Middle East Update

Saudi Arabia insisted April 3, that direct talks with Israeli P M Ehud Olmert would only be possible after Israel accepts the Arab peace initiative. Olmert recently called for a summit with the Saudis in order to discuss the peace process, following an Arab League decision to re-launch a 2002 peace initiative that [...]

Iran, Syria, and HizbAllah forces in Lebanon are all preparing for a possible US military offensive this summer, IDF intelligence chief Amos Yadlin told senior Israeli officials on Sunday April 7. Yadlin warned the cabinet that the IDF has recently noticed “an increase in the potential for [Mideast] instability,” based on a number of [...]

At an Arab summit, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday called on Israel to take constructive steps in response to a new Arab peace initiative. Arab leaders revived a 5-year-old peace plan that offers Israel normal ties with all Arab countries in return for withdrawal from land seized in the 1967 Six-Day [...]

Recent archaeological digs in the City of David, just outside Jerusalem’s Old City, have uncovered another massive wall from the First Temple period believed to be part of a palace and major government complex used by King David’s royal line. The newly discovered 20-meter-long section of a 7-meter-thick wall is part of a monumental 10th [...]

There is a growing threat that terrorist groups such as HizbAllah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad will acquire nuclear or other WMD technology, a senior US State Department official told The Jerusalem Post this week. He indicated that there are a “large number” of nuclear smuggling incidents each year, some of which are “substantial” and not [...]

Ibrahim Hamad, the senior Hamas terrorist charged with the murder of 36 Israeli civilians in Jerusalem during the intifada has been convicted by an Israeli military court of coordinating three major suicide bombings in the capital since 2002: the Moment Cafe bombing in which 11 people were killed; the suicide attack at the Sheffield Club [...]

The Israeli Air Force conducted its 16th test of the Arrow missile defense system on Monday March 26, which officials said was capable of intercepting an Iranian nuclear missile, according to The Jerusalem Post. An improved Arrow missile, with modifications to its hardware and electronics, was successfully test-fired. Recent modifications made to the Arrow missile [...]

The Arab League decided ON March 28, to endorse without changes its land-and-refugee-for-peace initiative from March 2002. A senior Israeli official said Israel would not reject the document out of hand, but will likely hone in on its positive elements, overlooking the problematic aspects. “What we are hearing is that the Arab countries are [...]

‘Escalation’ possible if Israel rejects Arab League conditions
The “lords of war” will decide Israel’s future if it rejects a plan crafted by the entire Arab world, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister warned Tuesday March 27, as leaders began gathering in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, for Wednesday’s Arab League summit.

The platform of the Palestinian unity government legitimizes the continuation of violent opposition, which is also a violation of the Chairman’s commitments. This will not facilitate - in the near future - contacts between us and the PA. There is no doubt that completely different conduct by the PA is required in order to create [...]