|
Prepared for the
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
| |||||
|
To contact the Presidents Conference: click here In-Depth Issues:
Europeans Ransomed Iraq Hostages - Daniel McGrory (Times-UK) Israel Campus Beat - May 21, 2006 Point Counter-Point: Israeli Identity and Judaism
"Al-Qaeda in Palestine" Threatens Abbas - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
Islamic Jihad Leader Killed in Air Strike - Joshua Brannon (Jerusalem Post)
Welcome to Al-Aksa University in Neve Dekalim - Rafael D. Frankel (Jerusalem Post)
Al-Jazeera Cars Torched in Ramallah - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
Search Key Links Media Contacts Back Issues Fair Use
|
News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
Iran is just a few months away from acquiring the technological know-how that will allow it to build an atomic bomb, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told CNN on Sunday. "This technological threshold is nearer than we anticipated before. This is because they are already engaged very seriously in enrichment," Olmert said. "The technological threshold is very close. It can be measured in months rather than years," he said. (AP/Washington Post) See also Olmert: Abbas Powerless to Speak for Palestinians - Nancy Waitz Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told CNN Sunday that Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas was powerless to speak on behalf of his people. "He is helpless. He's unable to even stop the minimal terror activities among the Palestinians," Olmert said. "So how can he represent that government in the most crucial, complex and sensitive negotiations, about which there are so many divisions within the Palestinian community?" In Israel, Abbas is widely seen as a weak leader unable to engage in peacemaking while the militant group Hamas is in power. (Reuters) See also Transcript: Interview with Ehud Olmert - Wolf Blitzer (CNN) Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Vice Premier Shimon Peres spoke Sunday with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas for 30 minutes at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh. (Washington Post) A draft law aimed at encouraging Islamic dress raised fears Saturday that Iran's hard-line government plans to re-impose veils and head-to-toe overcoats on women. On Friday, a Canadian newspaper, the National Post, quoting Iranian exiles, said the law would force Jews, Christians, and other religious minorities to wear special patches of colored cloth to distinguish them from Muslims. A copy of the draft law obtained by the Associated Press made no mention of religious minorities or any requirement of special attire for them, and the Post later backed off the report. (AP/Washington Post) The Bush administration is moving to establish a new antimissile site in Europe that would be designed to stop attacks by Iran against the U.S. and its European allies. The administration's proposal calls for installing 10 antimissile interceptors at a European site by 2011. Poland and the Czech Republic are among the nations under consideration. (New York Times) See also U.S. Exercise with Turkey Aimed at Iran - Steven R. Weisman The U.S. will hold a joint military exercise with Turkey next week aimed at demonstrating a determination to stop missile and nuclear technology from reaching Iran and other countries, Bush administration officials said Sunday. (New York Times) Prodded by the U.S. with threats of fines and lost business, four of the biggest European banks - UBS and Credit Suisse of Switzerland, ABN Amro of the Netherlands, and HSBC based in London - have started curbing their activities in Iran, even in the absence of a Security Council resolution imposing economic sanctions on Iran. Top Treasury and State Department officials have traveled to Europe and the Middle East in the past six months, invoking antiterrorism and banking laws to limit Iran-related activities of major banks. Stuart A. Levey, the undersecretary of the Treasury for terrorism and financial intelligence, said: "We are seeing banks and other institutions reassessing their ties to Iran. They are asking themselves if they really want to be handling business for entities owned by a government engaged in the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and support for terrorism." (New York Times) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
President Bush will stress in his talks with Prime Minister Olmert on Tuesday the need to consult with Jordan before moving to change the situation on the ground in the West Bank. A senior administration official said that Bush intends to ask Olmert about the role that Israel sees for Jordan in any decision regarding the West Bank, and noted that the issue of the border along the Jordan River also affects Jordan. Over the weekend Jordan's King Abdullah wrote to Bush warning against endorsing the Israeli unilateral withdrawal plan. (Jerusalem Post) A senior U.S. administration official said Sunday that the deteriorating situation in the territories makes Washington even less enthusiastic about funneling aid to the PA. "If Hamas has money to finance its people, who are riding about in cars and brandishing rifles, it should use it to pay teachers and doctors," he said. "Who's paying for their gas?" "The Hamas government is the one that ought to take care of its workers," he continued. "We have never paid the salaries of Palestinian Authority employees, and there is no reason for us to do so now." The official insisted that the U.S. and Europe have identical views of the Hamas government. (Ha'aretz) Palestinians in Gaza fired Kassam rockets at Israel Sunday morning, one of which landed inside a classroom at a religious high school in the town of Sderot. At the time, all the students were at the school's synagogue for a prayer service. (Ynet News) See also IDF to Fortify Schools Near Gaza - Hanan Greenberg The Israel Defense Forces was ordered to prepare an immediate plan to fortify schools in communities in the Gaza vicinity after a Kassam rocket hit a Sderot high school Sunday. Home Front Command officials said there is an instruction not to teach in classrooms on the top floors of schools located around the Gaza Strip, for fear a rocket will directly hit the building. (Ynet News) See also Palestinian Rocket Lands near IDF Base in Western Negev Palestinians in Gaza fired a Kassam rocket Sunday evening that landed near an army base in the western Negev. (Jerusalem Post) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
A 2004 Saudi royal study group recognized the need for reform after finding that the kingdom's religious studies curriculum "encourages violence toward others, and misguides the pupils into believing that in order to safeguard their own religion, they must violently repress and even physically eliminate the 'other.'" Since then, the Saudi government has claimed repeatedly that it has revised its educational texts. The problem is: These claims are not true. A review of a sample of official Saudi textbooks for Islamic studies used during the current academic year reveals that an ideology of hatred toward Christians and Jews and Muslims who do not follow Wahhabi doctrine remains. First Grade text: "Fill in the blanks with the appropriate words (Islam): Every religion other than ____ is false." The writer is director of the Center for Religious Freedom at Freedom House. (Washington Post) If Israeli President Moshe Katsav were to send a letter to the president of Iran, this is what he might write: Unless we begin to communicate directly, with civility and mutual respect, we will soon be in a conflict which will cause unimaginable destruction. As Israelis listen to your rhetoric and watch your actions, we see many of the danger signals that have preceded the catastrophic wars that have been waged against us. We have no choice but to consider the day when these words threatening our annihilation can be backed by the missiles and nuclear weapons you are acquiring. If you are unaware of the trauma resulting from our failure in 1973 to preempt the Egyptian and Syrian attacks, can you know how our leaders will act when faced with growing threats of destruction from Iran? Let us communicate, Mr. President. Failure to do so could lead to unilateral action. (Jerusalem Post) At the funeral last week of Justice Ozbilgin, Turkish crowds booed Foreign Minister Gul. Prime Minister Erdogan was a no-show. They applauded President Sezer and the generals who attended. We have been charting the evolution of the ruling party's assault on secularism. Erdogan may not have pulled the trigger, but he certainly greased the gun. Most recent U.S. ambassadors to Turkey have peddled the fiction that the ruling Justice and Development Party [AKP] was conducting business as usual. (National Review) Observations: Israeli Diplomats to Sue Ahmadinejad at International Court of Justice in The Hague - Ronen Bergman (Ynet News)
To subscribe to the Daily Alert, send a blank email message to: [email protected] To unsubscribe, send a blank email message to: [email protected] |
||||