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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: [email protected]
In-Depth Issue:
CIA Fears Syria Could Go Nuclear - Sarah Baxter (London Times)
Qaeda Group Targets Europe for Attacks -
Ghaida Ghantous (Reuters)
Israel Denies Agents Operating in Iraq - Yossi Melman (Ha'aretz)
U.S. Released Saudi Terror Suspects in Deal - Don Van Natta Jr. and Tim Golden (New York Times)
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
The new Iraqi government will publish damning evidence this week linking foreign powers, including Iran and Syria, to the Muslim extremists and loyalists of the former regime who launched a bloody rebellion after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Senior Iraqi officials indicated that Iran and Syria were the worst offenders. Baghdad believes that up to 10,000 foreign spies and undercover agents have infiltrated the country since last year's war. Powerful elements within Iran have been backing radical Shias in Iraq, including supporters of the militant cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Adnan al-Assadi, the deputy interior minister, said that hundreds of former Ba'athist officials who had fled to Syria were supplying funds and volunteers to the resistance. (Telegraph-UK) See also U.S.: Hussein Kin Aid Insurgency A network of Saddam Hussein's cousins, operating in part from Syria and Jordan, is actively involved in the smuggling of guns, people, and money into Iraq to support the anti-American insurgency, say American government officials and a prominent Iraqi. The operations involve at least three cousins from the Majid family who now live in Syria and in Europe. A leading figure among them is Fatiq Suleiman al-Majid, a cousin of Hussein's and a former officer in Iraq's Special Security Organization, who is described as "a main money man" and has been living in Syria with the knowledge of the Syrian authorities. (New York Times) The new Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said in an interview last week: "Saddam was a potential friend and partner and natural ally of terrorism....I believe very strongly that Saddam had relations with al-Qaeda. And these relations started in Sudan. We know Saddam had relationships with a lot of terrorists and international terrorism." (NBC News) Rep. Tom Lantos (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, plans to introduce legislation to convert Egypt's annual $1.3 billion in military aid into economic assistance, claiming that country is stockpiling weaponry amid diminished threats. Egypt has created 11 battle units for the navy, Lantos said, and has procured the Harpoon-2 and fast-attack craft. "Egyptian military exercises are ominously geared toward an Israeli enemy that doesn't obviously exist," Lantos said. (UPI/Washington Times) Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon hit out at the French government's "unfriendly behavior" toward Israel following talks last week between French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier and Arafat. According to a senior official, Sharon told a group of French diplomats and politicians in Jerusalem that he "was very disappointed by Barnier's visit to Yasser Arafat....More and more governments in the world, notably Arab governments, are refusing to meet with Arafat. This meeting gives him political oxygen, when it's necessary for him to be totally isolated to allow the emergence of new Palestinian leaders." (AFP/Yahoo) Saudi Arabia's intelligence services are so infiltrated by al-Qaeda sympathizers that the kingdom's counter-terrorist campaign is failing and militant operations are spreading into neighboring states, according to senior Arab and Western officials. The main Saudi intelligence organization responsible for combating al-Qaeda at the Ministry of Interior "is 80% sympathetic to al-Qaeda," said one senior Arab source. "All Saudi intelligence agencies are compromised." The Jordanians have intercepted several al-Qaeda teams who have infiltrated from Saudi Arabia, intending to whip up opposition to the country's leadership among the southern clans, who have tribal links across the border. Two Saudi nationals and a Yemeni were reportedly intercepted after entering southern Jordan with arms to attack a camp where Iraq's police forces are being trained by Jordanian and British instructors. (London Times) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
Victor Kreiderman, 49, of Mevo Dotan, was murdered Sunday in a gunfire attack on his car near the village of Yabad. His wife sustained light injuries. Armed Palestinians approached the couple's vehicle, confirmed that Jewish Israelis were inside, and fired shots into its rear window. The Jenin branch of Fatah's military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, took responsibility for the attack. (Ha'aretz) Palestinians launched three more Kassam rockets toward Israel Sunday despite the army's "security zone" in northern Gaza to prevent such attacks. There were no injuries. Military sources said the rockets were fired from the Jabalya refugee camp and a small valley just south of Beit Hanun where the army is not deployed. The IDF deployment around Beit Hanun has pushed the Kassam rocket crews beyond the range of the Israeli town of Sderot. (Jerusalem Post) Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the cabinet Sunday, "We will not accept a situation where we will be shelled, and...not respond with a similar action." He said this position also needs to be made clear to the U.S. and the EU. At the meeting, Shin Bet head Avi Dichter was asked how the disengagement will impact upon Israel's ability to enter Gaza and assert a presence in areas from which rockets are fired. "Just as we have to enter Gaza today after Kassam firings, we will have to do the same thing after disengagement," he said. Sharon also discussed the High Court of Justice's ruling on the security fence, saying he was "satisfied" that the court ruled the fence is indeed a security fence that grew out of genuine security needs, and not in order to annex Palestinian territory. He also said the court made it clear that the fence need not adhere strictly to the "green line." (Jerusalem Post) East Jerusalem Arabs are a major reservoir for recruiting terrorists, Shin Bet head Avi Dichter told the cabinet Sunday. East Jerusalem Arabs share the same ideology as West Bank Palestinians and are being recruited because of the mobility they enjoy by virtue of their Israeli ID cards and license plates. Since the outbreak of the violence in 2000, some 100 east Jerusalem Arabs have been directly involved either in carrying out attacks or in transporting terrorists who carried out attacks, Dichter said. Many more have been involved in gathering intelligence for attacks. As it becomes more difficult for Palestinians to penetrate into Israel because of the security fence, the value of east Jerusalem Arabs to the terrorist organizations will only increase. Dichter said that the terror is not an endless pit, but rather a "barrel that has a bottom." Palestinian terror, he said, "is not an ocean that it is impossible to empty." (Jerusalem Post) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
The Palestinians maintain a strong motivation to keep fighting despite their serious losses. In June, 23 suicide bombing attempts were intercepted. While 83 suicide attacks have been prevented since the start of the year, this also shows that the Palestinians continue to be highly motivated. This is a long-term war of attrition, where one side must prevent the other from making major gains and force it to conclude that it is worthwhile to reach a compromise because of the heavy price that must be paid. (Ha'aretz) We must assume that the success of the smuggling tunnels in Rafah and the explosion under the IDF's Orchan outpost in Gaza last week could become a model to be copied all along the security fence being built by Israel to separate from the Palestinians. The Palestinians could surprise us with tunnels under the fence/wall and carry out acts of terror in towns in the heart of Israel and in Jerusalem, that will have fallen under the illusion that the fence and its electronic sensors can provide sufficient defense. (Maariv International) Observations: Israel's Day of Light - Richard Cohen (Washington Post)
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