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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:
Gaza Tunnel Smugglers Grow Under Hamas - Kevin Frayer (AP/Guardian-UK)
Saudis Are Leading Nationality Engaged in Suicide Bombing in Iraq (Newsweek)
Israel, Turkey, U.S. to Hold Joint Military Exercises (DefenceTalk)
Rwandan Children Arrive in Israel for Heart Surgery (IMRA)
The End of Tolerance in Amsterdam - Erich Wiedemann (New York Times)
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
The U.S. has decided to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country's 125,000-strong elite military branch, as a "specially designated global terrorist," according to U.S. officials, a move that allows Washington to target the group's business operations and finances. The move against the Revolutionary Guard is because of what U.S. officials have described as its growing involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as its support for extremists throughout the Middle East. The main goal of the new designation is to clamp down on the Revolutionary Guard's vast business network, as well as on foreign companies conducting business linked to the military unit and its personnel. For weeks, the Bush administration has been debating whether to target the Revolutionary Guard Corps in full, or only its Quds Force wing, which U.S. officials have linked to the growing flow of explosives, roadside bombs, rockets and other arms to Shiite militias in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Quds Force also lends support to Shiite allies such as Lebanon's Hizbullah and to Sunni movements such as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The Revolutionary Guard Corps - with its own navy, air force, ground forces and special forces units - is a rival to Iran's conventional troops. Its naval forces abducted 15 British sailors and marines this spring, sparking an international crisis, and its special forces armed Lebanon's Hizbullah with missiles used against Israel in the 2006 war. (Washington Post) Syria has had a summer of power failures and electricity shortages. In Damascus, which has had daily blackouts lasting as long as five hours, the roar of gas generators is drowning out the city's notoriously loud traffic. In some suburbs, the lights are on for only six hours a day. Unconfirmed reports say Syria, a regional supplier of electricity, has had to suspend exports to Lebanon and northern Iraq several times this summer to conserve energy. "These power interruptions are costing the country dearly," said Issam Zaim, a former minister of industry. "This is affecting our ability to pump water around the country, which not only affects human consumption, but industry, agriculture, just about everything." Syrian officials say now that foreign sanctions are affecting power generation. Construction contracts for two large power plants, needed to keep pace with rising energy demand, have gone up for bid on the international market five times over the last two years with no takers. Of the companies capable of building them, Prime Minister Otari accused the American company General Electric of declining to bid on the job and then persuading Japanese-owned Mitsubishi not to bid, either. Alstom, a French company, was "pressured by Jacques Chirac (the former president of France) not to work in Syria," Otari said. Energy businesses like Conoco Phillips and Marathon Oil have pulled out over the past three years. (New York Times) A month into the Holy Land Foundation trial, U.S. District Judge A. Joe Fish on Tuesday dealt the first blow to U.S. prosecutors, throwing out a dozen documents seized by the Israeli government meant to further tie the former Texas charity to Hamas. Defense attorneys had argued that many of the documents seized by the Israelis from PA offices and charity committees between 2002 and 2004 were not signed. Jurors, however, will still see much of the Israeli government's evidence implicating Holy Land, which was the largest U.S. Muslim charity until it was shut down in 2001. On Monday, Judge Fish allowed nearly 40 other items into evidence, including posters, key chains and other articles praising Hamas and suicide bombers which had been seized from charity committee offices by Israeli security forces. (Dallas Morning News) See also Shocking Video from the Holy Land Foundation Trial - Rich Lowry Interviews Steve Emerson In the video, the person who makes the statement, "I am Hamas and I'm going to kill Jews" is Mufid Abdul Qatar, a defendant in the trial, and the half brother of Khalid Mashaal, the Hamas supreme commander-in-exile. At the very end of the skit, which is pretty horrifying, Abdul Qatar actually kills the Jew. And you can actually hear children in the audience laughing and applauding. (FOX News) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
IDF forces operating in the Khan Yunis area in south Gaza since Monday killed at least 11 terrorists. Most of the fighting was against Hamas cells equipped with advanced weapons and transmitters. IDF officials said Hamas' method of operation resembled that of Hizbullah's. During the operation dozens of Palestinians were questioned and an assortment of weapons, including anti-tank missiles and explosive belts, were discovered. (Ynet News) The Israel Air Force confirmed hits on four different groups of men armed with rifles and rocket-propelled grenade launchers who approached the area where soldiers were conducting operations, IDF officials said. They said the "pinpoint" incursion was the latest in a string of operations meant to "negate terror threats in the area." An official in the IDF Southern Command said troops witnessed instances during Tuesday's fighting in which Palestinian gunmen used civilians as human shields. (Jerusalem Post) Two Hamas security men were killed on Tuesday in heavy clashes with members of the Dogmush clan in Gaza. Palestinian sources reported 20 more men had been wounded in the exchanges of fire as Hamas lay siege to a house west of Gaza City. The clan, one of the largest and most powerful in Gaza, was responsible for the March kidnapping of BBC reporter Alan Johnston and involved in the kidnapping of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in June 2006. Sources in Gaza said Hamas is determined to disarm the clan in the hopes of making an example of them to all other armed clans and groups which may threaten Hamas' rule in the region. (Ynet News) Palestinians in Gaza fired two Kassam rockets at the western Negev Tuesday night. Mortars were also fired from Gaza, landing near the perimeter fence. (Jerusalem Post) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
The U.S. stopped investing in Iran's energy industry in the 1990s thanks to sanctions imposed during Bill Clinton's presidency. Unfortunately, Europe stepped in to fill the void, with state-owned oil firms providing capital and energy technology. Today 80% of the Iranian government's revenue comes from oil exports and sales. Without Europe's support, the theocracy's fiscal lifeline would be a very thin thread. Credit and technology flow to Iran from the state-owned or -controlled oil firms of France (Total), Norway (Statoil), Italy (ENI) and Spain (Repsol). Clearly, standalone European sanctions could do a lot. (Wall Street Journal) On the day that the British Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee called for a dialogue with Hamas, the Labor Party chairman of the committee, Mike Gapes, said: "I think from experience in Northern Ireland, you know that sometimes you have to engage with people in a diplomatic way, sometimes quietly." If only Hamas would be willing to renounce violence and decommission its arms as the IRA did, but the difference between the two situations is enormous. The IRA never posited as its goal the replacement of England with Ireland, while the stated goal of Hamas is Palestinian rule not only in Gaza and the West Bank, but in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa as well. While the IRA saw Britain as the enemy, they never denied the legitimacy of the British state. The IRA was a brutal terrorist organization, but it sometimes sent warnings before the bombs blew up; it did not have the support of the Catholic Church; and it did not carry out suicide attacks or perpetuate a death cult. (Jerusalem Post) Observations: Syrian General Wants War: Head of Syrian Military Intelligence Has Convinced Assad There Is No Chance to Win Golan Heights Through Negotiations - Smadar Peri (Ynet News)
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