You can listen to the show by going to the MERF web page
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In first public appearance since being appointed to post, Dr. Michael Oren says Iran moving fast towards having nuclear bomb that 'could wipe Israel off map in seconds,' Israel concerned about timing of Obama's engagement with Iranian regime
Yitzhak Benhorin

WASHINGTON – Israel's Ambassador to the US Michael Oren warned this week of an Iranian nuclear bomb that could wipe Israel off the map in seconds. "They could accomplish in a matter of seconds what they deny Hitler did, and kill six million Jews, literally," said Oren in his first public appearance in the US since being appointed to the post.

Dr. Oren was a guest of the high-profile conference, which hosts senior past and present US administration and Middle Eastern officials.

He warned that, on the Iranian issue, "There are clocks ticking all around. One of those clocks is the uranium enrichment clock, which will show that by a certain date the Iranians will have sufficient, highly enriched uranium materials to create a bomb that could literally wipe Israel off the map in a matter of seconds."

Oren said that Israel was anxious to see Iran change its policy in the region and "cease its support of terrorist groups like Hizbullah and Hamas that are also trying to wipe Israel off the map."

He added: "It's very important that we watch carefully what happens in Iran… the events in Iran have unmasked to the world the true nature of this regime. This is a regime that's willing to kill its own citizens; it will certainly have no compunctions killing other people in the region, Jews and Sunni Arabs alike."

There are no guarantees the Arab world would move forward with steps of
normalization toward Israel if Jerusalem declared a settlement freeze,
according to assessments reaching Jerusalem, even though US President Barack
Obama still believes he can convince Saudi King Abdullah to make some
gesture toward Israel.

The assessments come amid reports that Israel and the US are working on a
package deal that may include a time-limited moratorium on settlement
construction in return for gestures from the Arab world.

According to these assessments, however, the Persian Gulf and North African
states are unlikely to make significant moves unless Saudi Arabia does, and
the Saudis believe they made their gesture toward Israel in the form of the
2002 Arab peace initiative.

Obama, according to these reports, still believes the Saudis can be
persuaded to moved on the issue.

Among the gestures being discussed are opening trade offices, direct
economic links, public cultural and educational ties, as well as overfly
rights for Israeli airlines.

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said Thursday on Israel Radio that
Israel could not be expected to take immediate steps such as a settlement
freeze "when the other side isn't prepared to make a small step."

Ayalon echoed what Defense Minister Ehud Barak had been saying in recent
days, that any move on settlements needed to be seen as part of a wider
regional picture.

He also said, in regards to calls for a freeze for natural growth
construction, that Israel "cannot strangle 300,000 residents."

Ron Dermer, the director of policy planning in the Prime Minister's Office,
said in a wide-ranging interview that appeared in The Jerusalem Post, "I
think if people want to reach an understanding, they can reach an
understanding on the issue."

Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who returned Wednesday from his meeting a day
earlier with US envoy George Mitchell in New York, has briefed Prime
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on the talks. Netanyahu and Mitchell are
expected to meet in two weeks.

In the meantime, a government official said the discussions with Washington
on the issue were continuing. "The policy goal at the moment is to try
reaching common ground with the US, which is where the effort is being
placed. We hope that it is successful."

The official also said it was Israel's hope that if an agreement was
reached, it would be endorsed by the Europeans, who have become increasingly
vocal in their calls for a complete settlement freeze.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday called on Israel to end
settlement construction, saying such activity jeopardized efforts toward a
two-state solution.

"I think it is now important to get commitments from all sides and that
includes the issue of settlement building," Merkel said in a speech to the
Bundestag. "I am convinced that there must be a stop to this. Otherwise we
will not come to the two-state solution that is urgently needed."

I can never remember the Arabs making a gesture of good will and they will not do so this time either. They don't want normalization with Israel they want Israel dead.

After a long hiatus, the Israeli Navy has returned to sailing through the
Suez Canal, recently sending one of its advanced Dolphin-class submarines
through the waterway to participate in naval maneuvers off the Eilat coast
in the Red Sea.

IDF sources said the decision to allow navy vessels to sail through the
canal was made recently and was a definite "change of policy" within the
service. In 2005, then OC Navy Adm. David Ben-Bashat decided to stop sending
Israeli ships through the canal due to growing threats in the area.

However, the Dolphin-class submarine sailed through last month to get from
the Mediterranean to the Red Sea. Israeli officials said it passed through
the canal above water, and that it was not done covertly.

"It is a question of policy," a senior officer explained. "Navy vessels have
sailed through the canal on several occasions recently."

The significance of the move was debatable, but it could be interpreted as a
message to Iran and a demonstration of strengthening ties between Egypt and
Israel.

In the event of a conflict with Iran, and if Israel decided to involve its
three Dolphin-class submarines - which according to foreign reports can fire
nuclear-tipped cruise missiles and serve as a second-strike platform - the
quickest route would be to send them through the Suez Canal.

The only way to get to the Gulf of Oman without refueling would be to go
through the canal. With their reported 4,500 nautical mile range, taking the
long way, around Africa, would require the Dolphins to make at least two
stops for refueling at a friendly port, or for fuel to be replenished at
sea.

We find it both questionable and objectionable that a well-respected and
ostensibly objective international organization such as Amnesty could
produce a report on Operation Cast Lead without properly recognizing the
unbearable reality of nine years of incessant and indiscriminate rocket fire
on the citizens of Israel. The slant of their report indicates that the
organization succumbed to the manipulations of the Hamas terror
organization.

Operation Cast Lead was a result of nine years of Hamas' unrelenting Kassam,
Grad and mortar shell fire on more than a quarter of a million of Israel's
citizens. Rocket fire was Hamas' preferred terror tactic, and they
ruthlessly used populated areas of the Gaza Strip in order to carry out
their attacks.

We did not find in the report a proper reference to the reality of the
Israeli home front or to Israeli security concerns, and therefore the report
seems unbalanced. It presents a distorted view of the laws of war that does
not comply with the rules implemented by democratic states battling terror.

It also ignores the efforts of the IDF to minimize as much as possible
harming uninvolved noncombatant civilians. During Operation Cast Lead, the
IDF utilized various fighting methods and advanced technology to minimize
harm to the civilian population, while engaging terrorists who were
operating from densely populated areas and using the local population as a
"human shield."

In many cases, areas in which strikes of legitimate targets were to take
place, as required by international law, the IDF warned the local population
prior to the attack, via leaflets, radio broadcasts, and direct calls to
private cellular telephones. It should be stated that the IDF only targeted
military targets and avoided harming civilians, sometimes to the detriment
of its own military interests.

In addition, during Operation Cast Lead, the IDF enabled for the transfer of
humanitarian aid and also instated a daily several hour cease fire so that
the goods could be safely distributed.

The Amnesty report ignores a critical aspect of Operation Cast Lead - Hamas
consistently, deliberately and routinely violated International Law,
specifically the prohibition against the use of "human shields." While Hamas
was using Palestinian civilian centers to fire rockets at the citizens of
Israel, the IDF went to great lengths to combat their terrorism while
maintaining a firm commitment to the laws of war.

Documented evidence, from aerial drones, ground footage and independent
accounts, prove, beyond all doubt, that Hamas deliberately exploited
population centers - including medical, educational, recreational and
religious facilities - to provide tactical cover for their terror
activities.

It is to Amnesty International's discredit that the report they issued,
focuses so intently on any and all IDF infractions, and ignores the blatant
violations of international law perpetrated by Hamas.

Out of a professional, ethical and judicial obligation to thoroughly inspect
certain claims made regarding Operation Cast Lead, the IDF conducted a
number of investigations following the operation. The investigations proved
that the IDF operated throughout the fighting in accordance with
international law, maintaining high ethical and professional standards and
in many incidents, for the sake of avoiding harm to unassociated civilians,
even limited itself beyond existing judicial obligations. Nonetheless, the
investigations found a few, unfortunate incidents that are unavoidable
during combat - especially the type of combat Hamas forced upon the IDF
during Operation Cast Lead, when it chose to fight from within civilian
population centers.

In addition to the investigations ordered by the Chief of the General Staff,
Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, the IDF is currently looking into complaints that
were received from various sources - private lawyers, human rights
organizations (including Amnesty) and media outlets (both domestic and
international) - that raise different questions regarding the way in which
the IDF operated during Operation Cast Lead. In certain cases, the Chief
Military Advocate has already ordered the opening of a criminal
investigation.

Israeli peace activist detained en route to Gaza Strip slams treatment by authorities
Daniel Edleson

An Israeli citizen who was among 21 peace activists apprehended by the IDF en route to the Gaza Strip says she was held under conditions resembling a "horror movie."

Houida Araf, who was released on Wednesday, told Ynet that she and a fellow Israeli peace activist were separated from the group and taken to the Ashdod Port.

Peace activists (Photo: Movement for the Freedom of Gaza)

"They put us in a warehouse, where we slept on a cockroach-infested cement floor, as armed soldiers were monitoring us," she said. "They didn't say a word to us. They confiscated all our personal belongings and phones, and they didn't let us contact anyone. A day later they left us at the Ashdod central bus station without any money or belongings."

"What they did to us is unforgivable, but we're not the story here," Araf said. "The fact they threatened us with violence because we wanted to transfer medical supplies and drawing equipment for children is simply absurd."

'We'll be back'
Meanwhile, 19 foreign peace activists detained on board the Gaza-bound ship are still behind held by the Immigration Authority at Ben Gurion Airport. The activists, whose vessel was seized, will soon be expelled from Israel, but they say they are determined to come back.

One of the initiative's organizers, Ramzi Kysia, told Ynet: "We'll be back again and again…the Israeli regime should be careful, because we're coming. We won't stop until this blockade is broken forever and Gaza residents have access to the rest of the world."

Kysia added that the group's attorney will demand that Israel hand over the vessel it seized.

It would be so much better if these collaborators with terrorist were sleeping with the fish instead of crying about sleeping with some roaches.

Small ferry carrying medical supplies that set sail from Cyprus Monday with 21 peace activists, medical supplies intercepted off Strip's shore; passengers say army jammed boat's radio signals

Ali Waked, Anat Shalev
Published: 06.30.09, 16:18 / Israel News

At around noon Tuesday the Israeli Navy intercepted and took control of a boat that had set sail for the Gaza Strip with three tons of medical supplies, Palestinian sources said, adding that the Navy jammed the boat's radio signals.

The IDF Spokesperson's Office confirmed the report. Israeli military sources said there was no violence after the small ferry, sailing from Cyprus with activists from the US-based Free Gaza Movement, was intercepted off Gaza

Sink one ship and let all the rats on board go down with the ship and that will be the end of the attempts to run supplies to the terrorist strong hold that is Gaza..

Ramallah - Ma'an - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas reiterated on Monday
his rejection of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's stipulations for a
two-state solution.

Speaking at an event inaugurating a housing project northwest of Ramallah,
Abbas said, "If Israel agrees on freezing settlement construction, we can
start negotiations, however, they have to accept the two-state solution
rather than imposing pre-conditions that empty that solution of its
content."

Netanyahu said in a speech on 14 June that Palestinians must recognize
Israel as a Jewish state, and that any future Palestinian state must be
demilitarized and enjoy no control of its airspace or borders.

"A Palestinian state [must] live side by side next to Israel in dignity and
stability," Abbas said, reiterating what his spokesperson said immediately
after Netanyahu delivered his speech two weeks ago.

In a different regard, Abbas addressed the issue of the new round of
Fatah-Hamas talks in Cairo. "We gave emphatic directives to our delegation
to Cairo because we don't want this dialogue to last forever, and we want
this round to make success at any rate," Abbas asserted.

He added, "Today we released a number of detainees, and I emphasize that we
don't have anybody who have been detained for political affiliation because
we respect people's freedom. However, anyone who tries to disturb security
and order in this country will not be given opportunity."

According to the Palestinian Authority security spokesman, Abbas ordered the
release of 100 security detainees from West Bank prisons in a goodwill
gesture to Hamas.

The PA's Preventive Security Service released the first 12 of these in
Nablus, in the northern West Bank on Monday afternoon.

Meanwhile Abbas' Fatah movement has accused the Hamas-led government in Gaza
of detaining dozens of its members overnight in what could be a blow to
unity efforts ahead of a 7 July deadline set by Egypt. Fatah released the
names of more than 90 men who had been arrested in the overnight sweep,
which Hamas has denied.

Hamas also accused the PA of arresting seven more of its men in the West
Bank.

UPI Published: June 25, 2009 at 1:20 PM
www.upi.com/Emerging_Threats/2009/06/25/Capture-of-spies-hits-Israel/UPI-66891245950455/

The roundup of around 40 alleged Israeli agents in Lebanon in recent weeks
has in all probability been a serious blow for Israeli intelligence at a
time when its longtime adversary, Hezbollah, is bracing for another
onslaught by the Jewish state.

Both sides are nervous -- Israel because valuable eyes and ears inside
Lebanon have been lost, Hezbollah because the existence of these cells, some
of them set up 25 years ago, was an immense security failure on its part and
will mean it will have to do a lot of housecleaning and reorganizing.

All this means is that two of the Middle East's most ferocious adversaries,
whose intelligence war over the years has been one of the most heated in the
region, have both been badly damaged and want to hit back.

The turmoil in Iran and the emergence of a hard-line, right-wing government
in Israel under hawkish Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu fuel this unease
and sense of vulnerability on both sides. And in the volatile Middle East,
those are usually portents of trouble.

With one cell after another being rolled up, the Israelis will no doubt have
told whatever other intelligence assets they may have in Lebanon to lie low.
And it seems clear, given the rank of some of the Lebanese arrested in the
crackdown, that the Israelis had penetrated Lebanese society and its
military widely and deeply.

The alleged agents included a former general in Lebanon's premier security
service, two army colonels and a former mayor. Lebanese authorities say most
of those arrested, including those just listed, have all confessed that they
had been spying in Lebanon for years.

Some said they were recruited by Israel's various intelligence services --
Mossad, which operates outside Israel; the Shin Bet internal security
service, which operated in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories; and
Aman, military intelligence -- as far back as 1982 when Israel invaded
Lebanon.

In Lebanon, given Hezbollah's nationwide military structure and the danger
it poses for the Jewish state, the Israelis will have to rebuild the
networks smashed by Lebanese intelligence and Hezbollah's security branch to
regain the intelligence flow that is vital to military operations.

This means that to an extent that can only be guessed at, the Israelis are
more vulnerable regarding Hezbollah than they have been for many years.

When Hezbollah abducted Israeli soldiers on the border on July 12, 2006,
Israel responded with wave after wave of airstrikes in what became a 34-day
war. The Israelis were able to destroy bunkers containing most of
Hezbollah's long-range rockets capable of striking deep into Israel, almost
to Tel Aviv, in under an hour.

Their intelligence was that good, and some of that must have come from
agents they had on the ground. Those assets may no longer be available, and
the Israeli air force may not be able to strike with such devastating
accuracy next time around.

Hezbollah, too, is jumpy, and with some reason. From what information is
available about the alleged spies' activities, they were focused primarily
on tracking Hezbollah leaders and key operatives, identifying command
centers and safe houses.

Several senior Hezbollah officials who were assassinated were probably
targeted by intelligence provided by the Israeli agents. At least one of
these agents had secured a commercial contract with Hezbollah's
administrative branch to maintain its vehicles and had planted tracking
devices in them that went undetected for years.

It does not take a great stretch of the imagination to surmise how many
secret facilities and key Hezbollah operatives were uncovered in what must
stand as one of the most successful espionage operations mounted in many
years.

It seems that the assassination of several senior Hezbollah figures likely
resulted from the activities of the Israeli spy rings. Among those killed
was the Shiite movement's fabled and shadowy operational chief, Imad
Mughniyeh, the most wanted fugitive in the world until Osama bin Laden
struck on Sept. 11, 2001.

Mughniyeh, indicted in the United States for the June 1985 hijack of a TWA
jetliner in which a U.S. Navy diver was murdered, was assassinated in one of
the most secure districts of Damascus, the Syrian capital, after a meeting
with Syrian intelligence chiefs.

A bomb placed in the headrest of his SUV was detonated by remote control
when he got into the vehicle. It was one of the most spectacular
assassinations in the Middle East for years. It hit Hezbollah hard, and it
has carried out no operation of any significance against Israel since then.

Syria threatens to take back Golan by force
By Haaretz Service Last update - 19:16 27/06/2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1095962.html

Syrian officials threatened on Saturday to take back the Golan Heights by
force if a peace agreement involving the return of the strategic plateau is
not reached with Israel, Army Radio reported.

A group calling itself the Syrian Committee for the Freedom of the Golan
said it would take steps to regain control of the territory, adding that
Israel has not shown willingness to achieve peace or to return what they
called "Syrian land."

The comments were made at the inauguration ceremony, attended by Syrian
President Bashar Assad, for a new communications center in Quneitra.

"The communications center will report on the troubles of Syrian residents
residing in the occupied Golan under barbaric and racist Israeli rule,"
Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal was quoted as saying at the
ceremony, in a reference to Druze in the Golan who wish to live under Syrian
sovereignty.

Last Sunday, Assad rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's offer to
resume peace talks between the two countries from "point zero."

Assad said the negotiations should resume from the point at which they
stopped under former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, when the two sides had
planned to formulate mutual commitments that would enable the talks to move
to a direct negotiations stage.

The indirect negotiations stopped some six months ago, following Operation
Cast Lead, and the announcement of early elections in Israel.

Israel gained control of the Golan Heights during the 1967 Six-Day War.
Syria insists that the basis for peace talks with Israel is a full
withdrawal from the territory.

You can listen to the show by going to the MERF web page
http://www.middleeastradioforum.org/

In an effort to prevent a flare-up along the northern border, UNIFIL has
increased its operations in southern Lebanon and has begun entering villages
in search of Hizbullah weapons caches, according to information obtained
recently by Israel.

In one recent successful operation in the eastern sector of southern
Lebanon, UNIFIL peacekeepers uncovered close to 20 Katyusha rockets that
were ready for launch.

UNIFIL operates under Security Council Resolution 1701, passed following the
Second Lebanon War in 2006. Operations in villages have been a point of
contention between UNIFIL and Israel, which said over the past three years
that the peacekeeping force was failing to prevent Hizbullah's military
buildup in southern Lebanon since it refrained from entering villages.

Hizbullah, the IDF believes, has deployed most of its forces and weaponry -
including Katyusha rockets - inside homes in the villages. Until now, UNIFIL
and the Lebanese army have mostly operated in open areas.

According to information obtained by Israel, UNIFIL has also succeeded
recently in thwarting attacks that were planned against its own personnel.

UNIFIL's increased activity comes amid concerns in Israel that Hizbullah
will launch an attack along the northern border to avenge the assassination
of the group's military commander Imad Mughniyeh in Damascus last year.

Hizbullah was behind a thwarted attempt earlier this year to attack the
Israeli Embassy in Baku, Azerbaijan, according to foreign sources. The group
has also tried using Palestinian proxies for attacks within Israel, without
success. These frustrations, Israel fears, might lead the group to try a
retaliatory attack against the northern border, which would be easier
operationally.

While Hizbullah has amassed tens of thousands of Katyusha rockets since the
2006 war, it is having trouble recruiting new fighters and is short several
hundred men. Before the Second Lebanon War, the assessment in Israel was
that Hizbullah had some 6,000 fighters.

The group's current recruitment difficulties are believed to stem from its
failure to keep its promises to rebuild homes in Lebanese villages damaged
during the war in 2006. This disappointment with Hizbullah is also
understood in the IDF as being responsible for the group's defeat in
parliamentary elections in Lebanon earlier this month.

Meanwhile, late Thursday night, Lebanese news agencies reported that the IDF
was moving tanks and armored vehicles to the border area along the Mount Dov
and Mount Hermon region. There was no Israeli comment on the reports.

Lebanese newspaper A-Safir reported that Israel had proposed direct
political negotiations with the new Lebanese government, making the overture
via an Israeli army delegation in contacts with its Lebanese counterpart
under UNIFIL's auspices.

Earlier Thursday, Lebanese lawmakers overwhelmingly reelected a
pro-Hizbullah parliament speaker, signaling that the political factions are
moving toward a unity government.

Reelecting Hizbullah ally Nabih Berri for a fifth consecutive term is
expected to smooth the way for the formation of a new government in the
coming weeks, which majority leader Saad Hariri is tipped to head.

Hariri said picking Berri for the job "consolidates national unity and
preserves civil peace."

The choice of Berri, a Shi'ite, is in accord with Lebanon's sectarian
power-sharing structure, which calls for the speaker to be a Shi'ite, the
prime minister a Sunni and the president a Maronite Catholic. Both
parliament and cabinet are divided evenly between Muslims and Christians.

Berri heads the Shi'ite Amal movement that together with Hizbullah controls
most of the Shi'ites' 27 seats in the 128-member legislature. He was the
sole candidate for the post, which he has held since 1992.

Berri addressed lawmakers after his appointment, urging rivals to assist in
the formation of a national unity government.

The Lebanese should "benefit from favorable regional and international
developments... to consolidate peace and stability," he said. "This requires
that we contribute toward the creation of a national government."

The June 7 vote brought victory for the Western-backed coalition, which
fought off a strong challenge from Hizbullah and its allies. But it also
underscored the deep divisions among the Lebanese.

AP contributed to this report.

Today, June 25th, 2009, the IDF Chief of the General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi
Ashkenazi, delivered a speech at the IAF Flight School Graduation Ceremony
in the Hatzerim air force base in southern Israel. In his speech, the Chief
of Staff addressed the graduates, their families and other guests, and
related to the Iranian threat on Israel and the importance of a strong and
advanced air force as part of a strong IDF and a strong state of Israel that
will successfully face the challenges of the future.

The following is an excerpt from Lt. Gen. Ashkenazi's speech:

"As of today, you are entrusted with the world's most advanced flight combat
systems, combining advanced technology and sophisticated arming systems,
developed after years of investment in research, development and
manufacturing.

"However, not for one moment do we forget that the qualitative advantage of
the IDF and the IAF lies in the dedicated, ethical and trained soldiers such
as yourselves, who have the ability to push the weapon systems to maximum
performance, and sometimes even further than that.

"We are seekers of peace, not of war, but a realistic observation of the
reality in the Middle East reveals a number of risks and security challenges
that we are likely to face.

"The re-election of the Iranian President, his threatening statements
against Israel and his country's constant race to obtain non-conventional
weapons, forces us to maintain an alert and watchful military and a skilled,
sharp air force in order to remove any threat hovering over the heads of our
citizens and civilians. It is our duty as an army to lay down all of our
options and prepare ourselves to confront any threat, near or far, and we
shall continue to do so.

"The IDF will continue to face these challenges at land, air and sea, with
regular and reserve forces, while strengthening ourselves, training and
arming according to a long term plan.

"As the Chief of the General Staff, I know that only a big, strong and
qualitative IDF, that has this kind of air force, is the one to deter war
away from this land, successfully face any challenge, near or far, and if
required to defeat our enemy and prevail!"

By Amos Harel and Avi Issacharoff
Tags: palestinians, israel news

Recent weeks have seen a dramatic change in Israel's roadblock policy in the West Bank. Right under the nose of the right-wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israel Defense Forces has lifted some of the main, permanent roadblocks in the West Bank, which have played a central role in restricting the movement of Palestinians, mostly between the main Palestinian cities.

The decision of the defense establishment to ease Palestinian travel very much reflects the steps the Palestinian Authority security forces have taken against the Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorist infrastructure in the West Bank. American pressure and demands the Palestinians be allowed to move freely in areas where there is no security risk are also a factor.

Currently, there are only 10 manned roadblocks within the West Bank (excluding those linking the territories with Israel), and searches are not carried out at every one of them. A year and a half ago, there were 35 manned roadblocks in operation.
Advertisement
Moreover, the defense establishment has allowed several hundred Palestinian businessmen, holders of BMC (Businessman Card) permits, free access to Israel. However, the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says its data shows there are 630 different obstacles and roadblocks in place throughout the West Bank.

A week ago the DCO roadblock (set up by the Civil Administration) was removed from the way heading into Jericho from the south. This gives the city's residents free access to all parts of the West Bank. The lifting of the roadblock to Jericho also allows access to the city to Israelis who might want to visit the casino there.

Rambam Medical Center
Public Affairs and Spokesman
www.rambam.org.iwww.rambam.org.il

22 June 2009

During the Second Lebanon War, Lieutenant Asael Lubotzky (now aged 26) from
the esteemed Golani Infantry Brigade, was admitted to Rambam Medical Center
after being seriously wounded from a direct anti-tank missile hit, in
Lebanon at the place that became known as the Battle of Bint Jbeil. From the
moment he began to receive treatment in the field and up until his arrival
to the hospital, none of the treating doctors imagined that his right leg
could be salvaged, but Dr. Alexander Lerner operating on him at Rambam
thought differently. Last Sunday, June 7, Asael Lubotzky stood under the
chuppah and performed the breaking of the glass ritual with his right leg.

In July, 2006, Lt. Lubotzky arrived to Rambam, suffering from severe burns
and injuries to both his legs. In those same dramatic moments, Lubotzky met
the man who would change his life forever. Upon his arrival to the hospital,
he was immediately wheeled into the operating room; there he was treated
initially by Professor Michael Soudry, the Director of the Orthopedic
Division at Rambam, and Dr. Alexander Lerner, Senior Orthopedic Surgeon in
the Department Orthopedic Surgery A. His first encounter with Dr. Lerner,
Lt. Lubotzky does not recall, "I was unconscious at the time. Only after the
surgery did I discover how pessimistic the field doctors were about the
extent of my injuries prior to my arrival to the hospital; they contemplated
where the best amputation spot would be."

The main goal of the operation at Rambam was to try to save his legs,
against all odds. After a long rehabilitation, Lubotzky underwent more than
20 orthopedic and cosmetic operations attended by Dr. Lerner. "Dr. Lerner
stayed optimistic about the injuries to my legs from the very beginning,"
Lt. Lubotzky said in admiration, "He was so hopeful that he could save my
leg and that one day, he could be there to witness the breaking of the glass
on my wedding." These words are what kept Lt. Lubotzky going, throughout the
long and often painful rehabilitation period.

On retrospect, Lt. Lubotzky's injuries lead him to notable accomplishments.
Less than a year ago, his story was published in the book "From the
Wilderness and Lebanon," by Yedioth Books that recounts his personal
experiences from the Second Lebanon War. Within a very short time, almost
from the moment it was printed, it entered the best seller list in Israel.
About two years ago, Lubotzky was accepted to the Hadassah Medical School in
Jerusalem, Israel. "A great part of this decision, to become a doctor, was
inspired by the exemplary model set by Dr. Lerner," recalls Lubotzky.

About a year and a half ago, Lt. Lubotzky met his future wife, Avital Shimal
(now 23) whom he wed just last week. "About two months ago, Asael called me
up, and told me that he'd held up to his part of the bargain and that it was
now my turn to hold up to mine," remembers Dr. Lerner. "With great
excitement and emotion I stood at his wedding, watching him stand on his own
two legs, under the chuppah, breaking the glass on his very first try,
dancing with his family and friends, and even with me; the joy was great,"
tells Lerner. "Among the guests were former patients also admitted to Rambam
during the Second Lebanon War, and I was happy to meet with them and see the
progress of their recovery," he recalls.