March 8, 2013

The US

Headline: Obama: Not bringing “grand peace plan” to Israel

To Read: Charles Krauthammer believes that despite the hugely problematic Morsi regime, the US should still provide foreign aid to Egypt (but not without demanding anything in return):

If we’re going to give foreign aid, it should be for political concessions — on unfettered speech, on an opposition free of repression, on alterations to the Islamist constitution, on open and fair elections.

We give foreign aid for two reasons: (a) to support allies who share our values and our interests, and (b) to extract from less-than-friendly regimes concessions that either bring their policies more in line with ours or strengthen competing actors more favorably inclined toward American objectives.

That’s the point of foreign aid. It’s particularly important in countries like Egypt, whose fate is in the balance. But it will only work if we remain clear-eyed about why we give all that money in the first place.

Quote: “It is Huge. This is a man who is in the inner circle of bin Laden's al Qaeda operations and now we have him alive and he's talking”, Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Michael McCaul about the capture of Osma Bin Laden's son in law.

Number: 66, the percentage of Americans who have a favorable attitude towards Israel.

Israel

Headline: Labor vows to support Netanyahu in event of peace deal

To Read: As the 20^th anniversary of the Oslo accords is nearing, Aaron David Miller converses with two of its architects and examines its successes and failures:

Most of the analysis of the Oslo enterprise is likely to be negative, perhaps with good reason. The Oslo framework accomplished many things: It led to mutual recognition between the Palestine Liberation Organization and the state of Israel, enabled Jordan's King Hussein to conclude a peace treaty with Israel, opened up regional cooperation between Israel and a dozen Arab countries, and created the beginnings of Palestinian institutions not in Tunis or Beirut but in Gaza and the West Bank.

But much of this now lies compromised, undermined, broken, and bloodied. The central logic of Oslo — that through an interim process Israelis and Palestinians could gain the trust and confidence necessary to make the big decisions on the final-status issues (Jerusalem, borders, refugees) — simply wasn't sustainable, if it was ever even realistic to begin with. On the eve of the July 2000 Camp David summit — the last serious effort by empowered Israelis and Palestinians to reach any agreement — there was little, if any, trust between PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

Quote: “Arab women in Israel are caught in an ever declining social status. The fact is that over half of the women murdered in Israel are Arabs, and that this is more than twice their percentage of the total population. These Arab women are crying out in anguish. They regularly face violence and even murder in order to protect their families’ honor”, Arab Israeli activist, Amal Abu Sayyaf, who is going to discuss “The Empowerment of the Arab Woman in Israel” today at the UN podium in New York,

Number: 57, the percentage of IDF officers who are women.

The Middle East

Headline: Egypt election body scraps voting dates

Read: A new comprehensive study  by Dr. James Zogby shows a sharp detirioration in attitudes towards Iran in the Arab world-

Does Iran provide a “good model” to follow? In only three countries do majorities say “yes”: Lebanon, Pakistan, and Iraq. Pluralities in Kuwait and Bahrain concur, while majorities in 11 countries say “no,” with the remaining four displaying mixed attitudes. By contrast, the UAE is considered a “good model” to follow by majorities or pluralities in 16 of the 19 countries (UAE excluded). Only Kuwait, Morocco, and Turkey disagree that the UAE is a “good model” to follow.

Quote: “Absolutely not. You know that we are not in the regime-change game. We are against interference in domestic conflicts”, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, after being asked whether Russia might pressure Assad's regime.

Number: 2.5 million, the number of Syrians the World Food Program aims to feed next month.

The Jewish World

Headline: Jewish groups closely monitoring Caracas transition

To Read: Rabbi Uri Regev writes a critical open letter to Yair Lapid, one that confronts him on the subject of civil marriage and his public support for Rabbi Stav's candidacy for chief Rabbi-

It was just announced that Yesh Atid decided to support Rabbi David Stav, chairman of Tzohar rabbis, as the candidate for chief Ashkenazi rabbi and demanded his appointment as part of your coalition negotiations. This raises a major question: Is Yesh Atid just as determined to demand freedom of marriage in Israel as it is to support Rabbi Stav?

Following your public statements on religious pluralism, as I do, I can only imagine we share similar feelings on these issues. But this question becomes doubly important in light of Rabbi Stav’s problematic positions on this very subject of marriage. I truly hope that your support for him doesn’t detract from your determination to advance a civil agenda in Israel. We need to know that you are ready to raise freedom of marriage at the negotiation table. We want to feel confident that you will not give in to the continued denial of so many Israelis’ right to marry, regardless of how antagonistic Rabbi Stav is towards civil marriage and a pluralistic Israel.

Quote:  “An explosion on a truck transporting Israelis at the airport of Burgas, Bulgaria, on the Black Sea. Oh Wowwww this eases off the day today very nice very nice news”, a tweet by Samira Ibrahim, who was about to be honored by the White House as a 'woman of courage'.

Number: 11, the number of websites the Jimena organization has launched to commemorate the Jewish exodus from Arab countries.