\"The extent of these weapons makes a mockery of all our security-coordination meetings with the Palestinians,\" said Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. \"We talk about peace and returning to the negotiating table, while they are preparing for war.\" He was referring to the discovery on Sunday of a vessel laden with heavy weapons headed for the Gaza coast from Lebanon. The shipment contained four anti-aircraft Strella missiles, 120 anti-tank missile launchers, rocket-propelled grenades, and mortar shells. In addition, there were Kalachnikov submachine guns with 13,000 bullets, Katyusha rockets with a range of 8.5 kilometers - as opposed to the 1.5-kilometer range of the mortars used by the PA until now - as well as dozens of RPG launchers, mortar bombs, mines, and more. The shipment was sent by terrorist leader Ahmed Jibril\'s Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Israeli officials invited international diplomats to see the wide array of weapons saved from reaching their destination in the PA.
Prime Minister Sharon disclosed today that the captured Lebanese boat was a veteran of three previous arms-smuggling missions to Gaza. Military sources informed the government that the Palestinians are trying to enhance their store of anti-aircraft shoulder missiles in order to limit Israeli aviation over Judea and Samaria. Although the PA has denied any connection to the shipment, Israeli sources totally dismiss these claims and say that the PA helped organize the smuggling operation. The Oslo and Wye Agreements forbid the PA from holding weapons such as Katyushas, rockets, and mortar launchers, and it is bound to hand them over to U.S. officials for destruction.
Voice of Israel reporter Yoni Ben-Menachem said today, \"A government minister reminded me that in 1994, after the \'Gaza and Jericho first\' agreement, then-Likud MK Ariel Sharon told the Knesset that it will only be a matter of time before the PA fires Katyushas from Gaza onto Ashkelon; later, then-Labor party Minister Chaim Ramon mocked Sharon and said, \'Where are the Katyushas that you promised us?\' Now it looks like we will soon see them...\"
Israeli defense leaders said today that the Palestinians already have weapons of the type that were seized Sunday. 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.\"
Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman, together with other military correspondents, met today with a \"very senior army officer.\" Who exactly was the officer? \"I am only allowed to say that he is a very senior officer, with an emphasis on the \'very.\'\" Huberman recounted his impressions of the meeting:
\"The senior officer revealed that the army knows for sure of mortar shells and anti-tank weapons in Judea and Samaria - both within the PA and in other terrorist organizations. He said that the PA is not interested in using them now, but as the situation escalates, there is a good chance that it will use them. He further told us that the army\'s goal is not to find and seize each individual weapon, but rather to deter the PA from using them - by following any such use with such a hard strike that they will realize it\'s not in their interest to use them. When we asked the officer where these weapons are located, he said, \'in the northern Shomron and all over Yesha.\'\"
Huberman noted that media reports falsely quoted the senior officer to the effect that last night\'s terrorist murder outside Itamar took place in an \"unapproved outpost.\" Huberman said, \"I would like to make clear that he did not call it illegal, but merely said that the Civil Administration issued a stop-work order and that the matter is under investigation. He emphasized clearly that he was in no way offering any sort of justification for the murder...\"
Prime Minister Sharon disclosed today that the captured Lebanese boat was a veteran of three previous arms-smuggling missions to Gaza. Military sources informed the government that the Palestinians are trying to enhance their store of anti-aircraft shoulder missiles in order to limit Israeli aviation over Judea and Samaria. Although the PA has denied any connection to the shipment, Israeli sources totally dismiss these claims and say that the PA helped organize the smuggling operation. The Oslo and Wye Agreements forbid the PA from holding weapons such as Katyushas, rockets, and mortar launchers, and it is bound to hand them over to U.S. officials for destruction.
Voice of Israel reporter Yoni Ben-Menachem said today, \"A government minister reminded me that in 1994, after the \'Gaza and Jericho first\' agreement, then-Likud MK Ariel Sharon told the Knesset that it will only be a matter of time before the PA fires Katyushas from Gaza onto Ashkelon; later, then-Labor party Minister Chaim Ramon mocked Sharon and said, \'Where are the Katyushas that you promised us?\' Now it looks like we will soon see them...\"
Israeli defense leaders said today that the Palestinians already have weapons of the type that were seized Sunday. 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.\"
Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman, together with other military correspondents, met today with a \"very senior army officer.\" Who exactly was the officer? \"I am only allowed to say that he is a very senior officer, with an emphasis on the \'very.\'\" Huberman recounted his impressions of the meeting:
\"The senior officer revealed that the army knows for sure of mortar shells and anti-tank weapons in Judea and Samaria - both within the PA and in other terrorist organizations. He said that the PA is not interested in using them now, but as the situation escalates, there is a good chance that it will use them. He further told us that the army\'s goal is not to find and seize each individual weapon, but rather to deter the PA from using them - by following any such use with such a hard strike that they will realize it\'s not in their interest to use them. When we asked the officer where these weapons are located, he said, \'in the northern Shomron and all over Yesha.\'\"
Huberman noted that media reports falsely quoted the senior officer to the effect that last night\'s terrorist murder outside Itamar took place in an \"unapproved outpost.\" Huberman said, \"I would like to make clear that he did not call it illegal, but merely said that the Civil Administration issued a stop-work order and that the matter is under investigation. He emphasized clearly that he was in no way offering any sort of justification for the murder...\"