How to Communicate Concern Over US Middle East Policy to Members of the US Congress who oversee US State Dep't Middle East Policies

The time has come for those who advocate for Israel to communicate directly with members of two major US Congressional committees which oversee US middle east policy:



The Middle East Subcommittee of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee

http://www.internationalrelations.house.gov/subcommittees.asp?committee=7



The Neat East Subcommittee of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee

http://tinyurl.com/2wkcqco




It also behooves those who advocate for Israel to send carefully written letters to the staffers of these committees.



Letters to members of the US Congress should ask the US Congress to

carefully reconsider support for the Fatah dominated PA and for UNRWA, because:.



1. The Fatah dominated Palestinian Authority is anything but peace partner, especially since Fatah declared its commitment to continued war against Israel at the Fatah summit which occurred last August.



http://israelbehindthenews.com/bin/content.cgi?ID=3780&q=1




2. The Fatah dominated Palestinian Authority conveys a consistent message of continued virulent incitement against the state and people of Israel.

Palestine Authority Incitement Reports:



http://tinyurl.com/36c4lvj



http://tinyurl.com/276xcne



http://tinyurl.com/2dsgmrk




3.The Fatah dominated Palestinian Authority education system inculcates the next generation of Palestinian children to liberate all of Palestine.

http://israelbehindthenews.com/bin/content.cgi?ID=2028&q=1



http://israelbehindthenews.com/bin/content.cgi?ID=1309&q=1



http://israelbehindthenews.com/bin/content.cgi?ID=987&q=1




http://israelbehindthenews.com/bin/content.cgi?ID=3779&q=1



http://israelbehindthenews.com/bin/content.cgi?ID=3086&q=1



http://israelbehindthenews.com/bin/content.cgi?ID=3063&q=1



http://israelbehindthenews.com/bin/content.cgi?ID=2984&q=1




http://israelbehindthenews.com/bin/content.cgi?ID=2035&q=1





4. UNWRA, funded to the tune of 30% of its budget by the US government, continues to confine descendants of Palestinian Arab refugees to the squalor of "temporary" refugee camps,under the specious premise and promise of the right to return to Arab villages from 1948,while fueling the camp residents with a zeal to recover "their lands" within Israel.

http://www.israelbehindthenews.com/bin/search.cgi?match=AND&keywords=unrwa

http://israelbehindthenews.com/library/pdfs/MY_UNRWA_Report_2009_US_.pdf

“UNRWA in Gaza & Terror Groups:The Connection” at http://israelbehindthenews.com/reports.html

http://israelbehindthenews.com/UNRWA.html

5. The Fatah-dominated Palestinian armed forces are now armed and trained by the American military with the idea that the Palestinian armed forces will quash Palestinian terrorist organizations. The PA armed forces have made it clear that they have no intention of quashing any Palestinian terrorist groups.

http://israelbehindthenews.com/library/pdfs/Assessment_of_US_Military_Aid_to_Fatah_US.pdf

U.S. Ex-Officers Warn Of Decline In Israel Ties

from: Middle East News Line

WASHINGTON [MENL] -- Scores of senior retired U.S. officers have warned of
the decline in American strategic cooperation with Israel.

Close to 50 generals and admirals have signed a letter that termed
Israel a key element in U.S. global strategy. In a letter organized by the
Washington-based Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, the retired
officers, who have toured Israel, said the Jewish state was highly important
to U.S. policy in the Middle East and Mediterranean region.

"We brought with us our decades of military experience and, following
unrestricted access to Israel's civilian and military leaders, came away
with the unswerving belief that the security of the State of Israel is a
matter of great importance to the United States and its policy in the Middle
East and Eastern Mediterranean," the letter, released on April 2, read. "A
strong, secure Israel is an asset upon which American military planners and
political leaders can rely."

JINSA said the letter was organized in wake of an assessment by U.S.
Central Command that relations with Israel were harming Washington's efforts
to form alliances with Arab and Muslim countries. In March, Vice President
Joseph Biden was quoted as telling Israeli leaders that their policies,
including Jewish construction in Jerusalem, were endangering U.S. soldiers
in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"While we recognize, as [Centcom chief] Gen. [David] Petraeus did, that
American support for Israel is used by our adversaries to foment
anti-Americanism, we also recognize that the important countries of the
region won't like us any better if we shed Israel as an ally," JINSA said.

"They will wonder how quickly we will shed them when they are inconvenient."
JINSA has been lobbying the Defense Department and U.S. military
regarding Israel since the early 1980s. In January 2010, the organization
released a report that asserted that Washington was denying Jerusalem -- the
largest recipient of U.S. military aid -- a range of weapons in what could
harm Israel's military superiority over its Arab neighbors.

The letter, planned for publication in major U.S. newspapers, quoted the
generals and admirals as expressing "grave concern" over tension between
Jerusalem and Washington. The retired senior officers said they could not
rule out the prospect that "political differences may be allowed to outweigh
our larger mutual interests."

The admirals and generals said Israel and the United States have engaged
in defense and military cooperation at all levels. The letter cited
training, law enforcement, counter-insurgency as well as research and
development.

The United States would require Israeli cooperation for a range of
threats, the officers said. They said this would include nonconventional and
ballistic missile proliferation as well as CI operations.

"As American defense professionals, we view events in the Middle East
through the prism of American security interests," the letter said. "In the
Middle East, a volatile region so vital to U.S. interests, it would be
foolish to disengage -- or denigrate -- an ally such as Israel."

See this story and more at Israel Behind the News

The Philadelphia Bulletin: Differences Emerging between Israel and US over Iran

by David Bedein

JERUSALEM - The intelligence communities of Israel and the United States differ over Iran’s progress toward nuclear weapons.

“I think that beyond that there is, of course, a certain difference in perspective and difference in judgment, difference in the internal clocks and difference in capabilities,” Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said.

In a Feb. 26 address to the Washington Institute, Mr. Barak acknowledged that Israel and the United States might not bridge their differences over Iran’s capabilities. He said the U.S. objections to Israel’s assessment should not block any campaign against Tehran’s nuclear program.

“And I don’t think that there is a need to coordinate in this regard,” Mr. Barak said. “That should be understood. It should be an exchange of views. We do not need to coordinate every step.”

The statement marked a rare occasion that Mr. Barak, regarded as the most U.S.-oriented member of the Israeli Cabinet, played down the need to coordinate with the administration of President Barack Obama. Mr. Barak, however, stressed that Israel supported Mr. Obama’s policy to employ diplomacy rather than military means against Iran.

“We clearly support the attempt to solve it through diplomacy,” Mr. Barak said.

The Israeli government has been pressing the U.S.administration for a timetable for harsh U.S. sanctions on Tehran, beginning with a gasoline embargo that would spark critical fuel shortages in Iran.

Instead, Washington has moved cautiously in efforts to draft sanctions against Iran. The State Department has ruled out significant measures against Iran’s energy sector.

For his part, Mr. Barak did not rule out the prospect that Iran could develop what he termed “second or second-and-a-half generation of nuclear warheads.” He said these warheads could be installed on ballistic missiles that could reach Moscow or Paris.

“If Iran will not be stopped from moving there, it will reach a certain point of nuclear military capability, and one can close his eyes and see what it means,” Mr. Barak said. “What is really needed is significant sanctions, effective ones with a time limit, together with the Russians and the Chinese.”

See this story in the Philadelphia Bulletin
See this report at Israel Behind the News

The Philadelphia Bulletin: The Knesset Calls for Boycott of British Products

by David Bedein

Jerusalem - 42 Members of Israel’s Knesset Parliament have signed an unusual parliamentary petition calling for the boycott of products from the United Kingdom.

This is the response to the recommendation of British government officials that Israeli products made in Judea and Samaria and the Golan Heights be marked, in order to abet those citizens wishing to boycott Israeli products.

In addition to the petition, the Knesset is considering legislation that would mandate similar marking of British products, as long as the British decision remains standing.

The petition, which was secretly organized in recent days, was initiated by Ronit Tirosh, of Kadima and a Member of Knesset (MK), and is signed by former senior Israeli government ministers, chairmen of senior Knesset committees, faction chairmen and regular MKs.

Among the signatories are former Defense Minister Amir Peretz, former Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik, former General Security Service (GSS) Director Avi Dichter, Coalition Chairman Zeev Elkin, Finance Committee Chairman Moshe Gafni, Knesset Committee Chairman Yariv Levin, Education Committee Chairman Zvulun Orlev, State Audit Committee Chairman Yoel Hasson and former ministers Roni Baron, Meir Shetrit, Eitan Kabel and Gidon Ezra.

The signatories represent eight of the 12 present Knesset factions.

“We express our revulsion toward the decisions recently made in the United Kingdom to mark Israeli products sold within its borders,” the petition states. “We call on the United Kingdom to immediately rescind the decision, which casts a shadow on economic cooperation between the citizens of our countries. We recommend that the Israeli public reconsider using the services of companies from countries making such decisions, so long as their governments’ recommendations remain standing.”

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said that he would pass the petition on to the speaker of the British parliament next week.

At the same time, MK Tirosh approached the accountant general in the Israel Finance Ministry and asked that he prevent senior public officials from flying with British Airways as well as other British airlines operating in Israel.

“There are some situations in which one simply must not remain silent,” said MK Tirosh. “Marking Jewish products for the sake of a boycott is simply not the right course for those who seek to develop ties with the Jewish people. If, by recruiting the public, we will be able to encourage the purchase of Israeli-made products, than our loss will be our gain.”

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The Philadelphia Bulletin: Israel is Now the Leading Defense Contractor to India

by David Bedein

JERUSALEM - India’s Defense Minister Shri Antony recently told parliament that Israel was a key partner in the development of missiles. Mr. Antony said Israel was supplying components for medium- and long-range missiles for the Indian Air Force and Navy.

“Procurement of defense items, including missiles, is made from various indigenous as well as foreign sources, including Israel, in accordance with the well-laid down defense procurement procedure,” Mr. Antony said in a statement to parliament on Monday.

The Indian Defense Ministry said the missile development projects included the state-owned Israel Aerospace Industries, regarded as a leading defense contractor in India.

Mr. Antony also said the Israel Aircraft Industries was helping to develop the long-range surface-to-air missile for the Indian Navy as well as the medium range surface-to-air missile for the Indian Air Force. The long-range missile project was reported at $55.9 million, and the medium-range program $216 million.

“Both missiles being developed are comparable in performance and cost to missiles available in their class in the world market,” the ministry said.

Israel was said to have become the leading defense contractor to India this year.

Israel has been selling more than $1 billion worth of defense material and services to India.

The Indian Defense Ministry also reported contracts with the Aircraft Industries organization as well as other Israeli companies, including Elbit Systems and Rafael Advanced Defense Systems.

Mr. Antony said India’s Central Bureau of Investigation was probing allegations of improprieties in IAI’s contract to supply the Barak point-defense missile system to the navy.

“The case is pending investigation,” the minister said.

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The Philadelphia Bulletin: Israel, Vatican in Holy-Sites Crisis

by David Bedein

Jerusalem - Israeli and Vatican delegations, which this week discussed the financial and legal status of Israel’s Christian holy sites, have reached a dead end. According to Vatican sources, relations between the two are on the verge of crisis, and these same sources are also threatening to sever diplomatic ties with Israel.

The Israeli delegation, directed by Israel Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, flew to the Vatican in order to discuss the status of the Vatican’s assets in Israel, and also the Vatican’s demand to receive ownership of the Room of the Last Supper on Jerusalem’s Mount Zion, where, according to Christian tradition, Jesus held the Passover dinner with his 12 disciples before being crucified.

The two committees were unable to reach an agreement on any issue, and decided to postpone their discussions to May 27. A source in the Vatican told the Israeli media that they had been waiting 15 years to reach an agreement with Israel over the status of the holy sites, but that Israeli governments were unable to reach a decision on any matter.

Mr. Ayalon told Ma’ariv that he’d rather not refer to the matter as a crisis, and added that the delegations had decided to part cordially and refrain from speaking of a crisis. “There was no breakthrough, and we therefore agreed to end the meeting with the phrase ‘we have agreed not to agree.’” But the deputy minister also added that “Israeli and Vatican delegations reached an impasse.”

Mr. Ayalon evinced to the Vatican that Israel would not forfeit its sovereignty and possessions in Mount Zion, where the Room of the Last Supper is located - one of the key issues of contention between the two delegations. The Vatican seeks to be the only body to operate the site and to conduct prayers taking place there, whereas Israel opposes this request seeing that according to Jewish faith, King David is buried under the hall.

Israeli Interior Minister Eli Yishai opposes granting the Vatican exclusive rights to the hall, and also other officials, among them rabbis and organizations dealing with activities in the Jewish Quarter, have asked that the asset remain in Israeli hands.

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The Philadelphia Bulletin: Israel, India Intensify Their Military Cooperation

by David Bedein

JERUSALEM - This week, India and Israel launched another defense summit.

The two countries convened their military chiefs for a five-day summit to review defense and military cooperation.

Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi represented Israel and was invited by his Indian counterpart, Gen. Deepak Kapoor.

“The visit to India is part of the process of strengthening the ties between Israel and India and the nations’ militaries,” a statement by the Israeli military statement said last Sunday.

Israeli military sources said Mr. Ashkenazi and Mr. Kapoor reviewed strategic relations, assessing the regional situation, including Al Qaida, and discussing experiences with new weapons and techniques. They said the review would help India decide on new weapons procurement programs with Israel.

“This was the first official visit of an Israel Defense Forces chief to India,” the statement said.

Israel has been deemed the leading military supplier of India.

The Indian military has been absorbing airborne early-warning and alert aircraft, air defense systems, aircraft upgrades, unmanned aerial vehicles, missile defense systems and light armament from Israel.

“In the past year, Israel has overtaken Russia as its main defense equipment supplier, and about 30 percent of India’s defense imports come from Israel, and that number is growing,” Indian defense analyst Behram Sahukar told the Jerusalem Post.

India has sought to intensify defense and military relations in wake of the Al Qaida-aligned Mumbai attacks in November 2008, in which six Israelis and Jews were killed.

India has deemed the acquisition of naval reconnaissance and counter-insurgency systems a priority.

“Both India and Israel want to expand their military exercises, especially for the air force,” an Israeli military source confirmed.

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The Philadelphia Bulletin: Israel, Turkey Keep their Military Ties

JERUSALEM - Israel and Turkey have managed to retain military cooperation despite rising political tension, a report by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs said.

The report asserted that the Islamist government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has kept their military partnership with Israel despite their political crisis this year. Still, the Center, in a report by a leading U.S. analyst, warned that Israeli-Turkish relations were threatened by Ankara’s strategic alliance with Syria.

“Israel’s military relationship with Turkey, including ongoing joint air force training, military exchanges, and arms sales, appears to be secure for the time being,” the report, titled “The Islamist Transformation in Turkish Politics,” said. “Should bilateral political tensions continue, and as Ankara and Damascus enhance strategic ties, inevitably Israeli-Turkish military-to-military relations will suffer.”

Authored by former U.S. Defense Department analyst David Schenker, the report did not detail current Israeli-Turkish military cooperation. Instead, Mr. Schenker pointed to Turkey’s cancellation of Israel’s participation in the NATO-aligned Anatolian Eagle exercise in October 2009.

In the wake of the cancellation, the Turkish government announced plans to conduct a Turkish military exercise with Syria. The report said Ankara’s decision was expected and reflected the policy of the ruling pro-Islamist Justice and Development Party.

The report said Turkey’s key motive for a military alliance with Israel, launched in 1996, was Ankara’s war with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). By 1999, Turkey had forced Syria to expel PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan and later arrested him. Since 2002, Syria and Turkey have signed 46 agreements, including a military training pact.

“Turkey no longer needed Israeli assistance to pressure the Syrian government to change its policy of providing safe-haven to the terrorist Kurdish Worker’s Organization,” the report said.

Mr. Schenker, now a senior fellow at the Washington Institute, said Ankara’s embrace of Syria over the last three years reflected the decline of Turkey’s military. He said Mr. Erdogan’s party, which has succeeded in marginalizing the military, has been promoting relations with such countries as Qatar, Sudan and Syria while rejecting pro-Western Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia.

“Today, the Turkish military can do little to impact the policies of the Islamist AKP (Justice and Development Party), which promote solidarity with Islamist, anti-Western regimes while dismissing secular, pro-Western Muslim governments,” the report said.

The report said Turkey began weakening its relationship with Israel as early as 2006. This year, however, Ankara sparked a crisis with Israel during its war with Hamas as the Turkish government improved relations with Syria. This included the first Syrian-Turkish military exercise in April.

“Clearly, 2009 was a watershed year for the Turkey-Syria bilateral relationship and a year of setbacks for Israeli-Turkish ties,” the report said. “While the long-term implications of these developments remain to be seen, the current trajectory is not cause for optimism.”

Mr. Schenker said Turkey’s support for Iran and Syria has raised concern within NATO. He said Ankara’s pro-Iranian policy could harm U.S. interests in the Middle East. “Perhaps more worrisome is the prospect that Ankara may, over time, pursue a closer foreign policy alignment with Iran that would undermine U.S. and Israeli regional interests,” the report said.

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The Philadelphia Bulletin: Israel battles with Iran over Pacific Islands

by David Bedein

JERUSALEM - Israel does not intend to give up on the Pacific Ocean islands and let them fall into the hands of Iran, as happened with the Solomon Islands. The support of the Solomon Islands, however, was “bought” by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s country for a grant of only $200,000.

Next month, the presidents of three of the island states that are considered strong supporters of Israel - Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Nauru, will be coming to Israel for an official visit. They will meet with Israeli President Shimon Peres and, perhaps, also with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and will be paid royal honors.

Israeli officials ascribe great importance to the support of these Pacific islands, mainly because it can be transferred easily from one side to another. A year ago, Iran signed a memorandum with the Solomon Islands stating that it would fund scholarships in the amount of $200,000 for students living there to study medicine in Cuba. The payment was not long in coming: The Solomon Islands voted in the United Nations (U.N.) for adopting the conclusions of the Goldstone Report, which blasted Israel for its counterattack in Gaza last year.

The vote surprised Israel because the Solomon Islands were considered a strong ally.

“This is part of a long-term effort to preserve and nurture relations with countries with which we would like to keep in contact,” explained Michael Ronen, the director-general of the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s Pacific desk. Mr. Ronen, who also serves as the ambassador to these islands, emphasized that Israel does not intend to offer money, as Iran did. “I will defeat the Iranians on my court by offering humanitarian and medical assistance, which Israel has made sure to give these islands throughout the years, without promising money or making my assistance conditional upon political support, as the Iranians have done,” he said.

The Pacific Ocean region has sixteen countries, including Australia and New Zealand. All the rest are tiny countries. Since size does not matter, the votes of 13 of these countries matter in votes that take place in the U.N. Tiny Micronesia’s vote is equal to that of enormous China.

Israel was among the first of the countries outside the Pacific region to recognize the independence of the island nations in the 1980s and formed diplomatic relations with them. Since then, Israel has worked a great deal in those countries, sending them medical equipment, vaccines, medicines and medical specialists. Thus, for example, an Israeli ear, nose and throat specialist has been in Nauru for the past three weeks at the request of the Nauruan government. Equipment worth $130,000 was sent to Samoa as assistance in coping with the damage from the latest tsunami. Israel also assisted the Solomon Islands, despite its vote in favor of the Goldstone Report, and continued to send it medical equipment in order to help it cope with diabetes, which is widespread there. The result of this ongoing assistance has been that in the U.N. votes, these countries have supported Israel or abstained from voting against it.

However, in recent years, countries such as Iran, Syria, Venezuela and Cuba have tried to change this situation by means of money, and Israel is trying to stop this from happening.

“Israel extends its hand to all countries, great and small,” Mr. Ronen said. “In the Pacific region, we have found tiny and far-flung states that know a great deal more about us than we know about them, and that have shown us extraordinary friendship. In the U.N., there is an almost absolute majority against Israel and, therefore, we are making every effort to keep them with us.”

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The Philadelphia Bulletin: US Weary over Turkey-Iran Deal

by David Bedein

JERUSALEM - The Middle East Newsline has confirmed that the United States has expressed increasing dissatisfaction with Turkey's alliance with neighboring Iran.

U.S. officials said the Turkish rapprochement with Iran would be a leading item on the agenda of talks during a summit in Washington in December and added that President Barack Obama would raise the Turkish alliance with Iran during his meeting with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan.

"It's not a good thing to make business, at the moment, with Iran," U.S. Assistant Secretary Philip Gordon said.

Mr. Gordon, responsible for European and Eurasian affairs, met Turkish officials in November to discuss the agenda for Mr. Erdogan's meeting with the Obama administration. During a wide-ranging briefing, the U.S. official stressed that Ankara and Washington would be required to resolve a range of issues.

"There were more points of disagreement than of agreement with Turkey," Mr. Gordon said.

In November, Iran and Turkey signed a multi-billion-dollar energy agreement that elicited strong opposition from Washington.

Officials said the Obama administration warned the Erdogan government that the accord sent the wrong signal to Iran amid the international drive to stop its uranium enrichment program.

"Iran needs to be assured that it has to cooperate with the international community," Mr. Gordon said.

"Otherwise, it will face consequences."

The Obama administration has also been alarmed by Mr. Erdogan's statements that Turkey would not support United Nations Security Council sanctions on Iran. Turkey, a leading member of NATO, has been a non-permanent member of the council.

Other disagreements between Ankara and Washington were said to include Turkey's warm relationship with Sudan. In November, Turkey invited Sudanese President Omar Bashir, accused of war crimes in the Darfur province, to an Islamic summit in Istanbul.

The American government has also been dismayed by Mr. Erdogan's efforts to reduce Turkish defense and strategic relations with Israel. Mr. Erdogan was warned by the U.S. that the prime minister's policy would hurt Turkish interests in the U.S. Congress.

"Americans watch closely Turkey’s relations with its neighbors," Mr. Gordon said.

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The Philadelphia Bulletin: Peres Warns Brazil About Terror Activity

by David Bedein

JERUSALEM - As an integral part of his visit this week to South America, Israeli President Shimon Peres shared intelligence with Brazilian Defense Minister Nelson Jobim regarding Iran and Hezbollah being active in the three-way border between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.


Israel's President Shimon Peres, right, shakes hands with Brazil's Defense Minister Nelson Jobim in Brasilia on Tuesday. (Eraldo Peres/Associated Press)

Hezbollah terrorist cells working there are engaging, among other things, in money laundering, arms trafficking, drug trafficking and diamond smuggling in order to finance terrorist activity, according to the information conveyed by President Peres.

Israel warned Brazil and other Latin American countries of Hezbollah's intentions to perpetrate terror attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets in South America similar to the large-scale, murderous terror attacks that were committed during the 1990s against the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires and the Jewish community center in that city.

This is the first visit by an Israeli president to Brazil in 40 years.

Upon landing, Mr. Peres received a magnificent reception that included an honor guard, a military parade and a gun salute. Afterwards, Mr. Peres held a long meeting with Defense Minister Jobim, who is considered to be one of the strongest men in the Brazilian government.

Mr. Peres brought three leaders of Israel's defense industry - the director-general of Israel Aerospace Industries, the director-general of Elbit and a representative of Rafael - to the meeting in order to advance defense deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The Brazilian army is currently undergoing a modernization, and Israel's defense industries wish to take part in this process.

Mr. Peres was invited to address the Brazilian parliament, where Israel's president made specific reference to the fact that Iran's president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be visiting Brazil this week. Mr. Peres remarked that he "finds it amazing to come from a nation where it is common to see people branded with concentration camp numbers to address a nation who will hear from another nation's leader that the mass murder of Jews never occurred."

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The Philadelphia Bulletin: Israel, United States Joint Military Exercise Considered a Success

by David Bedein

JERUSALEM - The U.S. Army and the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) successfully completed the Juniper Cobra 10 exercise this week.

The exercise was geared to improve cooperation between the two armies and to simulate defensive action against missile attacks on Israel by Syria and Iran.

This is the fifth time this exercise has been held. It was held in Israel, over a three-week period and involved 1,400 troops from four different branches of the U.S. Army. The exercise involved field training in which the two sides practiced cooperation between the American and Israeli troops in a variety of scenarios, a training of command posts, which practiced cooperative air defense and the firing of a live Patriot missile, which occurred yesterday.

Commanders from the U.S. Army and the IDF voiced their satisfaction with the results of the joint exercise, and noted the exercise had allowed the participants to learn from the knowledge and experience possessed by each other's army.

Commander of the Anti-Aircraft Forces Brig. Gen. Doron Gavish said, “We used the active defense system in collaboration with American forces and Israeli forces. The exercise manifested challenging scenarios and the conjoining of the most advanced weapons systems in the world in this field. The exercise was completed successfully. The professional level of the troops and the degree of cooperation between the armies manifested itself in the way in which the troops were put to use.”

The commander of the American task force, John Richardson, said, “We trained together in a challenging scenario. We presented new technologies and means of operation, and we scored tremendous results.”

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The Philadelphia Bulletin: Israeli Bill Includes Rights Of Jewish Refugees From Arab Lands

by David Bedein

Jerusalem - Israel's Knesset Parliament passed a seminal bill last Wednesday that will affect any future Middle East peace negotiations.

According to the bill, it will not be possible for Israel to sign any diplomatic agreement with any state or foreign entity without arranging for the interests and rights of the Jewish refugees from Arab countries.

The refugees are defined, according to the UN's Refugee Convention as, "the Jewish citizens of Israel who immigrated from Arab countries in the wake of the establishment of the State of Israel and forced to leave the property that had been in their ownership in their countries of origin."

The terms received by the Jewish refugees, moreover, must be on par with the terms received by Arab refugees in the final status negotiations. 


In addition, the bill says, "In any discussion on the subject of Palestinian refugees as part of peace negotiations in the Middle East, the Israeli government will raise the subject of awarding compensation for loss of property and the granting of equal status to the Arab refugees, who left their property from the day that the state was established, and Jewish refugees from Arab countries."

The background explanatory statement about the bill notes that a million and a half Jewish refugees either were expelled or fled from Arab countries and were forced to leave their homes and property since the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948.

The U.S. Congress passed a resolution in February 2008 stipulating that these Jews were defined as refugees in keeping with the explicit definition of the UN Refugee Convention. The bill states that the Israeli government already made the decision about registering claims of Jews from Arab countries. Now, this bill will obligate the government not only to "register" these claims, but also to include them in any future peace treaty and also in the negotiations which precede it.

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The Philadelphia Bulletin: Israel-U.S. Missile Exercise Confirmed

by David Bedein

JERUSALEM - The Middle East Newsline has confirmed Israel and the United States have been conducting a multi-phased missile defense exercise meant to defend against an Iranian attack.

The two countries have been engaged in Juniper Cobra-2010 in several areas of Israel.

“Juniper Cobra”, organized by the Israel Air Force and U.S. European Command, marked the biggest edition of the biannual exercise and sought to counter Iran’s new Sejil-2 solid-fuel ballistic missile. The exercise began on Oct. 21 and is scheduled to end on Thursday.

“Each exercise varies in focus and scope, and this year we are concentrating on combined air defense,” U.S. Navy 6th Fleet chief of staff Capt. Mike Martin said.

The exercise, the fifth edition since 2001, has been divided into three phases. Officials said the first phase was the deployment of more than 1,000 U.S. military personnel, including 17 naval vessels, around Israel.

The second phase would consist of a simulation of ballistic missile attacks meant to reflect Iran’s capabilities. Officials said this phase would link such missile-defense systems as Israel’s Arrow-2, PAC-2 and the U.S. PAC-3, sea-based Aegis and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense.

“The simulation would test against a salvo of advanced Iranian missiles,” an official said.

The third phase of Juniper Cobra would feature a live-fire missile defense test. Officials said Israel and the United States would oversee the fire of PAC-3.

“JC-10 is the fifth iteration of this exercise with this year’s focus on testing the active missile-defense capabilities of both U.S. and Israeli armed forces,” the U.S. Navy said Tuesday.

The U.S. Navy has deployed the USS Higgins to transport sailors and soldiers to the Israeli port of Haifa. The exercise was also the first in which the U.S. military’s AN/TPY-2 X-band radar was deployed in Israel.

“We will advance both the art and science of ballistic missile defense between our two forces, and in the end, I am confident we will have a safe and successful Juniper Cobra exercise,” Rear Sixth Fleet deputy chief Adm. John Richardson, also the commander of JC-10’s joint task force, said.

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The Philadelphia Bulletin: Israel Wages Battle Against ‘NY Times’

by David Bedein

JERUSALEM - For the past 10 days, the State of Israel has been waging a battle against the New York Times, for what it calls tendentious and unfair coverage of the Jewish state.

At the focus of the storm is the Goldstone report. Recently, there were many exchanges between the newspaper's journalists and editors with Israel Foreign Ministry representatives, and yesterday the Israeli delegation in the UN sent an official complaint to the newspaper's editorial board.

The complaint, signed by the Israel UN delegation's spokeswoman, Mirit Cohen, says that the newspaper uses subjective negative language about Israel and failed in writing fair and accurate coverage.

The complaint also states: "Again and again we encounter distorted phraseology that is liable to cause the innocent reader to think that the report found definitive proof that Israel committed war crimes in Gaza. This is a report that is flawed from the outset, which gives legitimacy to a terror organization that fires missiles at innocent civilians. The New York Times's bias in ignoring this reality requires reexamination", wrote Cohen.

The New York Times has yet to respond to the Israeli government's unprecedented attack on the paper.

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The Philadelphia Bulletin: A Soft Military Coup could Surface in Egypt

by David Bedein

A report to the United States Congress warns that Egypt’s military could stage a coup to prevent the transition of power by President Hosni Mubarak to his 46-year-old son, Gamal.

The Congressional Research Service has found the likelihood of Gamal becoming Egypt’s
next president has alarmed the military as well as the Islamic-led
 opposition.

“If such a situation were to occur, many observers wonder whether the
military and security establishment would remain in their barracks or
re-enter politics to establish order,” the report, titled “Egypt: Background and U.S. Relations,” said.

The report was released as Egypt’s ruling National Democratic Party
(NDP), intensified efforts to prepare Gamal for succession. Senior officials,
including Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif, have already called for Gamal to be
groomed as Egypt’s next president.

The 81-year-old Mubarak, president since 1981 and said to be in declining health, has not ruled out a re-election bid in 2011. The report, 
however, said Gamal, the No. 2 figure in the NDP, could emerge as the next
 candidate for presidency, while retaining his rival, Maj. Gen. Omar Suleiman, as intelligence chief.

Mr. Suleiman has been raised as a candidate to succeed Mr. Mubarak. Arab League
secretary-general Amr Moussa was also said to be considering running for
president.

“However, at age 73, it is unlikely that Mr. Suleiman, should he become
president, would rule for a long period of time,” the report said.
“Furthermore, as head of Egypt’s General Intelligence Service, Mr. Suleiman
would need to retire from military service since active-duty military
officers are not allowed membership in political parties. Mr. Suleiman is
currently engaged in a number of sensitive diplomatic operations and is one of Mr. Mubarak’s closest confidants, making his departure from
military service unlikely.”

Another scenario was that of a military takeover to prevent a Gamal
 presidency.

The Congressional Research Service’s report, authored by Jeremy Sharp and dated Sept. 2, said the
elder Mubarak has banned military officers from NDP’s Supreme Council.

“An Egyptian military officer carries out a soft coup, in which constitutional proceedings are set aside and civilian elites quietly
acquiesce to the military’s re-assertion of power,” the report said.


Some U.S. analysts have raised the scenario of a military coup. Michele Dunne, a researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, has discussed the prospect of the General Staff helping to install a military officer as president.

Mr. Sharp said that many experts have deemed Egypt’s political system stable and discount a coup. The report also said the student clashes with the Iranian
regime in wake of a controversial presidential election in June could
signal a similar scenario in Egypt.

“Some analysts fear that a less-than-smooth transition of power could
open the door for the Muslim Brotherhood to mobilize its supporters and
demand an Islamist government,” the report said.

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The Philadelphia Bulletin: Israelis Dispute Claims Over Conference - Yet Allegations of Egypt Excluding Israel From Cancer Conference Confirmed

by David Bedein

JERUSALEM - The Bulletin of Oct. 25 publicized the revelation that Israeli experts in breast cancer have been barred from attending a conference concerning cures for breasts cancer in Cairo. However, the spokesperson for Nancy Brinker, founder and head of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure organization, which raises significant amounts of money to fight breast cancer, wrote to The Bulletin that despite threats in Egypt, Israelis were not barred from the Cairo conference.

Yet the Israeli government and the Hadassah Women’s Organization claim that Israeli medical professionals were indeed barred from the conference, leaving The Israel Medical Association (IMA) on Tuesday to denounce “all boycotts of Israelis at international medical conferences such as the one held in Cairo last week on coping with breast cancer.”

IMA chairman Dr. Leonid Eidelman told the Jerusalem Post that “Israeli doctors and scientists are often confronted by hostility when attending professional conferences abroad.”

Dr. Eidelman emphasized that medicine and science are not political. Even those who oppose policies of the government of Israel should never inject politics into these fields, which aim to save lives and to which Israelis contribute a great deal, he said.

Dr. Eidelman added that conferences that keep Israelis out would constitute a “black day for science in Israel and around the world.”

Ms. Brinker was asked for comment on her letter dispatched to The Bulletin, which claimed that Cairo has not barred Israeli medical professionals from the conference. No response was received from her office.

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The Philadelphia Bulletin: Vienna Agreement Has Israelis Uneasy

by David Bedein

Jerusalem - The talks at the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna ended in a draft agreement according to which Iran would transfer most of the uranium in its possession for enrichment outside its borders.

The fact that this refers to “most of the uranium” and not all of it, leaves a breach for a thief to slip through. Who can know for certain and who in Iran can force the regime to adhere to the Vienna agreement? The “small quantity” of uranium can be moved from one nuclear site to another and, at most by an optimistic forecast, the implementation of the agreement can somewhat delay the production of the doomsday weapon.

The news that Iran would hand over most of the low-grade enriched uranium in its possession for enrichment outside its borders was received by Israel as another Iranian victory, which would bring Tehran another step closer to the bomb.

It has not been lost on all Middle Eastern observers that Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s strategic objective is to develop nuclear weapons in order to become a regional power that can dictate the course of events in the Middle East.

His regime is serious, determined and cunning and will not give up such a supreme objective just because the enlightened world demands that it honor a previous commitment, which was given when Iran joined the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Officially, Israel has refrained from commenting on reports about a possible agreement with Iran, but behind the scenes, Jerusalem is following developments with concern and suspicion.

Israeli officials consider such an agreement as no more than an Iranian tactical move to buy more time and relieve the pressure.

Israel does not believe that Iran will agree to the conditions that the U.S., Russia and France have set, and believes that it will continue its effort to become a nuclear superpower. Israelis have little trust in the chairman of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed El-Baradei, who is involved in the talks.

Evidence of this suspicion could be heard in the statements that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak made yesterday during their meeting with Ms. Susan Rice, the United States ambassador to the United Nations.

Mr. Barak claimed that the superpowers must continue to keep track of Iran’s efforts to obtain nuclear weapons.

“The Iranians have misled the West in the past,” Barak said, pointing out preparations must continue for the imposition of severe sanctions on the Ayatollahs’ regime if it should turn out within several months that the Iranians are not cooperating fully with the international community.

Mr. Barak suggested to Ms. Rice that no alternative, including a military attack, could be ruled out, even if an agreement should be signed in the end, but it is found that Iran has tricked the West once again.

Israeli officials also remind the world that a uranium-enrichment compound, which was discovered in Qom. This stems from the belief, which the U.S. intelligence community shares, that these installations are only part of a more comprehensive network that the Iranians are hiding.

Barak added, in any case, Israel is not taking any option off the table.

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The Philadelphia Bulletin: IAF Holds Joint Aerial Exercise with Italy

by David Bedein

Jerusalem - What did not work out with the Turks, worked out with the Italians: The Israeli Air Force (IAF) held a joint exercise last week with the Italian Air Force in the Sardinia area.

Twelve IAF planes took part in the exercise, which was planned several months ago, including five F-15i planes, five F-16i planes, a Boeing 707 refueling plane and a Hercules that flew teams and technical equipment.

In the exercise, the Israeli and Italian Air Forces practiced dogfights between the two armies. The exercise was held at the Decimomannu Air Base on Sardinia, which has an advanced system for documenting and studying aerial combat exercises, making it possible to examine the effectiveness of one’s combat doctrine after the exercise.

Israeli Air Force sources said that the exercise was held as part of the IAF’s readiness for coping with long-range threats, as well as keeping the IAF planes operational. The cooperation between Italy and Israel began about a decade ago and, since then, joint training is carried out from time to time by the two air forces.

The tendency in the Israeli Air Force in the recent period has been to expand the IAF’s participation in international exercises. This is with the aim of practicing long-range flights and battles against pilots from other countries, who employ different combat doctrines than the IDF.

For example, three months ago the IAF participated in the Red Flag exercise in the U.S., in which long sorties, refueling and dogfights were practiced. The exercise was declared a success by Israeli officials, and that Israeli pilots usually achieve good results in exercises of this kind.

In addition, the French weekly L’Express reported this past May that the IAF carried out an exercise over Gibraltar, at a distance of 3,800 kilometers from Israel. The report stated this showed Israel was practicing the possibility of a strike on Iran.

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The Philadelphia Bulletin: NATO Approves Israeli Inclusion in Naval Maneuvers

by David Bedein

Jerusalem - This week, NATO approved the Israel Navy’s active inclusion in a NATO force patrolling the Mediterranean Sea in the framework of the global war on terror. This is the first open inclusion of its kind between the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and NATO on an operational basis and its timing is particularly important at present, after Turkey canceled the largest aerial exercise of the alliance, which was to have included the participation of the Israel Air Force. 


NATO’s Operation Active Endeavour has been operating in the Mediterranean Sea since the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. The force is comprised of 10 vessels of different kinds, backed by submarines and aircraft, which work to prevent naval acts of terrorism and arms smuggling. The naval force monitors suspicious ships and, when necessary, raids them. NATO also escorts ships of the alliance until they leave the Mediterranean Sea at the Straits of Gibraltar as there is intelligence information that the ships are at risk. The majority of the ships that make up the force are from the navies of the members of NATO who have a shore on the Mediterranean Sea - Greece, Italy, Spain and Turkey, but are also helped by more major navies of NATO in the region. 


Israel relayed a request to have an Israeli ship join the force over 
two years ago, but approval was delayed time after time, and Israel remained outside the multi-national force. The Israeli security establishment 
believed that the reason, among other things, was the diplomatic 
sensitivity created in wake of criticism of Israeli’s actions in the Second Lebanon War and in Operation Cast Lead.

The news about the approval to join the special naval force was relayed to Israel Navy Commander Maj. Gen. Eliezer (Cheney) Marom in the course of his visit to the U.S. last week. Maj. Gen. Marom was there to take part in a global meeting of navy commanders. 


Sources in the Israeli security establishment affirm that the approval, given at this time, reflects NATO’s esteem for the Israel Navy’s capabilities under Marom’s command, to help prevent international acts of terror. 
 In the framework of this cooperation, an Israeli Navy officer was also stationed in the position of liaison at NATO’s naval headquarters in Naples, Italy. The decision to include a vessel, one of the Israel Navy’s most advanced missile boats that will join NATO’s active task force, is expected to be made soon. 


Mark of Esteem


The idea of having Israel join NATO had been raised occasionally in recent decades as part of the thinking about security guarantees for Israel - and no less, in order to acquire a sense of security and belonging to the world of its citizens - in the framework of a comprehensive arrangement in the Middle East. Today, this idea seems distant, as does a comprehensive arrangement. In Israel’s international situation today, with legitimacy for its military actions shrinking, the inclusion of an Israeli ship in the alliance’s naval police force is greeted as big news in Israel

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