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Prepared for the
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
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To contact the Presidents Conference: click here In-Depth Issues:
Israel May Be Next Al-Qaeda Battleground - Steven Gutkin (AP/Washington Post)
Islamist Terrorist Sought to Buy "Dirty Bomb" - Nicola Woolcock (Times-UK)
U.S. Plans New Bases in the Middle East - William M. Arkin (Washington Post)
Wahhabi Groups and Islamization of Turkey Threaten the Security of Bulgaria (Focus News-Bulgaria)
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
The militant Islamic group Hamas moved closer to controlling the Palestinian government Wednesday, calling a special session of parliament to approve its new Cabinet despite objections from PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas over its refusal to recognize Israel. Abbas plans to state his complaints but in the end will give his blessing to the new Hamas governing team, an official said. Incoming Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh is forming a cabinet with 24 Hamas activists after no other party agreed to join. Incoming Foreign Minister Mahmoud Zahar said the debate over Hamas' governing program was over. "Nobody can make demands on us at this moment," he said. (AP/Washington Post) See also Islamic Jihad Backs Hamas Over Refusal to Recognize Israel Palestinian Islamic Jihad pledged its support Wednesday for the Hamas government's refusal to recognize Israel, saying such a move was a red line that cannot be crossed. "We reject the pressure and international provocation against Hamas to force it to recognize the Zionist state of Israel, recognize the humiliating agreements, and abandon the resistance," said Islamic Jihad leader Khader Habib. (IRIB-Iran) The U.S. has informally asked Japan to suspend its plans to develop an Iranian oil field as part of world efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, the Japanese daily Sankei Shimbun said on Thursday. U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick and Undersecretary of State Robert Joseph have asked Japan to at least temporarily suspend its plans to develop Iran's Azadegan oil field. Last week, Japan's largest refiner, Nippon Oil Corp., said it would cut its imports of Iranian crude due to rising risks associated with that country. (Reuters) Israel is the largest Middle Eastern investor in the U.S. According to the State Department, which published foreign investor rankings Wednesday, Israel was first from the Middle East, with $4.1 billion, followed by Kuwait, with $1.2 billion. (JTA) A controversial research report, "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," by Harvard professor Stephen Walt and University of Chicago professor John Mearsheimer, no longer sports the Harvard or Kennedy School of Government logos on the version available from the Harvard website. A new, much more prominent disclaimer on the front page reads: "The two authors of this Working Paper are solely responsible for the views expressed in it." (CAMERA) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
IDF forces Thursday killed at least two Islamic Jihad terrorists as they were attempting to place a bomb along the security fence in central Gaza, north of the Kissufim crossing. Since the IDF pullout from Gaza, terrorists have been continuously trying to place bombs along the fence. (Ynet News) On Wednesday, a special IDF unit detained a Palestinian in Ramallah who planned to carry out a suicide attack, along with two people who assisted him. The would-be bomber belongs to a Fatah Tanzim cell in Nablus and was arrested en route to Jerusalem, where he was supposed to receive the explosive belt. At this time, defense officials are dealing with 13 concrete warnings about plans to carry out terror attacks. (Ynet News) Israeli security officials admitted Wednesday that it was almost impossible to hermetically seal off the West Bank to prevent infiltrations by suicide bombers. While Tuesday's suicide attack was thwarted along the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv Highway, the fact that the bomber succeeded in entering Israel has many in the defense establishment losing sleep. The bombers, officials said, need to be stopped in their beds at home. The IDF is stepping up operations in the territories with an emphasis on "terror capitals" such as Jenin and Nablus - the Islamic Jihad's main stomping ground. The goal is to keep terror to a minimum and to prevent the transfer of information from Gaza to the West Bank related to the production of Kassam rockets. (Jerusalem Post) Since the election of Hamas to the PA government, the situation "has become more difficult" from a diplomatic perspective, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Wednesday. He reiterated Germany's "decisive" commitment to the three principles articulated by the Quartet and required of Hamas - a cessation of violence, recognition of Israel, and acceptance of previous agreements between Israel and the PA - as a condition for EU aid to the PA. He said that Germany acknowledges the Hamas victory had made the prospect of a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict more distant. (Jerusalem Post) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
Dr. Wafa Sultan, who was brought up as a Muslim in Syria, denounced the teachings and practice of Islam as "barbaric" and "medieval" on Al-Jazeera, the Arabic television network. Sultan was previously known only to a few for her writings on www.annaqed.com ("The Critic"), an Arab-American website. In 1979, when she was a student at university, she witnessed armed members of the Muslim Brotherhood shoot one of her teachers. "They filled his body with bullets as they shouted 'Allahu akbar! (God is great)'." She says they killed him even though he had nothing to do with politics. "This was the turning point of my life." She began to reread the Koran closely, gradually coming to the conclusion that the violence and oppression of most Muslim governments and some of those fighting against them stemmed directly from the teachings of Islam. She noticed that "there are too many verses in the Koran which say you must kill those who are non-Muslim; you must kill those who don't believe in Allah and his messenger. I started to ask: is this right? Is this human? All our problems in the Islamic world, I strongly believe, are the natural outcome of these teachings. Go open any book in any class in any school in any Islamic country and read it. You will see what kind of teachings we have: Islam tells its followers that every non-Muslim is your enemy." (Sunday Times-UK) Syria is now surrounded by Islamic regimes or groups that have used elections to gain power. To the north, Turkey's Justice and Development Party rules democratically. To the east, the Shiite coalition in Iraq has come to power through elections. Further east, Iran is ruled by Islamists who came to power during the 1979 revolution. To the west, in Lebanon, Hizballah has proven its legitimacy in elections. To the south, in the Palestinian territories, Hamas has a parliamentary majority. In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood scored well in parliamentary elections last year - an experience Jordan may replicate in elections tentatively scheduled for next year. Syria, which is ruled by a secular socialist and nationalist party, therefore looks increasingly isolated in an "Islamized" environment. The Hamas victory will inspire Syrians to become more involved in Islamic political movements. Lest we forget, Hamas is the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, whose Syrian branch is banned. Hamas' victory could tempt Palestinians in Syria (with a refugee population of some 450,000) to join Islamist groups. (Daily Star-Lebanon) At some point, the Arabs must learn that there are horrible consequences to horrible acts. They must learn that the only way forward, out of violence and ruin, is to rid themselves of the fanatics who prey upon their vitals. In the Palestinian territories, no sincere "peace advocate" can stand, publicly, and expect to live. He will be immediately arrested as an "Israeli agent," and a painful, humiliating, public death will follow within hours. Hundreds have been lynched in this way. That is the reality. We cannot negotiate with it, we can only try to find the way to overcome it, that is least costly in human lives and suffering. Subsidizing the enemy doesn't work, nor appeasement in any subtler form. (Ottawa Citizen) Observations: Hamas Unlikely to Moderate - Interview with Matthew Levitt by Bernard Gwertzman (Council on Foreign Relations)
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