BIWEEKLY UPDATE FROM THE DAVID PROJECT

A short range rocket was fired from Gaza into Israel.

A Hezbollah weapons cache in the Lebanese village of Khirbat Salim, west of Qiryat Shemona, exploded.

Israeli sources indicated the cache included rockets, mortar and artillery shells, grenades and additional ammunition. Hezbollah sources claimed the building that exploded was filled with ‘Israeli cluster bombs’ from 2006.

After the explosion Hezbollah and Lebanese forces sealed off the area.

United Nations peacekeeping forces declared the explosions were a “serious violation” of Security Council Resolution 1701 which prohibits “unauthorized weapons” in southern Lebanon.

Israel has now accused the Lebanese Army of helping Hezbollah conceal evidence of the illegal weapons cache.

The situation in Iran continues to develop.

Demonstrators at Friday prayers were again attacked by police and regime forces.

In a Friday sermon delivered before tens of thousands of supporters at Tehran University Ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani attacked the Khamenei/Ahmadinedjad regime saying “Today is a bitter day… People have lost their faith in the regime and their trust is damaged. It’s necessary that we regain people’s consent and their trust in the regime.” Opposition leader Mir Hossein Moussavi attended the sermon.

Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, the head of Iran’s nuclear program for 12 years, has unexpectedly resigned. Reports indicate that Aghazadeh is an ally of both Rafsanjani and Moussavi.

German media reported that the Bundesnachrichtendienst (BND, German foreign intelligence agency) has produced a report that Iran could build and test a nuclear weapon within the next six months. The BND denied the report.

Reports indicate that Russia will not agree to additional sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program in exchange for a new nuclear arms reduction deal with the U.S. During his visit to Russia last week President Barack Obama had explicitly sought such an agreement.

Diplomatic moves continue in the Middle East.

Reports indicate that U.S. special envoy George Mitchell has postponed his trip to the Middle East. Mitchell’s assistant Frederic Hof met with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem in Damascus.

Reports now indicate that retired U.S. ambassador Thomas Pickering met in Geneva with Hamas leaders Bassem Naim and Mahmoud Zahar during June. Hamas sources praised the meeting and characterized it as an outreach effort by retired U.S. diplomats. State Department sources stressed the meeting was not officially sanctioned and insisted that Hamas still had to meet Quartet conditions of recognizing Israel, renouncing terrorism, and abiding by previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements.

The Israel Foreign Ministry lodged a protest over meetings between Swiss diplomats and a Hamas delegation in June. Israel temporarily recalled its ambassador to Switzerland after a meeting between Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz and Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made a major foreign policy speech.
i. Regarding Iran she stated “Neither the president nor I have any illusions that dialogue with the Islamic Republic will guarantee success of any kind. And the prospects have certainly shifted in the weeks following the election. But we also understand the importance of offering to engage Iran and giving its leaders a clear choice whether to join the international community as a responsible member or to continue down a path to further isolation. Direct talks provide the best vehicle for presenting and explaining that choice. That is why we offered Iran’s leaders an unmistakable opportunity. Iran does not have a right to nuclear, military capacity, and we’re determined to prevent that. But it does have a right to civil nuclear power if it reestablishes the confidence of the international community that it will use its programs exclusively for peaceful purposes.”

ii. Regarding the Arab-Israeli conflict she stated “We’ve been working with the Israelis to deal with the issue of settlements, to ease the living conditions of Palestinians and create circumstances that can lead to the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. For the last few decades American administrations have held consistent positions on the settlement issue, and while we expect action from Israel, we recognize that these decisions are politically challenging and we know that progress toward peace cannot be the responsibility of the United States or Israel alone. Ending the conflict requires action on all sides. The Palestinians have the responsibility to improve and extend the positive actions already taken on security, to act forcefully against incitement and to refrain from any action that would make meaningful negotiations less likely. And Arab states have a responsibility to support the Palestinian authority with words and deeds, to take steps to improve relations with Israel and to prepare their publics to embrace peace and accept Israel’s place in the region. The Saudi peace proposal supported by more than 20 nations was a positive step, but we believe that more is needed. So we are asking those who embrace the proposal to take meaningful steps now. Anwar Sadat and King Hussein crossed important thresholds, and their boldness and vision mobilized peace constituencies in Israel and paved the way for lasting agreements. By providing support to the Palestinians and offering an opening, however modest, to the Israelis, the Arab states could have the same impact. So I say to all sides, sending messages of peace is not enough. You must also act against the cultures of hate, intolerance and disrespect that perpetuate conflict.”

iii. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas visited Turkey for meetings with Turkish officials and for the opening of a new Palestinian embassy in Ankara. The building was funded by the Turkish government.

Palestinian politics continue to develop.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas denied that he had been involved in a plot to assassinate Yassir Arafat. Senior Fatah leader Farouk Qaddoumi had charged that Abbas and former Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan had conspired with Israel to kill Arafat. Abbas stated “Kaddoumi claims to be in possession of five-year-old documents that prove (his allegations), so why did he not reveal them immediately? He knows full well that this information is false; he has released it to undermine the convention, but we are continuing with the preparations.”

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has closed the West Bank office of Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television network. The PA charged al-Jazeera with spreading “incitement and false information” after it aired an interview with Farouk Qaddoumi in which he alleged a conspiracy to kill Yassir Arafat. The closure was condemned by the International Federation of Journalists, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights and the Palestinian Media Union.

Gaza-based Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh met with a delegation from the anti-Zionist Jewish sect Neturei Karta. The delegation entered Gaza from Egypt with an American group that included New York City Councilman Charles Barron. Haniyeh indicated “Jews are not the enemies of Arabs or Muslims” but “Our problem is with the occupation, that stems from the Zionist ideology and its desire to disperse all the Palestinians.”

[False] Allegations of Israeli ‘war crimes’ are again an issue.

The Israeli non-governmental organization (NGO) ‘Breaking the Silence’ published a report based on testimony from soldiers who served in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead. The anonymous statements from approximately 30 soldiers allege among other things that the army used Palestinians as ‘human shields.’ Israeli officials deny the allegations.

Another group of Israeli soldiers has set up a web site presenting counter-testimony.

‘Breaking the Silence’ is funded by the British and Dutch Embassies in Tel Aviv, the European Union, and the New Israel Fund.

Arms sales and technologies continue to be an issue in the Middle East.

Israel will test the Arrow-2 interceptor missile using the U.S. military’s test range off the coast of central California. U.S. Army Lieutenant General Patrick O’Reilly, director of the Missile Defense Agency, stated Israel is “limited to the range of the missile they can test in the eastern Mediterranean. There’s a safety issue” but added that the test was an “opportunity to have the Patriot system, the THAAD system and the Aegis system all interacting with the Arrow system, so that we’re demonstrating full interoperability as we execute this test.”

The Israel Defense Ministry announced that the Iron Dome missile defense system had been successfully tested and would become operational during 2010. Iron Dome is designed to defend against short-range missiles.

Israeli reports now indicate that F-35 aircraft to be purchased from the U.S. will not incorporate Israeli-made electronic warfare equipment and weapons.