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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:
IDF: Hizbullah Busy Rearming - Yaakov Katz (Jerusalem Post)
Iran Plans Three Days of Missile War Games - Nasser Karimi (AP/Washington Post)
Iraqi Gunmen Wearing American Uniforms Kill Five U.S. Soldiers - Damien Cave (New York Times)
Arab Satellite Network Al Arabiya Shuts Down in Gaza after Hamas Threats - Sa'id Ghazali (Boston Globe)
Palestinian Wedding Gunfire Kills Brother of Groom, Injures Two Children (Palestinian Center for Human Rights)
Useful Reference:
The Herzliya Conference on Israel's National Security (Institute for Policy and Strategy,
Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya) Search Key Links Media Contacts Back Issues Fair Use
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns told the Herzliya Conference in Israel on Sunday that the limited sanctions imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council last month are just the beginning of the global effort to punish Iran. "Iran is going to have to suffer the consequences of being an international pariah," Burns said. "There's a rising sense in the world that all of us have to resist this effort by Iran to develop a nuclear weapons capability....We're hoping that the European governments and Russia and China will take additional measures so that the impact is that Iran will recalculate the price of developing a nuclear weapons program," he said. (AP/International Herald Tribune) See also U.S.: We Won't Allow Iranian Nuclear Weapons - Yaakov Lappin Burns told the conference, "the policy of the United States is that we cannot allow Iran to become a nuclear weapons state." (Ynet News) In August, Mohammed al-Seyed watched with pride as tractors in Bint Jbail driven by Hizbullah men began scooping away the rubble and debris of a month of war with Israel. More than five months later, however, with winter here, the tractors are gone, the men have disappeared, and Bint Jbail's town center still resembles Dresden after World War II. "They told us everything was going to be rebuilt soon," Seyed said Tuesday, speaking of town leaders. "They're not doing anything now. We want to build but they won't let us. They promise to pay us, but they don't. All we want is our homes back and they won't even let us have them!" (New York Times) Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas chief Khaled Mashaal met in Damascus Sunday but failed to resolve their differences over forming a Palestinian unity government. Recent Palestinian fighting has killed at least 62 people. The thorniest issues between the sides have been control of the security forces and Hamas' refusal to recognize Israel or commit to previous accords signed between Israel and the PA. Syria hosts the exiled leadership of several Palestinian militant groups, including Mashaal, who has lived in Damascus since 1997. (AP/Washington Post) Only one-fifth of the property that was stolen from Europe's Jews by the Nazis and their collaborators has ever been returned, leaving at least $115 billion in assets still missing, according to a new study by economist Sidney Zabludoff, a former CIA and U.S. Treasury official. The study, to appear in the Jewish Political Studies Review, showed that before the Holocaust, Jews owned property in Europe that was worth between $10 billion and $15 billion at the time. Most of that was never repaid, translating into a missing $115 billion to $175 billion in current dollars, the study said. There is little chance of a new push for restitution because Western European governments feel they already did their share, Eastern European governments feel they are too poor, and the U.S. and Israeli governments are too preoccupied with other issues, the study said. (AP/Washington Post) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
The Iranian threat was at the forefront of the strategic dialogue between Israel and the United States that took place in Tel Aviv Sunday. The Israeli and American teams, headed respectively by Transportation [and former Defense] Minister Shaul Mofaz and Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, discussed ways to halt Iran's nuclear program, its support for terror, and its attempts to expand its regional power and influence. (Ha'aretz) The Lebanese army seized 75 "Grad" missiles suspected of belonging to the extreme al-Jamaa al-Islamiya militant group. Security officials in Lebanon said Saturday that the missiles were found in a flour mill in the village of al-Biri in southern Lebanon. (Ynet News) Defense Ministry Director-General Maj.-Gen. (res.) Gabi Ashkenazi was chosen Sunday by Defense Minister Amir Peretz to become IDF chief of staff, replacing Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz, pending the cabinet's approval. Ashkenazi, 52, was deputy chief of staff until 2005. He previously served as head of Northern Command, commander of the Golani Brigade, and head of the IDF Operations Branch. (Jerusalem Post) See also Who is Gabi Ashkenazi? Renowned for his extensive experience as an IDF ground commander, Ashkenazi is also a graduate of the U.S. Marines Training Command School. He took part in the Entebbe operation and was deputy commander of the Golani Brigade during the 1982 Lebanon war. He earned the reputation of being an experienced general, "Mr. Lebanon," though he was not directly involved in the recent war in Lebanon. (Ynet News) Palestinians in Gaza fired three rockets at Israel on Sunday. (Jerusalem Post) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
Eleven months ago Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held a joint news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit to report on their talks in Cairo. After Aboul Gheit summed up the topics, Rice pointed out that he had forgotten one: "Iran. You missed Iran." She then spent most of her time on Egypt's progress - or lack of it - "as it faces questions of democracy and reform." Last week Aboul Gheit and Rice again appeared side by side. This time Iran loomed large in their discussions, as did Iraq. But it was Rice who neglected to mention something: "democracy and reform." The reversal this represents is staggering. In Rice's new parlance, Egypt has suddenly become part of a "moderate mainstream" in the Middle East, which she hopes will stand with the U.S. and Israel against the "extremists" - Iran, Syria, Hizbullah and Hamas. "We had a very rude awakening on September 11th, when I think we realized that our policies to try and promote what we thought was stability in the Middle East had actually allowed, underneath, a very malignant, meaning cancerous, form of extremism to grow up underneath, because people didn't have outlets for their political views," said Rice. She didn't need to add that al-Qaeda was founded, in large measure, by Egyptians. Five-and-a-half years after Sept. 11, the cancer is still growing in Egypt, and elsewhere in the "moderate mainstream." (Washington Post) Until municipal elections in December, the relatively young conservatives who control Iran's parliament and the more traditional conservatives beholden to the clerics were unsure of Ahmadinejad's popularity. But Ahmadinejad's humiliation at the polls - about 90% of his allies lost - has emboldened his opponents. Ahmadinejad comes from the most militant and ideologically driven faction in Iran, known as the Hizbullahis. In general, they are right-wing populists with security and military backgrounds in the Revolutionary Guard and the voluntary militia attached to it, the Basij. The president has gone out of his way to placate these extremist forces, granting them multibillion-dollar infrastructure contracts to develop the country's oil and gas sector, among other enterprises. (Los Angeles Times) Listen carefully to Ahmadinejad. He is not insane. He embodies very accurately the nature of the Iranian regime and he is gaining popularity among Muslims. Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, sitting in Damascus where he is supported by Iran and Syria, controls the military wing of Hamas and is more powerful than PA Prime Minister Ismael Haniyeh. Mashaal is responsible for the money, for the policy of terror, and he holds many cards relating to Israel's abducted soldier in Gaza. The writer is Director of Policy and Political-Military Affairs at the Israel Ministry of Defense. (Institute for Contemporary Affairs/Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Observations: Gen. Yaalon: Occupation Is Not Root of Conflict - Yaakov Lappin (Ynet News)
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