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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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Tuesday, October 13, 2009 | ||
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In-Depth Issues:
Turkey Sends Ten Ministers to Syria for Strategic Talks - Herb Keinon (Jerusalem Post)
See also Turkey Plays Down Tensions with Israel - Ivan Watson (CNN)
Israeli Doctors Aid Philippines (ReliefWeb)
Gaza Children's Parliament Hands Abbas Life Sentence Over Handling of Goldstone Report - Ali Waked (Ynet News)
Useful Reference:
The Goldstone Report: A Study in Duplicity (CAMERA) Search Key Links Media Contacts Back Issues Fair Use/Privacy |
News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
A cache of munitions exploded in the house of a local Hizbullah official in southern Lebanon on Monday, producing conflicting reports of casualties. Security officials said the blast in the village of Tayr Filsi, on the southern bank of the Litani River, killed five people, including the Hizbullah official and his son. (Reuters-New York Times) See also Peres: Hizbullah Turning Lebanon into Powderkeg "Hizbullah has turned Lebanon into a powderkeg," Israeli President Shimon Peres charged on Tuesday. "It's not Israel that is endangering Lebanon, but rather Hizbullah, just as Hamas is endangering the Palestinians." "There is no reason for Israel not to make peace with Lebanon," he said, adding that Israel's northern neighbor "could be, with the help of this peace, the Switzerland of the Middle East. But it's clear to everyone who is preventing this." (AFP) See also Israel Calls for UN Investigation of Weapons Explosion in Southern Lebanon - Avi Issacharoff and Jack Khoury, Israel has demanded that the UN investigate an explosion at a Hizbullah house in southern Lebanon on Monday, which it said proved munitions were being stockpiled in violation of a truce. (Ha'aretz) U.S. troops boarded the German-owned freighter Hansa India in the Gulf of Suez in early October and found eight containers full of ammunition, allegedly headed to Syria from Iran. The shipment is in violation of a UN weapons embargo and has become a source of chagrin in Berlin. Investigators suspect that the arms were part of an Iranian shipment bound for either the Syrian army or for Hizbullah, the militant Islamist group. The ship has for years been under charter to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines. (Der Spiegel-Germany) See also Britain Announces Trading Ban with Two Big Iranian Companies - Catherine Philp Britain has increased pressure on Iran over its nuclear program by announcing a trading ban with two Iranian companies that violated UN sanctions: The Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines and Bank Mellat, one of Iran's largest banks. The action brings Britain closer into line with the American sanction regime on Iran. (Times-UK) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened the Knesset's winter session Monday by blasting the Goldstone Commission's report accusing Israel of committing war crimes during its war against terrorists in Gaza earlier this year. "This distorted report, written by this distorted committee, undermines Israel's right to defend itself. This report encourages terrorism and threatens peace," Netanyahu said. "Israel will not take risks for peace if it can't defend itself." "Israel's leaders and its army are those who defended the citizens of Israel from war criminals." "We will not allow Ehud Olmert, Tzipi Livni and Ehud Barak, who sent our sons to war, to arrive at the international court in the Hague," he added. (Ha'aretz) The U.S. sent a message to Egypt stating it does not support the proposed reconciliation agreement between Fatah and Hamas as it would undermine negotiations with Israel. George Mitchell, the U.S. envoy to the Middle East, met on Saturday in Cairo with the chief of Egyptian intelligence, Gen. Omar Suleiman, and told him the U.S. would not support an agreement not aligned with the principles of the Quartet, which include recognition of the State of Israel, acknowledging earlier agreements, and renouncing terrorism. (Ha'aretz) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
The recent Temple Mount riots and Mahmoud Abbas' renewed request for a UN discussion of the Goldstone report again point to the deep structural failure inherent in Palestinian political culture. The Palestinians are proving yet again that even the responsible elements among them cannot act in a constructive manner in order to build their society and promote agreement with Israel. At the moment of truth, the radicals win. The Palestinian handling of the Goldstone report illustrates how Palestinian society has become addicted to the pose of the ultimate victim, which involves de-legitimization of the Jewish state's existence. When Palestinian anti-Semitic propaganda regarding Israeli "crimes" was granted a tailwind courtesy of a negligent judge who works in the service of a body hostile to Israel, the Palestinians were unable to forego the party. Israel's problem is not that there's no Palestinian with whom we can discuss a constructive deal. The problem is that when a Palestinian who shows indications of political responsibility appears, he cannot speak on behalf of his people. The writer is director of the National Security Studies Center at the University of Haifa. (Ynet News) An Iranian nuclear program would rearrange the region's political, economic, and cultural furniture. If Iran gets the bomb, other regional powers will pursue nuclear programs - if they are not already doing so. Inevitably in a region as volatile as this, there will be a few small-scale nuclear catastrophes, probably rulers targeting their own people. Saddam gassed the Kurds and slaughtered the Shiites, Hafez Assad massacred the Sunnis of Hama, and mass graves throughout the region testify to the willingness of Arab rulers to kill their own people - in their hands, a nuclear weapon is merely an upgrade in repressive technology. An Islamic bomb is concrete evidence that Iran's strategy of "resistance" to the West is a winning one. And this will change the region's political culture from radical to many times more radical. At best, this means that even U.S.-friendly regimes will have no choice but to raise the pitch of their anti-American rhetoric to stay in step with their rivals. Consequently, the basing rights that we have throughout the Gulf states are likely to be terminated. At worst, an Iranian bomb sends a message to the more ambitious actors in the region that they should feel free to make a run at the Americans. (Slate) It is quite clear that Russia, which borders Iran on the Caspian Sea, does not fear the emergence of its new nuclear neighbor, and is even actively aiding the construction of the nuclear station in Iran. Why? The reasons are manifold: 1) Russia has traditionally maintained good sources of information within Iran. 2) Russia's strategic and tactical interests cannot be ignored. Iran is primarily a threat to Israel, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. This will increase regional tensions and strengthen Russia's position there. 3) Iran traditionally opposes radical Salafi Sunni Islamic movements such as the Taliban and Wahabiyya, which have become a serious threat in Russia's Northern Caucasus area, especially Dagestan. These common enemies unite Russia and Iran. (Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies-Shalem Center) Observations: Conclusions about Israel's Guilt in Gaza Were Voiced Well in Advance of UN "Fact-Finding" Mission - Zion Evrony (Irish Independent)
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