Ze'ev Schiff

One has to be naive to the point of stupidity in order to believe that the Pakistani government did not know about the transfer of nuclear know-how to a number of countries, most of them Muslim, by the person who is considered the father of the Pakistani atomic bomb, Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan.

When there is a substantial difficulty in public relations, sometimes we find an escape hatch by claiming that the source of criticism of Israel is anti-Semitism. However, it is clear that not all those who criticize Israel are anti-Semites. Although it would be a generalization, it would be more correct to say of Europe that it is racist rather than anti-Semitic, as is evident from the attitude of many Europeans toward the Muslims who live among them.

If immediately on the appointment of Mahmoud Abbas as the first Palestinian prime minister, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had announced a decision in principle to evacuate most of the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, it is reasonable to assume the peace process would be looking very different now.

Recently, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon gave the Mossad the task of coordinating - and, in effect, conducting - the battle against the proliferation of nuclear weapons in countries hostile to Israel, as well as against the leaking of equipment and fissionable materials to these countries.

In the negotiations with Hezbollah, which were also indirect negotiations with Iran, it again became clear that there are things the United States cannot achieve on its own in the Middle East and that it needs help from Europe.

The strangest move on Israel's part this time was its willingness to release Palestinian prisoners via Hezbollah, while that organization is increasing its involvement in Palestinian terror in the West Bank and its efforts to recruit Israeli Arabs for terror activities. This is a big achievement for Hezbollah and proof to the Palestinians that Israel understands only the language of force.

Many people in the major intelligence services worldwide, including in Israel, believe that whatever Saddam had still exists, even if it has not been found. Others contend that the weapons were destroyed before the last stage of the war.

Will adjustments in the fence's route produce greater understanding in Europe for the steps that Israel is taking to defend itself? Unfortunately, the answer is "no." The dominant line in many places is that Israel has no right even to defend itself.

The Americans and British had good reason to suspect that if the Israelis knew about negotiations with Libya, it would leak - if only to make it more difficult to give their seal of approval to Gadhafi. But the Israeli intelligence failure is worrying in itself, especially since at a certain point, the contacts also involved Palestinians.

The government introduced plenty of deliberate confusion over the matter of outposts. And the argument is not only about numbers. At the Aqaba Summit, Sharon told the Americans that the establishment of outposts began before he became prime minister, during the premierships of Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu. The defense minister, on the other hand, said outposts should be defined as those established at the outset of the Sharon government in March 2001.

The positive step that has been taken by Iran and Libya cannot eradicate the years of lies. From the formal about-face that has occurred, it is not possible to conclude that in the Middle East, the lion is curling up with the lamb.

Just as Israel has claimed many times that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat is not a partner for peace, the Syrians can claim, and indeed are so doing, that the Israeli government is not a true partner for peace talks. Although there are glimmers of willingness to conduct negotiations, on the whole the Syrians are right.

No one in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) understood exactly what Prime Minister Ariel Sharon meant by Israeli "disengagement" from the Palestinian territories if no progress on their part is forthcoming in connection with the "road map" and if the terrorism continues.

The IDF's second thoughts about double fences and enclaves is another result of Israel's failure to explain the fence, and the pressure exerted by its friends. It is shameful that such an examination was not made sooner.

The most disturbing news last week, to which for some reason there was no reaction from the Israel Defense Forces spokesman, was the report of the attempt to blow up one of the military positions along the Egyptian-Israeli border in the Rafah area.

Two refusenik movements originating at opposite ends of the political spectrum are now threatening the unity of Israeli society and the Israel Defense Forces. The refusenik movements, from the left and from the right, are embraced in a sort of bear hug, but one should not mistakenly think that each exists as a result of the hostility between the two.

Only two intelligence services - those of Israel and the United States - stubbornly insisted for years that Iran was leading the world up the garden path. They discovered secret Iranian moves years ago.

Now, with the world preoccupied with Saddam Hussein's capture and his crimes, it is interesting to return to the affair that foreign sources called the Israeli plan to assassinate Saddam, the incident known as the Tze'elim 2 affair, in which five Sayeret Matkal soldiers lost their lives during preparations for the plan, which was called to a halt 11 years ago.

Many people no doubt believe that unilateral steps will take the pressure off Israel. Not necessarily. The opposite could be true if the unilateral steps are considered ploys to deepen and perpetuate the occupation.

The most astounding thing about the Syrian president's proposal to resume talks with Israel is the response of official Israel. It may have good reason to put question marks beside Bashar Assad, but its reply also raises big questions. Is Israel really interested in achieving peace with its neighbor to the north?

Israel has suffered a serious defeat in its attempt to explain why it needs the separation fence in the West Bank. This is in contrast to the fence built in the Gaza Strip, which was accepted without question.

Who would have believed that the day would come when the families of prisoners would demonstrate against each other and leak details against other prisoners? During the current argument over the deal with Hezbollah, there has been an effort by one side to prove that Mustafa Dirani should not be included in the deal, even if it means Elhanan Tannenbaum remains in Hezbollah custody.

Among Israel's three intelligence agencies - the Israel Defense Force's Military Intelligence (MI) branch, the Mossad, and the Shin Bet internal security service - the Shin Bet enjoys senior status in many respects.

The fight against terror should not only be aimed at the Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Just as the Tanzim gangs must be fought, so should the gangs of olive-tree cutters. They are dangerous because they and their kind will never allow any calm with the Palestinians - and that makes them another terrorist infrastructure.

When the void intensifies, there is always a return to the old declarations about the need to ease the situation of the Palestinians, but if the entire system is not shaken up, not only will the road map die, but Israel will return to a full military occupation and the reinstallation of the military government.