BIWEEKLY UPDATE FROM THE DAVID PROJECT

1. Iran’s ‘Supreme Leader’ Ayatollah Ali Khamenei formally endorsed the ‘reelection’ of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The ceremony was boycotted by several political opponents.

2. U.S. diplomatic moves in the Middle East are continuing

a. A U.S. State Department spokesman has indicated that a new American peace effort is being readied and would be launched in “a matter of weeks.” White House officials have also announced a new public relations plan designed to explain the Obama administration’s peace efforts to both Arab and Israeli audiences.

b. U.S. Special Envoy George Mitchell will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in London in late August. Netanyahu will also meet British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

3. Arab diplomatic moves are continuing.

a. Arab leaders have begun responding to the Obama administration’s public and private requests for Arab states to offer reciprocal confidence building measures to Israel.

i. At a joint press conference with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal rejected “incrementalism and a step-by-step approach” saying “The whole world knows what a settlement should look like… Withdrawal from all the occupied territories, including Jerusalem, a just settlement for the refugees, and an equitable settlement of issues such as water and security.”

ii. After talks with Secretary of State Clinton, Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh stated “In the Middle East, there has been in the past an overinvestment, perhaps, by the parties in pursuing confidence-building measures, conflict-management techniques, including transitional arrangements, and an overemphasis on gestures, perhaps at the expense of reaching the actual end game.”

b. Syrian President Basah al-Assad stated in an interview with a Syrian military magazine that “returning all occupied territories to the 4th of June [1967, prior to the Six Day War] borders is not up for negotiation or discussion” and that “The Syrian Golan will yet return to Arab hands.”

4. Palestinian politics are continuing.

a. The sixth Fatah conference has opened in Bethlehem, the first such conference in 20 years. Over 2,200 delegates were invited to attend the three-day conference. Elections will be held for 120 seats on the Revolutionary Council and 21 seats on the Central Committee.

b. Hamas refused to permit Fatah members from Gaza to attend the conference but a number are rumored to have snuck out of Gaza. Hamas has threatened to arrest them upon their return to Gaza.

c. In his speech to the conference Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stated that “Although peace is our choice, we reserve the right to resistance, legitimate under international law.” He added that negotiations with Israel would continue “as long as there is a tiny bit of hope” and urged Palestinians not to “mar their legitimate struggle with terror.” Abbas also claimed Israel and the Palestinians had agreed on a U.S.-brokered deal that that included east Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley and parts of the Dead Sea, “but now the Israelis are trying to deny this and create facts on the ground in Jerusalem, claiming Jerusalem is united under their sovereignty.”

d. A draft of the conference political plan was leaked to Arab newspapers. It states that Palestinians will refuse to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, continue to demand Israel withdraw to the 1967 borders, and demand the ‘right of return’ of Palestinian refugees to Israel.

e. Palestinian sources report that Fatah has decided to stop transferring funds to Gaza except for salaries of the 77,000 Palestinian Authority (PA) employees. A Hamas spokesman called the decision “blackmail” and stated that “the Fatah movement had lost its senses and started pouring the bulk of their anger on Hamas and the people.”