US first to inform Israel on FRANCOP; prevented bombing of ship

The United States was the first to tip-off Israel about the route of the FRANCOP cargo ship, which was seized by the Israel Navy overnight Tuesday, London-based Asharq Alawsat reported Friday.

The newspaper quoted Israeli officials as saying that Israel had wanted to bomb the Iranian-commissioned arms smuggling ship, but Washington vetoed such an attack.

According to the report, the Americans spotted a suspicious Iranian ship entering the Gulf of Oman and docking at Dubai's Jebel Ali port in mid-October. The ship belonged to Iran's national shipping company, IRISL. The US reportedly informed Israel of the ship.

An Israeli Navy special commando force seized control over a suspicious vessel in the early hours of Wednesday morning, which was found to be carrying weapons. The ship is believed to have come from Iran, destined for Hizbullah in Lebanon and meant to dock in Syria.

The dramatic incident took place some 150 kilometers off the coast, near Cyprus. A fleet of smaller ships approached the vessel, sailing under the Antiguan flag, and boarded it.

The crew members showed no resistance. The ship was found to be carrying many containers of ammunition and weapons, under the appearance of a civilian delivery. The cargo included rockets, grenades, mortar shells and missiles.

After an initial inspection, the ship was lead to the Ashdod Port for additional inspection and a more thorough examination of the cargo it stored.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, Israel's Military Chief Gabi Ashkenazi praised Mossad agents for helping obtain the intelligence which led to the vessel's capture.

Shayetet 13

The successful interception of the FRANCOP is credited to Shayetet 13 naval commandos.

Shayetet 13 (S'13) is an elite Israel Defense Forces naval Special Forces unit considered one of the top-three Special Forces units in Israel. S'13 is the unit that specializes in maritime hostage rescue and counter-terrorist missions. Only a handful of Shayetet 13 missions have been publicized or publicly attributed to the unit.

Yemen Jews settle in United States in secret operation

Around 60 Yemeni Jews have moved to the United States since July under a secret operation by US State Department officials to escape anti-Jewish attacks in their homeland, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

Only 200 to 300 Jews still live among Yemen's 23 million Muslims. The murder of a Jew last year, a Shi'ite revolt in northern Yemen and the growth of Sunni Islamist fervor have fueled their desire to leave the Arabian Peninsula country.

"The operation followed a year of mounting harassment, and was plotted with Jewish relief groups while Washington was signaling alarm about Yemen," the report said.

The journal said a first group of 17 arrived in New York on July 8, a day after leaving the Yemeni capital Sanaa on a flight for Frankfurt.

"In all, about 60 Yemeni Jews have resettled in the United States since July; officials say another 100 could still come," the paper said. "An undisclosed number of people have reached Israel," it added.

The refugees are being settled in Monsey, New York, a suburban enclave of ultraorthodox Jews, the Journal said.

Attack on North Hollywood Synagogue injures two Jews

Hollywood Horror

Los Angeles police have arrested a man near the North Hollywood synagogue - Adat Yeshurun Sephardic synagogue - where two Jews were earlier shot in the legs.

Police say a man with a handgun entered the building at around 6:20 a.m. (local time) and shot two people. Police are investigating the shooting as a hate crime.

The victims were taken to a hospital for medical treatment.

According to police, a gunman approached the synagogue Thursday morning and shot two people before fleeing. At about 7:40 a.m., Los Angeles police arrested a man near the synagogue, but sources claim they don't believe he was the gunman.

LAPD officials have alerted other synagogues around Los Angeles about the shooting, and police have stepped up patrols at Jewish religious institutions.

Senior Iranian military officers killed in suicide attack

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a meeting of high-ranking military officers of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards Corps on Sunday in the southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchestan, killing about 20 people and injuring another 40, news agencies said.

Five top officers of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed in the attack in Sarbaaz in the province of Sistan-Baluchestan, reports said.

The attack was one of the largest in recent years on the Revolutionary Guard.

The Guard was initially created to protect the leaders of the revolution. However, over the years, it has expanded its scope. Today, it is directly under the control of the supreme leader and enforces the governments' Islamic codes and morality. It is tasked with overseeing the Islamic Republic's crucial interests, including guarding its oil fields and missile arsenals.

Israel warns of possible India terror attacks

Israel has warned its citizens against travelling to India, citing threat of possible terror attacks, a report said Friday.

The country's counter-terrorism bureau on Thursday said that there is a concrete threat against places frequented by Israelis and westerners, specifically mentioning Chabad houses and synagogues across India.

A Chabad house was one of the targets of the 2008 Mumbai attacks in which at least 170 people were killed.

The warning is based on new intelligence received by Israeli authorities indicating that a global jihad group had teamed up with the Pakistani terror cell responsible for the 2008 Mumbai massacre and was planning an attack in India.

The warning also recommends that Israelis, who are currently in India, avoid staying in crowded areas and refrain from visiting tourist places that are not guarded by armed and visible security forces.

Israel Prime Minister Netanyahu becomes Grandfather

Baby Bibi

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 59, has become a grandfather for the first time with the birth of a baby boy to his daughter, Noa Netanyahu-Roth.

Noa, Netanyahu's only daughter, was born to his first wife, Dr. Micki Weizman (Haran). The prime minister also has two sons, Yair and Avner, born to his third wife, Sara.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu joined his family on Thursday for the Jewish ritual circumcision of his first grandchild. The baby boy was named Shmuel (Samuel).

Ahmadinejad blames US media for tarnishing Iran image as reports reveal West spied on Qom

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that during his recent visit to the United States, the American media conducted a coordinated campaign to damage Iran's image.

"During my interviews in the United States the media tended to ask repetitive and cliché questions. It was obvious that they all followed a certain line," Ahmadinejad told reporters in Tehran.

Ahmadinejad, who returned from New York Saturday, said the position which the West adopted towards Iran's newly disclosed uranium enrichment plant will soon lead them to regret it.

"This issue was turned around in a way that we (now) believe they regret bringing it up," the Iranian leader said, adding that "they may pursue this issue through the media but it has turned into a firm blow to the (Western) arrogance."

Iran's nuclear dispute with the West intensified last week after Tehran disclosed that it is building a second uranium enrichment plant.

Iran acknowledged the existence of the enrichment plant near the holy city of Qom for the first time on Monday in a letter to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog.

US officials said the disclosure was designed to pre-empt an announcement by Western governments, which were aware of the site, but Ahmadinejad said the plant was legal and open for inspection by the IAEA.

Iran's newly revealed uranium enrichment plant is a heavily guarded, still-unfinished underground facility in the arid mountains near Qom that will be able to produce nuclear fuel — or the payload for atomic warheads, Western intelligence officials and diplomats said Friday.

The revelation suggests a network of facilities, including ones with centrifuges that would enrich uranium at much higher speed and efficiency than previously known sites.

Iran's secrecy has heightened suspicions that the new site might have been meant to produce weapons-grade uranium while UN monitors were focused elsewhere — concentrating on known facilities to ensure that Tehran produces only low-enriched uranium that cannot be used for weapons.

During his visit to New York, Ahmadinejad responded that his nation was keeping nothing from international inspectors and needn't "inform Mr. Obama's administration of every facility that we have."

Western Secret Agents spied on Qom

Washington has known of the facility's existence for several years through intelligence developed by US, French and British agencies, a senior White House official said.

Western intelligence locates the plant not far from Qom — one of the holiest cities in Shiite Islam, and any military strike near that city would likely provoke a backlash among Shiite Muslims across the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that American, Israeli and German intelligence agencies began searching for the second uranium enrichment in as early as 2002, after examining purchases conducted by Iran in the black market, which revealed findings that did not match the needs of the recognized Iranian facilities.

The Qom facility was built in a mountainous region, and according to reports, was built deep underground in an aim to heavily cover it and make it hard to be exposed or attacked. However, despite Iran’s efforts to keep the existence of the Qom facility a secret, the Italian Corriere della Sera reported that “it is possible that the intelligence services exposed the facility thanks to a sophisticated operation that lasted for years, involving German, American and Israeli undercover agents.

“In order to get enough centrifuges needed for uranium enrichment, the Iranians needed to purchase equipment from abroad, and they fell into a trap. Secret agents played the role of salespeople of highly sophisticated technologies, who operated by means of cover companies. They planted miniature spy equipment and viruses in computer software and devices”.