* GOP Surge Expected to Weaken Obama’s Support of PA Demands An expected drubbing of the Democratic party by the GOP Tuesday probably will weaken PA demands and strengthen Israel.

* Netanyahu: Renewed freeze ‘is not being discussed’ At Likud meeting PM says Palestinian unilateral declaration of state would “enact a price from both sides.”

* Baghdad church hostage drama ends in bloodbath At least 52 people were killed as security forces stormed a Catholic church in Baghdad to free dozens of hostages.

* Bombs tip-off ‘came from former al-Qaeda member’ The crucial tip-off that led to the discovery of parcel bombs on two cargo planes came from a repentant al-Qaeda member, UK officials say.

* HRW: Turkey violating Kurds’ rights In new report, Human Rights Watch calls on Ankara to stop trying Kurdish protestors as terrorists.

* PA official: Arab states to attempt UN-forced settlement freeze Chief Palestinian negotiator blasts Netanyahu’s refusal to freeze settlements, says Mideast peace talks are just one way to solve the conflict.

* Shin Bet Chief warns: Internet boosting global terror threat The internet provides terror organizations with the kind of intel that was once available only to countries.

* EU onlooker wary of introspective US vote A Republican majority in Congress will complicate Obama’s policy-making.

* Egypt’s intelligence chief headed to Israel Omar Suleiman to visit Israel this week in attempt to renew stalemated peace talks.

* Rabbi Meir Kahane debuts as a comic book hero Twenty years after his assassination, supporters are using a kid-friendly medium to spread the Kach leader’s ideas.

* Turkey policy paper: Israel’s actions threaten Mideast Ankara’s National Security Council names Israel as central threat to Turkey’s security for first time since 1949, fails to mention Iran, Syria.

* US election won’t impact Israel peacemaking Critics of Obama inside Netanyahu’s inner circle discount view that likely reversals in next week’s US midterms will benefit PMO’s position.

* Ayalon: PA request to UN to declare state is idle threat Deputy foreign minister says Abbas’ request to UN is bluff aimed at pressuring Israel, says this shows no real intention to resolve conflict.

* Gazan crowd chants ‘Death to America,’ ‘Death to Israel’ Tens of thousands of Palestinians rally at event staged by terror group Islamic Jihad with Hamas support to voice opposition to peace talks.

* UK cargo plane device was bomb – British Government UK Home Secretary Theresa May has confirmed that a device found in a package sent from Yemen and found on a US-bound cargo plane could have exploded on board the jet.

* China reassures US on key ‘rare earth’ minerals China has reassured the US it has no intention of withholding “rare earth” minerals from the market, the US Secretary of State has said.

* Israel slams ‘absurd’ UNESCO decision on Jerusalem, West Bank holy sites UNESCO board adopted last week five proposals initiated by Arab member states regarding sites which are considered holy to both Jews and Muslims.

* Petraeus: Progress being made in Afghanistan The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, told CNN Saturday the Taliban’s momentum in Afghanistan has “broadly been arrested” in some locations.

* UPDATE 2-EU sets sights on treaty change, new safety net The European Union on Friday set in motion plans to amend the EU’s main treaty to create a permanent system to fight financial crises, and said a summit deal on new budget rules would strengthen the euro.

* Hamas official: Those firing rockets at Israel are rebels During interview with ‘Al-Hayat’ Mahmoud Zahar claims group agreed to truce with Israel, says this kind of rebellion could lead to anarchy.

* Islamic Jihad leader: Israel must be wiped out of existence Organizers say up to 100,000 people attend largest Islamic Jihad rally in Gaza in several years; Hamas leader calls for unity against Israel.

* EU: Iran ready to restart nuclear talks with major powers EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton receives letter from Iran nuclear chief agreeing to meet with the six major powers at any time after Nov. 10.

* Assad: No indication Syria-Israel peace talks will resume soon Remark by Syrian president comes after recent war of words between Damascus and Washington amid U.S. attempts to sway Syria away from Iran’s influence.

* ‘Small, small, small’ EU treaty change to deliver ‘quantum leap’ The Pandora’s Box of referendums, as happened twice in Ireland, had to be avoided at all costs.

* Report: Revolutionary Guards to hold joint drills with Iranian military Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the Iranian military will hold a series of joint war games in the coming months, according to the Fars news agency.

* UN Org.: Rachel’s Tomb is a Mosque The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) voted recently to officially declare Rachel’s Tomb to be a mosque.

* Koreas exchange gunfire at land border North and South Korea exchanged gunfire across their heavily armed land border on Friday, despite an apparent thaw in tensions on the divided peninsula in the past few months.

* Most Popular British Name: Mohammed, Muhammed, etc. The most common name given to baby boys born in England in 2009 was none other than Mohammed, in its various forms.

* Settler numbers rise at almost 3 times nat’l average Central Bureau of Statistics figures show West Bank Jewish population at 303,900 in June 2010, up 7,200 in six months.

* Internet Reception Reaches Summit of Mount Everest Climbers at the top of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, will now be able to make video calls and surf the internet on their cell phones, a Nepalese telecom group claimed Thursday.

“Iran is not the enemy, Israel is the enemy,” the head of the Center for Strategic Studies in Saudi Arabia declared in an interview with Al Jazeera. This was his response to a question on whether the $60 billion arms deal between Riyadh and Washington was meant to deter Iran. The American efforts to portray the deal as aimed against Tehran doesn’t fit with the Saudi point of view, and it seems this isn’t the only subject over which these two countries fail to see eye to eye.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia twice last week, and Iran reported that a senior Iranian official would visit Riyadh soon. It’s not clear if it will be Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki or the head of the National Security Council, Saeed Jalili.

But the frequent contacts between Iran and Saudi Arabia are not over the big arms deal or Iran’s nuclear plans. The two countries have concluded that they need to reach an agreement on two other issues regarding their sphere of influence in the region: Iraq and Lebanon.

Regarding Lebanon, Iran is trying to persuade Saudi Arabia to help stop the work of the special international tribunal investigating the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. This would prevent the collapse of the Lebanese regime. While Iran is worried about Hezbollah’s status, it also doesn’t want Lebanon to collapse or fall into another civil war, whose results cannot be ensured.

Furious American

In this respect, Tehran doesn’t have to make too great an effort to get Riyadh’s support. This became clear last week to Jeffrey Feltman, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and a former U.S. ambassador to Beirut, when he visited Riyadh. During his meeting with King Abdullah, the monarch tried to figure out America’s position if the international court’s work were stopped. Arab sources say Feltman was “furious but restrained,” and made it clear to the king that Washington was determined to support the tribunal.

With all due respect to the American insistence, if the client that is supposed to pay Washington $60 billion decides it’s vital to halt the tribunal’s work, it won’t make do with consulting the Americans. It will throw its full weight behind the efforts. Meanwhile, the indictment the tribunal is due to publish is not expected before February.

After all, what is happening in Lebanon – and Saudi Arabia can’t be accused of not supporting the establishment of the tribunal – is not isolated from other regional issues that involve the Saudis and Iran. Riyadh, which paid millions of dollars in Ayad Allawi’s election campaign in Iraq, is aware that his chances of being elected prime minister are diminishing. The aid last time helped Allawi win two seats more in parliament than his rival, outgoing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Meanwhile, in the past two weeks, Maliki has visited Syria, Turkey, Iran and Egypt in an attempt to garner support. He is trying to persuade Iraq’s neighbors that he is worthy of being prime minister again. But that’s not enough. To win, he has to convince his rivals at home to forgo their aspirations of being Iraqi prime minister and join him.

No dream team

Tehran understands that it can’t get the Iraqi prime minister it was hoping for, Ibrahim al-Jaafari. But it has “convinced” the influential Iraqi religious leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, who is living in Iran until completing religious studies there, to support Maliki. Maliki is not exactly Iran’s dream prime minister, especially considering that he accused Tehran and Damascus of terrorist involvement.

He is also not a natural partner of Sadr, who won 39 of the 325 seats in parliament. Sadr has also not completely forgiven Maliki for sending Iraqi troops to wage a bloody battle against Sadr’s forces and arresting many of his supporters, some of whom are still in prison. But the Iranian pressure mounted, so Sadr agreed to announce his support for Maliki.

Nevertheless, even with Sadr’s support, Maliki will not be able to set up a coalition without getting at least one other bloc to support him, either the Kurds or Allawi. That’s why Iran needs Saudi Arabia’s help to try to persuade its proteges in Iraq, especially Allawi, to join such a coalition or at least not work against it.

For its part, Saudi Arabia is not prepared to give Iran gifts, but it also doesn’t want to lose all influence in Iraq. In Iraq as in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia realizes it’s in a relatively inferior position vis-a-vis Iran; all it can do in these countries is to prevent Tehran from wielding exclusive influence. This is what the discussion between Saudi Arabia and Iran is now focusing on: deliberations during which Riyadh will try to divide its sphere of influence in Iraq and Lebanon with Iran.

One significant element is missing from these moves – the United States. Washington seeks to promote the process at the international tribunal on the Lebanese issue, blame Hezbollah for the Hariri assassination, see Allawi as Iraqi prime minister and block Iran’s influence in the region.

Meanwhile, it seems the Americans are aiming too high. The real game is in the hands of local forces that are sketching the strategic map, which will be presented to Washington as a fait accompli.

A special video recording of ‘Oseh Shalom’ by Britain’s Chief Rabbi, recorded to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel, has just seen one million hits on YouTube.

The recording features the Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks with soloist chazzans Jonny Rugel, Shimon Craimer and Rabbi Lionel Rosenfeld along with the Shabbaton Choir as well as children from the Moriah Jewish Day School in London.

The recording was made in the same London studio as the famous 1984 Band Aid video, which raised money for famine relief in Ethiopia, and produced by leading producer Trevor Horn. The song was part of the ‘Home of Hope’ music CD released by the Chief Rabbi to mark Israel’s 60th anniversary two years ago.

Posted on YouTube in May 2008, the video has been seen as far away as Asia and Africa. One-third of hits have come from the US.

“The one million hits is testament to the love of Jews across the world for the State of Israel,” said Chief Rabbi Sacks. “The words of ‘Oseh Shalom’ reverberate with us all and lift our hearts to a miracle of a land rebuilt.”

Shabbaton choir director Stephen Levey, who composed the new version of the song, paid homage to the Chief Rabbi.

“I’m absolutely amazed at the response it has had. To reach one million hits is beyond all expectation. I cannot thank enough all those who made it possible and to the Chief Rabbi whose belief in the project inspired us all,” he said.

Hundreds of Land of Israel Movement activists and supporters of the radical movement Kach held a memorial service on Tuesday to mark 20 years since Rabbi Meir Kahane’s assassination.

Kach activist Haim Pearlman, currently under house arrest after his suspected killing of four Arabs in the 1990s, was also among the participants. The wife of the ‘Jewish terrorist,’ Keren Pearlman, told Ynet: “Today everybody knows that ‘Kahane’ is not a dirty word.”

The assembly was held at the Ramada Renaissance Hotel in Jerusalem, where shirts, books and other items were sold to the crowd. Speeches of the late Kahane were screened as well, while protesters went wild, clapping every time he said “Arabs out.”

The founder of the Temple Institute, Rabbi Yisrael Ariel, said during the assembly: “Leaders who have ruined our country always tell us that no one can teach them how to love Israel. But this love they are referring to makes them establish an Ishmael state in Israel. If, G-d forbid, an Ishmael state will be built, we will destroy it.” The crowd kept cheering him on enthusiastically.

Knesset Memeber Michael Ben Ari (National Union) also spoke out during the event, saying, “I too look at Rabbi Kahane’s picture, a picture that stands on my office desk and on my desk at the Knesset plenum, next to his book. It is not a simple task to represent you; you stand up to countless attacks and I must say that your truth isn’t a popular one. But Rabbi Kahane taught us not to speak the truth in the morning according to last night’s poll results, as the prime minister does.”

‘Part of God’s plan’

MK Ben Ari went on to say that the radical right-wing groups have been going through two tough decades since Kahane’s murder. “We have suffered persecution, administrative detentions, everything we had was confiscated. They tried to wipe us out, but we are soldiers. I was lucky to be part of such a group that created a fist of loyalty. I was given twice the amount of time for my speech honoring Rabbi Kahane at the Knesset today, the same speech I wasn’t allowed to give a year ago.”

Radical right-wing activist Baruch Marzel mentioned implicitly the assemblies held for late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in his speech. “Fifteen years ago memorials began for this one man. The state wasted millions on his legacy’s immortalization. There are almost no cities without a street or a hospital named after him. But after all of this, less and less people participate in his memorial services, because the truth gets clearer and clearer as years go by,” he said.

The head of Yeshiva of the Jewish Idea, Rabbi Yehuda Kroizer, said, “Rabbi Kahane became a symbol and as time passes, instead of his Torah disappearing we see how vital it really is. Israeli pride is not important today, and if it’s not important then the Land of Israel is not important and neither are the people living in it.

“In his book, Rabbi Kahane wrote that we are living in times of redemption, which is why he viewed Israel as part of God’s plan. This is why we must participate in the plan and integrate our own character into it. We must proudly carry on this mission assigned to us, and not grovel before the world’s nations or the enemies of Israel, but only to stand firm and strong.”