The United States has threatened to cut financial aid to Jordan, if the Hashemite Kingdom continues to develop its nuclear program without coordinating with Israel, the Arab media reported on Monday.

The American threat comes after Amman rejected Israeli demands to participate in extraction and enrichment of uranium, and Jordan’s failure to obtain US approval for its nuclear plan, despite talks between the two parties, which lasted six months.

According to reports, the ultimatum was probably given to Amman days after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judah.

In 2007, at least 65, 000 tons of uranium ore was found in the Jordanian desert, making it one of the largest deposits in the world.

The Hashemite Kingdom has claimed its enrichment program was aimed at reducing dependency on petroleum imports. Ninety five percent of Jordan’s energy consumption is supplied by other countries, mainly Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

The nuclear reactor would allow Jordan to produce a large amount of its own electricity and export power to its neighbors. However, the kingdom is dependent on American financial assistance, without which its economy will be severely damaged.

According to Jordanian Minister of Planning Jaafar Abdul Hassan, the United States has transferred Jordan some $665 million during the first half of the year, out of which $360 million was financial aid and $300 million military aid.  —- America’s increased aid to Jordan is meant to help the country deal with financial and social problems, as well as help it strengthen national security.

Last month, King Abdullah accused Israel of blocking his country from achieving nuclear capabilities. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the king said Israel was pressuring France and South Korea not to sell nuclear technologies to Jordan, and that its covert operations deteriorated the relations between the two countries to the lowest point they’ve been since the peace agreement was signed in 1994.

* Fatah official: Jerusalem is ticking time bomb Ahmed Qureia says Israel preventing talks by continuing construction in West Bank, e. Jerusalem

* Report: Libya blocking Gadhafi’s son from joining Gaza aid ship Israeli sources have said the ship is expected to dock at the Egyptian port of El-Arish and not try to break the Israeli naval blockade on Gaza.

* Netanyahu: Jerusalem dispute should not delay direct talks Ynet learns PM told forum of seven senior ministers direct negotiations with Abbas set for early August.

* Fifth Anniversary of Ongoing Gush Katif Tragedy to be Marked The fifth anniversary of one of the worst tragedies in the history of the State of Israel will be marked this week at Kissufim and elsewhere in Israel and around the world.

* Crisis Awaits World’s Banks as Trillions Come Due The sovereign debt crisis would seem to create worry enough for European banks, but there is another gathering threat that has not garnered as much notice.

* Nine Days of Mourning Begin Today The “Nine Days” – the second stage of the “Three Weeks” of gradually-increasing mourning over the destruction of the Holy Temples and Israel’s exile – begins today (Monday), the first day of the traditionally mournful month of Av.

* Jerusalem’s Most Ancient Letter Revealed Archaeologists working in Jerusalem have uncovered the most ancient written document ever found in the city – a fragment of a letter thought to date back to the 14th century BCE.

* Iran Vows to Increase Enriched Uranium Stock Sixfold by 2011 Iran said it can produce enough 20 percent-enriched uranium to power its Tehran research reactor, which needs six times the country’s current stockpile, by September next year.

* US support is insurance policy Arad praises Obama’s commitment to Israel’s security.

* Navy preps for Libyan flotilla Ship is determined to break Gaza blockade, not sail to Egypt.

The federal government is launching an expansive program dubbed “Perfect Citizen” to detect cyber assaults on private companies and government agencies running such critical infrastructure as the electricity grid and nuclear-power plants, according to people familiar with the program.
The surveillance by the National Security Agency, the government’s chief eavesdropping agency, would rely on a set of sensors deployed in computer networks for critical infrastructure that would be triggered by unusual activity suggesting an impending cyber attack, though it wouldn’t persistently monitor the whole system, these people said.
Defense contractor Raytheon Corp. recently won a classified contract for the initial phase of the surveillance effort valued at up to $100 million, said a person familiar with the project.
An NSA spokeswoman said the agency had no information to provide on the program. A Raytheon spokesman declined to comment.
Some industry and government officials familiar with the program see Perfect Citizen as an intrusion by the NSA into domestic affairs, while others say it is an important program to combat an emerging security threat that only the NSA is equipped to provide.
“The overall purpose of the [program] is our Government…feel[s] that they need to insure the Public Sector is doing all they can to secure Infrastructure critical to our National Security,” said one internal Raytheon email, the text of which was seen by The Wall Street Journal. “Perfect Citizen is Big Brother.” —–
Raytheon declined to comment on this email.
A U.S. military official called the program long overdue and said any intrusion into privacy is no greater than what the public already endures from traffic cameras. It’s a logical extension of the work federal agencies have done in the past to protect physical attacks on critical infrastructure that could sabotage the government or key parts of the country, the official said.
U.S. intelligence officials have grown increasingly alarmed about what they believe to be Chinese and Russian surveillance of computer systems that control the electric grid and other U.S. infrastructure. Officials are unable to describe the full scope of the problem, however, because they have had limited ability to pull together all the private data.
Perfect Citizen will look at large, typically older computer control systems that were often designed without Internet connectivity or security in mind. Many of those systems—which run everything from subway systems to air-traffic control networks—have since been linked to the Internet, making them more efficient but also exposing them to cyber attack.
The goal is to close the “big, glaring holes” in the U.S.’s understanding of the nature of the cyber threat against its infrastructure, said one industry specialist familiar with the program. “We don’t have a dedicated way to understand the problem.”
The information gathered by Perfect Citizen could also have applications beyond the critical infrastructure sector, officials said, serving as a data bank that would also help companies and agencies who call upon NSA for help with investigations of cyber attacks, as Google did when it sustained a major attack late last year.
The U.S. government has for more than a decade claimed a national-security interest in privately owned critical infrastructure that, if attacked, could cause significant damage to the government or the economy. Initially, it established relationships with utility companies so it could, for instance, request that a power company seal a manhole that provides access to a key power line for a government agency.
With the growth in concern about cyber attacks, these relationships began to extend into the electronic arena, and the only U.S. agency equipped to manage electronic assessments of critical-infrastructure vulnerabilities is the NSA, government and industry officials said.
The NSA years ago began a small-scale effort to address this problem code-named April Strawberry, the military official said. The program researched vulnerabilities in computer networks running critical infrastructure and sought ways to close security holes.
That led to initial work on Perfect Citizen, which was a piecemeal effort to forge relationships with some companies, particularly energy companies, whose infrastructure is widely used across the country.
The classified program is now being expanded with funding from the multibillion-dollar Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative, which started at the end of the Bush administration and has been continued by the Obama administration, officials said. With that infusion of money, the NSA is now seeking to map out intrusions into critical infrastructure across the country.
Because the program is still in the early stages, much remains to be worked out, such as which computer control systems will be monitored and how the data will be collected. NSA would likely start with the systems that have the most important security implications if attacked, such as electric, nuclear, and air-traffic-control systems, they said.
Intelligence officials have met with utilities’ CEOs and those discussions convinced them of the gravity of the threat against U.S. infrastructure, an industry specialist said, but the CEOs concluded they needed better threat information and guidance on what to do in the event of a major cyber attack. —–
Some companies may agree to have the NSA put its own sensors on and others may ask for direction on what sensors to buy and come to an agreement about what data they will then share with the government, industry and government officials said.
While the government can’t force companies to work with it, it can provide incentives to urge them to cooperate, particularly if the government already buys services from that company, officials said.
Raytheon, which has built up a large cyber-security practice through acquisitions in recent years, is expected to subcontract out some of the work to smaller specialty companies, according to a person familiar with the project.

Though international politics and intrigue have turned up the heat on another Israeli summer, a breath of fresh air breezed into the country on the tail of an El Al plane on Wednesday, as 232 North American Jews made aliyah.

Among the new citizens are a five-month-old, a 95-year old, 96 children, 27 new Israel Defense Forces soldiers, and 4 dogs hailing from 21 states.

After enjoying speeches by officials of aliyah organization Nefesh b’Nefesh and Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky, returnees to the Jewish homeland enjoyed some refreshments and shared their enthusiasm with Israel National Radio’s Yishai Fleisher.

“The first time you sing Hatikva not as a visitor or going to a school in America, but finally as my national anthem, in my country – it’s amazing,” enthused Yossi Gove, a plumber from Passaic, New Jersey who used to be known as “Joe.”  Surrounded by his family, he blessed his children to grow, succeed and multiply.  “Where can you do that more than here?” he asked

“It’s good to be home.  It’s so good to be home,” gushed Elana Frankel, a recent graduate of the University of Maryland.   “It’s amazing, I can’t believe I’m finally doing it. I’ve wanted to make aliyah since I was 15,” she told Fleisher.

Years ago, immediately after spending a year in one of Israel’s Torah seminaries for young women, Elana was hooked.  But her parents told her she could not make Israel home until she graduated from college.  So in order to maintain her commitment to Aliyah and to living a religious life, Elana got involved with Hillel, trying to run pro-aliyah events for other students whenever she could.

“My phone message for the past 7 years says ‘Hi, you’ve reached Elana Frankel, leave a message at the beep, call me back, make aliyah.’  Yeah, I’ve changed my voice mail, but people still associate me with aliyah,” she said.

Two decades her senior, Varda “Wendy” Derovan made the decision to pack her bags when she was 14 years old – and finally touched down in the Holy Land 30 years later in fulfillment of her dream.

Yet her vision of life in Israel comes just as much from inspiration as from intellectual honesty.  “We want to be part of the whole [conversation] of what it is to have a Jewish country, and it’s really hard to do that in America,” reasoned Varda.  She also had words of rebuke for religious Jews who pray for the fulfillment of the prophecy of the ingathering of the exiles, but do not take part.   “After 120 years, when you go before Hashem and you have to answer ‘why didn’t I go’ –  I don’t know what we’re going to say… very few people have a good answer,” she said.

Varda also encouraged fellow Jews to see Aliyah as a way to affect the future of Israel, saying she believes an influx of 100,000 American Jews would drastically change Israel’s political situation.  “I think it’s extremely important now for people to take action.  There is no more time to waste,” urged Varda.  “We are really on the line.  So we are voting with our feet.”

Rabbi Elan Adler has come home as well, but he credits his wife.  Rabbanit Dr. Rivkah Lambert Adler lived Aliyah for 9 years as she guided her family toward the ultimate goal.  During that time, she took leadership of the highly successful Baltimore, Maryland aliyah club, the Baltimore Chug Aliyah, and began writing for her personal blog Bat Aliyah, all the while helping local families take the leap toward life in Israel.  “I channeled my own frustrated aliyah energy… until it was the right time for us,” she said.

While groups of olim [immigrants to Israel] will be coming throughout the summer, the next full chartered plane of Nefesh b’Nefesh immigrants will arrive on August 3rd.