August 4th 2010 Whose Behind Recent Attacks on Israel?

There are are never too many coincidences in international relations and three in a row is clearly no coincidence. Last Friday a Grad missile landed in Ashkelon, the first since the end of Operation Cast Iron. The missile was one of five projectiles that landed in Southern Israel this past week. Israel retaliated with three simultaneous air attacks on Gaza. The question now is, what is causing this new round of attacks in the South?

On Sunday, Katshusa rockets were fired at Eilat. The missiles missed their target and killed a Jordianian in Aqaba instead. Then today a border incdent occurs on the Lebaniese border, in which an Israeli patrol, doing routine work, pruning trees on the Israeli side was attacked, one soldier was killed. As a result of Israel's response 3 Lebanese were killed.

There is only one possible hand behind these new attacks, and that is Iran.

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The recent unilateral sanctions by both the US and the European Union are clearly beginning to have at least a limited, but deepening effect on Iran. In addition, the remarks by Admiral Mullen, clearly stating that the US has a military plan ready to attack Iranian nuclear targets, are no doubt giving the Iranians additional food for thought. There has always been one school of thought believing that if the sanctions started effecting Iran, the Iranians would respond by heating up Israel's Northern or Gazan border, to deflect attention. This is in effect happening, and fear is likely to get worse in the coming weeks and months.

The Israeli government decided yesterday to approve an UN Investigation Commission on the Turkish Flotilla incident, stating that Israel has nothing to hide. Why in the world the government could not have done this the day after the incident, and gain the international initiative, is totally beyond me. Of course, it should not be, after all this time.

A few thoughts gathered from spending a week in Israel... The issue of conversion is not going away. The real issue has nothing to do with American Jewry, but the 300,000 Russian Israeli youth who have been living as non religious Jews in the State of Israel. The Russian youth are not recognized as being Jewish by the Rabbinic authorities, who have made it almost totally impossible for them to convert. It is hard to overstate how important this matter is to the State and the Jewish people. I believe there will be no solution, without taking back the religious authority from the Haredim in Israel.