by the end of this year, the ayatollahs could very well have their hands on the ultimate weapon of mass destruction
This past Monday, April 9th, may just go down as a turning point in the history of the Middle East.

Just as he had been promising for months, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced a dramatic expansion of Teheran's ability to enrich uranium, triumphantly declaring the operation of 3,000 centrifuges at the Natanz nuclear facility in central Iran.

Centrifuges – which spin and purify uranium gas – produce enriched uranium which can be used to build a nuclear weapon.

A few months ago, the London-based International Institute of Strategic Studies estimated that once the 3,000 centrifuges become operational, it would take possibly as little as nine months for Iranian scientists to produce enough enriched uranium to make an atomic bomb.

And so, by the end of this year, the ayatollahs could very well have their hands on the ultimate weapon of mass destruction.

No wonder that Monday was celebrated across Iran as "national nuclear day."

This cannot and must not be allowed to happen. Israel and the US simply can not stand by and watch as Tehran goes nuclear and threatens the entire civilized world.

The would-be Hitler of Persia has made clear that his goal is the destruction of the Jewish state and bringing the West to its knees. The only way to stop this march toward insanity is with military action – fast, furious and fierce. And soon.

Let's hope and pray that the leaders of Israel and the West have the courage and foresight to do what needs to be done, and to do it as quickly and as effectively as possible – before it is too late.

It is simply scandalous – though hardly surprising – that so many European governments would rush to fawn all over a terrorist regime dedicated to Israel's destruction. But what is truly incomprehensible is that the US would play along with this charade too

Well, it didn't take long for Western governments to lose their resolve and begin talking with the Hamas-Fatah terrorist unity government.

The ink had barely dried on this unholy alliance between the warring Palestinian factions, when senior diplomats began beating a path to the doors of senior Palestinian ministers.

The first to break the taboo against meeting with members of the Hamas-dominated government was Norway's deputy foreign minister, who smiled alongside Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniya on Monday in a disgraceful display of political pandering.

That very same day, Hamas of course claimed responsibility for a shooting attack that wounded an Israeli civilian near the crossing point with Gaza. But that didn't seem to bother the Norwegians one bit.

Then, on Tuesday, the US Consul-General in Jerusalem, Jacob Walles, traveled to Ramallah to sip coffee with Palestinian Finance Minister Salem Fayyad. A senior European Union envoy came to town the next day, and a slew of officials – from the Belgian and Swedish Foreign Ministers to the ambassadors of Russia and Switzerland – have now declared that they too will be holding talks with the new Palestinian regime in the coming days.

It is simply scandalous – though hardly surprising – that so many European governments would rush to fawn all over a terrorist regime dedicated to Israel's destruction.

But what is truly incomprehensible is that the US would play along with this charade too.

Hamas, like Al-Qaeda and the Sunni insurgents in Iraq, are a thuggish gang of murderers. Conferring legitimacy upon them by holding diplomatic contacts, press conferences and photo-opportunities with them is not only immoral – it is counterproductive. It sends them the message that they can continue to use violence with impunity, without even being thrown out of the diplomatic cocktail party circuit.

Shame on Europe, and on America too, for embracing – however partially and reluctantly – the government led by Hamas.

You won't be reading much about this in the mainstream press, because it doesn't involve Israel
A Middle Eastern government has announced that it is considering a plan to deport untold thousands of Palestinians from their homes, forcibly uprooting them and compelling them to leave.

It won't be the first time this government has threatened such a move – in fact, back in 1995, it carried out those threats, and sent numerous Palestinians packing.

But you won't be reading much about this in the mainstream press, nor will you hear nary a peep of protest from much of the left and its sympathizers over the cruelty and brutality of such a move.

And that's because the government in question – believe it or not – is Libya, which views this as a form of protest against the policies of the new Palestinian Authority (PA) government.

In fact, the PA is so concerned about the possible Libyan move, that PA Minister for refugee affairs Dr. Atef Adouan went public on the issue, telling the London-based newspaper al-Quds al-Arabi this, "We hope that the Libyan leadership will act wisely and with patience. Deporting the Palestinians from Libya would cause greater suffering to the Palestinian refugees."

Further proof, once again, of the cynical and manipulative manner in which the Arab states continue to exploit the issue of Palestinian refugees – and of the selective morality of those who criticize Israel on a regular basis.

It is time for Israel and the West to stop propping up a corrupt Palestinian regime
If you read just one article this week about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, make sure it is the one that appeared the other day in the UK Sunday Telegraph.

Headlined "Palestinian minister admits aid millions lost", the article contains some astonishingly earnest admissions from the new Palestinian Finance Minister, Salam Fayyad, who admits that hundreds of millions of dollars of foreign aid has been siphoned off thanks to corruption and malfeasance.

After noting that some $700 million of aid has been sent to the Palestinian Authority (PA) since January of last year, the article states:

"Now, Palestinian Authority spending is out of control, salaries are being paid to workers who never turn up, and nobody can track where the money is going, according to Mr. Fayyad.
There was no way to be certain that aid was being used as intended, he admitted. "Please write this: no one can give donors that assurance. Why? Because the system is in a state of total disrepair."
Mr. Fayyad said incoming funds have been widely dispersed with no central authority to monitor them. Some have gone to people who do not appear on the Palestinian budget ledger. "Where is the control?" asked Mr. Fayyad. "It's gone. Where is all the transparency? It's gone."

This only confirms, of course, what many of us have been saying for some time now: that sending aid to the Palestinian Authority is a recipe for disaster. Instead of benefiting those it is intended to help, much of the money, as Mr. Fayyad pretty much admits, ends up lining the pockets of corrupt Palestinian officials.

Just another reason for Israel and the West to stop aiding the PA now. There is no reason to continue propping up the corrupt Palestinian regime.

In 2002, Olmert called for Dahlan's assassination. Now, he calls him an "old favorite." What a difference five years can make.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with senior Palestinian officials, including Gaza strongman Mohammed Dahlan, whom the premier affectionately referred to as an "old favorite Fatah minister". Sounds like a nice little reunion of two old chums, no?
In 2002, Olmert called for Dahlan's assassination. Now, he calls him an 'old favorite.'


And yet, it was just a few years ago that Mr. Olmert was sounding a very different tune about his "old favorite Fatah minister." (hat tip: Nitsana) In a June 3, 2002 opinion piece he wrote for the Wall Street Journal, Olmert – at the time mayor of Jerusalem - said that Israel could not do business with a man such as Dahlan, and even called for Dahlan's assassination because of his involvement in organizing a bomb attack on an Israeli schoolbus.

Here’s what Olmert had to say back then in the Wall Street Journal:

Mr. Dahlan is the man who has presided over an ever-fortified terrorist network. Gaza, the home to Hamas and Islamic Jihad, became a base for some of the most heinous terrorist attacks unleashed against Israel.

On his watch, Mr. Dahlan permitted Gaza to become a safe haven for the hundreds of fugitive terrorists fleeing Israeli forces. Among those being sheltered is his childhood friend Mohammed Dief, a leading Hamas mastermind with the blood of scores of Israelis on his hands. In the meantime, Mr. Dahlan's district became the primary launching grounds for the hundreds of Kassem missiles fired at Israel.

Mr. Dahlan's involvement in terrorism has not been confined to mere nonfeasance but, rather, gross malfeasance as well. Mr. Dahlan, along with his assistant Rashid Abu-Shabak, are the primary suspects in the terror attack on an Israeli school bus in Kfar Darom in November 2000. The bombing of the bus left half a dozen children maimed, and seriously injured an American citizen, Rachel Asaroff. In response to this brutal terror attack on Jewish school children, then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak dispatched Israeli planes to strafe Mr. Dahlan's Gaza headquarters.

In Israel, we are frequently lectured that we must do business with the unsavoury assortment of dictators, strongmen and criminals that surround us. This, we are told, is the nature of the neighbourhood we live in. As mayor of Jerusalem, I have in my public duties the unfortunate experience of sitting down with many individuals I do not necessarily like. But the current thinking that Mr. Dahlan can bring reform and law enforcement to the Palestinians is totally misguided. No democratic state should ever allow itself to do business with those individuals who deliberately target a school bus.

While the State Department and envoy Burns are to be admired for their determination to forge a peace agreement on Israel's behalf, their zealousness is beginning to chafe. Seeking a "regional conference at all costs," and hanging hopes on a reorganised Palestinian security force under the sole leadership of one who has himself been involved in serious terrorist attacks sends an unacceptable message. Criminals such as Mr. Dahlan and Arafat can never be reformed; they must be eradicated by force.

Ahhhhh, if only Mr. Olmert would go back and re-read those forceful words that he once wrote. It seems like it was ages ago…..