BIWEEKLY UPDATE FROM THE DAVID PROJECT

1. Today is Jerusalem Day, commemorating the 42nd anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem during the Six Day War.

2. Short range rockets were fired from Gaza into Israel. Airstrikes were conducted on targets in Gaza. An explosive device targeting Israeli forces was detonated along the Gaza border. Several Islamic Jihad operatives were killed in a firefight with Israeli forces on the Gaza border.

3. U.S. diplomacy in the Middle East continues to develop.

a. Unconfirmed reports indicate that U.S. President Obama will present a proposal based on the Arab Peace Initiative during his upcoming speech in Cairo. Rumors persist that the proposal will include a demilitarized Palestinian state that give up the ‘right of return,’ partial internationalization of Jerusalem and Organization of the Islamic Conference control of the Temple Mount.

b. In an interview with the Al Jazeera network, U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton stated “We want to see a stop to [Israeli] settlement construction, additions, natural growth – any kind of settlement activity.”

c. Vice President Joseph Biden will be traveling to Lebanon prior to the 7 June elections.

d. A group 76 U.S. senators signed a letter to President Obama, saying “As we work closely with our democratic ally, Israel, we must take into account the risks it will face in any peace agreement…We must also continue to insist on the absolute Palestinian commitment to ending terrorist violence and to building the institutions necessary for a viable Palestinian state living side-by-side, in peace with the Jewish state of Israel.”

4. Palestinian politics continue to develop.

a. The Palestinian Authority (PA) has formed its thirteenth government in fourteen years under Prime Minister Salam Fayad. At the ceremony Fayad stated “I do not think this is the appropriate time to talk about negotiations when Israel is not honoring prior agreements and understandings.”

b. A Hamas spokesman stated “This government is illegal, unconstitutional and came with the blessing of the Zionist and American administrations, and it poses an obstacle on the way to national reconciliation talks.”

c. A Fatah member stated “Fatah is strongly opposed to this government because we were not consulted about the make-up…This is an illegitimate government and Fatah won’t vote in favor of it in parliament.”

5. Israel has announced that it will open an embassy in Turkmenistan. Israel will also reopen an embassy in New Zealand, which was closed in 2002 due to budget cuts, as well as a consulate in Sao Paolo, Brazil. Restoration of diplomatic relations with New Zealand was slowed in 2004 when Mossad agents were arrested in that country after they tried to steal local passports for use in an espionage operation.

6. Iran’s weapons programs continue to be a concern.

a. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran test-fired a solid fuel Sajjil-2 missile with a range of about 1,200 miles, capable of reaching Israel, southeastern Europe and U.S. bases in the Middle East.

b. Ahmadinejad told a crowd in the city of Semnan “In the nuclear case, we send them a message: Today the Islamic Republic of Iran is running the show…. We say to the superpowers, ‘Who of you dare to threaten the Iranian nation? Raise your hand!’ But they all stand there with their hands behind their backs.” Iranian elections will be held 12 June.

c. Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini canceled a trip to Iran for talks on regional security issues. The Foreign Ministry in Rome cited problems over the meeting place. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wanted the meeting in Semnan, site of the missile launch, instead of in Tehran.

d. Reports indicate that Russia has canceled a $400-$500 million sale of MIG-31 fighter aircraft to Syria. Sources vary over whether the sale was canceled because of Israeli pressure, Syrian inability to pay, or Iranian displeasure over Syrian overtures to the U.S. and Turkey.

e. The U.S. and Israel have announced formation of a joint working group on Iran to assess progress of outreach to Iran and to share intelligence about Iran’s nuclear weapons program.

f. The U.S. has announced that it will fully fund development and production of the Arrow 3 ballistic missile interceptor project. U.S. support for the Arrow system began over 20 years ago and there were fears that recent defense budget cuts would affect the program.

g. CIA director Leon Panetta stated that Israel knew it needed to coordinate its strategy on Iran with other nations and was aware that launching an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities would mean “big trouble.”

h. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee “I’m one who believes that Iran getting a nuclear weapon is calamitous for the region and for the world.”

i. Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau testified before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee regarding his office’s investigations and recent indictments of banks involved in illicit Iranian finance and procurement networks. He noted that “we have consulted with top experts in the field from MIT and from private industry and from the CIA… Frankly, some of the people we’ve consulted are shocked by the sophistication of the equipment they’re buying.”

j. A poll conducted on behalf of the Center for Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University indicated that 23 percent of Israelis would consider leaving the country if Iran obtains a nuclear weapon. Eighty-five percent of respondents said they feared that Iran would obtain an atomic bomb, 57 percent believed the new U.S. diplomatic initiative with Iran would fail and 41 percent believed Israel should strike Iran’s nuclear installations without waiting to see the talks develop.

7. Attacks and threats against Jews continue worldwide.

a. A plot to blow up New York area Jewish facilities and shoot down U.S. military aircraft has been thwarted.

i. Three African-Americans and one Haitian were arrested by Federal authorities as they planted what they believed were explosive devices near a Jewish facility in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.

ii. The four, who had converted to Islam in prison, had expressed a desire to kill Jews and U.S. military personnel in retaliation for U.S. military action in Afghanistan. Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly noted “They stated that they wanted to commit jihad. They were disturbed about what was happening in Afghanistan and Pakistan, that Muslims were being killed. They were making statements that Jews were killed in this attack and that would be all right – that sort of thing.”

iii. An FBI informant had provided them with dummy explosives and a dummy surface to air missile.

iv. There is no indication as yet that the four were connected with any international group.

v. Security has been raised at New York area Jewish facilities.

b. Brazilian police have arrested a number of ‘neo-Nazis’ in a plot to bomb synagogues in Porto Alegre. Police are investigating whether the 14 men arrested had links to other neo-Nazi groups outside Brazil.

c. Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority ordered an ad promoting the Red Sea resort town of Eilat to be withdrawn after receiving complaints from the Syrian Embassy and pro-Palestinian groups. The ad in the London Underground system featured a map that appeared to show the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights within Israel.

d. The Edinburgh International Film Festival returned £300 to the Israeli embassy after the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign threatened to picket the festival next month.

SUGGESTED READING

David Rothkopf
The six biggest myths currently confusing policymakers
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Robert Satloff
The Obama-Netanyahu Meeting: Analysis and Assessment
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Geneive Abdo
Netanyahu’s Washington Victory
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Yossi Melman
Obama quashed Israel military option against Iran
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Howard Schneider
Palestinians Discouraged by Meeting’s Outcome
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Ben-Dror Yemini
The Jewish Nakba: Expulsions, Massacres and Forced Conversions

F. Gregory Gause III
What to Read on Saudi Politics
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EastWest Institute
Iran’s Nuclear and Missile Potential A Joint Threat Assessment by U.S. and Russian Technical Experts

Barry Rubin
Palestinian Authority’s New Government: Any Ever Ask Them if They’re Ready to Negotiate Peace?

Edwin Bennatan
How Israel Lost a Friend
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Duncan Campbell-Smith
How Mossad helped Hamas
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J.J. Goldberg
A Matter of Trust
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NGO Monitor
EU-funded NGOs Promote the Palestinian Narrative in Jerusalem

Tony Badran
Hezbollah’s Agenda in Lebanon
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Steven Emerson
Stop Protecting the Islamists
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Daniel Pipes
A History of Muslim Terrorism against Jews in the United States

Jewish Telegraph Agency
Plots against Jewish targets in U.S.

Melik Kaylan
Arab Humor . . . No Joke
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