Middle East Update

Israeli security assessment dampens post-Annapolis mood
The Annapolis conference may have just proclaimed the birth of a Palestinian state in 2008, but an Israel security official said on Wednesday November 28 that it will also be the year of a new war in Gaza. Israel TV Channel 10 carried the dour assessment just hours after the [...]

Barak RavidThe Israeli cabinet is expected to approve shortly the establishment of a “negotiations administration” that will include 14 working groups, before negotiations start on December 12. (Ha’aretz)

by Gil Ronen
At the ceremonial opening of the international summit at Annapolis, U. S. President George W. Bush read aloud a joint statement agreed upon by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The statement included a commitment by both sides in the conflict over the Land of Israel to “make every effort” [...]

Marie Colvin
The nights in Gaza belong to the Izzedine al-Qassam brigades. The militia that was once the underground military wing of Hamas has become a feared unofficial army controlling Gaza. Every night they patrol the streets and the border with Egypt. Each six-man unit travels with rocket-launchers, machineguns and grenades and carries a locally made [...]

by Hana Levi Julian
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert informed American Jewish leaders Monday November 26, that Jews outside of Israel have no right to intervene in any decision regarding the status of Jerusalem. Rabbi Pesach Lerner, Vice President of the National Council of Young Israel, told hundreds of Jews in Chicago Monday night that

“Yerushalayim [...]

A Russian Embassy official told The Jerusalem Post on Monday November 26, that Russia will host a post-Annapolis follow-up summit to focus on a “comprehensive” Middle East peace.

Aim of Annapolis is statehood within one year
The opening of the Annapolis peace conference began Monday evening November 26, with 50 delegations sharing a banquet at the White House featuring a carefully selected dinner of beet salad and bass, according to the strictest kosher and Muslim dietary guidelines.

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, [...]

Aluf BennThe main message of this week’s summit at Annapolis will be that the U.S. is back as a leader in the Middle East. When the U.S. calls, the world sides with it. Only a year ago, a pessimistic theory of America’s decline as a leading power in the Middle East dominated Washington. [...]

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.