Israel Recalls Its “Naked” Ambassador, March 12, 2007

Source: BBC

يمكنك قراءة الموضوع باللغة العربية بالضغط على: هذا الرابط

Israel has recalled its ambassador to El Salvador after he was found drunk and naked apart from bondage gear.

Reports say he was able to identify himself to police only after a rubber ball had been removed from his mouth.

A foreign ministry official described Ambassador Tzuriel Refael’s behaviour as an unprecedented embarrassment.

The incident, which happened two weeks ago, has renewed calls for a radical overhaul of the way Israel appoints and promotes its diplomats.

San Salvador was Mr Refael’s first post as ambassador. He was promoted in 2006 from a technical position in the ministry which had involved several foreign postings.

He was being recalled, although he had not broken any laws, foreign ministry spokeswoman Zehavit Ben-Hillel told reporters.

She confirmed that lurid reports of the incident in the Israeli press were accurate.

“We’re talking about behaviour that is unbecoming of a diplomat,” she said.

Israel has been rocked by a recent series of misconduct and corruption scandals, shaking public confidence in the political leadership.

Haaretz website reports that police found Mr Refael in the Israeli embassy compound where he had been found bound, gagged and naked apart from sado-masochistic sex accessories.

In 2006, Israel’s diplomatic service was criticised by the public watchdog for its appointments system.

The state comptroller’s report singled out the foreign ministry appointments committee for its inadequate examination of candidates and lack of transparency.

Israeli Forces Use Palestinian Girl As Human Shield In Nablus

Source: Haaretz

يمكنك قراءة الموضوع باللغة العربية بالضغط على: هذا الرابط

Israel Defense Forces soldiers used an 11-year-old Palestinian girl as a “human shield” during an operation against militants in the West Bank town of Nablus last week, an Israeli human rights group said on Thursday.

The IDF said it was checking the information from the B’Tselem group, which monitors Israeli actions in the occupied territory. Israeli law bans the military from using human shields.B’Tselem said the girl, Jihan Daadush, told its interviewers that IDF soldiers had entered her family home and questioned her and her relatives about the whereabouts of gunmen who had fired at them during the raid.The soldiers, she said, threatened to arrest her unless she led them to a nearby house.
“[A soldier] ordered me to go towards the house,” B’Tselem quoted the girl as saying. “Three soldiers walked behind me. When we reached the house, there were a lot of soldiers. The soldiers ordered me to go inside the house and I went inside.”
B’Tselem said Jihan told them the soldiers shone flashlights and asked about the rooms of the house. There was no mention in the report of whether troops found militants inside. The girl said two soldiers then returned her home.“[One of the soldiers] told me, ‘Thank you, but don’t tell anyone,’” the girl said, according to B’Tselem. “I was afraid they would kill me or put me in jail. I am still afraid the soldiers will invade the city again and take me away.”B’tselem also said the army had used a 15-year-old Palestinian boy and a Palestinian man for a similar purpose during the five-day raid of Nablus, a militant stronghold.The IDF ended the operation on March 1. During the incursion, troops shot dead a Palestinian civilian who had observed the raid from his rooftop. Soldiers also detained 11 suspected militants. 

P.S.You can watch an interview with Jihan, the girl used as human shield on this link

 

                                      

 

Iran to conduct air defense exercises

Source: RIA NOVOSTI

TEHRAN, March 6 (RIA Novosti) – Iran will conduct air defense exercises Tuesday in preparation for a possible air strike on its uranium ore conversion center at Isfahan, the IRNA news agency said Tuesday.

The international press has in recent months actively discussed the possibility of U.S. and Israeli air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, but almost all key figures in the Bush administration have repeatedly refuted the existence of any plans to do so.

However, U.S. Vice President Richard Cheney has not ruled out a military strike, saying all options were on the table.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Board of Governors convened Monday at its Vienna headquarters for a five-day session to discuss the possible suspension of at least 20 aid projects in Iran following a recent report by IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, which concluded that Iran has ignored a UN Security Council demand to halt its uranium enrichment program and was in fact seeking to expand it.

Uranium enrichment using centrifuges is conducted at a plant in Natanz.

Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, said Tuesday that any military strike against Iran would be ineffective.

“Any military actions against Iran will not only be ineffective, but would make the Iranian nation even more resolute,” he said.

Larijani said the Iranian nuclear issue could only be resolved through talks.

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