Arutz-7's Haggai Huberman reports that ever since 1993, the Palestinian Authority has applied for the travel permits for its legislature members and other senior figures. The VIP cards must be renewed every three months. This month, the first time the requests were made on behalf of a Hamas government, Israel did not approve, or even consider, any of the applications.
The only Palestinian Authority leader to retain VIP status is PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen).
Israel's concern over PA leaders' travel goes back to July 1994, when Yasser Arafat himself smuggled four heavily wanted terrorists with him into Gaza. It was the first time Arafat was permitted into Gaza. As Barry Rubin, Director of the Global Research in International Affairs Center in Herzliya, later wrote, Arafat had received permission from then-Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin to bring dozens of "old friends" - wanted terrorists - into Gaza with him, but four terrorists who had committed the most heinous acts were kept out. In Rubin's words,
"...Arafat’s motorcade crossed from Egypt into the Gaza Strip. Israeli soldiers at the border were under strict instructions not to touch Arafat’s Mercedes or the accompanying cars, which then drove past the Mediterranean coast’s sand dunes to Gaza City. Early that evening, Arafat delivered a speech in Gaza City amid tens of thousands of people. Millions more around the world watched on television, including Rabin in his office. But his viewing was interrupted by an urgent phone call from [General Security Services head Yaakov] Peri who had just one thing to tell his boss: 'The bastard brought them in the trunk of his Mercedes.' Even after Israel accepted the return of thousands of Palestinian terrorists, soldiers and officials who had fought it, Arafat had just smuggled in the four forbidden men. When Rabin demanded that Arafat expel them, the Palestinian leader at first denied they were in Gaza, then sent them to Egypt but soon had them smuggled back."
In April 1997, IDF Maj.-Gen. Shlomo Yannai, chief of the Southern Command, said that "senior Palestinian Authority officials are taking advantage of their VIP status to smuggle weaponry into PA-controlled areas in Gaza."
In May 2001, Arutz-7 reported, "Smuggling of weapons to the PA has been taking place for years, chiefly via underground tunnels from Egypt to Rafiach and in Arafat's plane. Other Palestinian VIPs, whose cars went unchecked through Israeli checkpoints, also smuggled in various weapons. A security source told Arutz-7 today, 'Almost every time a VIP car returned from Jordan, we saw that it was heavily weighted down - but we were not allowed to check it.'"
In more recent defense/security news, Arab terrorists fired at least five Kassam rockets towards Ashkelon today, causing damage to a building in the southern Ashkelon industrial zone. Vital infrastructures, such as an electric power station supplying a quarter of Israel's electricity, are located in the vicinity.
The IDF responded with heavy artillery fire towards open areas in Gaza City as well as Kassam rocket launching sites elsewhere in Gaza.
Hamas Authority gunmen opened fire at an IDF force outside Gaza this afternoon, after a terrorist was caught crossing the border into Israel near Kibbutz Nir-Am... Arabs in Hevron threw rocks at Jewish workers in the local ancient cemetery, and at Mexican tourists, injuring one of the latter... Gunfire was directed at an IDF force in Psagot; no one was hurt...
IDF forces arrested 22 wanted Palestinian terrorists in Judea and Samaria over the course of Monday night. Among them were 10 Islamic Jihad terrorists in the Jenin area in northern Shomron, two women in Shechem, a Hamas terrorist east of Tul Karem, and others.
The Karni Crossing on the Gaza border will not be opened today (Tuesday), because of warnings of a planned terrorist attack there. The crossing had been closed for most of the year 2006 until about two weeks ago for the same reason, but was opened recently following American pressure to allow the PA to receive humanitarian aid. Other crossings to Gaza remain open.
The only Palestinian Authority leader to retain VIP status is PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen).
Israel's concern over PA leaders' travel goes back to July 1994, when Yasser Arafat himself smuggled four heavily wanted terrorists with him into Gaza. It was the first time Arafat was permitted into Gaza. As Barry Rubin, Director of the Global Research in International Affairs Center in Herzliya, later wrote, Arafat had received permission from then-Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin to bring dozens of "old friends" - wanted terrorists - into Gaza with him, but four terrorists who had committed the most heinous acts were kept out. In Rubin's words,
"...Arafat’s motorcade crossed from Egypt into the Gaza Strip. Israeli soldiers at the border were under strict instructions not to touch Arafat’s Mercedes or the accompanying cars, which then drove past the Mediterranean coast’s sand dunes to Gaza City. Early that evening, Arafat delivered a speech in Gaza City amid tens of thousands of people. Millions more around the world watched on television, including Rabin in his office. But his viewing was interrupted by an urgent phone call from [General Security Services head Yaakov] Peri who had just one thing to tell his boss: 'The bastard brought them in the trunk of his Mercedes.' Even after Israel accepted the return of thousands of Palestinian terrorists, soldiers and officials who had fought it, Arafat had just smuggled in the four forbidden men. When Rabin demanded that Arafat expel them, the Palestinian leader at first denied they were in Gaza, then sent them to Egypt but soon had them smuggled back."
In April 1997, IDF Maj.-Gen. Shlomo Yannai, chief of the Southern Command, said that "senior Palestinian Authority officials are taking advantage of their VIP status to smuggle weaponry into PA-controlled areas in Gaza."
In May 2001, Arutz-7 reported, "Smuggling of weapons to the PA has been taking place for years, chiefly via underground tunnels from Egypt to Rafiach and in Arafat's plane. Other Palestinian VIPs, whose cars went unchecked through Israeli checkpoints, also smuggled in various weapons. A security source told Arutz-7 today, 'Almost every time a VIP car returned from Jordan, we saw that it was heavily weighted down - but we were not allowed to check it.'"
In more recent defense/security news, Arab terrorists fired at least five Kassam rockets towards Ashkelon today, causing damage to a building in the southern Ashkelon industrial zone. Vital infrastructures, such as an electric power station supplying a quarter of Israel's electricity, are located in the vicinity.
The IDF responded with heavy artillery fire towards open areas in Gaza City as well as Kassam rocket launching sites elsewhere in Gaza.
Hamas Authority gunmen opened fire at an IDF force outside Gaza this afternoon, after a terrorist was caught crossing the border into Israel near Kibbutz Nir-Am... Arabs in Hevron threw rocks at Jewish workers in the local ancient cemetery, and at Mexican tourists, injuring one of the latter... Gunfire was directed at an IDF force in Psagot; no one was hurt...
IDF forces arrested 22 wanted Palestinian terrorists in Judea and Samaria over the course of Monday night. Among them were 10 Islamic Jihad terrorists in the Jenin area in northern Shomron, two women in Shechem, a Hamas terrorist east of Tul Karem, and others.
The Karni Crossing on the Gaza border will not be opened today (Tuesday), because of warnings of a planned terrorist attack there. The crossing had been closed for most of the year 2006 until about two weeks ago for the same reason, but was opened recently following American pressure to allow the PA to receive humanitarian aid. Other crossings to Gaza remain open.