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Bush in Israel

BUSH'S ITINERARY

President George W. Bush arrived in Israel Wednesday where he met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, making his first trip to the Palestinian territories. See Bush's itinerary.


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ISRAEL ACCEPTS BUSH'S PUSH FOR PEACE DEAL
Israel sees U.S. President George W. Bush's push for reaching a peace treaty with the Palestinians within a year as a positive step for renewed talks, an Israeli official said on Thursday.
"We see the Bush remarks as the basis of moving forward. We accept them. We see them as consistent with understandings with the Americans and as a positive foundation for moving forward," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Israeli response was the first to Bush's call for an end to what he said was the 40-year "occupation" of the West Bank and for signing a peace treaty before he leaves office in January 2009.



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BUSH AND OLMERT
During his visit to Israel Wednesday, President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met in Jerusalem and answered questions from the press.

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BUSH MEETS ABBAS
President Bush has met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. Bush said he is confident the Palestinians and Israel can reach an agreement for peace in the near future, but called on both parties to make sacrifices in order to reach a compromise. He claimed leaders must make painful concessions to reach a peace agreement.
President Abbas said that Bush's visit gives great hope to the region.


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BUSH RECEIVES WARM ISRAELI WELCOME
The State of Israel rolled out the red carpet for Bush when he arrived in Israel on Wednesday, with the entire cabinet and a full army band and honor guard welcoming the US president as he began his first visit to Israel in that post.

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PROTESTS FROM HAMAS
20,000 protesting Hamas supporters in Gaza set U.S. and Israeli flags alight and claimed President Bush was a "butcher" whose first presidential visit to the Holy Land was skewed towards helping Israel.

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Local News


RAYMOND EPSTEIN, CHICAGO JEWISH COMMUNITY LEADER WITH A ZEST FOR LIFE
Raymond Epstein, a former leader of several local and national Jewish organizations, died Dec. 29. He was 89.

Epstein was the past president of the Jewish Welfare Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, predecessor of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago (JUF/JF); the 1973 General Campaign chairman of the Jewish United Fund; a member of the JUF/JF board of directors; and chairman of JUF's Jewish Community Relations Council. In 1975 he won the Julius Rosenwald Award, the community's most prestigious given in recognition of a lifetime of service to the Jewish community. Nationally, he served on the boards of the Jewish Agency for Israel, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Jewish Council for Public Affairs; he also served as the president of the Council of Jewish Federations, one of three organizations that merged to create the United Jewish Communities, and the vice president of JTA.

"Ray was a man of special intellect, a wonderful speaker, and a most effective leader," said Steven B. Nasatir, JUF/JF president. "World and Chicago Jewry were fortunate to be able to tap into the special gifts of this fine man."

Listen to remarks by Nasatir at Tuesday's JCRC meeting recalling the life and career of Raymond Epstein.


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MYTHS OF THE U.S.-SAUDI ARABIA RELATIONSHIP DEBUNKED AT JCRC MEETING
Dr. Rachel Bronson, vice president of programs and studies at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and author of "Thicker than oil: America's Uneasy Partnership with Saudi Arabia"(Oxford University Press, 2006), debunked common myths and misconceptions about the United States' relationship with Saudi Arabia at the January 8 meeting of JUF's Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC). A version of her thesis was published in the Washington Post.

Listen to Bronson's complete presentation.

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BLOGGING JUF BIRTHRIGHT
More than 800 young adults from metropolitan Chicago are traveling to Israel with Taglit-Birthright Israel this winter. They're exploring the history, culture, land, and treasures of Israel with their American and Israeli peers.
Highlights of the Birthright experience are being broadcast from one of the Chicago community Birthright trips sponsored by JUF.

Birthright is a free, 10-day educational trip to Israel for Jewish young adults, ages 18-26, who have never been to Israel on an educational peer trip. Registration for the summer trips opens online on February 12.


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ROME AND JERUSALEM
The star crossed paths of the Eternal City and the Holy City come to life during a visit to the seat of Caesar and the Pope. Listen for more in JUF News executive editor Aaron Cohen's audio blog, Heart of the Matter, Rome and Jerusalem.

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Israel and World News


OLMERT, ABBAS TO JUMPSTART NEGOTIATIONS ON CORE ISSUES
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed Tuesday afternoon to hold the negotiations on the core issues according to a "three-level" model. The two leaders met at the prime minister's official residence in Jerusalem for more than two hours. Sources at the Prime Minister's Office defined the atmosphere at the meeting as "extremely good".

The three-level model is comprised of talks on the following levels: Firstly, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and head of the Palestinian negotiations team, Ahmed Qureia, will discuss the core issues in a direct dialogue. The negotiation teams will then discuss the issues in detail. In case of a disagreement, Abbas and Olmert will intervene


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ISRAELI NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: ROCKET THREAT COULD WORSEN
The National Security Council warned Thursday against the rocket threat looming over Israel, saying that Palestinian rocket range could rise significantly due to new technological developments, which could prolong rockets' shelf-life.

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TWO KATYUSHAS FIRED AT ISRAEL FROM LEBANON
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora told UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday that Lebanon would investigate the firing of two Katyusha rockets from Lebanon earlier in the day. The rockets struck the western Galilee town of Shlomi early Tuesday morning, causing no injuries. One of the rockets lightly damaged a house, and the second hit a street in the town. Army Radio reported that the second rocket damaged an electricity pole.

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FINKELSTEIN MEETS SENIOR HEZBOLLAH OFFICIAL
Norman Finkelstein, a vocal American critic of Israel who was denied tenure last year as a political science professor at DePaul University in Chicago, met with Hezbollah's commander in south Lebanon, Nabil Kaouk, in his office in the coastal city of Tyre Monday.

"After the horror and after the shame and after the anger there still remain a hope, and I know that I can get in a lot of trouble for what I am about to say, but I think that the Hezbollah represents the hope. They are fighting to defend their homeland," Finkelstein told reporters. The US government has labeled Hizbullah a terrorist organization.


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QASSAM ROCKET FIRE CONTINUES
Two Qassam rockets fired from northern Gaza Strip landed in the town of Sderot Saturday evening, causing several local residents to suffer shock. Four Qassam rockets landed in Sderot Friday--three in open areas and one near a private residence in the city. The Islamic Jihad's al-Quds Brigades claimed responsibility for the shooting. Palestinians in northern Gaza fired nine Qassam rockets and a number of mortars toward the western Negev Wednesday morning, just several hours before US President George W. Bush's expected arrival in Israel.

Also see At Gaza's edge, Israelis fear rockets' whine


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MORRISSEY ANGLING FOR CONCERTS IN MIDDLE EAST, INCLUDING IRAN
British rock star Morrissey may perform later this year in Tehran, Iran, if the country's hardline authorities allow it, Internet sources are reporting today. The former Smiths front man (and frequent touring performer in Chicago) is angling for a June concert in the Iranian capital, possibly with Arab pop singer Kazem al-Sahir.
Morrissey's occasional controversial statements in the press have made headlines throughout his pop music career. Last year he contended that the invasion of Iraq was "worse than terrorism ... the action of egotistical monsters," referring specifically to President George Bush and then-British Prime Minster Tony Blair.


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EX-NBA STAR SPREADS MESSAGE OF PEACE IN ISRAEL
Former NBA all-star BJ Armstrong and New York Mets General Manager Omar Minaya, arrived in Israel Monday as part of a peace mission organized by the Peres Center for Peace, and joined in a basketball training session for Israeli and Palestinian boys at the Rene Cassin High School in Jerusalem.
Monday's event was run as part of the Peres Center's Twinned Peace Sports Schools project, which was launched in 2002 with a mere 70 participants on each side, currently reaches some 1,600 Palestinian and Israeli youth from disadvantaged and peripheral communities including children from Kiryat Gat, part of JUF's Partnership 2000 region, and touches the lives of thousands more secondary and indirect beneficiaries.


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ISRAELI SCIENTIST SAVES DOLPHINS AND EXPLORES THE BOUNDARIES OF NANOTECHNOLOGY
From saving the dolphins to nanotechnology, Prof. Daniel Weihs, Chairman of Israel's National Committee for Space Research and distibuished professor at Israel's Technion, talks to JUF News about his work in marine biology, aviation, and robotics. Listen to the interview

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READ THE FIRST CHAPTER OF 'JIHAD AND JEW-HATRED'
Read the first chapter of "Jihad and Jew-Hatred," (Telos Press Publishing, 2007) by Matthias Kuntzel on NYTimes.com.

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Iran Watch

BUSH CASTIGATES IRAN, CALLING NAVAL CONFRONTATION 'PROVOCATIVE ACT'
President Bush chastised Iran on Tuesday for committing a "provocative act" by confronting United States Navy warships in the Persian Gulf over the weekend. The Pentagon released video showing Iranian speedboats maneuvering around the American convoy.
"We viewed it as a provocative act," Mr. Bush told reporters in the Rose Garden, just hours before he left for a weeklong trip to the Middle East. "It is a dangerous situation, and they should not have done it, pure and simple."

The episode took place Sunday in the strategic Strait of Hormuz and was initially described by American officials on Monday. They said five armed Iranian speedboats approached three United States Navy warships in international waters, then maneuvered aggressively as radio threats were issued that the American ships would be blown up. The confrontation ended without shots fired or injuries.

Watch a video of Iranian boats confronting U.S. Navy.


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KHAMENEI SAYS IRAN TIES WITH US POSSIBLE
Iran's supreme leader said Thursday that he was willing to restore diplomatic relations with the United States but doing so now would make his country more vulnerable to U.S. espionage.
"I would be the first one to support these relations," state radio quoted Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as saying at a student group meeting in the central Iranian province of Yazd. "Of course we never said the severed relations were forever," added Khamenei, 69, who has final say in all state matters. "But for the time being, it (restoring ties) is harmful and we should not pursue it."

A rift is emerging between President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, suggesting that the president no longer enjoys the full backing of Khamenei, as he did in the years after his election in 2005.



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IRANIAN CANDIDATES BEGIN REGISTERING FOR KEY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS
Close to 400 people registered as candidates Saturday for Iranian parliamentary elections seen as a referendum on hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The elections will not change the direction of Iran's nuclear policies, which are determined by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, but they will be a key test of Ahmadinejad's hold on power and also a key indicator for the 2009 presidential elections.

Iran's Interior Ministry said 385 people registered over the Internet for the elections, which will be held March 14, state television reported



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Legislative Updates

CONGRESS DEDICATES $9 MILLION FOR PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE PROJECTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST
With a final vote of approval in the House of Representatives this week, Congress passed a massive omnibus spending bill for the federal government that included $9 million in funding for people-to-people coexistence and reconciliation activities aimed at building grassroots support for peace between Israelis and Palestinians, Arabs and Jews in the Middle East. The funding stems from a proposal by the Alliance for Middle East Peace ("ALLMEP"), a coalition of non-governmental organizations that bring together individuals and communities across conflict lines to cooperate on joint projects involving education, medicine, the environment, business, sports, culture, religion, and other areas of everyday life.

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Events and Programs


DAVID MENASHRI EXPLAINS THE IRANIAN THREAT FEB. 10 AT CONGREGATION BETH EL
Learn what every American needs to know about Iran, February 10 at 7 pm, at North Suburban Synagogue Beth El in Highland Park. David Menashri, Director of the Center for Iranian Studies at Tel Aviv University, will explain why the Iranian regime remains the biggest threat to Israel and to American interests in the Middle East. Learn more and register.

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"REFLECTIONS ON JEWISH-CATHOLIC RELATIONS: PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE," LECTURE HELD FEB. 26
The 13th Annual Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Jerusalem Lecture, "Reflections on Jewish-Catholic Relations: Past, Present and Future" featuring Dr. Eugene Fisher with remarks by Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I. will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, February 26 at the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies, 610 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago

A reception will follow the lecture. Admission is free, but reservations are requested. For more information,call 312-751-5325 or e-mail eia@archchicago.org

The lecture is sponsored by The Archdiocese of Chicago, The American Jewish Committee, The Chicago Board of Rabbis, The Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago and the Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies.


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SIGN UP NOW FOR JUF'S ISRAEL @ 60 MISSION!
Israel only turns 60 once! Don't miss the celebration, join the Israel@60 Mission, May 5-12, 2008. Fly directly to Ramat David Air Force Base with the largest community Mission around the country! There are only a few spaces left. Call the Israel@60 Mission hotline to reserve your space - (312) 357-6260.


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Editorial, Opinion & Analysis

FROM THE ISRAELI AND AMERICAN PRESS AND OTHER SOURCES
Jewish support crucial now for Middle East peace, by Arnold Jacob Wolf
Settlement remarks unwise, but prove Israelis long for peace, by Steve Huntley
Saudi Arabia's promised reforms, New York Times editorial
The Bush visit and tensions in the U.S.-Israel relationship, by Gerald M. Steinberg
Bush's Mideast muddle, by Michael Oren
Baby steps, by Dennis Ross


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