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‘Abbas Resignation Generating Calls for Him to Stay
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[Analysis] If the reason Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud ‘Abbas said he was withdrawing from the race for re-election was to shake up a stagnant situation on the Israeli-Palestinian peace track, he has apparently succeeded. If the resignation was a strategy to bring White House policy back in-line with Palestinian demands on the issue of freezing all building in Israeli post-1967 communities, it succeeded there, too. If ‘Abbas was simply expressing his exhaustion and desire to retire from public life, he clearly has some more cajoling to do. Since ‘Abbas announced his intentions, his closest cadre has effectively spread the word that frustration and disappointment over the Obama administration’s failure to deliver a Netanyahu building freeze in communities located on land acquired in the 1967 war is the primary reason for his decision to exit the political stage. Sources in Washington, Ramallah and Jerusalem all report assurances to ‘Abbas in varying degrees, one scenario providing assurances that a declaration of statehood will come within the 2-year timeframe proposed by Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Faya’d. One factor increasing the sense of urgency is the lack of an apparent successor to ‘Abbas: one with international stature to lead the nascent entity into statehood. At the moment, the sole assurance is that the backchannels are burning with more intensity and innovation than has been seen in some time.
Medvedev: Russia Might Back Sanctions if Iran Does Not Act “Constructively” Russian President Serge Medvedev told the German magazine Der Siegel that his nation might back tougher sanctions against Iran if Tehran does not take a “constructive position” vis-à-vis the international plan for a third-party to take over the enrichment of most of its uranium stockpile. Under the plan, the majority of Iran’s uranium would be sent to a third-party country for enrichment, removing the immediate threat of Iran creating a nuclear weapon. Medvedev’s comments come after Iran rejected the proposal. Russia had been suggested as the third-party participant, something to which Medvedev said “we will with pleasure take part in these programs.” He told Der Spiegel that Russia – which has opposed sanctions -- prefers not to go the route of sanctions, which he called a “complex and dangerous path,” but said “if there is no forward movement, no one can rule out this scenario.”
Goldstone Report Headed for Security Council The United Nations General Assembly voted on Friday night to send the Goldstone report on Israel’s military incursion into the Gaza Strip to the Security Council. 18 countries opposed the resolution and 44 abstained. But the report which Israel and the U.S. agree was “one-sided” and “flawed” in its mandate, and which the White House had told American Jews would not make it out of the Human Rights Council which created it, is now bound for the U.N. body that has the teeth to codify its findings. Israel’s Foreign Ministry and the Prime Minister’s office are working overtime to counter the possible fallout, and are relying on the U.S. and other allies to exercise their vetoes on any resolution that makes it to the floor. The Goldstone report found that Israel deliberately targeted civilians, an act which might constitute “war crimes.” It called for Israel and Hamas to conduct independent investigations of actions during the 22-day war fought last December and January.
Turkey Willing to Continue Mediating Between Israel and Syria Despite Tension In spite of the rapidly accelerating tension between Turkey and Israel, Ankara indicated on Friday that it is ready to continue its mediation role between Jerusalem and Damascus. Turkey mediated four sessions of indirect negotiations between the long-time enemies during the term of Ehud Olmert. But there has been no contact since Benjamin Netanyahu became prime minister last April, ostensibly in response to Israel’s military operation in the Gaza Strip at the beginning of the year. Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan has been vocal and harsh in his criticism of the Jewish state and several incidents made diplomatic matters worse. One was Erdogan’s defense of a Turkish public television program that depicted a fictional scene in which Israeli soldiers shot and killed Palestinian youth; and then Israel was banned from what would have been the sixth consecutive year that it participated in military maneuvers with Turkey and the U.S. Turkey said it would not allow Israeli aircraft that flew in the war against Hamas to fly over Turkish air space, prompting the U.S. to cancel the entire exercise. But Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in Paris on Friday that his country is ready and willing to resume its efforts mediating between Israel and Syria, according to a timetable set by the parties.
Declassified FBI Doc's Unsubstantiated Report: Israeli Intel Agent on AIPAC Payroll A 1984 FBI memo from a field officer to the director cited an “unsubstantiated allegation that a member of the Israeli Intelligence Service was a staff member of AIPAC.” AIPAC is the American lobby for Israel’s interests and is considered to be one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington. The memo surfaced when the Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy petitioned under the Freedom of Information Act. The think tank was preparing an amicus brief to prevent a Federal judge from dismissing espionage charges against two former AIPAC staffers. One of the two, Steven Rose, is suing AIPAC for defamation. The case has prompted critics of Israel to re-address a longstanding allegation that AIPAC “fails to register as a foreign agent although it collaborates closely with foreign [Israeli] intelligence sources.”
Arms Ship Could Support A Month-long Bombardment of Israel Israeli military officials are claiming that the quantity of arms seized on the high seas last week was sufficient to support a month-long bombardment of the Jewish state. A German ship, the Francorp, flying the flag of Antiqua, was boarded about 100 miles off the coast of Israel in the Mediterranean last Tuesday. 300-tons of weapons were seized, including “thousands” of missiles and other assorted arms and ammunition. The ship was loaded in Iran and made stops in Sudan, Yemen and Egypt before entering the Mediterranean through the Suez Canal. Alluding to the current issue of the U.N. Human Rights Council’s charges that Israel committed war crimes during its military incursion into the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told reporters that the arms ship constitutes a war crime “that the U.N. Security Council should have a special meeting over" because a “major component of this shipment were rockets whose only goal was to hit civilians and kill as many civilians as possible — women, children, old people."
Palestinian Uncle of Ft. Hood Killer Speaks to AP The uncle of the man who murdered 13 soldiers at Ft. Hood, Texas, on Thursday, told the Associated Press from his West Bank home in a town near Ramallah, that Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan “loved America” but was devastated by the stories of his patients who returned from combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. Rafiq Hamad told the AP that his nephew “couldn’t handle [the stress of dealing with his patients] it as he wanted to.” According to the report, Hasan told his aged grandmother two weeks ago that he did not want to be sent overseas with the troops. Reports from Ft. Hood suggest Hasan’s reluctance to be shipped abroad was apparently part of what led to the shooting spree.
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