BULLETIN No.135

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Israel Threatens to Hit Damascus
Ha’aretz – Olmert to Rice: Key to resolving crisis lies in Syria
Yedioth Ahronoth Syria: We won't pressure Hamas to free Shalit
Jerusalem Post Israel has few options to pressure Syria, experts say Bashar Assad's palace as it did last week, to apply pressure on the Syrian regime to expel Hamas leaders based in the country, local Syria experts said Sunday.
Under pressure Hamas leaders exiled in Syria feel the heat from Gaza crisis
Jerusalem Post US calls on Syria to close Hamas offices The US is calling on Syria to stop all support to the Hamas and to close the organization offices in Damascus.
Arutz Sheva Mubarak Demands Syria Expel Mashaal Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak has demanded from Syrian President Bashar Assad the expulsion of Hamas head Khaled Mashaal unless Hamas frees
Arutz Sheva Syria Sets Ground Rules for Pressuring Terrorists Defense Minister Amit Peretz has called upon the international community to pressure Syria into persuading Hamas politburo leader Khaled Meshal, who is based
Daily Star Jumblatt: Syria 'exporting Al-Qaeda' March 14 Forces, said that Syrian President Bashar Assad had warned that some members of the terrorist Al-Qaeda group "have been fleeing Syria toward Lebanon.".
ITP.net Syria’s brand new vision Business is booming in Syria. The currency is strong as Syria is now benefiting from an open market, and tourism arrivals to the

Washington Institute Tracking Hamas’s Leadership: Insights into the Organization’s Structure and Evolution The nearly simultaneous kidnapping of an Israeli soldier and agreement to a national unity government reveals possible fissures between Hamas’s internal and Damascus-based leaders.
Der Spiegel HAMAS'S STRATEGY "No Matter What, the Violence Will Never Stop" Mousa Mohammed Abu Marzook is second in command of the political Hamas leadership in Syrian exile. In an interview, he tells SPIEGEL ONLINE that the agreement with Fatah on the foundation of a Palestinian state does not mean that his organization will recognize Israel. Hamas, he say, will remain committed to violence against its occupier.
What future for Hamas after Israel's actions in Gaza? By Shlomo Avineri
Editorial Mindless in Gaza: Israel's risky strategy
The Observer Israel's act of war is inexcusable Will Hutton: The brutal reaction to Corporal Shalit's kidnap has implications far beyond the Middle East
Guardian Anything but negotiation Patrick Seale: Palestinian moderates are Israel's real enemies, so it deliberately drives them from the scene.
Ha’aretz – Editorial: The government is losing its direction in Gaza
Washington Post Israel Increases Pressure on Hamas Its Hold on Power Said to Be Target
Washington Post Editorial Hamas's War The movement defended armed attacks and hostage-taking; now it's complaining that Israel is fighting back
Yoel Marcus: Israel musn't be held prisoner to kidnappers A state that protects its abducted civilians and soldiers, and is prepared to pay a great deal for information regarding their fate, as in the case of Ron Arad, for example, evinces nobility, but also weakness.
NYT Hamas: Rivalry Breeds Extremes Power has proved a trap for Hamas, accentuating its divisions and causing new fractures.
Washington Post Israel's Diplomatic Invasion Olmert's Forced Retreat From Unilateralism By Jackson Diehl
UPI Analysis: Arabs see strategic motives in Israeli attacks
Army would release prisoners without 'blood on their hands' in exchange for kidnapped soldier
ANALYSIS: Exiled Hamas chief wins Israeli recognition at last
US Will Pay $48M to Repair Gaza Power Station That Israel Bombed
Jerusalem Post Still a farceYet again Israel is under fire from the Muslim world's dubious standard-bearers of human liberties.
Special: Mossad took photos, Entebbe Operation was on its way Ynetnews
BBC 'Small Israeli force' enters Gaza A small Israeli force enters the Gaza Strip to search for tunnels and mines, military sources say.
Debka Israel’s Reluctant Journey from Hostage Crisis to War Confrontation in Gaza Print
UPI Analysis: Israel's moves and motives
Israel's Diplomatic Invasion Olmert's Forced Retreat From Unilateralism By Jackson Diehl
Christian Science Monitor Israel's balancing act By invading Gaza, it wants to pressure Palestinian leadership, but without causing a humanitarian crisis.
Schiff Security on paperThe starting point of the authors of the Palestinian doctrine is that the Palestinian state will always be the weak side in the balance of power.
Israel is making a big unilateral mistake By Ze'ev Schiff
Hamas: Rivalry Breeds Extremes Power has proved a trap for Hamas, accentuating its divisions and causing new fractures.
The Observer Israel's act of war is inexcusable Will Hutton: The brutal reaction to Corporal Shalit's kidnap has implications far beyond the Middle East
Palestine 'ready to trade' captured Israeli soldier Secret talks over prisoners are 'close to deal' as negotiators race against time to prevent bloodbath.
Yedioth Ahronoth '1,000 prisoners for soldier'
ISRAEL WARNS: FREE SOLDIER OR PRIME MINISTER DIES
Rejects demands to free 1,000 prisoners...
BBC Militants' new demands for Israel Three Palestinian militant groups thought to be holding an Israeli soldier issue new demands.
Analysis: Israel's wider aims
Worn-out Gazans prepare for war
Israel's army and national psyche
Security Council debates incursion
The Economist Israel and Palestine Try to be calm
Jerusalem Post Politics: Whose partner? Yossi Beilin favors a formal treaty with Abbas - whether or not it's upheld.
End the cycle of retaliation MARWAN BISHARA Israelis must end the vicious cycle of provocations and retaliations through meaningful negotiations with the Palestinians.
Israel Threatens to Assassinate Palestinian PM

Financial Times Iraq's plan for national reconciliation 'opens door to political resolution'
Iraq: Will Al-Maliki's Peace Plan Work? : Amir Taheri
Daily Star Iraq's neighbors can best help themselves by helping Iraq
Newsweek Dickey: Americans Mustn’t Be Above the Law in Iraq

Daily Star Iran as an axis of anti-American defiance By Rami G. Khouri
Iranian Public Opinion on the Nuclear Program Iranian public opinion can be used as a powerful policy tool for compelling Tehran to change its nuclear stance
The New Yorker The War Over Going to War With Iran - The military’s problem with the President’s Iran policy. Seymour Hersh
OpenDemocracy Iran's identity politics Azeris, Kurds, Baluchis and Arabs... Iran's rich multi-ethnic mix is an essential part of Iranians' campaign for civic, democratic renewal, argues Nayereh Tohidi
Analysis: U.S-Iran nuclear debacle

FPIF Japan's Persian Gulf Policies in the Koizumi Era
Guardian The international obligation to the Middle East
Rajnaara Akhtar Recent events in Gaza make the need for an observation and protection force all the more urgent.
The Economist Democracy in the Arab world Not yet, thanks
UPI Policy Watch: Where is the Arab lobby
Congressional Research Service "U.S. Democracy Promotion Policy in the Middle East: The Islamist Dilemma" (pdf), June 15, 2006.