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Prepared for the
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in association with Access/Middle East by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
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To contact the Presidents Conference: [email protected]
In-Depth Issue:
Iraq's Real Weapons Threat - Rolf Ekeus (Washington Post)
Terrorists Travel on Gaza Highway Within Hours of Pullback (IMRA)
Palestinian Poll: 57% Oppose Ending Armed Intifada, 56% Oppose Ending Incitement (IMRA)
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News Resources - North America and Europe:
The Bush administration is considering increasing aid to the Palestinians and providing the first direct assistance to the PA, administration officials said Monday. An initial expenditure of $300 million is being considered by the CIA to help the PA deal with Hamas and other militant Palestinian groups. There were reports that $1 billion in aid to the PA was discussed, but most knowledgeable officials said such a large amount probably could not be absorbed by the authority at present. The PA already receives more than $1 billion a year from outside sources, principally from the EU and the Arab League, although that amount includes $200 million in American aid transmitted through the UN and independent relief organizations. (New York Times) Ali Abd al Rahman al Faqasi al Ghamdi, the Afghan veteran captured by the Saudis for his key role in the May 12 bombings in Riyadh, comes from the same Saudi tribe as two of the 9-11 hijackers. He appears to have taken instructions for the attack from senior Qaeda leaders in Iran - possibly including military commander Saif Al-Adel and Saad bin Laden, one of Osama's sons. U.S. investigators believe al Ghamdi received help from bin Laden sympathizers within the Saudi National Guard. Last week's dramatic commando-style raid in Malawi netted five terror suspects including a Saudi national who was the local director of the Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz Special Committee for Relief, a charitable foundation overseen by Saudi Arabia's longtime defense minister. (Newsweek) The U.S. has returned five Syrian border guards wounded during a U.S. assault on a convoy at the Syria-Iraq border, officials announced Monday. (AP/Washington Post) News Resources - Israel, the Mideast, and Asia:
After a Palestinian opened fire Tuesday at an IDF checkpoint outside the West Bank city of Tul Karm, soldiers returned fire and killed the attacker. On Monday, a Bulgarian construction worker was shot dead by Palestinian gunmen who opened fire on an Israeli truck carrying road construction workers. A local leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, affiliated with Arafat's Fatah movement, said his armed group was behind the attack near the city of Jenin and that it would not abide by the ceasefire announced on Sunday. (Ha'aretz) Palestinian gunmen opened fire on an IDF post near Ganei Tal in Gush Katif in the Gaza Strip. (Jerusalem Post) Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz confirmed that Israel would hand over authority in Bethlehem to the Palestinians on Wednesday. Shin Bet secret service chief Avi Dichter said Tuesday that the PA must begin disarming terror organizations in the Gaza Strip within two or three weeks, or Israel will freeze further handovers of security authority. "Hamas has no chance in a direct confrontation with the Fatah, and Hamas knows that better than all of us," Dichter said. PA forces and Fatah commanded at least 10,000 armed men, he said. Yasser Arafat has retained his power, Dichter said, adding that the number of Palestinian security men under Arafat's control was greater than the number under the control of Abu Mazen. (Ha'aretz) Heeding Israeli concerns that the cease-fire may be used by Hamas to regroup and re-arm, the U.S. is dispatching two generals to monitor PA action to dismantle the terrorist organizations. According to senior Israeli officials, the generals will be able to pass on to Washington an independent military assessment of whether or not steps are taken during the cease-fire period to dismantle the terrorist military infrastructure, and whether the organizations are continuing recruitment and the smuggling of weapons. (Jerusalem Post) On Tuesday the foundations of the unauthorized Shehab a-Din mosque, which Muslims sought to erect next to the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, were razed by order of the Interior Ministry. The large church is a focus of Christian pilgrimage from abroad. Some six years ago, the government initially granted approval to the mosque project, which was to have been built less than 500 meters from the church, but the decision was reversed under heavy pressure from world Christians. (Ha'aretz) See also The Islamization of Nazareth - Raphael Israeli (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Nearly three years after Jerusalem's Temple Mount was declared off limits to non-Muslims, Jerusalem police have begun permitting small groups of Jewish and Christian tourists as well as Israelis to reenter the site, police said Monday. Police had barred non-Muslims from entering the Temple Mount since September 2000, the longest period Judaism's holiest site has been closed to Jews and Christians since the unification of Jerusalem in 1967. The reopening of the site came in the wake of unanimous agreement by Israeli security officials that Israel was setting a dangerous precedent by keeping the site closed for so long. The move was also made possible after security officials deemed that the influence of the PA in Jerusalem was on the decline. (Jerusalem Post) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
While Hamas may accept a temporary truce with Israel, it is highly unlikely that it will agree to hand in its weapons to the PA or tone down its vicious anti-Jewish incitement, as required by the Road Map. It is more likely that Hamas will mobilize public support against any perceived concessions by Palestinian negotiators and wait for the opportunity to resume terrorist activity during future crises in the negotiations process. (Dayan Center/Jaffee Center - Tel Aviv University) "They will never say this to your face, but Hamas has quietly arrived at a new strategy on the conflict," says a source close to the organization's Gaza leadership. "It is a return to pragmatic reason. The majority of leaders have come to accept the hopelessness of the situation, that this is a war of liberation with only one actual army. They realize Israel cannot be defeated, now or at any time in the foreseeable future....So, they are prepared to stand aside - to put the dream of destroying Israel on the shelf for future generations." "And in the end, Hamas will still have strength as an Islamic movement, as a political movement, able to hold its head high to Palestinians and say, 'It wasn't us; it was the PA who betrayed you.'" (Toronto Star) The sweeping military victory in Iraq has cleared the way for the U.S. to establish yet another framework for Persian Gulf security. Ironically, with Saddam Hussein gone, the problems are actually going to get more challenging in some ways. The three main issues will be Iraqi power, Iran's nuclear weapons program, and domestic unrest in the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council. (Foreign Affairs) Observations: Replacing Saudi Arabia - Rich Lowry (Townhall.com)
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