Middle East Update

Rory McCarthy (Guardian-UK)There remains a Jewish community in Iran of around 25,000 people. Yet large numbers have left and settled across the world, particularly in Los Angeles, and this year around 150 are expected to head to Israel.

“In the past year there has been a major increase in immigration from Iran,” says Yossi Shraga, [...]

by Hillel Fendel W

“As bad as Annapolis seems on the outside, the truth is that it’s 1,000 times worse.”
So says an IDF General Staff member who is personally involved in the contacts with the Americans and Palestinians, as quoted by Makor Rishon columnist Caroline Glick.

Due to concerns over large-scale terror attacks that might coincide with the Annapolis peace summit, Israeli police raised the security alert status to level 3, the second highest level. Road blocks were set up on access roads to Jerusalem and the western suburb of Mevasseret Zion following a warning that a Palestinian terrorist was on [...]

How does heritage, age and political affiliation factor in?Only 20% of Jewish Israeli citizens define themselves as secular, according to a new study. The data shows that in the majority, the traditional sector accounts for 47% of the population while the ultra-Orthodox and other religious sectors make up 33%.

Nationalist camp hits streets on eve of Annapolis
The Israeli Right TOOK to the streets of Jerusalem in a series of protests on (Nov 26) the eve of the Annapolis summit, insisting that the Olmert government has no mandate to make concessions on the capital city or other ‘core’ issues in the conflict with the Palestinians.

by Gil Ronen
The IDF is intensifying its operations against terror tunnels from Gaza to Israel, out of concern that terrorists may opt to use this weapon against Israel in order to derail the Annapolis summit. Bulldozers and other digging machinery are being used to try and locate the tunnels.

by Hillel Fendel An Israel Democratic Institute (IDI) demographic survey finds religious growth and secular decline - but most significant is that the proportion of religious in the public is highest among the youth.

A recent Shavakim Panorama poll of eligible Israeli voters published Thursday November 22, shows that Opposition leader and Likud party chairman Benjamin Netanyahu would be elected as Israel’s next prime minister if balloting were held now.

David A. Fulghum and Robert Wall The U.S. provided Israel with information about Syrian air defenses before Israel attacked a suspected nuclear site in Syria on Sep. 6. The main attack was preceded by an engagement with a single Syrian radar site at Tall al-Abuad near the Turkish border.

by Hillel Fendel Sderot and Netiv HaAsarah, located just north of Gaza, are waiting for the Annapolis summit to end - so that the IDF can enter Gaza and destroy its terrorist infrastructures. “The way I see it, Israel will have no alternative other than an organized military re-entry into Gaza,” said [...]