Prepared for the
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
in association with the Fairness Project
by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
If your email program has difficulty viewing this page, see web version: jcpa.org/daily

DAILY ALERT

 July 10, 2002
To contact the Presidents Conference:
[email protected]

In-Depth Issue:

U.S. Eyes Jordan as Base for Attack on Iraq

    American military planners are considering using bases in Jordan to stage air and commando operations against Iraq, senior defense officials said.
    Using Jordanian bases would enable the Pentagon to attack Iraq from the west, as well as from the north via Turkey and the south via several Persian Gulf states.
    Such an arrangement would also introduce American forces between Iraq and Israel to help detect, track, and destroy Scud missiles that Baghdad might shoot at Israeli targets, as it did during the Persian Gulf war in 1991, the officials said.
    Military cooperation between Washington and Jordan is increasing. The administration has requested $25 million from Congress as part of a larger emergency spending bill to provide Jordan with military equipment and "upgrades for land and air base defense," as well as border security, said a congressional aide.
    The military's Central Command, responsible for military operations in 25 countries from the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean, has rated the construction projects in Jordan among its highest priorities, one official said. Some of the American aid could go toward lengthening runways at two Jordanian air bases to accommodate larger planes, the official said.
    Two weeks ago, Gen. Tommy R. Franks, the head of American forces in the Middle East, met in Amman with King Abdullah and with the defense minister.
    American forces have conducted joint operations in Jordan. A year ago, 2,200 marines from the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit from Camp Pendleton, Calif., took part in an exercise in Aqaba.
    In the late 1990s, American warplanes flew missions to enforce the no-flight zone over southern Iraq from Jordanian air bases.
    But Jordan's foreign minister, Marwan J. Muasher, said: "Our public position is the same as our private position. Jordan will not be used as a launching pad, and we do not have any U.S. forces in Jordan." (New York Times)

Key Links

Media Contact Information

Back Issues

News Resources - USA and Europe:

  • U.S. Seeks to Defund Palestinian Authority
    The United States is quietly pushing the European Union and Arab states to stop funding the Palestinian Authority in the aftermath of President Bush's call for new Palestinian leadership. "We are looking to create a new Palestinian Authority," said a senior U.S. official. "This would mean a change in bank accounts to pay salaries for civil servants, provide humanitarian relief, provide security, and plan elections." (UPI)
  • U.S.-Israel Cooperation in Homeland Security
    Israel Minister of Public Security Uzi Landau met congressional leaders late last month to discuss U.S.-Israel cooperation with the new Department of Homeland Security. "Here's Israel, with this tremendous amount of experience and knowledge," said a consultant to the minister. "It's a tremendous opportunity for Israel to provide something to the United States." (JTA)
  • Israel Closes PA Office in Jerusalem
    Israel shut down the Jerusalem office of Dr. Sari Nusseibeh, president of Al Quds University, for serving as an agent of Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority. "Sari Nusseibeh's amiability," said Minister of Public Security Uzi Landau, "should not mislead us into thinking that he can't be used, like the Trojan horse, to steal in and undermine Israeli sovereignty in Jerusalem. A civil representative of the Palestinian Authority was operating from the heart of Jerusalem." (New York Times)
  • Barghouti-linked Political Movement Formed
    The Palestinian National Solidarity Movement (PNSM) was formed late last year by Palestinians critical of Arafat's leadership. The group is led by American academic Edward Said, and one of the movement's founders is Jihad Barghouti, brother of jailed Tanzim head Marwan Barghouti. (UPI)
  • Christian Missionaries Undercover in the Muslim World
    Frontiers is the largest Christian group in the world that focuses exclusively on proselytizing Muslims, with 800 missionaries in 50 countries. (Mother Jones)
    • News Resources - Israel and Mideast:
  • Israel to Release Tax Money to PA - On Condition
    Israel will release tax money to the Palestinian Authority frozen by Israel's Finance Ministry, on condition it is allocated to its designated recipients under supervision and not used to finance terror and to buy weapons. The decision was taken at a meeting convened by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. (Ha'aretz)
  • 400 New Immigrants Arrive from North America
    Nearly 400 North American immigrants to Israel arrived yesterday, brought by the Nefesh b'Nefesh program organized by Rabbi Joshua Fass of Florida with the support of Florida businessman Tony Gelbart and the International Fellowship of Christian and Jews headed by Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein. (Jerusalem Post)
  • The Axis of Evil - Cheney, Rice, and Rumsfeld
    On July 3, the Egyptian government daily Al-Akhbar ran an editorial that included the following: "Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice, and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. They are the axis of evil in the American administration." (MEMRI)
  • Omar Suleiman: Egypt's "Rope Puller"'
    Egyptian intelligence chief General Omar Suleiman, a trusted associate of President Hosni Mubarak, has been asked by the Palestinians for advice on "reforming" the Palestinian Authority's security apparatus, according to Egyptian sources. Dr. Mordechai Kedar, a Middle East expert at Bar-Ilan University, attributes the quiet on Egypt's domestic front largely to Suleiman, describing him as Mubarak's enforcer. (Ha'aretz)
  • Families of Israeli Abductees Meet U.S. Officials, Jewish Leaders
    The families of four Israelis kidnapped by Hizbullah in October 2000 are meeting with Jewish groups and US officials in New York and Washington this week to plead for help in finding their loved ones. At a meeting with the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Ory Tannenbaum, 20, son of Elhanan Tannenbaum, said, "If my father can be abducted from Europe, then every American citizen can be abducted from Europe. If this crime goes unpunished, I'm afraid he won't be the last hostage." (Jerusalem Post)
        According to German intelligence sources, Hizballah has offered to release Elhanan Tannenbaum in exchange for 100 security prisoners held by Israel, including Marwan Barghouti. (Yediot Ahronot)
  • A New Start for Two Families
    After losing their spouses in terror attacks, Hagar Zar and Eliezer Amitai plan to marry in the near future and raise together 12 children--Zar's eight and Amitai's four--in Kfar Darom in the Gush Katif region of Gaza. Zar's husband, Gilead, the head of security for the Samaria Regional Council, was murdered in a terrorist shooting in May 2001. Amitai's wife, Miriam, a schoolteacher, was killed in a terrorist bomb attack on a Kfar Darom schoolbus in November 2000. (Jerusalem Post)

    • Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):

  • Put a War with Iraq in the Diary for January - Tim Hames
    The Administration has made the decision to eject Saddam, almost certainly in January and February next year, unless the Iraqi dictator has been deposed by then. The prospect of a swift American military triumph will trigger far more concern in Berlin and Paris than Amman or Cairo. The majority of Iraqis would consider Mr Bush their liberator. (Times - UK)
  • Why Fear Stalks the Future for Israel - Arnold Beichman
    What nobody wants to say aloud is that Arabdom wants the destruction of Israel forever, and therefore any real durable peace is out of the question. (Washington Times)
  • The Saudis and Saddam - Simon Henderson
    Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah wants an American-led attack to overthrow Saddam Hussein postponed indefinitely. Does he want normal relations with a state of Israel? No, he probably wakes up every morning hoping that it has disappeared. (Washington Institute for Near East Policy/Weekly Standard)
  • Was the LAX Murderer a Terrorist? - John O'Sullivan
    The case of Hesham Mohamed Hadayat, my dear Watson, is one of those detective stories whose solution is obvious to any newspaper reader but which baffles the authorities by its mysterious complexity. If the FBI were still allowed to profile, it would have noticed that he fit the profile of the September 11 hijackers with almost embarrassing exactitude. (National Review)
  • A Reward for Reform - David Makovsky
    Reform places new obligations on the Palestinians. Halting settlement expansion should be Israel's contribution. (Washington Post)
    • Talking Points:

    Stages in the Palestinian War - IDF Chief of Staff Shaul Mofaz

    • The Palestinians began with a popular uprising, with mass demonstrations at army posts and major highways.
    • After they saw that this wasn't succeeding, they moved to highway shootings.
    • When here, too, the results weren't what they had hoped for, they moved to massive shooting from within Area A.
    • Then Arafat gave a "green light " to Hamas and Islamic Jihad for suicide attacks inside Israel.
    • Later the Tanzim joined in and became the dominant group in this effort. (Maariv)

    To subscribe to the Daily Alert, please send a blank email message to:
        [email protected]
    To unsubscribe to the Daily Alert, please send a blank email message to:
        [email protected]