By: Gil Ronen – Arutz Sheva
The Jewish State’s first Arab minister, Raleb Majadle, declared Wednesday that as far as Jerusalem’s Temple Mount is concerned, Israeli sovereignty is nonexistent and Islam rules
* American Jewish Orgs.: Fatah Charter Calls to ‘Eradicate’ Israel The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations is deliberating a proposed statement calling on Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to change the Fatah charter.
* Mubarak: Syria will attend Annapolis Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Tuesday he believed Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moualem would attend the upcoming Annapolis peace conference.
* U.S. troops deploy new weapon in Iraq U.S. forces in Iraq are using a high-resolution, thermal/infrared sensor system that turns night into day.
* Putin: Russia will respond to NATO “muscle-flexing” near borders Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that Russia’s decision to suspend its participation in a key arms control treaty was a necessary response to NATO “muscle-flexing” near its frontiers.
* Blair unveils Palestinian schemes The envoy of the Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators, Tony Blair, has announced a series of economic projects to help boost the Palestinian economy.
* ‘Joint statement has been drafted’ Agreement has been reached on a draft for a joint Israel-Palestinian statement ahead of the Annapolis conference.
* Venezuela’s Chavez visits Iran Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez made his fourth trip to Iran in two years on Monday.
* Musharraf ‘to quit army by end of the week’ President Musharraf of Pakistan has decided to resign as Army chief by the end of the week, it emerged today.
* Former guerilla leader wins Kosovo elections Former Kosovar guerrilla leader Hashim Thaci’s Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) won the legislative elections.
* Earthquake felt across Israel Two earthquakes, measuring 3 and 4.2 on the Richter scale, were felt across Israel on Tuesday morning.
* PM: We’ll freeze settlements, remove outposts Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the cabinet on Monday that Israel will not establish any new settlements in the West Bank and will begin to dismantle existing illegal outposts.
* Turkish Soldiers Continue to Deploy at Iraqi Border Turkey is still massing tens of thousands soldiers on the Iraqi border, a response to a series of attacks by Kurdish militants that have claimed the lives of more than 50 soldiers and civilians.
* Army on high alert ahead of Annapolis The IDF is in a heightened state of alert ahead of the Annapolis summit next week, out of fear that Hamas and Islamic Jihad will try to perpetrate a large-scale terror attack to derail the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
* ‘Egypt allowing Hamas to amass arms’ Thirty years after Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s historic visit to Israel, Public Security Minister Avi Dichter accused Egypt on Sunday of knowingly permitting smuggling that strengthens Hamas.
* Hamas on the Way to Building an Army The Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza is two to three years away from becoming a real army and reaching the same capabilities of Hizbullah today.
* Iran leader dismisses US currency Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has suggested an end to the trading of oil in US dollars, calling the currency “a worthless piece of paper”.
* Survey: Americans see Israel as ally A large percentage of Americans continue to support the State of Israel, especially in relation to the Palestinians and the “war on terror”.
* Court Upholds Musharraf Election The newly formed Supreme Court of Pakistan, which was appointed after emergency rule was imposed two weeks ago, today dismissed the main outstanding challenges to Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s election for another presidential term.
* Analysis: Iran’s secret Syrian plan Israel has been providing intelligence and satellite images to the U.S. about a secret Syrian nuclear program for several months.
* OPEC ‘upset at dollar,’ Ahmadinejad says Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Sunday OPEC heads of state were annoyed about the decline in the dollar and asked their finance and oil ministers to study the issue of pricing oil.
* Palestinians seek pre-conference settlement freeze The Palestinians have told the United States they will accept nothing less than a total freeze in Jewish settlement building.
* US seeks to end Pakistan crisis A senior US envoy has met President Pervez Musharraf to discuss Pakistan’s deepening political crisis.
* Rice rules out visit to the region before Annapolis conference U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice won’t return to the region before the Mideast peace conference at the end of the month in Annapolis, Maryland.
* Abbas ‘pessimistic’ about Annapolis Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas voiced pessimism about the prospects of the upcoming US-led peace conference.
* ‘Vatican-Israeli ties worsening’ A senior Vatican diplomat who served as papal envoy to Israel has described Vatican-Israeli relations as worsening.
* Saudi minister warns of dollar collapse The dollar could collapse if Opec officially admits considering changing the pricing of oil into alternative currencies such as the euro.
* Russia readies nuclear fuel bound for Iran Russia on Friday gave the clearest indication yet that it was ready to send uranium to fuel Iran’s first atomic power station.
* Ahmadinejad: OPEC being pressured Iran’s president said Saturday that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is “under heavy economic and political pressures”.
* EU must improve military capabilities, UK says UK foreign secretary David Miliband called for a strengthening of the EU’s military capacities.
* ‘Israel is destroying Muslim artifacts’ The Turkish envoy that visited Jerusalem in March to inspect the excavations at the Mughrabi Gate outside of the Temple Mount has concluded that the work is destroying artifacts from different Muslim historical periods.
* Israel: IAEA’s report ‘unacceptable’ Israel dismissed a report issued by the UN nuclear watchdog agency on Thursday as “unacceptable.”
* Palestinian poll: Annapolis no, peace yes A September 2007 poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion revealed 57.1 percent of Palestinians oppose at various degrees the participation of their leadership in the Annapolis peace conference.
* Russian parliament votes for suspending European arms treaty Russia’s upper house of parliament voted Friday to suspend participation in a key European arms control treaty.
* Rice and Ramon Read it Wrong: Israelis Oppose Land Concessions U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice incorrectly estimated this week that most Israeli citizens are willing to hand over Judea and Samaria to the Palestinian Authority.
* EU ‘should expand beyond Europe’ Foreign Secretary David Miliband has suggested the European Union should work towards including Russia, Middle Eastern and North African countries.
* Russian loophole offers Putin chance of third term Russian President Vladimir Putin could run for re-election in next year’s presidential vote if he resigns early to get around a ban on serving three consecutive terms.
* Erekat: PA baffled over ‘Jewish Israel’ Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat appeared to soften his position Thursday but still rejected Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s call for explicit Palestinian recognition of Israel as “the Jewish state.”
* Doomsday vault begins deep freeze Engineers have begun the two-month process of cooling down a “doomsday vault”, which will house seeds from all known varieties of key food crops.
* Olmert Considering Re-Opening Orient House to PA Palestinian Authority sources in Jerusalem say they have received signs that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is seriously considering approving Abbas’s request to re-open a PA office in Jerusalem.
* Turkish mission to call on Israel to stop Mugrabi dig A Turkish mission sent to Israel to inspect controversial work by Israeli archaeologists at the Mugrabi Gate in the Old City of Jerusalem will advise that all work should stop immediately.
* Palestinians harden refusal to accept a ‘Jewish state’ Opposition from Palestinian leaders to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s demand that the Palestinians recognize Israel as the “state of the Jews” intensified.
* Abbas urges ‘bring down Hamas’ Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has called for Gaza’s Hamas rulers to be “brought down”, his strongest call yet for their removal.
* ANALYSIS: Lebanon risks civil war Lebanese presidential elections have been rescheduled once again, this time moved from November 12 to 21.
* Musharraf ‘will quit army soon’ Pakistan’s attorney general says he expects President Pervez Musharraf to resign as army head before 1 December.
* Jerusalem says Solana could trump ElBaradei Two weeks before he is due to deliver a report on the Iranian nuclear program to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana remained tight-lipped.
* Darfur mission may fail, warns UN The joint UN-African Union peacekeeping mission to Darfur may fail unless countries can provide helicopters and lorries, a top UN official says.
* Israel urging Disney to sue Hamas The Israeli consulate in Los Angeles, California recently appealed to the Walt Disney Company to examine whether or not Hamas infringed upon its copyright on the character of Mickey Mouse.
* EU seeks ‘status neutral’ way out for Kosovo As diplomatic efforts on the fate of Kosovo look set to reach a dead end, the European Union’s mediator has suggested a status neutral solution for Serbia’s breakaway province.
* China calls for Tehran to work with IAEA China supports Iran’s right to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes but wants Tehran to allay international suspicions about its nuclear program.
* Several dead in Kirkuk blast A suicide car bomber has struck in Iraq’s northern oil city of Kirkuk, killing seven people and wounding 20.
* Bhutto Says Musharraf Must Give Up Power Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto demanded the resignation of U.S.-backed President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.
* Rice to GA: Mideast future at stake “The future of the Middle East is at stake,” US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the General Assembly in Nashville of the United Jewish Communities.
* Solana: Iranian issue must not be ignored EU foreign policy chief meets with Minister Mofaz in Jerusalem.
* Settler leaders: Olmert halting W. Bank construction Settler leaders charged on Tuesday that a deal had been struck with the United States and the Palestinians to freeze new construction in the settlements before the Middle East peace conference.
* Majadle Justifies Destruction of Temple Remains The Jewish State’s first Arab minister, Raleb Majadle, declared Wednesday that as far as Jerusalem’s Temple Mount is concerned, Israeli sovereignty is nonexistent and Islam rules.
* Most Israelis want Olmert ousted as PM A majority of Israelis believe that the Knesset should suspend or topple Prime Minister Ehud Olmert due to the criminal investigations against him.
* ‘Russia plans missiles in Belarus’ A senior general warned Wednesday that Russia could deploy short-range missiles to Belarus.
* US moves closer to space-based combat The US is developing a new space vehicle which could attack targets anywhere in the world within minutes.
* Knesset Advances Jerusalem Protection Law The Knesset passed the first reading of a bill initiated by Likud Knesset Member Gideon Sa’ar.
* Darfur: The devil came on horseback In Sep. 2004 former U.S. Marine Corps Captain Brian Steidle arrived in the whirlwind of Darfur.
* Abbas to Peres: Israel can live in sea of peace Abbas spoke at a joint press conference with his Israeli counterpart, Shimon Peres, in the Turkish capital of Ankara.
* Turkey ‘bombs PKK Iraq targets’ Turkish military helicopters have bombed suspected Kurdish rebel positions in northern Iraq, Iraqi officials have said.
* Israel to hold major war games in West Bank The Israeli army said on Tuesday it is to launch a major military exercise across the occupied West Bank simulating its response to an outbreak of Palestinian violence.
* Bhutto calls on Musharraf to quit Pakistan’s detained opposition leader Benazir Bhutto has called for President Pervez Musharraf to step down.
* President Peres: ‘Turkey arouses trust, Iran arouses fear’ “Turkey arouses trust, Iran arouses fear,” said President Shimon Peres in an address to Turkey’s parliament.
* Saudi oil minister rejects Opec raise Saudi Arabia on Monday made clear Opec would not announce a production increase at this weekend’s Riyadh summit.
* Bishops barred from Western Wall No crosses at the Western Wall was the message sent by a rabbi to a group of Austrian Catholic bishops who refused to hide their Christian crosses before entering the courtyard of the Western Wall.
* Putin says December poll will give him more clout President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday he expected a parliamentary election on December 2 to give him a “moral right” to influence Russian politics.
* Settlement Freeze: Not Just a Tactic, But Full-Fledged Policy Prime Minister Olmert, for the first time since entering office, met this afternoon (Tuesday) in Jerusalem with top Yesha Council representatives.
* French EU presidency to push for defence integration France will next year push for a Europe of defence, proposing Brussels-based EU planning staff, exchanges between professional soldiers and a harmonization of military education.
* Steinitz: Egypt letting Hamas build an army Egypt effectively condoned Hamas’s takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, and has since stood by and allowed Hamas to build an army.
* Alternative ‘Jewish Sovereignty’ Summit Planned A dozen Jewish organizations have united to hold a “summit” calling for Jewish sovereignty over all of the Land of Israel.
* Erekat: We won’t accept Jewish Israel Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on Monday rejected Israel’s demand that the Palestinians acknowledge Israel as a Jewish state.
* Israel on alert for Syria airstrike The defensive missile shield around Israel’s Dimona nuclear reactor was placed on red alert 30 times last week amid fears of an airstrike by Syria.
* Peres, Gul at odds over Iran nuke threat President Shimon Peres met his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul for several hours on Monday and the two discussed a wide range of issues, including the Iranian nuclear threat, the fate of Israel’s captured soldiers, Gilad Schalit, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, and the upcoming peace conference due to take place in Annapolis.
* Five dead in Gaza rally shootings At least five people have been killed and about 100 are reported to have been wounded after gunfire broke out at a rally attended by Fatah supporters in Gaza.
* Iran president attacks ‘traitors’ Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has denounced as “traitors” those in Iran who have criticised its nuclear programme.
* Cloning: a giant step For the first time, scientists have created dozens of cloned embryos from adult primates.
* Intel to Unveil Chips for Improving Video Quality on the Web Intel plans to announce a family of microprocessor chips on Monday that it says will speed the availability of high-definition video via the Internet.
* Muslim’s party could decide Danish vote A campaign poster for this week’s national elections evoked some of quiet Denmark’s most turbulent days.
* Hamas: Terrible surprises await IDF should they invade Gaza Many terrible surprises await the IDF should Israel launch a wide-scale operation in the Gaza Strip.
* Arafat mausoleum opened by Abbas Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has unveiled a mausoleum to former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
* Report: Israel-Syria summit in 2008 At the beginning of 2008 there will be another international conference similar to the one which will take place in Annapolis in the coming weeks.
* Turkey approves building nuclear plants Turkey’s parliament approved a bill Friday allowing for the construction of nuclear power plants in the country, despite opposition from environmental groups.
* Malki: PA won’t disband terror groups Palestinian Authority Information Minister Riad Malki denied late Friday reports circulated by Israeli sources that Palestinian negotiators had agreed in a meeting with Israeli representatives.
* Abbas: Israel reneging on its promises Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to update her on preparations for a US-hosted Mideast conference.
* EU economy strong, but clouds gathering, Almunia warns Recent financial turmoil, the US economic slowdown and soaring oil prices are taking their toll on the EU economy.
* Defiant Bhutto vows more protests Benazir Bhutto has vowed to go ahead with a planned rally next week to protest against the emergency rule imposed by General Pervez Musharraf.
* ‘Israel and US sharing intel on Iran’ An Israeli team headed by Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz met Thursday with a US team headed by Under Secretary of State Nicholas Burns.
* Lebanon postpones presidential poll Lebanon’s presidential election has been postponed from November 12 to November 21.