• New Sasson Report: How the IDF Can "Win" at Disengagement by Guy Mei-Tal, Correspondent, Yediot Ahronot
• Middle East News Line Reveals: P.A. Said to Issue Fictitious Security Claims
• In the era of Abu Mazen, Universities Under the Jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority Continue to Serve as Centers of Incitement by Special Intelligence amd Terrorism Information Report at the Center for Special Studies

New Sasson Report:
How the IDF Can "Win" at Disengagement
Guy Mei-Tal, Correspondent, Yediot Ahronot

Yediot Ahronot has learned that at the request of the IDF, Talia Sasson wrote a special report intended to prepare the IDF for the implementation of disengagement.

The special report, which was written along with researchers from the Israel Democracy Institute, was presented to the IDF General Staff a week ago. The main points of the report have reached Yedioth Ahronoth.

"The soldiers and commander should be prepared for extreme scenarios that will take place during the evacuation, but the IDF should keep the preparations secret and conceal this from the public," recommends Sasson.

Sasson does not elaborate on the scenarios, but the security establishment is mainly concerned about Jews firing on the security forces, or a family barricading itself with its children and threatening to commit suicide.

Sasson warns the IDF against the failure of the evacuation, and not only due to the resistance on the ground that will be displayed by settlers and right wing activists: "The IDF could have difficulty carrying out the disengagement plan, due to officers and soldiers within it who are opposed (to the plan-GMT) and the unknown number of those who will disobey orders," states the report. Sasson also warns that if the settlers succeed in thwarting the evacuation, the failure could cause grave damage to the status and strength of the IDF-and even the collapse of the democratic regime.

One of the problems with which the IDF is trying to deal is the pressure that right wing rabbis are applying on religious soldiers and commanders, namely the call to disobey the evacuation order on the grounds that it is patently illegal. The rabbis repeatedly air slogans, such as "a Jew does not evacuate a Jew" and "parts of the Land of Israel must not be abandoned."

Sasson proposes that the IDF cope with these contentions with legal arguments, which will be presented to the soldiers and the general public.

She says that since the evacuation order is based on Knesset legislation-it is legal. As for the contention regarding the abandonment of parts of the Land of Israel, Sasson proposed to reply that the government has the right to determine the borders of the state.

The attorney proposes to the IDF and the political echelon to counter the right wing contention that this is a transfer of Jews: "The evacuation of settlements is a transfer of population against its will, but [it is being done] into their country, not a foreign country."

Sasson also presented to the chief of staff the rules of behavior to which the soldiers should adhere during the evacuation. "The use of force should be only as a vital act for the evacuation or for the purpose of self-defense," she said.

The report states that a forcible response should not be made to curses and insults that the opponents of disengagement direct at the soldiers.

In addition, the soldiers should know that they have full backing for their actions, that the rabbis do not come in stead of the IDF commanders, and that disobeying the evacuation order will come at a severe personal cost.

Sasson also offers a proposal to the IDF how to behave with the settlers: To hold farewell ceremonies for the settlers from their settlements, and at the same time to clarify that anyone who employs violence will pay a heavy price.

"The report is intended to teach the IDF soldiers that they have full legal backing to shut our mouths," charged a right wing figure who read the new Sasson report. "Its sole purpose is to divide the world into good guys and bad guys, and we are the bad guys, of course. The choice of Talia Sasson, author of the outposts report and a fierce opponent of the settlements, is like waving a red rag in front of our eyes."

The IDF stated in response: "This is a document that was written as part of preparatory work and as a basis for discussion at a conference on the topic of 'Army-society in a limited-scale confrontation,' which the IDF held in cooperation with the Israel Democracy Institute. The document, which was written by a team headed by Atty. Talia Sasson, is not a military document and does not represent the army's opinion-but rather served as a basis for discussion."

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Middle East News Line Reveals:
P.A. Said to Issue Fictitious Security Claims

Israeli security sources said PA claims of insurgency attacks thwarted or the capture of operatives over the last few weeks have been mostly fictitious. The sources said an examination of the PA assertions found no evidence of insurgency plots against Israel.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has reported success by his security agencies in stopping insurgency attacks against Israel. Abbas has told the United States that dozens of attacks were thwarted by PA agencies since February, when he declared a ceasefire.

"Either Abu Mazen [Abbas] is lying straight out and this would mean that he no longer has credibility," an Israeli security source said. "Or, Abu Mazen is being told lies and he is relaying them to the Americans."

[On Wednesday, Palestinian gunners fired Kassam-class short-range missiles and mortars toward an Israeli rally of an estimated 60,000 people in the central Gaza Strip. Nobody was injured.]

The Israeli sources said PA agencies have done little to stop insurgency attacks against Israel. They said PA police and security forces have not halted missile, mortar or rocket attacks against Israeli civilian and military targets in either the Gaza Strip or in the Jewish state.

"In the last three weeks, Palestinian terrorists have fired three Kassam missiles, six mortar shells and an anti-tank missile," a security source said. "Ten explosive devices have been uncovered and detonated, and fire was opened toward Israeli communities and Israeli Defense Force units in more than 30 different incidents."

The PA has in some cases found and shut down tunnels used for the smuggling of weapons and explosives from Egypt's Sinai Peninsula to the southern Gaza Strip. But the sources said PA officials have warned smugglers of impending Israeli military operations and coordinated the closing of tunnels with arms merchants. The merchants then diverted the smuggling to other tunnels.

Israeli security sources said PA security commanders have also failed to follow up on Israeli alerts of impending insurgency attacks. The sources said the PA has refused to provide Israel with intelligence on insurgency groups, rather has handed over bombs or weapons said to have been captured from insurgents.

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In the era of Abu Mazen, Universities Under the Jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority Continue to Serve as Centers of Incitement
Special Intelligence amd Terrorism Information Report at the Center for Special Studies
www.intelligence.org.il

In the era of Abu Mazen, universities in the Palestinian Authority administered territories continue to serve as centers of incitement: preaching for terrorism in a leaflet published by the Islamic Bloc, Hamas' student wing; the leaflet was distributed in the University of Hebron on the eve of the student council elections; students in the University of Bir Zeit repeated Arafat's "battle cry" during a meeting held by Abu Mazen with Fatah students: "Millions of shahids marching on Jerusalem".

For illustrations - www.intelligence.org.il/eng/sib/4_05/univ.htm

The back cover of the Islamic Bloc leaflet features a poster titled:

"The banner of resistance and jihad-our banner A banner that rejects humiliation, disrespect and defeatism The banner of loyalty to the blood of the shahids (martyrs) and the prisoners and to the suffering of the millions The banner of loyalty to Jerusalem, to the land and to the refugee camps Being a terrorist is an honor for you"

Universities in the Palestinian Authority administered territories as centers of incitement even in the era of Abu Mazen: The University of Hebron

General characteristics

• Throughout the course of the violent confrontation with Israel, universities in the Palestinian Authority administered territories have served as centers of incitement for the various terrorist organizations.

• Most prominent among those organizations is the Hamas movement, which has been conducting intensive incitement and indoctrination activities through the Islamic Bloc, the movement's student wing. The results of this activity, both by Hamas and by the rest of the terrorist organizations, can be seen in the multiple instances of terrorist operatives-including suicide bombers and those who dispatch them-recruited while being students.

• In the era of Abu Mazen, such incitement continues in the Palestinian Authority education system, including in the universities, without any significant counter-measures on the part of the Palestinian Authority. Such incitement was expressed in the course of the elections held during March and April in a number of universities, in most of which Hamas scored significant success 1.

In the context of the propaganda for the student council elections in the University of Hebron, the Islamic Bloc published, on the eve of the elections, a special leaflet titled "The Voice of the Islamic Bloc". The leaflet stresses that the strategic goal of Hamas is an Islamic Palestine from the (Mediterranean) sea to the ( Jordan ) river, lashes out against Abu Mazen, glorifies the image of the shahids and preaches terrorism and hatred.

Several examples follow:

[1] In the elections held in the University of Hebron (March 16), the Islamic University of Gaza (March 14) and the Hebron Polytechnicum (March 5), Hamas won by a significant margin. In the University of Hebron, the Islamic Bloc (Hamas) won 24 seats compared to 13 won by the Shabiba (Fatah) and 3 won by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. In the American Arab University of Jenin (March 15), Fatah lost some of its strength and just barely managed to gain victory over Hamas. In the University of Bir Zeit (April 12), however, Fatah made an achievement by overcoming Hamas by a bare majority (still, it is not certain whether Fatah can ultimately gain control over the student council).

Abu Mazen shakes Sharon's hand: delegitimization of the dialog and negotiations with Israel

Translation of the caption below the image: "You still find a hand to shake yours???

The blood of the shahid calls out to me:

Are you shaking the hand of my murderer?

Imagine, fellow student, that you are the brother of a shahid. and your mother is the mother of a shahid . How does it feel to see this handshake? Is it not a knife in the hearts of the mothers of the shahids, more painful than the loss of their sons."

For illustrations