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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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Monday, August 2, 2010 | ||
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In-Depth Issues:
Abbas: Palestinian State Must Be Jew-Free - Jonathan D. Halevi (Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs-Hebrew)
Israel: New Turkish Intelligence Chief May Disclose Israeli Secrets to Iran - Amos Harel (Ha'aretz)
Adm. Mullen: U.S. Has Plan Ready for Iran Attack - Sean Lengell (Washington Times)
U.S. Congress May Boost Israeli Missile Defense Funding - Hilary Leila Krieger (Jerusalem Post)
Explosion at Gaza Home of Hamas Commander Wounds 24 Palestinians (BBC News)
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News Resources - North America, Europe, and Asia:
Rockets from Egypt's Sinai struck Israel's and Jordan's Red Sea port resorts on Monday. In the Jordanian port of Aqaba, "the Grad rocket landed in a public street near a major five-star hotel and caused four injuries, with three persons lightly wounded and the other casualty in serious condition," a Jordanian interior ministry source said. (Reuters) See also Rockets Fired toward Eilat and Aqaba - Ahuva Mamos Five rockets were fired toward Eilat and Aqaba Monday; there were no reports of injury or damage in Eilat. One of the rockets landed in an open area in Eilat, three more landed in the Red Sea, while a fifth rocket hit Aqaba. (Ynet News) In response to a rocket attack from Gaza on the Israeli city of Ashkelon on Friday with a military-grade Grad rocket, Israeli planes fired missiles at five targets across Gaza, killing a senior commander of the Hamas military wing. Issa Batran, 42, was identified as a senior rocket-maker. (AP-Washington Post) See also Gaza Rocket Hits Educational Institution Near Sderot - Shmulik Hadad A Kassam rocket fired by Palestinians in Gaza Saturday hit the roof of a building in Sderot. One firefighter reported seeing smoke billowing from the building. "I have no doubt that had there been people in the building, it would have been a major disaster. It's a miracle," he said, adding that "serious" damage was caused to three rooms. (Ynet News) See also Hamas Rocket Hits Children's Rehabilitation Center - Noam Bedein On Saturday night a Palestinian rocket scored a direct hit on the children's hydrotherapy rehabilitation center, located in the heart of Sderot's Sapir College. The center provides therapy and workshops for special-needs children and is used by children from the entire country. The facility was decimated. On any other day, a catastrophe would have taken place. During weekdays, the center is packed with hundreds of children and therapists. (Sderot Media Center); View Video (YouTube) See also Israel: Hamas Responsible for Gaza Rocket Attacks Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the Israeli Cabinet Sunday: "I view Hamas as being directly responsible for any attack on the State of Israel that originates in the Gaza Strip, and this is how the international community must see things. Israel reserves the right to defend its citizens and we will continue to take all necessary measures in order to defend the State of Israel, Israeli citizens and Israeli children." (Prime Minister's Office) In April 2009, the chief of Lebanon's U.S.-backed Internal Security Forces, Achraf Rifi, warned Hizbullah security chief Wafiq Safa that two trusted, mid-ranking Hizbullah commanders were working as informants for Israeli military intelligence. The two were never heard from again. The Lebanese government is helping Hizbullah bust alleged spy cells, sometimes using tools and tradecraft acquired from Western nations eager to build up Lebanon's security forces. "There are deep Israeli worries that anything the West gives the Lebanese armed forces and the Internal Security Forces could be used against them," said Mara Karlin, a former Lebanon specialist at the U.S. Defense Department. Since 2006, Washington has given nearly $500 million in military aid to Lebanese security forces. Lebanon has redirected for use against Israel signal-detection equipment donated by France and intended to fight Islamic militants. Israeli analyst Ronen Bergman said the U.S. gave Lebanon's army sophisticated electronic equipment that allowed it to identify and trace even encrypted communications. (Los Angeles Times) News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:
The U.S. State Department said Saturday that reports that the Obama administration threatened to cut off ties with the Palestinians unless they entered direct talks with Israel bordered on "absurdity." A White House source told Ha'aretz that the claim made by Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, was "not true." (Ha'aretz) Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat condemned the "racist" suggestion of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who on Friday asked that Israel restrict Jewish construction in the eastern half of the city, the mayor's spokesman, Stephan Miller, said Sunday. "Mayor Barkat condemns the notion of any freeze of construction for anyone in the city of Jerusalem - a notion that would be deemed illegal in the State of Israel and in any Western democracy....The municipality will continue to issue building permits to Jews, Christians and Muslims alike throughout the entirety of Jerusalem." (Jerusalem Post) See also The Mayor's Vision for Jerusalem - Nir Barkat Jerusalem has a population of 800,000 people today, which will grow to a million people twenty years from now. The current population ratio is one-third Muslim, two-thirds Jewish, and two percent Christian. In the next twenty years, we anticipate a need for 50,000 apartments - one-third for the Arab population and two-thirds for the Jewish population. Jerusalem must stay united. There is not one example in the world of a divided city that ever worked. (Institute for Contemporary Affairs-Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs) Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):
The largest rocket yet let loose out of Hamas-controlled Gaza since the Israeli offensive at the start of last year hits the city of Ashkelon, miraculously not killing anyone but not through want of trying. Hamas has said it is trying to stop groups within Gaza from launching such rockets. It really needs to try an awful lot harder. What should we make then of Hamas and its ceaseless efforts to eradicate Israelis and Israel the next time people are advocating bringing it into peace talks? Or what should we think about Israel's argument that it is trying to stop materials that get into Gaza that can be made into weapons, hence the "inhuman" blockade of "prison camp" Gaza? To read most commentary on the subject you'd be forgiven for thinking that Israel is the sole villain in this never-ending multi-act play. It isn't. The writer is Group Foreign Editor at the Telegraph Media Group. (Telegraph-UK) The argument claiming that Israel has colonialist roots due to its connection with the British Mandate is ironic, as most Arab countries owe their establishment to conquest and control by the European powers. Prior to the First World War, countries such as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan did not exist at all and were merely provinces of the Ottoman Empire. They became states only as a result of European intervention. Such, for example, was the case of Iraq and Jordan, where the British transferred rule to the Hashemite royal house. Saudi Arabia and the small Gulf states arose as a result of special agreements that their leaders signed with British India between the years 1880 and 1916, incorporating British recognition for the legitimacy of rule by Arab families over places that subsequently became the states of Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar. A similar agreement between Britain and the Al-Saud family in 1915 laid the groundwork for the rise of Saudi Arabia in 1932. During Israel's War of Independence, the Arab states benefited directly from arms, training, and even manpower from the colonialist powers. In the initial stages, the Arab Legion attacked Jerusalem with the assistance of British officers. Royal Air Force planes defended the Egyptian skies over Sinai and in 1949 aerial incidents were recorded between Israeli and British aircraft. To say that Israel is a result of colonialism is to ignore the history of the Middle East in the 20th century. It also disregards the fact that Israel constituted an anti-colonialist entity that helped remove the British and French Empires from the Middle East. (Yisrael Hayom-Hebrew, 30July2010) Observations: The Palestinians, Alone - Efraim Karsh (New York Times)
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