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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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In-Depth Issues:
PA: New U.S. Administration "One of the Friendliest in Decades" - Khaled Abu Toameh (Jerusalem Post)
German Firm Signs €825 Million Deal with Iran - Benjamin Weinthal (Jerusalem Post)
Homegrown Jihadist Terrorists in the U.S. - Daveed Gartenstein-Ross (Washington Times)
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
James W. von Brunn, 88, who embraces conspiracy theories involving Jews and blacks, walked into the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum on Wednesday and began shooting, fatally wounding security guard Stephen T. Johns, 39, before being shot by other guards. The Southern Poverty Law Center said Wednesday that von Brunn is a racist and anti-Semite with "a long history of associations with prominent neo-Nazis and Holocaust deniers." (New York Times) U.S. envoy George Mitchell assured the Palestinians on Wednesday of Washington's commitment to a state of their own. Mitchell, speaking after talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, urged both sides to meet their obligations under a 2003 peace "Roadmap." Mitchell will now continue on to Lebanon, Syria and Egypt. He said Washington sought "a comprehensive regional peace which not only involves Israel and the Palestinians, but Syrians, the Lebanese and all the surrounding countries." (Reuters-Washington Post) Dan Belenky, the head of Atomstroiexport, the Russian company building Iran's first nuclear power plant, said Wednesday that it is unclear when the reactor will be switched on, Russian news agencies reported. The refusal of some Russian banks to work with Iran has slowed the project by complicating financing, he said. Sluggish supplies of equipment from other countries were also a problem. (AP) Libyan foreign minister Ali Treky was elected on Wednesday as president of the UN General Assembly, replacing Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann of Nicaragua. (AP/Washington Post) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
Israel's security cabinet decided on Wednesday that any opening of crossings into Gaza would be linked to progress in the case of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit. Israel wants the Red Cross to be granted access to Shalit or to get some sign of life from him. Defense officials continue to oppose bringing concrete and steel into Gaza, arguing that it would be used to build arms smuggling tunnels and restore Hamas' rocket-building capacity. (Jerusalem Post) Palestinians opened fire Thursday at an Israeli force patrolling near the northern Gaza Strip opposite Kibbutz Be'eri. (Ynet News) If Benjamin Netanyahu says no to Obama, he would be playing into the hands of those who want Obama to deal with the settlements rather than with the centrifuges. But Netanyahu cannot say yes to Obama, either. If he says yes, the United States could start up immediately a powerful bulldozer to push Israel to the June 4, 1967 borders. If he says yes, Israel would not be able to ensure its vital security interests in the West Bank. If he says yes, an armed Palestinian state, whose missile batteries would prevent the Israel Air Force from launching its planes, would be declared in a short time. If Netanyahu says yes, Israel would be pushed into a hopeless, risky undertaking that would undermine its stability. President Obama and his partners would endanger Israel's future, not from malice but from pure, noble intentions. (Ha'aretz) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
In Iran, there is no requirement to vote near one's residence. Voter turnout at a particular voting station, or even in a city, can theoretically exceed the estimated number of eligible voters in that locality. A person's voting eligibility is determined by a "birth certificate" (BC). In previous elections, reports surfaced that the Imam Khomeini Committee, a large state charity affiliated with supreme leader Ali Khamenei, "rented" BCs belonging to the poor. According to the National Organization for Civil Registration, the number of existing BCs considerably exceeds the number of Iranians. Many BCs are issued as replacements for reportedly lost BCs, and there is little to prevent people from using the duplicate BCs to vote at two different polling stations. Also, some Iranians do not invalidate their relatives' BCs after they die. In the last presidential election, reformist sources announced that more than two million fraudulent BCs may have been used. With these and other questionable practices, it is abundantly clear that Iran's election procedures leave ample opportunity for massive voter fraud. (Washington Institute for Near East Policy) See also Iran Vote Won't Ease Israel Tensions, Analysts Say Whatever the outcome, Iran's presidential vote will not ease tensions with Israel as Tehran is unlikely to halt its nuclear drive or tone down its rhetoric against the Jewish state, Israeli analysts say. "The key decisions in the nuclear field are taken by the spiritual leader Khamenei, so it doesn't matter who is elected president," said Dore Gold, president of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. "All of the candidates support continuing the nuclear program." (AFP-Khaleej Times-UAE) See also Dark Side of a Reformist Win in Iran - Mohsen Sazegara A reformist victory would bring a thankful end to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidency, but there ought not be any illusions about the impact Mousavi or Karroubi could have on Iranian society. As was made clear during the presidency of Ahmadinejad's reformist predecessor, Mohammad Khatami, the conservative establishment does not go quietly into the opposition when its candidates lose. For all the reforms made during the Khatami era, real power in Iran never left the hands of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The supreme leader's conservative allies retained control over the security forces, as well as the judiciary and the media, and simply circumvented the rule of law when their stranglehold on the country was challenged. The writer co-founded the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. (Boston Globe) The outcome was a sharp reverse for the Hizbullah movement and for Iran and Syria, which had hoped to establish dominion over Lebanon. Yet the winning coalition of Sunni, Christian and Druze parties is no match for Hizbullah in the streets; the Islamist movement used force to seize control of most of Beirut last year, and it compelled the government to grant it veto power over its decisions. Hizbullah also launched a destructive war against Israel in 2006 that Prime Minister Fouad Siniora was powerless to stop. (Washington Post) See also Ballots Over Bullets - Thomas L. Friedman (New York Times) Observations: Israel's Strategy of Unilateral Withdrawal - Shmuel Even (Strategic Assessment-Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv University)
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