AIPAC briefs

www.aipac.org April 23, 2008
Congress Reaffirms Strength of U.S.-Israel Alliance

Hamas Chief: We Will Not Recognize Israel

Hamas Suicide Bombers Attack Gaza Aid Crossing

Lawmakers Call for More Pressure on Iran

U.N. Security Council Calls for Disarming Hizballah

Israeli Company Tries to Ease Root Canal Misery


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Conference 2008
June 2-4, 2008
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Congress Reaffirms Strength of U.S.-Israel Alliance
In a landmark display of U.S. friendship with Israel, the House and Senate overwhelmingly passed resolutions recognizing the 60th anniversary of Israel's birth and reaffirming the close ties between the United States and Israel. In the Senate, the resolution (S. Res. 522) was cosponsored by the entire chamber and passed by unanimous consent. The House approved its version (H. Res. 322) by a resounding vote of 417-0. The Speaker of the House, who traditionally does not cosponsor legislation, joined Democratic and Republican House leaders as a lead sponsor of the bill. The resolutions were introduced in the House by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) and Republican Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO), and in the Senate by Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). Click here to read the full text of the resolutions.

Hamas Chief: We Will Not Recognize Israel
Contradicting former President Jimmy Carter's claim that Hamas is prepared to accept Israel's right to "live as a neighbor next door in peace," Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal stressed that his group would never recognize the Jewish state, The New York Times reported. "Hamas accepts the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital and with full and real sovereignty and full application of the right of the Palestinians to return, but Hamas will not recognize the state of Israel," Mashaal said. State Department spokesman Tom Casey said it is clear that "there is certainly no change in Hamas' position." As a result, Hamas—whose charter says that Israel will exist "until Islam eliminates it"—faces international isolation until it recognizes Israel, renounces terrorism and accepts previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements.

Hamas Suicide Bombers Attack Gaza Aid Crossing
In an effort to create a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, Hamas suicide bombers on Saturday drove three explosives-laden vehicles into the Kerem Shalom border crossing, which is used primarily to transfer aid to Palestinians, The New York Times reported. Three bombers were killed in the blasts and 13 Israeli soldiers were wounded. The attack on the Kerem Shalom crossing follows a string of recent attacks on other humanitarian corridors and energy supply lines serving Palestinian civilians. About 200 trucks of essential food and medical supplies currently pass through Kerem Shalom each week. On Friday, 48 trucks delivered goods, including wheelchairs, babies' bottles, meat and fish. Israel routinely looks for ways to facilitate humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza.

Lawmakers Call for More Pressure on Iran
During a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing last week, lawmakers called for more stringent sanctions against nuclear-minded Iran, saying that current efforts have been insufficient to persuade Tehran to halt its illicit atomic work. "We have failed to get the international community to embargo so much as a box of cereal," Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) said. "The Bush administration has not only utterly failed to use U.S. sanction laws against foreign companies investing in Iran's oil sector, the administration has actively worked to prevent Congress from making those laws more stringent and more compulsory." Rep. Edward Royce (R-CA) added that the Treasury Department should add Bank Markazi, Iran's Central Bank, to its sanctions list, calling it the "central bank of terrorism." Click here to learn more about efforts to sanction Iran.

U.N. Security Council Calls for Disarming Hizballah
The U.N. Security Council last week called for the disarmament of the terrorist army Hizballah in Lebanon and reaffirmed the ban on arms transfers to Lebanon-based terrorist groups, the Associated Press reported. The Council also noted Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's concerns over weapons smuggling and Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah's "threats of open war against Israel." In recent weeks, Hizballah has mounted a massive recruitment and training drive and devised new battle plans to launch cross-border raids into Israel. With Iranian backing, the terrorist army has dramatically increased the size and range of its rocket arsenal and can now strike most of Israel with ease. Click here to learn about Hizballah's threats against Israel.


Israeli Company Tries to Ease Root Canal Misery
An Israeli company called Sialo Technology believes that it might be able to make root canal misery a thing of the past, the Web site Israel21c reported. "We make everything smaller," CEO Itzik Henig said. "We take the big drill and make it into micro drill. Minimal invasive surgery is our future, replacing old fashioned surgical procedures." The regular root canal procedure is very aggressive, Henig said, while Sialo's device is much less so because a newly designed endoscope gives the dentist a complete view of the tooth at all times. The same technology could be applied to other operations, including tooth implantations and periodontal treatment. "The sky is the limit," Henig concluded.