|
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:
Egyptian Charged with Spying for Israel Pleads "Not Guilty," Says He Confessed Under Torture (AP/USA Today) Israel Campus Beat - February 25, 2007 Point Counter-Point: Palestinian Statehood?
Secret UK Report: Terror Threat Worst Since 9/11 - Sean Rayment (Sunday Telegraph)
Hamas Delegation Arrives in Moscow (Pravda-Russia)
Israeli Film Wins Oscar (Reuters)
Useful Reference:
Hamas-Fatah Agreement Does Not Meet Requirements of the International Community (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Search Key Links Media Contacts Back Issues Fair Use
|
News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
Iran has launched a sub-orbital rocket for scientific research, not a missile capable of reaching space as earlier reported, Ali Akbar Golrou, an official of Iran's aerospace research center, told the Iranian Fars News Agency on Sunday. The rocket would not stay in orbit but could rise to about 150 km (94 miles) into the atmosphere before falling to earth by parachute. Iranian advances in building missiles capable of reaching space are watched closely by the West because the same technology could be used to build intercontinental ballistic missiles. (Reuters) See also The Global Range of Iran's Ballistic Missile Program - Uzi Rubin A space launcher that can orbit a satellite weighing 300 kg can be altered into an ICBM that could drop more than 300 kg on Washington. (ICA/JCPA) Hizbullah is building a new line of defenses just north of the UN-patrolled zone in south Lebanon ahead of a potential resumption of war with Israel. The military build-up is being conducted in valleys and hillsides guarded by uniformed Hizbullah fighters in the mountains north of the Litani River. "The state of Hizbullah is already in existence in south Lebanon," said Druze leader and Hizbullah critic Walid Jumblatt. Some Lebanese officials view Hizbullah's rearming as part of the looming showdown between the U.S. and Iran over its nuclear ambitions. (Times-UK) See also Hizbullah: We Are Rearming and Transporting Arms to South Lebanon On February 16, 2007, Hizbullah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in a speech in south Beirut, admitted that Hizbullah was rearming and secretly smuggling arms and ammunition to south Lebanon, in blatant violation of Security Council Resolution 1701 which ended the second Lebanon war. (Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center) European leaders told Mahmoud Abbas that a Palestinian unity government must clearly recognize Israel, renounce violence, and accept interim peace deals for sanctions to end, Abbas aides said on Sunday. "We have asked the Europeans to help us lift the sanctions but their response was that the Palestinian government must be clear in its acceptance of the Quartet conditions," senior Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said after a European tour by Abbas. (Reuters) The month-long war against Hizbullah in Lebanon last summer has turned out to be a barely visible blip on Israel's economic chart. The Central Bureau of Statistics in Jerusalem reported last week that the cost of the war was only 0.3% of GDP, leaving Israel's growth last year at 5.1%, the third year in a row the economy's growth has topped 5%. (The Australian) See also Palestinian Economy Shrinks 21 Percent in Fourth Quarter of 2006 (AP/Ha'aretz) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
Erez Levanon, 42, a father of three and a resident of Bat Ayin in the West Bank, was found stabbed to death Sunday in a valley near the Palestinian village of Beit Omar. (Ynet News) IDF Intelligence Chief Amos Yadlin presented the 2007 Intelligence Assessment to the government Sunday and said that Israel was surrounded by greater risks than in years past. He said Iran is one of the most extreme forces in the region, as a financer of local terror groups such as Hizbullah. He also said, "The Syrians are building up their military strength, but the odds of a full-scale war launched by Syria - like the Yom Kippur or the Six-Day War - are low." Mossad Chief Meir Dagan said, "Hizbullah is building up its military force, including a renewal and upgrading of its systems, and is simultaneously strengthening its political power in the Lebanese government." (Ynet News) IDF forces on Sunday exposed the second explosives laboratory in two days in the West Bank city of Nablus, a major hub of terror activity. The laboratory contained a LAW guided missile, five pipe bombs, a large explosive device, two bottles of TNT, and four sacks of fertilizer to be used in bomb manufacture. (See IDF Video). (Ynet News) See also IDF Operates Against Terror Capital - Yaakov Katz In 2006, 117 out of the 190 would-be suicide bombers captured in the West Bank were caught in Nablus, and 9 out of the 11 suicide belts seized were found there. "This is a terror capital where all the groups work together to carry out attacks against Israel," said Brig.-Gen. Yair Golan, commander of the Judea and Samaria Division. He noted that the residents of Nablus "were not like they used to be" and did not take to the streets in massive riots in response to the IDF operation. (Jerusalem Post) Israel will appoint Majali Wahabe its first acting Druze president this week, to replace acting president Dalia Itzik who leaves for a week-long visit to the U.S. Yediot Ahronot reported Sunday. (Deutsche Presse-Agentur) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
A month ago, Majed Ghrayeb, a top Fatah security official, was at home in Jabaliya in Gaza when the Hamas Interior Ministry's Executive Force attacked his house. Within minutes of the attack, Mahmoud Abbas called Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in an effort to get Ghrayeb released. Haniyeh reached the commanders on the ground, ordered them to release Ghrayeb, and was promised that he would be let go "in five minutes," according to an official in the room at the time. The Hamas fighters executed Ghrayeb and dumped his body in the street. Despite Abbas' and Haniyeh's recent moves toward cooperation, the two men have failed to address what might be the only issue that currently matters: who will command the thousands of underpaid and overarmed gunmen who wander the streets of the Gaza Strip "keeping order." (Slate) A newly released UN report epitomizes the foul anti-Semitism which has overtaken the UN human-rights machinery. In language reminiscent of Nazi Germany, John Dugard, the UN's "Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967," has announced that Jews seeks racial domination. In Dugard's words: "The IDF inflicts serious bodily and mental harm on Palestinians....Palestinians throughout the OPT [Occupied Palestinian Territory] are denied freedom of movement. Can it seriously be denied that the purpose of such action is to establish and maintain domination by one racial group (Jews) over another racial group (Palestinians) and systematically oppressing them?" American tax dollars were used to pay for the Dugard report and its dissemination worldwide by the UN. Isn't it about time the tap was turned off? (National Review) Israeli-Arab journalist Khaled Abu Toameh, reporter and editor for the Jerusalem Post, US News & World Report and NBC News, spoke in Austin on Sunday. He said, "A two-state system is great, but it's not going to work. Gaza and the West Bank are too far separated geographically, politically and culturally to work. And instead of focusing on the ideal promotion of love and harmony in the area, we need to look at reducing violence and friction, because the divisions are too wide." He spoke of the different attitudes toward freedom of the press in Palestinian newspapers versus Israeli papers: "Simply enough, Israel has freedom of the press, and Palestine doesn't." "I believe true democracy is possible in the area, but not anytime soon," he concluded. (Daily Texan-University of Texas) Observations: In the Arab Mind, Peace Equals Capitulation - Saul Singer (Jerusalem Post)
Subscribe to the Daily Alert Unsubscribe from the Daily Alert |
||||