Once again, the newspapers headlines are warning that a war may occur this summer. A war, however, never "occurs," a war is initiated by one or several sides. Who may take the initiative? The Syrians? Definitely not: they are doing everything possible for a rapprochement with Washington, and openly call, time after time, for peace negotiations with Israel. Bush's neoconservative gang is rejecting both Damascus' attempts to improve its relations with Washington and their peace moves: in the Neocon Bible, Syria belongs to the axis of evil and Damascus delenda est.

Hezbollah? What interests could the Lebanese organization have in a war: its priority is to re-stabilize the country and to capitalize on its popularity after the victory of last summer?

The states in the area which may be interested in a war are the ones who met recently in Sharm el-Sheikh, where the "Iranian threat" was the central topic. This threat obviously includes Lebanon (Hezbollah) and Syria. They all agreed that Israel should be the one to do the job, and the Israeli leaders couldn't say no, knowing that this is not only the White House's expectation, but also the desire of the Israeli military command, eager to "correct" the bad impressions made last summer and to regain the Israeli power of deterrence.

The danger of war is therefore real, but, on the other hand, one should not underestimate the hesitations of Ehud Olmert: he knows very well that the Iran's capacities of retaliation are huge, and not only risk missiles falling on Tel Aviv—Iran can close the Strait of Hormuz and provoke a huge energy crisis in Europe.

The answer to the question whether or not there will be a war this summer is therefore in Tel Aviv, where hawks and moderates are putting contradictory pressures on the Prime Minister, who, as usual, will let the military make the decision, alone.

IN SHORT

One of the most important institutions in the Israeli government is the National Council for Planning and Construction, which is responsible for the long-term planning of land allocation of the State. It has been the main tool for the dispossession of the Palestinian minority from its lands, after the lands of the refugees had already been expropriated for the sake of the Judaization of the country.

Two NGOs—Bimkom (Israeli architects and town planners), and The Arab Center for Alternative Planning—have just issued a report concerning the presence of Arabs in the Council. Though the Palestinians represent 20 percent of the Israeli population, only two Palestinans are members of the national council of 32 members. Making this disparity even starker, in the northern council, there are only two Palestinians, although they represent more than half of the population. In Jerusalem, where they represent 30 percent of the population, there are no Palestinians at all in the regional council.

Privatization of Israeli Jails

Two decades ago, Israel decided to change the State religion to Overall Privatization, and as usual, the believers are more fundamentalist that the bishops, Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan: privatization was implemented in the most brutal and heartless ways. After 20 years, it remained to privatize the prisons. In few days, the Israeli Parliament will vote on a law aimed to privatize the prison's system. According to the Israeli media, the new owner of the Israeli prisons will be no other than Lev Leviev.

Vanunu: Petty Vengeance

Mordechai Vanunu, the Israeli nuclear technician, who, twenty years ago, made public the (well known) existence of Israeli nuclear armament, and was sent to 18 years of prison, is back in prison. Judge Yoel Tsur from the Jerusalem Magistrate Court sentenced him to six months in prison for having violated 14 times an administrative order of a military commander which forbids him to speak to foreigners or to foreign media, as well as forbidding him to leave the country (he was arrested on his way to... Bethlehem).

One should remember that Vanunu has served his full sentence (including 11 years in solitary confinement, and all these limitations on his freedom of speech and freedom of movement are being issued while he is supposedly a free citizen. Vanunu's lawyer, attorney Avigdor Feldman, made the following comment: "Vanunu was convicted for violating an order which has no equivalent in any democratic country..." (Yediot Aharonot, 3 July 2007)

Demography

Demography is an Israeli national sport, a national obsession. Every year, it is the central topic of the Herzeliya Conference (a kind of local Davos Summit where all the Israeli economic, political and security elites exchange ideas on strategic issues), as important, if not more, than the nuclear potential of Iran.

Recently, the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics submitted a report to the Minister of Education on the predicted demographic composition of Israeli schools in 2012. The results are definitely interesting: 51 percent of the Jewish pupils will belong to the national non-religious sector (67 percent in 1992), and 31 percent will belong to the ultra-orthodox religious sector (12.5 percent in 1992). The moderate-religious sector will remain in their present situation: 18 percent.

What must be added to these statistics is the fact that the Knesset has just tabled a new law proposal, which would cancel the previous regulations conditioning financial support to schools that are independent from the national system, by a minimum joint core-curriculum of basic mathematics, Hebrew language and English. From now on, the State will subsidize schools in which many pupils will not get even that minimum...

Ehud Barak in Nazareth

The criminal Returns to the Scene of the Crime

Ehud Barak was the man directly responsible, in October 2000, for the massacre of 13 Palestinian citizens of Israel who were peacefully demonstrating their solidarity with their brothers and sisters in the occupied Palestinian territories. The National Commission of Inquiry which investigated the "October incidents"—as they were described in the local media—severely censured Barak for his responsibility, although no practical steps were ever taken against him.

After he was defeated in the elections, Barak went into business, and, according to the newspapers, made quite a lot of money. However, his political ambitions have no limit, as his autism. A few months ago, he was re-elected chairperson of the Labor Party, joined the cabinet as defense minister, and last week, decided to parade in Nazareth. The criminal returned to the scene of the crime. The Committee of the Families of the Victims of the October Incidents organized a picket in front of the hotel where Barak was meeting local notables of the Labor Party, claiming that Barak was definitely not welcome in Nazareth.