(IsraelNN.com) Though Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced that he “knows nothing” about reports of Syria’s “willingness” to accept the Golan in stages, Golan residents are taking no chances. Uri Heitner of the Golan Residents Committee says Israelis must be aware of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad’s true intentions: “It’s enough to see him walking arm in arm with [Iranian leader Mahmoud] Ahmedinajad and talking about a ‘new Middle East without Jews’ to know what he really wants. The State of Israel must realize that the choice is simple: Either we keep our sovereignty in the Golan, or we give it up to the axis of evil.”

Reports circulating on Tuesday stated that Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Muallem recently expressed willingness to compromise on its demand for the entire Golan immediately. Muallem reportedly told British sources that Syria would announce an end to the hostility between Syria and Israel if it receives half the Golan, would agree to allow Israel to build an office in Damascus in return for another 25 percent, and would open a Syrian embassy in Israel in exchange for the whole thing.

Netanyahu’s office announced Tuesday afternoon that it knew nothing of such a plan.

Heitner lives in Kibbutz Or-Tal, in the northeastern Golan, just under ten kilometers from the Syrian border. “I don’t understand what there is to be excited about in this new plan,” he told Arutz-7. “It’s like saying that they are willing to kill us slowly and torturously instead of in one fell swoop.”

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Hamas Furious over Negotiations Go-Ahead

(IsraelNN.com) Defense Minister Ehud Barak met with U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell Saturday night amid doubts and fears that overshadow prospects of this week’s planned indirect talks between the Palestinian Authority and Israel. 

The failure of Mitchell to convince the PA to resume direct talks with Israel reflect PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ refusal to compromise on his pre-conditions. Mediated talks are expected to begin this week, with Mitchell shuttling between PA negotiator Saeb Erekat and Israeli negotiator Yitzchak Molcho.

“While both sides continue to say they hold out hopes for resumption of talks, privately they admit that while they were enthusiastic in the first months of the Obama presidency, they believe that window has shut,” noted the Australian newspaper Saturday night. “Also, privately, they say they fear an increase in violence and tension."

The Arab world already has given notice that it is allowing only four months for an agreement based on its demands for a new PA state to include all of eastern Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. The Arab League stated on al Jazeera television, “We intend in four months time to bring back the whole of the peace process to the Security Council, thus ending the role of honest broker role played so far by the US and to put an end to the peace process.”

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(IsraelNN.com) The Palestinian Authority is going ahead with plans to honor the notorious female mass-murder terrorist Dalal Mughrabi  during United States Vice-President Joe Biden's visit to the region. Biden begins a three-day visit to Israel Monday evening.

One of his top goals is said to be encouraging Israel and the PA to resume negotiations, albeit through intermediaries.

On Thursday morning, the last day of Biden's visit, PA officials will gather in Ramallah to dedicate a square in honor of Mughrabi. Thursday will also be the 32nd anniversary of the 1978 attack led by Mughrabi, which is commonly known as the Coastal Road Massacre.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has protested to U.S. officials over the PA's plan to honor Mughrabi. The Obama administration has not made a formal response.

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(IsraelNN.com) The Knesset will hold a ceremonious session on Tuesday in memory of the Olei HaGardom – the 12 pre-State Jewish underground fighters who fought Arab attacks and the British Mandate's betrayal of the Jews and whom the British sentenced to death by hanging between 1938 and 1947.

The words Olei HaGardom mean “those who ascended (were hanged on) the gallows.” Most of them, all members of the Etzel (Irgun Zvai Leumi - National Military Organization) and Lehi  (Lohamei Herut Yisrael - Fighters for the Freedom of Israel), were hanged in Acre (Akko) prison.

"You should know this: There is no power in the world that can sever the tie between the Jewish people and their one and only land. Whosoever tries to sever it - his hand will be cut off and the curse of G-d will rest on him forever." 

The Etzel and Lehi were Zionist underground groups that fought to free the Land of Israel from British rule during the 1940s.

The Knesset session will be the main commemoration during three days of special events in honor of the 12 and will be held by the Menachem Begin Heritage Center and the Uri Zvi Greenberg Legacy Center.

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