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Intelligence Report on Iran, Not Annapolis, at Top of Israel's Agenda for Bush Visit

[New York Jewish Week] Stewart Ain - "If President Bush is coming here expecting to talk about Annapolis, the Iran report killed it," said Gerald Steinberg, a political science professor at Bar-Ilan University. The release of the National Intelligence Estimate has propelled the Iran issue to the top of the agenda, with Israeli Prime Minister Olmert announcing that Iran will be the prime topic of discussion with Bush. "The Americans think the main issue is Annapolis. But the issue Bush will be asked about when there is a press availability is Iran. There is no serious Israeli constituency for Annapolis. It isn't going anywhere and the deaths last week are evidence of that," Steinberg said, referring to the killing last Friday of two off-duty Israeli soldiers by PA employees. Therefore, "U.S. pressure to relax security precautions to make Abbas look good is a non-starter." Raphael Israeli, a professor of Islamic history at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said, "We see the PLO demanding that Israel cease building in the West Bank while they continue to build and while their security forces, financed with aid from Europe and America, are shooting Israelis." Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, noted that the terrorist group associated with Abbas' Fatah political party, the al-Aksa Martyrs' Brigades, has still not been disarmed even though it continues to be involved in terrorist actions. "Not words but deeds [are required]," he said.
2008-01-03 01:00:00
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