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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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Thursday, November 5, 2009 | ||
In-Depth Issues:
Iran Wants Its Uranium Back from Syria - Erich Follath and Holger Stark (Der Spiegel-Germany)
Iranian Missile and Outer Space Programs: Assessing Present and Future Capabilities
- Uzi Rubin (Washington Institute for Near East Policy)
Israel Accuses Chavez of Turning Venezuela into an Iranian Outpost (El Universal-Venezuela)
Arab Satellite Companies Drop Iranian Arabic Channel (BBC News)
Turkish Students Pelt Israeli Ambassador with Eggs (AFP-Hurriyet-Turkey)
Israel One of Top Five Cleantech Countries - Shawn Lesser (Cleantech)
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
At least 3,000 missiles were on board the Francop, a vessel stopped by Israel off the coast of Cyprus and towed to the port of Ashdod. Containers with dark green missiles inside bore writing in English that said "I.R. Iranian Shipping Lines Group." Israel alleged that the shipment of hundreds of tons of rockets, missiles, mortars, grenades and anti-tank weapons - the largest it ever seized - was headed for Hizbullah in Lebanon. The ship had departed an Iranian port for Syria. Deputy Israeli navy commander Roni Ben-Yehuda said the ship carried ten times as many weapons as the Karine A, a weapons ship captured by Israeli forces in the Red Sea in January 2002. (AP) See also Massive Arms Shipment Intended for Hizbullah Intercepted by Israel Navy (Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson) See also Video: Weapons of Terror Ship Seized by Israel (BBC News) The Saudi daily Al-Watan reported on Oct. 31 that Yemen had captured an Iranian ship smuggling armor-piercing weapons to the Houthi rebels. The sixth war between the Yemen military and the Houthis broke out about ten weeks ago. Senior Yemen officials say Iran is finding more and more ways of supporting the Houthis - through funds, weapons, and media support. Al-Watan reported that the Yemen government has information that "there are Houthi training camps in Eritrea, and in them there are units of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC); it is assessed that they are training the rebels and equipping them with weapons via the Eritrean port of 'Asab. [These units] are facilitating rebel movements from 'Asab port to Maydi port in Yemen - a distance of only a few kilometers." One Houthi commander, Sheikh Abdallah Al-Mahdoun, said in a newspaper interview that "the Houthis had received unlimited help in arms and supplies, under the oversight of the IRGC and also of experts from Hizbullah." (MEMRI) Tens of thousands of Iranian opposition protesters braved police beatings and clouds of tear gas on the sidelines of a major, government-sponsored anti-American rally on Wednesday. The protests in Tehran and other cities were the opposition's largest street showing in two months and came on the 30th anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy in Iran. Protesters declared their impatience with President Obama's policy of dialogue with the Iranian government. Many could be heard chanting, "Obama, Obama - either you're with them or you're with us," witnesses said. (New York Times) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
The IDF believes the Iranian Revolutionary Guard is behind the arms shipment intercepted by the Israel Navy. Military personnel are still unloading the thousands of rockets, shells and munitions stashed away in the Francop. Many of the crates contained rockets, some with markings distinctive to Iranian munitions and others bearing the markings of Chinese and Spanish manufacturers. Israel hoped the operation will deter shipping companies, European harbors and insurance companies from doing business with seemingly innocent Iranian vessels which can blow up at any time. (Ynet News) See also Netanyahu: Ship Proves Iran Supports Terror - Yaakov Katz and Tovah Lazaroff Prime Minister Netanyahu said Wednesday: "Iran is sending these weapons to terror organizations to harm Israeli cities and kill its citizens....The time has come for the international community to exert real pressure on Iran to stop this criminal activity and to support Israel when it defends itself against these terrorists and their patrons....Whoever still needed decisive proof that Iran continues to send weapons to terrorist organizations received it today in a very clear and unequivocal way." (Jerusalem Post) Senior Israeli navy officers say the seized shipment - destined for the Syrian port of Latakia - contained enough armaments to last Hizbullah for a month of fighting against Israel. The amount of weapons captured suggests an army, not a terrorist organization. Israel's naval operation was not routine: The commandos boarded the vessel amid stormy seas and high winds - but they knew what they were looking for thanks to detailed intelligence. (Ha'aretz) See also International Pressure on Tehran Is Having an Impact - Yossi Melman The containers on the ship Francop were marked with the acronym IRISL, a state-controlled company listed by the UN Security Council in its sanctions resolutions against Iran due to its role in transporting equipment for Tehran's nuclear and missile programs. The fact that Iran is trying to ship arms under the guise of civilian cargo suggests that the pressure exerted by the international community is having an impact. (Ha'aretz) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
Mahmoud Abbas has participated in peace negotiations with five Israeli governments that refused to halt Jewish settlement construction. Yet Abbas has rejected an appeal from the Obama administration to start talks with Benjamin Netanyahu, putting one of the administration's primary foreign policy goals on indefinite hold. Has Abbas suddenly realized that settlements are the key obstacle to a Palestinian state? Hardly: In private, senior Palestinian officials readily concede that the issue is secondary. Neither Arab leaders nor Abbas seem to share Obama's notion that the time is ripe for a deal. Israelis note that Abbas already rejected a far-reaching peace offer by former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert. The Obama administration's working assumption has been that energetic diplomacy by the U.S. could induce both sides to move quickly toward peace. In fact, progress in the Middle East has always begun with initiatives by Israelis or Arabs themselves. (Washington Post) See also Administration Missteps Hamper Mideast Efforts - Glenn Kessler President Obama came into office insisting that his administration would press hard and fast to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But after nine months, as Secretary of State Clinton made clear during her Middle East trip, U.S. officials are now promoting new tactics - what they called the "baby steps" of lower-level talks - to bring Israeli and Palestinian leaders together for direct talks. (Washington Post) As the rift between the two main Palestinian factions widens, many West Bank youths, for decades the shock troops of their national movement, are growing increasingly disenchanted with their feuding leaders. Emad Ghiyada, a professor at Birzeit University, said: "There has been a drop in youth membership in the political groups....The parties have failed to realize any of their goals, whether by armed struggle, or popular uprisings, or by peaceful means." Earlier this month Birzeit hosted an event to protest perceived Israeli threats to the Al-Aqsa mosque. While organizers expected around 9,000 students to come to express their outrage, only 60 showed up, Ghiyada said. (AFP) Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamanei, a depressed opium addict whose poor health has made daily rumors of his death the most popular national sport after soccer, is clinging to the hope that whatever doesn't kill his regime will make it stronger. Contrary to the predictions of Western analysts, street protests have continued. Since foreign correspondents are not free to report on the protests, the pictures of thousands of university protesters all across the country last week were not seen on any major television news network, but the Facebook faithful could still get a glimpse of widespread unrest. The writer is the co-founder of the Iran Human Rights Documentation Center. (Forbes) Observations: Israel to UN: Gaza Report "Was Conceived in Hate and Executed in Sin" (Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs) During a discussion of the Goldstone report, Israeli Ambassador Gabriela Shalev told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday:
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