Middle East Update

Amid a massive security operation to secure Baghdad, car bombs Sunday February 18, struck in two Shiite neighborhoods, targeting civilians and police, Iraqi officials said.

Mordechai Kedar, BESA CenterFor years, especially since the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference, Arab leaders have repeated the mantra that peace with Israel hinges upon a withdrawal to the pre-1967 border. The Arab demand for a return of all Palestinian refugees to pre-1967 Israel remains at the core of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and this demand disguises [...]

The head of the IDF’s Military Intelligence Research Division told the Knesset on Monday February 19, that the Iranian-backed Hizb’Allah terror group has been successful in rehabilitating its forces, and is almost at the same strength as it was before last summer’s war. Brigadier General Yossi Baidatz also said that Syria is busily upgrading its [...]

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Jerusalem on Saturday February 17, for a series of meetings with Middle Eastern leaders. She later claimed that the talks were ‘useful and productive’, but the only real progress was a commitment by the Israelis and Palsestinians to meet again!

A bomb went off Friday night February 16, at a girls school in the southeastern Iranian border city of Zahedan, according to the semi-official FARS News Agency.

The Democratic-controlled House issued a symbolic rejection of President Bush’s decision to deploy more troops to Iraq on Friday, February 16, opening an epic confrontation between Congress and commander in chief over an unpopular war that has taken the lives of more than 3,100 U.S. troops.

US may reject unproven unity government
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced on February 15, that the rival Fatah and Hamas parties had “agreed on the formation of a unity government,” during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza.

Turkey to inspect excavation, renovation site Calm was restored to the Old City of Jerusalem today, February 16, after prayer services on the Temple Mount drew to a close, with Israeli Police arresting some 15-20 Muslim youths for sporadic acts of violence and incitement. Some 3,000 police officers were on standby in east Jerusalem and [...]

The Bush administration hopes to resettle about 7,000 Iraqi refugees to the United States this year, the State Department said Wednesday. February 14.

Jerusalem Post EditorialIt is tempting to ignore “Israel Apartheid Week,” an anti-Israel hate-fest taking place this week in Canada, England and the US. The organizers of such events, though they claim to be supporting Palestinian rights, will obviously not be satisfied unless the Jewish state ceases to exist.