Israeli Police Arrest Suspected Jewish Terrorist – Immigrant from U.S.

Israeli police have arrested an American from Florida who immigrated to Israel and apparently launched an independent terrorist operation aimed at Arabs and members of the gay community. Jack Teitel was arrested last month, but a gag order was lifted on Sunday. According to police, Teitel acted alone and without instruction from anyone, and admitted to the murder of two Palestinians and the setting of an explosive device that seriously injured a Messianic Jew in the community of Ariel. Teitel has also admitted to carrying out two other bombings which resulted in light injuries. The 36-year old suspect, who has been living in Israel for nine years, has known ties to extreme right-wing groups. Police are amazed by the quantity of weapons and explosives Teitel was discovered to have stashed away. Authorities also want to know how he smuggled guns aboard a British Airways flight to Israel – a gun he claims he used when he murdered a Palestinian taxi driver and a second Palestinian. 

Mitchell, Netanyahu Meet Amid Realization that Impasse Has Been Reached

[Analysis] U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell is meeting Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu one more time on Monday, but there are no expectations that the admitted impasse will be broken before Mitchell leaves the region. Unlike previous attempts to return to negotiations in which the Obama envoys have accused Netanyahu and Israel of creating the impasse by not agreeing to a total freeze in building inside of communities located on land acquired in the 1967 war, this time blame is being leveled at the Palestinians for their hard-line refusal to agree to an American-brokered compromise on the issue. Over the weekend U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had words of praise for Netanyahu, whom she said had offered “unprecedented” concessions – part of a series of obvious efforts by the Obama administration to reverse the perception among supporters of Israel that the president is not, in the words of a poll taken among Israelis, “not pro-Israel.” The Palestinians are openly angered by the Obama flip-flop. They had believed – or had wanted to believe—that Obama was holding Netanyahu’s feet to the fire on what they regard as Israel’s commitments to the peace process. Delivering an Israeli freeze on settlement building was to be proof of Obama’s commitment. Blaming “Israel’s intransigence” and “Obama’s back-peddling,” a spokesman for Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud ‘Abbas said on Sunday that “there is no hope of negotiations on the horizon.” As the settlement issue dissolves for the Palestinians, it is apparently being replaced with a new campaign challenging Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem. Arab leaders throughout the region have joined the bandwagon accusing Israel of taking “unilateral steps” to solidify its hold on Jerusalem, warning that Israel’s actions there will have “catastrophic effects.”  

Israel Releases Hamas Member of Palestinian Legislature

Israel has released one of 15 members of the Palestinian Legislative Council that it is holding in its jails. Hatem Qafisha, 49, and a member of Hamas, was allowed to return to his Hebron home. Qafisha and 14 other law makers were detained by Israeli security forces following the cross-border raid in June 2006 that resulted in the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, ostensibly as bargaining chips to secure Shalit’s release. More than three years later, Shalit remains in captivity and Israel has released a couple of those who were arrested, including the speaker of the legislative council.  

Afghanistan: Uncertainty After Abdullah WIthdrawal

Dr. Abdullah Abdullah’s withdrawal from Afghanistan’s run-off election has created uncertainty surrounding President Hamid Karzai’s status as presumptive winner of last June’s election. Karzai apparently won the June election, but bowed to international pressure amid accusations of vote fraud and agreed to a run-off against Abdullah. The election commission is now expected to cancel the run-off followed by certification of Karzai’s victory by the Supreme Court. If that comes about, Karzai will still have an uphill battle in forming a working government. The U.S. and Britain are both encouraging Abdullah to cooperate in the formation of a unity government.

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