Israel deliberately minimizing rocket threat?

Analysts say publicity about missiles could damage PM Olmert's withdrawal
plan. National Religious Party MK Effie Eitam: 'Any West Bank withdrawal
will be followed by rockets fired at major Israeli cities'

Aaron Klein, WND 11 May 2006
www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3249653,00.html

According to some intelligence officials, Israel has been deliberately
minimizing the threat of rocket attacks by Palestinian terror groups in the
West Bank, parts of which are within rocket firing range of Jerusalem and
other major Israeli cities.

Security analysts maintain publicity about terror groups' current missile
capabilities in the territories could generate criticism of

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's plan to withdraw from most of the West Bank.

On Monday, the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terror group in the northern West
Bank town of Jenin told WND they fired two rockets aimed at an Israeli
military installation about a mile away. The leaders said the projectiles
were called Bahaa rockets, named after Saed Bahaa, an Al Aqsa Brigades
member killed last week in an Israeli anti-terror operation. A source close
to the Brigades said the rockets actually were Jenin 1's, a less advanced
Qassam rocket that can travel about one mile.

A security official confirmed on condition of anonymity there is information
the rockets may have been fired this week. But an official spokesperson for
the IDF told WND the army was not aware of any rockets fired Monday from
Jenin.

The IDF has several times denied rockets were launched from the northern
West Bank only to later release select information stating some rockets had
indeed been fired from the area.

Al Aqsa leaders previously told WND they fired seven rockets from the Jenin
area in December and January aimed at nearby Jewish communities. The IDF at
first denied any rockets were fired, but later confirmed in January it found
one rocket that had been launched from northern Samaria, likely from Jenin.

At the time, Abu Oudai, Al Aqsa's West Bank rocket coordinator, told WND,
"(The one rocket the IDF said they found) was not the first time we shot
rockets from Jenin to the settlements of the enemy inside the green line. It
is the enemy who for the first time has admitted that these rockets exist in
(the West Bank) and that they were shot against Israeli targets. We have
launched six times and with the help of Allah we will launch these rockets
regularly."

Abu Oudai's information of six rockets previously being launched is
consistent with information obtained by security officials, who spoke on
condition of anonymity.

Official Israeli defense spokesmen claim the threat of rockets being fired
from the West Bank is minimal. They say the army there has largely prevented
rockets from being transferred to the territory from the Gaza Strip, where
rockets are fired almost daily at nearby Jewish towns. The officials
maintain anti-rocket operations in West Bank towns such as Jenin have been
successful.

Yaacov Amidror, former head of Israeli military intelligence research, told
WND yesterday, "Can Israel be sure in the future there won't be a rocket
threat? Of course not. But the army has been extremely successful in
stopping the flow and production of rockets in the West Bank."

On a few occasions the past year the IDF has several times announced it has
found evidence of rocket construction during routine West Bank raids,
particularly in Jenin and Nablus. In October, three members of the Popular
Resistance Committees, a Gaza-based terror group, were arrested attempting
to infiltrate the West Bank to set up a Qassam missile manufacturing
facility. The Committees has fired over 300 rockets from the Gaza Strip
during the past four years.

The threat of projectiles has also been highlighted in Bethlehem, which
borders Jerusalem. In February, Israel's Shin Bet Security Services told
reporters it captured a rocket launcher and mortars that were slated to be
fired by the Committees terror group at Gilo, a peripheral Jerusalem
neighborhood.

'Hamas seeking to manufacture Grad rockets'

The day the attack was thwarted, Abu Abir, spokesman for the Committees,
told WND his group is coordinating extensive rocket capabilities in the West
Bank:

"We call on (Shin Bet chief Yuval) Diskin and tell him not to be so happy
and proud about stopping our attack because there is much more to come. I am
not going to give details (about which cities we will attack), but we are
planning to be present all around the West Bank. Every Israeli target is a
legitimate target. Jerusalem, Ben-Gurion International Airport, Tel Aviv and
every Israeli point can be part of our goals."

While Abu Abir's statements can be chalked up to rhetoric, intelligence
officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say there is much information
Palestinian terror groups have been producing and stockpiling rockets in the
northern West Bank that are currently capable of being fired.

But some security officials say the information is not getting out.

"All I can say is the information is known by the decision makers," said a
senior security official.

The official noted Israel has been "reluctant" to order large-scale
anti-rocket operations in the West Bank in spite of intelligence about
rocket infrastructures there.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon previously warned any rockets
fired by Palestinian groups from within the West Bank would provoke an
"unprecedented" military response.

Yesterday Israeli Military Intelligence chief Major General Amos Yadlin
warned Hamas is seeking to manufacture Grad rockets, a kind of Katyusha
rocket that can travel about 13 miles.

As WND reported, Al Mustaqbal, a research center in the Gaza Strip
reportedly affiliated with Hamas, recently published a study labeling
Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip last summer a victory for
"Palestinian resistance," and stating Palestinian groups will now continue
the next phase of their "war to destroy the Jewish state" by focusing on
rocket and mortar attacks launched from the West Bank.

'We can reach any point inside Israel'

The West Bank rocket infrastructure is largely thought to belong to Islamic
Jihad and the Al Aqsa Brigades. Most rockets are likely stockpiled in the
northern West Bank and are premature versions of the Qassam, officials said.
Qassams are improvised steel rockets, about four feet in length, filled with
explosives and fuel. They can travel between one and four miles depending on
the sophistication of the particular rocket.

Sources close to the Brigades claimed the group has several advanced
versions of the Qassam in and near Jenin.

The group's rocket chief, Abu Oudai, told WND his organization in the
northern West Bank has developed a new kind of rocket named after late
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat that can reach major Israeli cities.

"The Arafat (rocket) can reach every goal we want all over the enemy state,"
Abu Oudai said. "I don't need to tell you that the aerial distance from
Jenin to Netanya, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other cities is not big without
telling what are all our plans concerning hitting Israeli settlements (in
the West Bank). We can reach any point inside Israel, but I will not mention
what are the regions we are ready to shoot from."

Abu Oudai warned the Brigades will use positions gained after any Israeli
withdrawal from the West Bank to launch rockets into Israeli cities.

Since Israel evacuated the Gaza Strip nine months ago, terror organizations
have been regularly firing rockets from the area aimed at adjacent Jewish
communities. Three Qassam rockets were fired from Gaza yesterday. Fourteen
were launched last week.

'Hizbullah has over 10,000 missiles pointed at us'

The IDF has retaliated with artillery fire against Gaza launch sites and
targeted aerial strikes against suspected rocket factories, but the current
retaliation policy has failed to stop or even slow the number of missiles
being launched from Gaza, prompting calls from some in the defense
establishment, including a former Israeli defense minister, to reoccupy
parts of the territory.

Gaza borders desert and farming regions. There are some vital targets
nearby, including the Ashkelon power station, which supplies much of Israel
with electricity. The West Bank, however, runs alongside Israel's major
population centers. A withdrawal from the area could place Jerusalem, Tel
Aviv and Israel's international airport within rocket firing range.

George Birnbaum, managing director of Kidron Strategies, a Jerusalem-based
political consulting firm, commented, "If it became known there were rocket
threats in the West Bank it would make it very difficult politically for
Olmert to implement his withdrawal plan. There would be a lot more
resistance from the general public and the Knesset."

Knesset Member Effie Eitam, chairman of the National Religious Party, told
WND any West Bank withdrawal will be followed by rockets fired at major
Israeli cities.

"Aside from the short-range rockets the Palestinians have now, it is just a
question of time before they obtain longer range missiles from Iran.
Regardless, Olmert's withdrawal will give the terrorists land bordering our
major cities," said Eitam, who serves on the Knesset Foreign Affairs and
Defense Committee.

Eitam noted other withdrawals that resulted in rocket threats:

"Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000. Now Hizbullah has over 10,000
missiles on the border pointed at us. Israel evacuated Gaza last summer. The
missiles are flying out from there every day. There is no doubt a withdrawal
from the West Bank will bring a rocket war to Israel."

Republished by permission of WorldNet Daily

(05.11.06, 10:26)