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:
Abbas' Anti-Terror Forces Train in Russia - Matthew Kalman (New York Daily News)
Audit Finds U.S.-Funded Palestinian University Linked to Terrorism - Jim Tankersley (Chicago Tribune)
Israeli-Authored UN Resolution on Agricultural Technology Approved - Yitzhak Benhorin (Ynet News)
Saudis Give Big to U.S. Colleges - Julia Duin (Washington Times)
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
The National Council for Resistance in Iran (NCRI), the Iranian opposition group that first exposed Iran's nuclear-fuel program, said a U.S. intelligence analysis is correct that Tehran shut down its weaponization program in 2003, but claims that the program was relocated and restarted in 2004. According to the NCRI, Iran's Supreme National Security Council decided to shut down its most important center for nuclear-weapons research in eastern Tehran, called Lavisan-Shian, in August 2003. Lavisan was broken into 11 fields of research, including development of a nuclear trigger and of the technology to shape weapons-grade uranium into a warhead. At the same meeting, the council decided to disperse pieces of the research to a number of locations around Iran. By the time international nuclear inspectors were allowed access to Lavisan, the buildings had been torn down and the ground bulldozed. "They scattered the weaponization program to other locations and restarted in 2004," said Mohammad Mohaddessin, NCRI foreign affairs chief. (Wall Street Journal) See also Iran's Top Commanders Are Nuclear Weapons Scientists; Iran Nuclear Weapons Program Dispersed, Not Halted - Sharon Kehnemui Liss Twenty-one commanders of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are the top scientists running Iran's secret nuclear weapons program, says the man who exposed Iran's nuclear weapons program in 2002. On top of that, the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate published last week saying Tehran shut down its weaponization program in 2003 failed to mention that the program restarted in mid-2004, said Alireza Jafarzadeh, an Iranian dissident and president of Strategic Policy Consulting. Jafarzadeh told FOX News: "They have a number of sites controlled by the IRGC that have been off-limits to the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) inspectors, including a military university known as Imam Hossein University....They have perhaps the most advanced nuclear research and development center in that university." (FOX News) Gen. Francois El Hajj was among at least four people killed on Wednesday by a roadside bomb that also injured seven others in the Christian suburb of Baabda on the outskirts of Beirut. According to several sources, Hajj was tipped to replace the army's top commander General Michel Suleiman, who is the frontrunner to become Lebanon's next president. Many Arab and Western embassies are in Baabda, home of the presidential palace. (AFP) Twin car bombs near UN offices and an Algerian government building in Algiers killed dozens of people Tuesday. Two European diplomats in Algiers said they believe more than 60 people had died. The terrorist group Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility, posting photographs on Islamist Web sites of two men it claimed were suicide bombers who carried out the attacks, which it said were aimed at "the Crusaders and their agents, the slaves of America and the sons of France." Marie Okabe, the deputy spokeswoman for UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, said at least 11 UN staff members had died. (New York Times) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
A rocket barrage hit Israel's western Negev Wednesday, as Palestinians fired 18 Kassam rockets at Sderot. (Ynet News) See also Olmert Vows to Remove Gaza Rocket Threat - Barak Ravid Prime Minister Olmert vowed on Tuesday to remove the threat of Palestinian rockets from Israel. "The situation in the south of the country, in light of the Kassam rocket fire, has generated a difficult reality," he told an Institute for National Security Studies conference in Tel Aviv. "We will have to act on this matter in the necessary manner, with the appropriate dose and the right timing, without exaggerating and creating unrealistic expectations. We will not rest until the Kassam rocket threat is completely removed from Sderot and the western Negev." (Ha'aretz) A large-scale IDF operation in Gaza has dropped to the back burner in recent days after an assessment within the defense establishment found that the daily border raids the IDF has been conducting have had an effect on Hamas' military capabilities and could be behind news reports that the terror group was interested in reaching a truce with Israel, senior defense officials said Tuesday. Sources close to Hamas said the movement's leaders had all gone underground for fear of being targeted by Israel. (Jerusalem Post) See also IDF Operates to Distance Terrorists from Security Fence and Prevent Rocket Fire IDF forces have been operating against terrorist infrastructure in southern and northern Gaza in order to distance the terrorist organizations - particularly Hamas - from the security fence and in order to prevent Kassam rocket and mortar fire into Israel. In a number of separate incidents, IDF forces were confronted by armed gunmen in which exchanges of fire ensued and gunmen fired anti-tank rockets at IDF forces, who responded with fire at the gunmen. (IDF Spokesperson/IMRA) The Hamas government in Gaza has tightened its grip on three important civilian institutions: the court system, the municipalities, and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, adding to Gaza's character as a separate entity. The Palestinian bar instructed its 1,000 attorneys in Gaza not to cooperate with the new, Hamas-appointed judges. (Ha'aretz) See also Two Non-States for One People - Amira Hass Gaza is becoming another quasi-state entity in addition to the PA-run West Bank. By establishing a separate judiciary authority, the Hamas government transforms the court system into a branch of a political body and in effect eradicates Palestinian law. In this way it is trashing all Palestinian achievements as though they were propaganda of the rival party. (Ha'aretz) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
Right now, the Arab Gulf states are all sizing up America, their protector, and are wondering just how much Uncle Sam weighs in the standoff with Iran - and whether it will be enough to keep Iran at bay. I've been at a security conference in the tiny Gulf state of Bahrain, attended by defense officials and analysts from all over the world, and all the buzz has been about the latest U.S. National Intelligence Estimate on Iran. It has left every Arab and European expert I've spoken to baffled as to why its conclusions were framed in a way that is sure to reduce America's leverage to negotiate with Tehran. Bush officials are trying to tell everyone: "No, no, Iran is still dangerous. You have to keep the coalition together to get Tehran to stop enriching uranium." But in a world where everyone is looking for an excuse to do business with Iran, not to sanction it, we've lost leverage. Everyone in the neighborhood can smell it - and it worries them. (New York Times) First, America's intelligence reassessment will probably be a boon to hardliners in Tehran. Ahmadinejad will be able to say that Iran has stood firm and faced down the world. In such a climate, why should the Iranians make concessions? Second, there may be no "grand bargain" to be had. Most of the evidence suggests that the determination to get a nuclear bomb is a national project in Iran - uniting different political factions. The Iranians are not necessarily in a hurry, but the nuclear program has become a symbol of national machismo. Iran also has ambitions in the region. It is the biggest country in the Gulf area and it wants its "natural role" to be recognized. Yet there is no way the Americans are going to cede the dominant security role in the Gulf - a region that sits on top of 60% of the world's known oil reserves and 40% of its natural gas. (Financial Times-UK) Observations: The Dunderheaded Public Roll-Out of the NIE - Dennis Ross (New Republic)
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