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Prepared for the
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in association with the Fairness Project by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
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To contact the Presidents Conference: [email protected]
In-Depth Issue:
Hussein Had '91 Exile Plan (AP/Toronto Globe and Mail)
800 Missiles to Hit Iraq in First 48 Hours
- Andrew West (Sydney Morning Herald)
Israel at the Polls - 2003:
The 16 Tribes of Israel (Reuters)
Tarmit Fortress in Gaza: Voting Under Fire - Felix Frisch (Yediot Ahronot)
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News Resources - North America and Europe:
President Bush's State of the Union address Tuesday will include neither a final ultimatum for Iraq nor a timetable for deciding on war, but will try to convince skeptics around the world that Saddam Hussein is an imminent danger to peace. (Washington Post) After almost two months of daily searches, the inspectors have been unable to confirm U.S. and British suspicions that a host of former weapons sites and industrial facilities have been rebuilt during the past four years to produce banned weapons. (Washington Post) The U.S. has detected indications that Saddam Hussein is planning to blow up Iraq's 1,500 oil wells in the event of a U.S.-led invasion, including evidence that he has already wired some well heads with explosives, the Pentagon said Friday. One defense official said: "There are a number of indications through reliable intelligence sources that the process (of planning oil well destruction) may have already begun." After the 1991 Gulf War, Iraqi forces set fire to 730 of Kuwait's 1,000 oil fields, which Washington said cost $20 billion to repair. The official added that there is also evidence Saddam is planning to release up to 3 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf. (London Times) Detectives investigating a plot by Islamic terrorists to carry out a chemical weapons attack in Britain found chemical warfare protection suits at the Finsbury Park mosque in north London last Monday. The discovery confirmed growing fears by police and MI5 that a chemical attack is being planned by al Qaeda in Britain. Last month a chemical warfare suit was seized after French police arrested four suspects in a Paris suburb. (London Times) Turkey is expected to receive as much as $14 billion, most of it in the form of loan guarantees, in exchange for cooperation in a possible war. Washington has also promised Jordan an aid package worth more than $1 billion. (Reuters)
News Resources - Israel, the Mideast, and Asia:
CNN's Michael Holmes: "In the last hour, some five Qassam rockets were fired by Palestinians into Israel on the northern border of Gaza. We saw three or four of them take off from our position here [in Gaza City] into Israel." (CNN) IDF Activity in Gaza City (Israel Defense Forces) Following the launching of Kassam missiles toward the city of Sderot and other Israeli communities, IDF units operated in Gaza City to destroy over 100 lathes used to produce weapons such as Kassam missiles and mortars. Since the beginning of the violence, over 1,400 mortars and Kassam missiles have been launched toward Israeli communities. During the operation, dozens of explosive devices, anti-tank missiles, and massive gunfire were directed at IDF soldiers. The soldiers returned fire toward the armed terrorists. There were no casualties among the IDF forces. "In the last few weeks and over the past weekend we have seen an increase in attempts by terror organizations, in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, to carry out attacks," Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told Israel Radio Sunday. Mofaz cited the 10 Kassam rockets fired by Hamas from the Gaza Strip on Friday on the Negev town of Sderot. "We must provide defense to the citizens of Israel," he said. (Ha'aretz) IDF Strikes Deep into Gaza to Combat Rocket Attacks - Margot Dudkevitch Palestinians reported 12 killed and more than 50 wounded after the deepest IDF incursion into Gaza City in years. The majority of those killed were Hamas and Islamic Jihad affiliates. Palestinian reports identified them as "combatants." Senior officers said the Palestinians have recently moved the rocket launchers from Beit Hanoun to the Jabalya refugee camp due to IDF pressure. "The Palestinians are launching these attacks from densely populated areas, putting their own civilians at risk," one senior officer said. (Jerusalem Post) Palestinians Surprised at Raid - Matthew Gutman Many Palestinians were chagrined to learn that Israel incurred no casualties in a raid many Palestinians had believed it would be too cautious to launch. (Jerusalem Post) A donkey rigged with explosives blew up Sunday morning as a bus passed on the road from Jerusalem to Gush Etzion, approximately 80 meters from a nearby IDF roadblock. No one was wounded, though a bus passenger was treated for shock. According to the army, a gas canister filled with explosives and metal rods was strapped to the donkey and a second, full of explosives, was placed next to it. The bombs were detonated simultaneously by two cellphones. (Jerusalem Post) The Palestinian Authority has not tried to stop Hamas from carrying out attacks, including suicide bombings, the group's spiritual leader said on Friday. When asked what assistance the PA gave Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin said: "They turn a blind eye or turn their back." (Jerusalem Post)
Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis
(Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
Israel has found itself, over the past few days, facing a new kind of front along the border with the Gaza Strip. In the last week, Sderot and the surrounding kibbutzim and moshavim have come under a daily barrage of rockets. The mass production of the Kassams, with a range of 7.5 kms, is beginning to bother the IDF, concerned for possible casualties if one such "primitive" rocket hit a heavily-populated building. Palestinian losses from the Israeli action have shown them what to expect from a more wide-scale offensive. (Ha'aretz) Even the Bush administration's most reluctant warrior has come to accept the validity of the link that embattled Kurds have been trying to warn us of since Sept. 11: Saddam and the followers of bin Laden are bedfellows. Iraq, concluded Secretary of State Colin Powell this weekend in Switzerland, has "clear ties to terrorist groups, including al Qaeda." (New York Times) Rust-colored butchers' hooks, 20 or more, each four or five feet long, are aligned in rows along the ceiling of a large hangar-like building in the grimmest fortress in Iraq's gulag - the place of mass hangings that have been a documented part of life under Saddam Hussein. If an attack is launched without convincing proof that Iraq is still harboring forbidden arms, history may judge that the stronger case was the one that needed no inspectors to confirm: that Saddam Hussein, in his 23 years in power, plunged this country into a bloodbath of medieval proportions, and exported some of that terror to his neighbors. (New York Times) IDF Experts Say Intifada Violence Has Passed Its Peak - Amos Harel (Ha'aretz)
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