Featured this weekBerkeley Bezalel Academy of Arts Brandeis Columbia Florida Harvard Hebrew Indiana Irvine, UC Maryland New Mexico Ohio Toronto York | Cheney: U.S. Supports Israel, Won't Support Terrorist PA State, Won't Allow Iran to Have Nukes  Speaking at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee 2006 Policy Conference last week, Vice President Cheney said: "All of us share a fundamental belief - that the freedom and security of Israel are vital interests to the U.S....We are, as President Bush has said, natural allies....The Palestinian government must recognize Israel's right to exist. And Hamas must renounce terror and dismantle the infrastructure of terror. One thing is certain: The United States will not be a party to the establishment of a Palestinian state that sponsors terror and violence....The United States is keeping all options on the table in addressing the irresponsible conduct of the regime. And we join other nations in sending that regime a clear message: We will not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon." (White House/Washington Post)
Additional Headlines Israel Tops U.S. Friends List at UN Hamas Outlines Basic Principles Tel Aviv One Participants Inspired by "the Bonds that Tie" | | Former IDF Chief of Staff: There Is a Military Option for Iran
by Yitzhak Benhorin  Former IDF Chief of Staff Moshe Yaalon told the Hudson Institute in Washington that Israel has a military option against Iran, and that the use of such an option could significantly damage Iran's nuclear program and set it back a number of years. However, Yaalon said Iran is expected to respond with Shihab missiles, as well as missiles from Lebanon and Kassam rockets from the territories. "There will be a need to attack a few dozen sites. The air forces of Israel, the United States, and Europe can carry this out," he said. He added that Iran "would have nuclear technology within a year and a half, and will have the bomb within 3-5 years." (Ynet News)
Security Before Peace
by Amir Oren The American general who serves as "security coordinator" for the Palestinian-Israeli arena, Keith Dayton, told a congressional hearing last week that there won't be security - and there won't be a Palestinian state - without the unification and purging of the security mechanisms. There won't be U.S. involvement if Hamas is running the government in general, and the security mechanisms in particular. Dayton's message, like that of his counterparts in the IDF and Shin Bet security service, is bleak: Things will get bad or very bad - and soon. The relatively small number of lethal terror attacks is misleading. (Ha'aretz) |
Brandeis: BIPAC Presents Petition to Lobbyists
by Jonathan Fischer  A petition calling on national leaders to "act appropriately and swiftly" to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons presented to the student body passed, according to a communitywide e-mail from Student Union Secretary Aaron Braver. The referendum, which was sponsored by the Brandeis Israel Public Affairs Council, passed by a slim margin, receiving 230 votes in favor, 200 votes against and 21 abstentions. "We are very pleased with the result," said Dmitry Vilner '08, BIPAC's campus advocacy director. (The Justice)
UC Irvine: Profs. Provide Insightful Counterpoint
by Sonia Patel  On the eve of a heated protest by the Muslim Student Union against the College Republicans, two academics from Bethlehem University and Hebrew University engaged in a dialogue to impart an understanding of the conflict in the Middle East as part of a joint effort between the Center for Citizen Peacebuilding, the Society of Arab Students and Anteaters for Israel, to name a few. (New University Paper)
See also In Defense of Dialogue and Dissent
| | UC Berkeley: Israeli Expert Helps BART Conduct Counterterror Training
by Emma Guiterrez  As part of a four-day training session with an Israeli counterterrorism expert, the BART Police Department SWAT Team demonstrated how to take down a potential suicide bomber last week. BART police hired Aaron Cohen, founder and managing director of the Israeli Military Specialists, following increased concerns about public transportation becoming the target of terrorism after bomb attacks on public transit systems in Madrid and London in 2004 and 2005, respectively. (Daily Californian)
Protest at Columbia
by Jimmy Vielkind  A controversial professor provoked fury among Jewish students with a Columbia University speech about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict last week. Norman Finkelstein, a DePaul University professor and author whose writings on the Holocaust and comments about Jewish conspiracies have drawn wide condemnation, spoke about what he called the contrived controversy around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Israel's use of the Holocaust as a political tool. Jewish students held placards and wore signs decrying the academic as a messenger of hate. (New York Daily News)
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Point-Counterpoint - Is Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) Still Relevant to Israeli-Palestinian Relations?
Yes, He's Not Relevant
by Yossi Alpher - Some people of good will in Israel, Palestine and the rest of the world want to make Abbas "relevant" in the hope that this will render an Israeli-Palestinian peace process possible.
- But Abbas is not relevant to the current situation, and for now a peace process is not possible. Hamas is our "partner," for better or for worse.
- He promised to disarm the militias - those of Hamas, Fatah and Islamic Jihad - and could not. He wanted to clean out the ranks of Fatah and the PLO from the old guard of corrupt politicos, and failed.
- Nor are his own ideological commitments necessarily congenial to a successful peace process with Israel. He agreed with Hamas in March 2005 in Cairo that the right of return would be exercised for all refugees to their former lands - a sure formula for the elimination of Israel.
- In short, even if he had a mandate to negotiate and the capacity to do so, peace talks with him would likely fail. In the unlikely event that they succeeded, Abbas would not be able to deliver, because he does not have a mandate. Hamas does. (Ha'aretz)
Hamas Buoyed by 'Soft' Abbas Stance
by Herb Keinon - Hamas is feeling increasingly confident since Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas reconciled himself to a Hamas government
- Abbas's new approach to Hamas was evident in his decision to place the entire PA security apparatus, with the exception of a key intelligence agency, in Hamas's hands.
- Abbas's attitude toward Hamas, as well as a degree of erosion in the international community's position that it must recognize Israel, accept all PA agreements with it and disavow violence before gaining legitimacy, has all come without Hamas needing to change its attitudes.
- According to the assessments, Abbas believes Hamas would be faced with one of two choices: either moderate its ideology to gain the international support needed for it to govern, or "crash and burn" and then be unable to place responsibility for the failure at Fatah's doorstep. (Jerusalem Post)
| | Arrogance and Paternalism
by Daniel Levy - Abu Mazen should he be in need of it, can draw comfort from joining a long list of regional leaders whose vitality has out-lived Israeli determinations of their having passed from relevancy.
- The critical role that Mahmoud Abbas played historically in bringing the Palestinian national movement to a position of mutual recognition and a two-state solution is well-documented.
- From an Israeli perspective, one cannot make a credible international demand for the adherence to these agreements and at the same time deny the relevance of their standard-bearer.
- The powers vested in the office of the PA president are not insignificant. For that office to run an entire shadow government is neither realistic nor desirable, yet important functions of security and channeling of financial assistance can be assumed and this should not be ruled out.
- The Palestinian leader, just like the Israeli leader, can be part of the problem or part of the solution. But the first step in realizing a solution demands an end to the mindset whereby one side confers relevance or otherwise on the elected leaders of the other side. (Bitterlemons)
PLO or PA: With Which Should Israel Deal
by Gidi Grinstein - Israel must decide whether to deal with the Palestinian Authority representing the West Bank and Gaza, or the Palestine Liberation Organization representing all Palestinians, including the refugees.
- Agreements with Israel, as well as the constitutional documents of the newly established PA, provided for the supremacy of the PLO and empowered it to represent the PA and negotiate in its benefit.
- The logic of viewing the PLO as representing all Palestinians is essential for reaching a peace agreement. Hamas' message that ending the conflict may not be in the cards justifies revisiting the identity of the interlocutor, choosing between the PLO and the PA.
- Betting on the PLO is the default option since it is the formal and constitutional status quo. Abu-Mazen and other leaders of Fatah urge the world to take this position, offering to renew negotiations on a permanent status agreement to be ratified in a referendum. (Jewish Week)
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