and Israeli universities against such intellectually shoddy and politically biased attempts to hijack the central mission of higher education." Bollinger also warned that, "in seeking to quarantine Israeli universities and scholars this vote threatens every university committed to fostering scholarly and cultural exchanges that lead to enlightenment, empathy and a much-needed international marketplace of ideas." (Jerusalem Post)

Israeli Canine Cops Protect California Residents by Kelly Hartog

Michael Saliba is a deputy sheriff in Santa Clara in Northern California, and until recently didn't speak a word of Hebrew. That all changed earlier this year, when Saliba, along with eight other law enforcement officers from six California jurisdictions, went to Israel to learn how to become the Office of Homeland Security's first ever Counter-Terrorism Canine Handlers. Following two months of intensive training, the officers returned with their Israeli dogs to their jobs in California. The majority of the training took place at kennels in Netanya, with field operations in the Sharon and Gush Dan areas. The $411,000 training program funded entirely by California's federal homeland security grants was undertaken by Pups for Peace, a California-based non-profit organization dedicated to reducing death and injury through the use of specifically trained explosive detection dogs and handlers, in an effort to prevent terrorism. (Israel21c)

Newton Papers on Show in Israel by Ian Sample

A collection of 300-year-old manuscripts by Sir Isaac Newton are to go on show in Jerusalem, the first time they will have been on public display since they were bought at a London auction in 1936.

The manuscripts lay bare Newton's less well-known forays into religion and reveal his attempts to reassure an apocalypse-fearing public that the end was not near. The papers, purchased by a Jewish scholar at Sotheby's, have been kept under lock and key at Israel's national library in Jerusalem since 1969. Available only to a small number of scholars, they have never before been shown to the public. The papers reveal Newton's conviction that important knowledge was hiding in ancient texts. (The Guardian)

Birthright-Taglit Participant: "I Had the Best Time Ever!"
by Nicole Farael

I really enjoyed the birthright Oranim trip. I came into the trip not knowing anybody and came out of it having 40 new best friends. I also learned all about the history of Israel and this trip really connected me to Judaism and to the country of Israel. I had the best time ever!! I especially enjoyed having the 8 Israeli soldiers join our group. This enabled us to feel the Israeli culture and to meet Israelis our age. I ended up becoming good friends with them as well.

I had an amazing trip and will never forget it! I will definitely come back to visit Israel again.

Nicole Farael, 20, is from San Rafael, California and is a student at San Diego Mesa College. She participated on a Taglit-birthright israel trip organized by Oranim Educational Initiatives. (Special to the Israel HighWay)

Pearl Film Garners 'Mighty' Response at Early Screening
by Tom Tugend

At its end, a preview screening of A Mighty Heart in Los Angeles was met by a small group of film critics with the only appropriate response - stunned silence. The reaction was all the more remarkable since everyone already knew the ultimate outcome, the execution-style murder of American Jewish reporter Daniel Pearl by Islamic extremists five years ago in Karachi. At the center of the chaotic rescue attempts is Pearl's visibly pregnant Dutch-Cuban-Jewish wife Mariane, a strong, smart and self-possessed woman and a journalist herself, portrayed by Angelina Jolie. "Our main hope is that the film will encourage viewers to learn more about Danny's life and work," said Judea Pearl. To that end, the family has established the Daniel Pearl Foundation to promote understanding among different cultures and religions. (Jerusalem Post)

See also: I Am Jewish: The Last Words of Daniel Pearl (YouTube)

Israeli Baseball League Begins Sunday Night

The Israel Baseball League (IBL) is to double the seating capacity of the Yarkon Field on Sunday night to accommodate the expected 2,000 spectators for the league's Opening Night. "Ticket requests have been awesome," said IBL’s business operations director Bob Ruxin in a press release. "Israeli communities, youth teams and companies are organizing group outings, droves of North Americans have scheduled visit to Israel to coincide with the Opener, and we even have a fan coming in from India just to catch the first game," Ruxin continued.

Next week the Israel HighWay will report on the IBL in depth. (YNetNews)

Arafat's Children: Gaza's Mayhem Is the Bitter Fruit of Terror as Statecraft Editorial

The cult of violence that has typified the Palestinian movement for much of its history has been tolerated and often celebrated by the international community. If Palestinians now think they can advance their domestic interests by violence, nobody should be surprised: The way of the gun has been paying dividends for 40 years. In 1972 Palestinian terrorists murdered Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics. Yet only two years later Arafat addressed the UN General Assembly - the first non-government official so honored. In 2000, Arafat rejected an Israeli offer of statehood midwifed by President Clinton and instead initiated the bloody intifada that left 1,000 Israelis and 3,000 Palestinians dead.

Pressure will surely mount on Israel and the U.S. to accept Hamas's ascendancy and begin negotiations with its leaders. But is it wise to negotiate with a group that kills its fellow Palestinians almost as freely as it does Israelis? A society that has spent the last decade celebrating suicide bombing has inevitably become a victim of its own nihilistic impulses. It is the bitter fruit of the decades of dictatorship and terrorism as statecraft that Yasser Arafat instilled among Palestinians. (Wall Street Journal)

Preaching with Spray Cans: Local Graffiti Reflects National Mood, Societal Gaps by Matt Lebovic

As with bumper stickers, billboards and the popular Israeli television show, "Eretz Nehederet," graffiti reflects a host of trends, issues and divides in the Jewish state. Jerusalem in recent months has been graced by a wide array of stock art depicting famous personalities. My personal favorite is Iran's Mahmoud Ahmedinjead sporting pink bunny ears, a depiction I connect with eating Haman's ears for Purim and the Jewish knack for making light of our enemies. More explicit political graffiti certainly exists, and my personal favorite is a billboard warning against forest fires near the start of Road 443. "Just one fool can burn down an entire forest," reads the text above a half-extinguished cigarette. One of Israel's tallest (or most industrious) public artists has taken the liberty of crossing out the word "forest" and replacing it with "country."

The most curious of all recent graffiti trends might be the hundreds of "aleph-Zion" displays centered in Jerusalem. This spells the word for "so." This "so" - also known as "nu?" in Hebrew - marks the intersection of uninspired leadership and serious security threats which continue to top the national agenda. It is slightly accusatory, coming on the heels of withdrawals from Lebanon and Gaza that have led to anything but quiet. Often appearing with the stylized tagin crown atop the Zion, these "so's" mirror today's average Israeli: in-your-face and a little muddled.

Matt Lebovic is an MA student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. (YNetNews)