Middle East Update

The West Talks to Syria - Graham Bacon
During most of 2008 attempts have been made to establish better relationships with Syria, firstly by Israel using Turkey as intermediary, and then by France through a state visit to France by Syria’s president and his wife. Israel is interested in preventing a Syrian takeover of Lebanon and [...]

GPL MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM . AUG 22 NO 130
PERES CELEBRATES 85 TH BIRTHDAY WITH VISIT TO THE NEGEV : Israeli President Shimon Peres celebrated his 85th birthday on Thursday August 21, with a solidarity visit to the Negev town of Dimona, in keeping with his [...]

GPL MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM . AUG 17 NO 129EIGHT STRANDED GAZA TERRORISTS USE IDF CHECKPOINT AS SAFE HAVEN : by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas has left eight Fatah-aligned Hilles clan terrorists stranded in Gaza, where they fear death at the hands of Hamas. They are remaining close to the IDF’s [...]

GPL MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM . AUG 12 NO 128
RUSSIAN INVASION OF GEORGIA HAS CAUGHT ISRAEL IN THE MIDDLE : Jerusalem pulling our Jews, cutting off arms sales
The outbreak of war between Russia and Georgia in recent days has placed Israel in a difficult position of [...]

GPL MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM . AUG 7 NO 127
SHARANSKY BACKS McCAIN, CALLS OBAMA A “RISk” TO Israel : by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu Former Prisoner of Zion Natan Sharansky has termed Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama a “risk” to Israel if he is elected president. The former minister in the Sharon government, who also [...]

GPL MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM . AUG 1 NO 126
OLMERT COMMITS TO STEPPING DOWN : Complains of having to ‘repel vicious attacks from day one’
In a dramatic televised announcement on Wednesday evening, July 30, embattled Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he will not run in the upcoming Kadima primary [...]

GPL MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM . JULY 26 NO 125
OLMERT MAY QUIT AND NAME MOFAZ AS PM TO WEAKEN LIVNI : : by Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is considering suspending himself and naming Transportation and Road Safety Minister Shaul Mofaz (Kadima) to replace him, Israeli media reported Saturday night July 26. Taking the [...]

GPL MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM . JULY 22 NO 124
WEST GIVES IRAN TWO WEEKS TO FREEZE NUCLEAR PROGRAM : Rice warns more sanctions await if Iran continues enrichment
Iranian officials claimed that “progress’ was made in this weekend’s showdown in Geneva over Tehran’s renegade nuclear program, but Western leaders presented a different picture, insisting new sanctions [...]

Rockets on Israel, fired by Hamas from Gaza or fired by Hizb’Allah from Lebanon, are great constraining factor on Israel’s civilian life. For the moment Israel has to live with the daily arrival of rocket-borne explosives on two of its towns, Sderot and Ashkelon, a situation that would not be tolerated in any other sizable [...]

GPL MIDDLE EAST UPDATES FROM . JULY 17 NO 123
LEBANON JUBILANT OVER RETURN OF VICIOUS ISLAMIC CHILD MURDERER KUNTAR :
Abbas, Palestinians join celebrations of Hizbullah ‘victory’
Lebanese leaders declared a national holiday on Wednesday to celebrate the “liberation” of PLO terrorist Samir Kuntar and four Hizbullah guerillas from Israeli jail in a [...]