Gaza Latest: Amalthia to Break the Siege?, Ireland's "Revenge", Mavi Marmara Becomes a Hotel?

Amalthia to Break the Siege?: Having Youssef Sawani, executive director of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, said Sunday in an interview with Army Radio that the vessel was heading for Gaza; Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman told Army Radio that “no ship of any kind will be allowed to arrive at Gaza.”

The ship is still in high waters and Israeli defense officials stated that they were tracking the vessel and would make contact with the ship and request that it follow naval vessels either into Ashdod Port or into Egypt's port of El-Arish. A government official said: “This exercise is both a superfluous and unnecessary gesture.”

Ireland's "Revenge"?: It is reported that Ireland is trying to block a European Union initiative that would enable Israeli companies and European companies to exchange information about customers. The European Commission wanted European governments to approve a declaration that the EU recognises Israeli data protection standards as being sufficient to allow member states to transfer personal data.

UPDATED Gaza Latest: Ship Sent by Gadhafi’s Son Breaking Israeli Blockade?
Gaza Special: UN Cancels Middle East Session But Begins Freedom Flotilla Enquiry

However, Ireland's Justice Minister Dermott Ahern said that since Israel allegedly used forged Irish passports to carry out the assassination of Hamas official Mohammed al-Mabhouh in Dubai, Israel should not be allowed access to this data.

Although Israel denied any link with the Dubai assassination, Ireland expelled one Israeli official from Dublin.

Mavi Marmara Waiting Its Fate: Israeli city Haifa's Mayor Yona Yahav wrote a letter to the Defense Minister Ehud Barak requesting that the Mavi Marmara ship be turned into a floating hotel off the coast of Haifa. Yahav wrote: "I feel that Haifa, a symbol of coexistence and cooperation between all religions, would be the appropriate home for this ship, which will turn into an international symbol of reconciliation and hope."

UPDATED Gaza Latest: Ship Sent by Gadhafi's Son Breaking Israeli Blockade?

UPDATE 1315 GMT: Yousseuf Sawani, a director of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, says there are no plans for the aid ship to dock at the Egyptian port of El-Arish.

"This is definitely a part of the campaign against the ship, a campaign of distortion, but we are definitely heading towards Gaza, because that is where aid should be heading to," he told Al Jazeera.
"This is a purely humane mission, it is neither provocative nor hostile," he said.

Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman maintained that West Jerusalem will not compromise: "I say very clearly, no ship will arrive in Gaza. We will not permit our sovereignty to be harmed," Lieberman said on Army Radio.

Gaza Special: UN Cancels Middle East Session But Begins Freedom Flotilla Enquiry

UPDATE 1030 GMT: The Libyan Government has told Greece that the aid ship will dock in el-Arish on the coast of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula.

"We confirmed their destination in talks with the Libyan ambassador and the ship's agent," Greek foreign ministry spokesman Grigoris Delavekouras told the Associated Press.

A Moldavan-flagged ship named "Amalthia", carrying aid from Libya, is departing from the Greek port of Lavrio, with 12 crew, 15 activists and supporters, and about 2,000 tons of humanitarian aid. The goods are supplied by the Gadhafi International Charity and Development Association, which is headed by Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, the second-born son of the Libyan leader Muammar Gadhafi.

On Friday, Israeli ambassador to the UN Gabriela Shalev wrote to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon:

Israel calls upon the international community to exert its influence on the government of Libya to demonstrate responsibility and prevent the ship from departing to the Gaza Strip.

Israel reserves the right under international law to prevent this ship from violating the existing naval blockade on the Gaza Strip.

Reportedly having reached an agreement with both Greece and Moldova, Israeli Foreign Ministry announced on Saturday that the captain of the ship changed the destination to Egypt's el-Arish port.

Later Saturday, Palestinian Legislative Council member Jamal Al-Khudari and Israeli Arab MK Ahmed Tibi (Ra'am Ta'al) told the Palestinian news agency Ma'an that the aid ship will head to Gaza's port in the coming hours and will not be diverted.

Israel: Hezbollah Diversion or Threat?

On Wednesday, in a briefing for journalists, Israel Defense Forces Colonel Ronen Merli revealed previously classified photographs allegedly showing Hezbollah's activities in towns and villages close to the Israeli border. Merli said:

Hezbollah is establishing itself with increasing strength in the villages. Every day they are collecting significant intelligence on our forces along the border and every day they are engaged in digging, building and laying communications infrastructure to prepare themselves for war.

Israel Video: Netanyahu “Why the World Needs Us” (8 July)

On Friday, Haaretz's Avi Issacharoff  stated that Israel not only failed in its 2006 war in Lebanon and that Hezbollah had demonstrated its capability in its campaign since "the southern Lebanon is once again in its hands". Noting the group's resistance against the French troops supposed to prevent military activities in southern Lebanon, Issacharoff listed Hezbollah's further "achievements":

According to various assessments, the Shi'ite organization has rebuilt its military capabilities north of the Litani River, where it has established a network of missile launchers any army in the world would be proud to possess. Furthermore, it has repaired the infrastructure of the Shi'ite villages south of the Litani that were severely hit in the war.

The response was not long in coming. A Hezbollah official warned London-based Asharq al-Awsat that Israel was "preparing something for us" and added that they would act with restraint.

Israel Video: Netanyahu "Why the World Needs Us" (8 July)

On Thursday, when asked whether direct talks with PA President Mahmoud Abbas would lead to an agreement within a year; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu answered at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York: "Yes, I think so."

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3jwcbXHr8o[/youtube]

US-Israel Video: Obama “The Problem For Some Might Be My Middle Name”
Israel Video & Transcript: Netanyahu on CNN’s Larry King

Describing the whole picture of the region, Netanyahu said that "Israel provides a strategic service to Western values in an unstable region beginning with West India and ends with somewhere in North Africa". Netanyahu added: "At the heart of instability, Israel is the source of stability."

Netanyahu added:

The service Israel does in the Middle East is much appreciated by the governments that are actually acting to stabilize the Middle East; chief among them is the United States.

US-Israel Video: Obama "The Problem For Some Might Be My Middle Name"

In an interview with Israel's Channel 2, President Obama said that the reason for the anxiety that some Israelis feel toward him may behis middle name: Hussein.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7eEGwQ0Rbc[/youtube]

Israel Video & Transcript: Netanyahu on CNN’s Larry King

"Ironically, I've got a Chief of Staff named Rahm Israel Emmanuel. My top political advisor is somebody who is a descendent of Holocaust survivors. My closeness to the Jewish American community was probably what propelled me to the U.S. Senate," Obama said.

Obama was asked whether he was concerned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu would try to attack Iran without getting US approval. The President replied, "I think the relationship between Israel and the U.S. is sufficiently strong that neither of us try to surprise each other, but we try to coordinate on issues of mutual concern."