'Only 30 soldiers refuse to evacuate'
IDF Chief Of Staff Dan Halutz says IDF has completed preparations for scheduled pullout
JERUSALEM - Only 30 IDF soldiers and officers have announced they would refuse to participate in the evacuation of settlements during the disengagement, Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said Tuesday during his first appearance before the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
He said insubordinate soldiers would be dealt with firmly, adding, “The IDF has completed its preparations for the pullout.”
Halutz said the IDF would confront any attempt by Palestinians to attack during the disengagement.
Addressing the possibility of the deployment of Egyptian troops along the Philadelphi Route on the Gaza-Egypt border, the chief of staff said, “From a military standpoint, the arrival of Egyptian forces to the border may be taken into consideration.”
A senior IDF Intelligence officer said during the meeting that no link has been found between the recent London bombings and the 2003 terror attack at Mike’s Place bar in Tel Aviv. Halutz corroborated the officer’s report.
'They reached us too late'
On Monday the German newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported the terror attack in London last week may be tied to the Mike’s Place bombing, which was carried out by two British suicide bombers.
According to the paper, Mossad officials informed British security authorities that the explosive material used in the Tel Aviv attack on Mike’s Place pub was apparently also utilized to stage the series of bombings in London on Thursday.
The Mossad office in London received advance notice about the attacks, but only six minutes before the first blast, the paper reported. As a result, it was impossible to take any action to prevent the blasts.
“They reached us too late for us to do something about it,” a Mossad source was quoted as saying.
According to the German report, the Mossad relayed an analysis of the explosives used in the Mike’s Place attack to British security officials. Mossad sources are quoted as saying there is “high likelihood” the explosives used in Tel Aviv were the same ones used in London.
However, the story makes it unclear whether the Mossad is involved in any way in the investigation into the London bombings.
After analyzing the explosive material used in the Mike’s Place attack, the Mossad concluded it was produced in China and later smuggled into Britain, the paper reports.
The explosives were apparently stashed by terrorists connected to al-Qaeda who were able to evade raids by British security forces.
According to the newspaper, Mossad Chief Meir Dagan said the explosive in question is very powerful, and “much more lethal than plastic explosives and can be smuggled undetected due to its composition.”
Ill - tempered confrontation
Meanwhile, Chief of Staff Dan Halutz has apologized to Member of Knesset Uzi Landau (Likud), following a vocal confrontation in a hearing of the Committee for Foreign Affairs and Security.
Landau accused Halutz of being a member of the “club of IDF fare weathered major-generals who change their mind according to the wishes of Ariel Sharon, who himself is involved with political appointments of his cronies.”
Halutz interrupted Landau and shouted: “Are you suggesting that I am a political appointee?” He apologized to Landau for the outburst, but Landau has refused to apologize for his attack on the chief of staff.
