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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 Concerned North Korean Nuclear Know-How, Material Reached Iran - Barak Ravid (Ha'aretz)
Head of Syrian Military Intelligence Says Hizbullah Terror Chief's Assassins Came from Syria (Jerusalem Post)
Yemen: Empty Jewish Homes Destroyed - Haviv Rettig (Jerusalem Post)
Report: 21 Palestinians Killed in Internal Mishaps in March - Ghassan Bannoura (IMEMC-PA)
Female Muslim Soldier Joins Elite Israel Air Force Rescue Unit - Yossi Yehoshua (Ynet News)
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
Iranian forces were involved in the recent battle for Basra, Gen. David Petraeus, the U.S. commander in Iraq, is expected to tell Congress this week. Military and intelligence sources believe Iranians were operating at a tactical command level with the Shi'ite militias fighting Iraqi security forces; some were directing operations on the ground. (Times-UK) Le Monde has obtained documents showing that Tehran has pursued a military nuclear program after 2003, contrary to an American National Intelligence Estimate published in December 2007. On Feb. 25, Olli Heinonen, the Finnish Deputy Director General of the IAEA, presented evidence of the existence of an Iranian military nuclear program. A letter in 2004 by Engineer Mahdi Khaniki, one of the main interlocutors of the IAEA and former Iranian ambassador to Syria, to Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, vice president of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), confirms the charge. The letter refers to purchase orders for the spare parts used in the development of centrifuges, copies of which were to be delivered to the IAEA. "However, portions of these contracts, which this writer [Khaniki] viewed at the Ministry of Defense, were crossed out with black lines and the quantities did not appear." This letter represents clear evidence of the Defense Ministry's involvement in the Iranian nuclear project. This confirms suspicions about the military nature of the program, while attesting to the efforts of the Iranians to conceal it. (Le Monde-France/NCR-Iran) Sderot, an Israeli town a mile from Gaza, has been pounded by Palestinian rockets for the past seven years. The sense that Sderot is actually Israel's front line in its battle for legitimacy and self-respect has gained real currency. Sderot is a bitter sample of what more distant parts of Israel may face if the threat here is ignored. (New York Times) Ibrahim Al-Najar used to operate his own egg distribution business in Gaza City until about a year ago, when he was beaten and robbed at gunpoint. Politically independent until then, he sold his business and joined Hamas' security forces. "At least now I know that my family is safe," he said. For many Gazans, the security has come at a heavy price. Women and young people feel pressured by the police presence to conform to Hamas' religious norms. "Security has been achieved through fear," said political analyst Talal Okal, "but we do not want the corrupt leaders back." Hamas has adopted a number of measures that have reduced the type of gang-style violence that was typical when Gaza was ruled by Fatah. Police are deployed across the city, civilians are forbidden from carrying arms in the street, face masks are banned and Hamas police are quick to respond to complaints. Carjackings, kidnappings and violent family disputes have declined significantly. (JTA) The U.S. Transportation Security Administration has set up over the past four years at the nation's major airports a rapidly expanding "behavior detection" program to spot terrorists or other dangerous air travelers by way of subtle clues in the way they act. The agency's efforts drew attention last week when screeners trained in behavior detection in Orlando arrested an Army veteran after he tried to check luggage containing pipe bomb-making materials onto a flight to Jamaica. The TSA began experimenting with behavior agents in Boston nearly five years ago, in part because of the perceived success of a similar program in Israel. (AP/Washington Post) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
Israel's largest-ever emergency exercise opened Sunday in a scenario that began with the firing of Katyusha rockets into northern Israel by Hizbullah. Israel also envisioned being hit by Syrian missiles and Hamas-fired Kassam and Katyusha rockets. During the exercise, rescue services will drill mass evacuations from "hit zones" - including chemical and biological attacks - and hospitals will drill their ability to treat thousands of injured. "This exercise is aimed at optimizing the complex inter-organizational response that is needed for a mass-casualty incident," said Yoram Ohayon, head of the Israel Police operations division. The recently formed National Emergency Authority, which helped design the exercise, emerged from the lessons of the Second Lebanon War. (Jerusalem Post) Veteran Fatah officials in Ramallah warned over the weekend that some of their "young guard" colleagues were planning to stage a "coup" against the faction's leadership, amid preparations for Fatah's General Conference - the first since 1989. The power struggle between the old guard and young guard has cast doubts over Fatah's ability to hold the conference. Moreover, it has raised doubts as to Fatah's ability to pursue peace talks with Israel. (Jerusalem Post) Gaza residents say a Palestinian farmer was killed on Saturday after a rocket fired by Palestinian terrorists toward Israel fell short and hit him. Medical sources in Gaza initially claimed he was wounded in an IDF artillery strike. (Ynet News) Two Palestinian rockets landed on the outskirts of Ashkelon on Saturday. Rocket alert sirens sounded throughout the city a short while before two loud explosions were heard. (Ynet News) See also Palestinian Rocket Fire Continues Sunday Palestinians in Gaza fired three Kassam rockets into Israel Sunday night. (Jerusalem Post) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
It is argued that it is necessary to talk to a terrorist organization in order to get it to change its policy, just as Britain did with the Irish Republican Army. But the example of the IRA is misleading. The IRA never had as one of its goals the destruction of Great Britain. For Israel, the U.S. and/or the EU to begin talks with Hamas before it changed its policy would give diplomatic legitimacy to its call to destroy Israel, and reward its terrorist actions, something that would only encourage more terrorism in the future. The writer is professor of political science at Baltimore Hebrew University and visiting professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University. (Baltimore Jewish Times) Of the 22 members of the Arab League, hardly one can truly claim to practice democracy as it is understood by the West. Eight of the 22 - Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE - have hereditary rulers; monarchies where the power passes from father to son, or brother to brother. Several have experienced military coups. Perhaps one simple guideline for judging a democracy is the number of living former presidents a country still has. You'd be hard pressed finding more than one or two. (Middle East Times) Israel's present is prosperous and secure. But its future is as uncertain as at any time in its 60 years of history. The country has emerged stronger from the second Palestinian intifada, which between 2000 and 2004 killed 946 Israelis and over 3,100 Palestinians. Israelis are now much safer thanks to aggressive security measures in the West Bank and Gaza. Meanwhile, the high-tech boom that began in the 1990s has not only survived the intifada but gone from strength to strength, fuelling impressive economic growth. Tourism is rebounding and property prices have shot up. (Economist-UK) Observations: Road Map to a Gaza War - Jackson Diehl (Washington Post)
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