* IAF practicing MIG-29/F-16 dogfights Israel Air Force test pilots are flying MIG 29 jets and conducting dogfights against the IAF’s F-16 fighters.

* PM turns down Abdullah’s request that he endorse 2 states Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu held a meeting Thursday with Jordanian King Abdullah II and promised that he would pursue peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

* Coming Up: 3 New Anti-Missile Systems in 4 Years Israel will have three different levels of missile defense systems within the next four years, according to a high level military assessment.

* 40,000 join pope at Nazareth mass An estimated 40,000 people greeted Pope Benedict XVI on Mount Precipice in Nazareth before he presided over a mass on Thursday morning.

* Iron Dome to be deployed in 2010 Israel will have operational missile defense systems on three different levels within four years.

* PMW: Jordanian Media Report ‘Jews Descend from Pigs’ Jordanian media last week quoted Egyptian clerics who declared that Jews are the descendants of pigs — the only point of debate was whether they are direct descendants or not.

* Syrian official: Israel must return Golan Heights Syria’s new ambassador to Turkey says Israel must commit to returning the Golan Heights before Damascus resumes indirect peace negotiations with the country.

* Netanyahu urges Pope: Sound your moral voice against Iran Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday asked Pope Benedict XVI to condemn the anti-Semitic declarations of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

* Thousands of Palestinians mark Nakba Day: We want to return to our homes Tens of thousands of Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon on Thursday marked Nakba Day – or the “catastrophe” of Israel’s inception.

* In Iraq, an exodus of Christians Iraq has lost more than half the Christians who once called it home, mostly since the war began.