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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, September 15, 2009 | ||
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In-Depth Issues:
Hamas: We Won't Deliver Parents' Package to Captured Israeli Soldier - Eli Levi (Maariv-Hebrew)
Rights Group Suspends Analyst over Nazi Collection - John Schwartz (New York Times)
Top Lebanese Shiite Cleric Forbids Ties with Israel (UPI)
Algerian Daily: "Jews Are Harvesting Kids' Organs" - Haviv Rettig Gur (Jerusalem Post)
New York Homes Raided in Terrorism Case - Raymond Hernandez and Karen Zraick (New York Times)
Diplomacy Efforts Fuel Hope of a Revival in Syrian Oil - Julien Barnes-Dacey (Wall Street Journal)
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
A U.S. commando attack in Somalia has killed al-Qaeda terrorist Saleh Ali Nabhan, 28, who took part in the 1998 attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. He also orchestrated the 2002 bombing of a resort hotel in Mombasa, Kenya, that claimed the lives of 15 people, including three Israelis, and a failed missile attack on an Israeli airliner leaving Mombasa airport. At least one U.S. helicopter fired on a convoy carrying suspected al-Qaeda targets in southern Somalia. Ali Nabhan ran training camps in Somalia for foreign fighters, some of whose graduates have been tied to attacks and threats around the globe. (ABC News) Iran has agreed to a new round of talks with global powers. EU officials announced an Oct. 1 date for the new talks, which will include Iran's top nuclear negotiator and representatives of the U.S., Germany, France, Britain, Russia and China. In Tehran, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Qashqavi said, "Talks will focus on disarmament and international concerns, not the Iranian rights enshrined by the Non-Proliferation Treaty." (Washington Post) See also Netanyahu Calls for Tougher Sanctions Now on Iran Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Monday, "I believe that now is the time to start harsh sanctions against Iran - if not now then when? These harsh sanctions can be effective." "The Iranian regime is weak, the Iranian people would not rally around the regime if they felt for the first time that there was a danger to their regime - and this would be a new situation," Netanyahu said. His comments appeared to signal that Israel had not given up on international diplomacy to curb Tehran's atomic ambitions. (Reuters) A British judge on Monday sentenced four British Muslims convicted of a plot to bring down trans-Atlantic planes with liquid explosives. Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 28, the ringleader, was sentenced to at least 40 years in jail for plotting the biggest terrorist attack since 9/11. Assad Sarwar, 29, was ordered to serve at least 36 years in prison; Tanvir Hussain, 28, was sentenced to at least 32 years; and Umar Islam, 31, received 22 years. Prosecutors said the men were likely just days away from mounting their suicide attacks when they were arrested in August 2006. (AP) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
Israeli diplomatic officials said Monday it was unlikely Tuesday's meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. envoy George Mitchell would lead to a declaration of agreement on the settlement issue, but rather to a further "narrowing of the gaps" that might enable the relaunching of diplomatic negotiations with the Palestinians. The officials stressed that Jerusalem has already said it was willing to start talks immediately and that the PA would have to decide whether it would come to the negotiating table. Netanyahu told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday that construction already underway in the settlements would continue, and Israel would keep on building public structures such as schools, health clinics, kindergartens and synagogues to enable normal life in the settlements to continue. Netanyahu said there would be a moratorium on new private construction, but that would not be permanent. He emphasized that any settlement construction moratorium would not include east Jerusalem, adding that "Jerusalem is not a settlement and construction will continue as usual." (Jerusalem Post) The World Jewish Congress on Monday launched a new global campaign to convince world leaders to boycott Iranian President Ahmadinejad's address to the UN General Assembly next week. WJC President Ronald Lauder said: "We ask UN leaders to send a strong message to Ahmadinejad, who regularly uses these forums to spread invective, threats and unspeakable accusations.... Member states have an obligation to show that the UN cannot be hijacked for the purposes of spreading the kind of racist diatribe and bigoted views which the organization was founded to combat and overcome." (Ha'aretz) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
President Obama's efforts to revive the Middle East peace process are bound to fail because of the unbridgeable divide separating Israel's and Palestine's political goals. The major problem is that the two-headed Palestinian national movement is averse to sharing Palestine with the Jews and endorsing a solution based on two states for two peoples. Hamas, which won the Palestinian national elections in 2006, assures the believers that "Islam will destroy Israel." It repeatedly compares Israel to the medieval Crusader kingdoms and states that its end will be identical. Fatah's head, Mahmoud Abbas, in effect continues to promote the same rejectionist message. He publicly hails, to propitiate Washington, "the two-state solution," but when pressed declines to endorse it. Yes, one state for Palestinian Arabs and another for whoever lives in Israel, but not a "Jewish state." He seems to be hoping that Israel's 20% Arab minority will overtake the Jews demographically; or that Israel will accede to Palestinian demands to allow the return of refugees, turning Israel into an Arab-majority state. (Guardian-UK) Syria is a brutal anti-American dictatorship that, along with its closest ally, the Islamic Republic of Iran, is a charter member of the State Department's "state sponsors of terrorism" list. Since 2003 the Syrian-Iranian axis has worked tirelessly to defeat the American project in Iraq. Hundreds of unreconciled Baathists are harbored in Syria. Thousands of foreign jihadists have been welcomed at Damascus International Airport. After receiving money, training, and arms, they have been transported to the Iraqi border to engage in jihad - resulting in the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers and thousands of Iraqis. Syrian Military Intelligence (SMI) - headed by President Bashar al-Assad's brother-in-law, Asef Shawkat (sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury for his links to Iraqi terrorism) - has been up to its eyeballs in this activity, its agents actively facilitating the work of al-Qaeda in Iraq's most lethal foreign-fighter networks. True, the flow of jihadists from Syria has slowed significantly, but this has far more to do with al-Qaeda's diversion of recruits to the more promising Afghan theater than it does with any Syrian measures. When it comes to anti-American dictatorships in general, and Syria in particular, history suggests that leverage and pressure, not reassurance and unconditional concessions, are the most reliable ways to ensure that diplomatic engagement advances U.S. goals. The writer, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, was national security advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney from 2005 to 2009. (National Review) Observations: The Arrogance of the Advice-Givers - Barry Rubin (New Republic)
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