UPDATED Middle East Inside Line: Rockets Hit Eilat, Iran Responds to "US War Plan", US $ for Israel Missile Defence

UPDATE 0655 GMT: Israel Army Radio says between three and five explosions have hit the southern resort city of Eilat in a suspected rocket attack, Israeli army radio reports. There are no reported casualties.

One rocket also hit the nearby Jordanian port of Aqaba, injuring four people.

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US-Iran Front: On Sunday, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen said that the U.S. military has a plan to attack Iran if necessary though he thinks this is a "bad idea".

In response, Iran's envoy to the United Nations, Mohammad Khazai, said: "If the Zionist regime commits the slightest aggression against Iranian soil, we will set the entire war front and Tel Aviv on fire."

US Commitment to Israel's Security: The House of Representatives, the junior chamber of the US Congress, has endorse funding of the Israeli missile defense programs to an unprecedented level, with $422.7 million now slated for 2011.

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The package is more than twice as much as last year’s total and brings to nearly $1 billion joint US-Israel missile defense programs in the past four years.

Israel-Hamas Exchange of Fire: Both Israelis and Hamas exchanged fire for the second time in the last 48 hours. First, a rocket was fired from Gaza on Friday. Israel's Air Forces responded quickly and killed a militant/terrorist leader. Then, Hamas sent another Qassam rocket Saturday night. Israeli jets struck two smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip overnight Saturday.

There were two big developments in Gaza last week. Last Tuesday, the top security official in Hamas-ruled Gaza said that he was considering setting up a bigger military force, first with volunteers and eventually with a mandatory draft. Instead of a paid security force, Hamas can have a broader access to Gazans (about one-third of the labor force in Gaza is unemployed) through large number of potential recruits.

Secondly, following the Arab League's "yellow light" to the trio of Washington, West Jerusalem and Ramallah, Hamas criticized the decision harshly. Ismail Radwan, a senior Hamas leader, said:

We reject any cover for the resumption of the direct talks with the Zionist occupation. This committee is not authorized to make concessions over the rights of our people.

Meanwhile, after Israeli attacks, Islamic Jihad said on Sunday that it has decided to resume suicide attacks against Israel from the West Bank.

Comments

[Bijan77]

Ali -

I am curious. How would sales of military equipment/military funding from other countries to Israel compare to that of US funding? I can't help but see an inherent conflict of interest in the US leading proximity talks and being looked upon as being the one country/administration that can help progress the peace process.

Regards,

[aliyenidunya]

Bijan,

The amount Israel receives from other countries is nothing compared to the one received from the U.S. For instance, the total of military aid (which is for research) to Israeli companies (not to the state itself) is around 300 million euros since 2007.

You are right in designating the dilemma of Washington's politics. As Mearsheimer and Walt say, if American politicians had warned Israel and not allowed it to build more settlements in the West Bank, that would be in favour of Israel, America and Palestinians.