Jerusalem – The Middle East Newsline has confirmed that Presidential-elect Barack Obama has dispatched his senior foreign policy adviser Robert Malley to Egypt and Syria to outline the Democrat’s policy on the Middle East.

Mr. Malley, who served in the Clinton administration, relayed a pledge from Mr. Obama that the United States would seek to enhance relations with Cairo as well as reconcile differences with Damascus.

“The tenor of the messages was that the Obama administration would take into greater account Egyptian and Syrian interests,” an aide to Mr. Malley said.

The aide said Obama plans to launch a U.S. diplomatic initiative toward Syria, regarded by the Bush administration as a leading supporter of the al-Qaida insurgency in Iraq. Mr. Obama, unlike President George W. Bush, has also 
supported Israeli peace negotiations with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Mr. Malley, his aides said, met both Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and with Mr. Assad to explain Mr. Obama’s agenda for the Middle East.

These aides said that Mr. Obama told Mr. Mubarak that the United States would maintain military and civilian aid and sell advanced F-16 aircraft to Cairo. Egypt has not ordered F-16s in nearly a decade.

Mr. Malley, in his capacity as a senior advisor to President Clinton at the failed Camp David talks between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, incurred the wrath of many Israeli officials when he laid some of the blame for the failure of the Camp David talks on Israel.

Jerusalem – The Israeli cabinet ministers and Israeli Knesset members quickly joined their colleagues from around the world on Wednesday and congratulated President-elect Barack Obama on his historic victory in the presidential race.

Off the record, Jerusalem officials voiced their concerns about Mr. Obama’s election. He remains perceived as an enigma by the Israeli leadership. 


The concerned Israeli government officials are afraid that Mr. Obama will try to bring the Muslim world closer to the United States by means of payments with Israeli currency -stepping up pressure on Israel to make concessions and withdrawals and an attempt to force it to accept a peace accord.

Conversely, a senior official in the Foreign Ministry said “that’s just a feeling that isn’t based on anything. The die’s been cast, Obama’s been elected, and we’re going to need to find ways of working with him as quickly as we can. All of that talk is simply ridiculous.”

Israeli officials are concerned about a possible dialogue between Mr. Obama and the Iranians as well as the possible appointment of a presidential emissary for talks with Iran. The concern is that Mr. Obama will focus on a dialogue with Iran, despite the Islamic republic’s continuing efforts to advance its nuclear program.

But some people in Israel are confident that Mr. Obama won’t show any weakness towards Iran, and he will try to exhaust the option of dialogue with it but won’t take the military option off the table.

Jerusalem – A 12,000-year-old skeleton of a shaman was discovered in the Hilazon Cave in the Galilee in an archaeological dig being conducted by archaeologists from the Hebrew University.

The archaeologists found beside the skeleton the remains of 50 turtles, a leopard and a human foot. 

Hebrew University archaeologists found in the Hilazon Cave in the 
Galilee a 12,000-year-old skeleton of a woman who apparently engaged in spiritual-religious activity.

Alongside of the skeleton, the tomb contained a number of unusual gifts: fifty turtle shells, the hipbone of a leopard and a human foot. The shaman’s tomb that was discovered in northern Israel is the most ancient such tomb and the only one to be linked to shamanism in the entire Middle East. 


An examination of the woman’s bones found that she was approximately 45 years old. Her bones show that she suffered from several congenital physical ailments and from aging, causing her to suffer from pain. An examination of the skeleton also found that the woman appeared to be distorted in shape and that she probably had a limp. The woman was not more than a meter and a half tall.

The archaeologists, Dr. Abraham Grossman and Professor Anna Baler-Cohen from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, suggest that the uniqueness of the burial and the efforts that were invested in designing the tomb demonstrate that this was the tomb of a shaman who had very high and special status in her community.

The shaman’s role was to mediate between spiritual entities and either the individual or the entire community. Shamans also served in that period as emissaries, healers and magicians.

In many cases, shamans were buried along with objects that attested to their spiritual powers, mainly their connection to entities 
 from the animal kingdom whose help they sought. 



The tomb was filed with unique items, the likes of which were not 
found in other tombs from the same era. In addition to the 50 turtle shells, the leopard’s hip and the human foot, the archaeologists also found the bones of a wild boar, the tail of a wild cow and bones from an eagle’s wing. The woman’s body was covered with the tip of the eagle’s resplendent wing. 

The Natufian culture, to which this woman apparently belonged, existed at a time that human society began to establish permanent places of residence and to produce their own food. This woman was the first to have been buried in the cave. After her, at least another 27 people were buried on the site. 



Jerusalem – An Israeli special forces unit, working in conjunction with the Israeli Paratroopers, operating near the U.N.-run el-Bureij Arab refugee camp in Gaza, blew up a tunnel Tuesday night that Israeli intelligence had determined likely would be used to a kidnap Israelis in the immediate future.

One Israeli soldier was wounded in the course of the operation, and one Hamas member was killed. Three other Hamas members and a female bystander were injured.

This was the most significant Israeli army operation in Gaza since the June truce agreement was declared.

Israeli troops, operating under air cover provided by helicopter gunships
and unmanned aerial vehicles, made an incursion some 250 feet past the border fence into the Gaza Strip in response to the intelligence reports. The troops arrived at the house that hosted the entrance to the tunnel and surrounded it.

Exchanges of fire then ensued, and the Israeli troops came under mortar-shell fire. The Israeli army then blew up the house. Military sources said that the force of the explosion proved that the house had been booby-trapped.


After the Israeli army raid into Gaza, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) attacked a terror cell, firing mortar shells at the Israeli army troops who were operating in Gaza. The air strike took place near the Gaza town of Khan Yunis. An Israeli Army spokesman said that five armed men were killed in the attack. Meanwhile, at 10 p.m. Israeli time, the IAF located and killed a team of five Gazans who were preparing to fire a missile into the Western Negev region of Israel.

A Night In The Shelter

A short time after Israeli troops made their incursion into Gaza, local security coordinators instructed the residents to remain in protected areas should the Palestinians launch Qassam rockets and mortar shells.

The heightened state of alert was maintained throughout the night and, at the time, seemed likely to continue throughout yesterday.

The state of alert in Sderot, Israel went into effect as well. In all, Palestinians fired about 55 missiles from Gaza over the past two days. While there were no injuries reported, the two missiles that landed near a supermarket in Sderot caused panic and havoc for the people lined up at the supermarket who scattered for cover.

Jerusalem – Quite a few people in Jerusalem were puzzled last week to hear that President George W. Bush had invited Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to come to see him at the White House.

While formally the two men are scheduled to meet in order to discuss progress in the peace process with the Palestinians, Israeli government officials in Jerusalem are telling the local media that the meeting in question is geared to coordinate the release of the Israeli spy, Jonathan Pollard, from prison. These Israeli officials said that the outgoing president customarily grants pardons on his last day in office, and it was quite possible that Mr. Pollard’s name might be included on that list, at long last.

Israel tried to secure Mr. Pollard’s release in honor of Israel’s 60th anniversary, but met with no success.

If Mr. Bush decides to grant clemency to Mr. Pollard, this could contribute to the legacy that Mr. Olmert will be leaving in his wake.

A decision on Mr. Bush’s part to release Mr. Pollard could lay the groundwork for new relations between the next elected leaders who are going to head the United States and Israel.

Mr. Pollard, now 53, has been in prison in the United States for the past 22 years after he was convicted of spying for Israel.

No American president to date has agreed to commute his sentence. Since Mr. Olmert has himself hinted he intends to devote his last months in office to the goal of advancing further concessions to the Palestinian Liberation Organization in the hope of achieving some kind of peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, it could be that the Pollard story will serve as an appropriate distraction for the Israeli public and not on sensitive negotiations with Israel’s Arab neighbors.

There is no question about it: The economic power of Saudi Arabia will be a factor for the next American administration to cope with.

The United States Congressional Research Service recently ranked Saudi Arabia, the only Arab nation still in an active state of war with Israel, No. 1 in arms transfer agreements and weapons acquisitions. The report stated Saudi Arabia achieved the ranking in 2007 after years of reduced military procurement. 



“In 2007, Saudi Arabia ranked first in the value of arms transfer agreements among all developing nations weapons purchasers, concluding $10.6 billion in such agreements,” the U.S. report, authored by analyst Richard Grimmett, said. “India ranked second with $5 billion in such agreements.” 
The report, titled “Conventional Arms Transfers to Developing Nations, 2000-2007,” said Saudi Arabia marked the resumption of an Arab military buildup since 2007. CRS said seven of the top weapons recipients last year were in the Middle East. 



“Most recently, the position of Saudi Arabia as principal arms purchaser in the Persian Gulf region has been re-established,” the report said. “In the period from 2000-2003, Saudi Arabia’s total arms agreements were valued at $3.2 billion – in current dollars – less than the levels of the United Arab Emirates Egypt and Israel. For the period from 2004-2007, Saudi Arabia’s total arms agreements were $23.2 billion, making it the leading Near East purchaser once again.” 



CRS said the Middle East accounted for 46.3 percent of all developing nation arms transfer agreements from 2004 to 2007. During the period of 2000-2003, the Middle East represented 42.3 percent of military contracts by developing nations. The report said the United States has fallen sharply from its position as the leading weapons supplier to the Middle East. During 2004-2007, CRS said the United States accounted for 32.8 percent of military contracts to the Middle East, down from 73.6 percent from 2000 to 2003. Since 2004, Britain captured 27.9 percent of the Middle East market; Russia accounted for 20.9 percent of arms transfer agreements. 



“Most recently, the nations in the Near East and Asia regions have resumed large weapons purchases in contrast with arms sales activity in the earliest years of this report,” the report said. “These major orders continue to be made by a select few developing nations in these regions. They have been made principally by India and China in Asia, and Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in the Near East. These purchasing tendencies are subject to abrupt change based on the strength of either the threat assessments of individual states or the strength of their individual economies.” 



In other words, regardless of the continuing Saudi war with Israel, the arms trade with Saudi Arabia can be quite profitable.
 



Jerusalem – The Middle East Newsline has confirmed that President George W. Bush plans to prepare a series of recommendations for his successor on the Middle East.

Mr. Bush has ordered Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to prepare files for his successor on such issues as Arab-Israeli negotiations, a Palestinian state, Iraq, Iran, Libya and other Middle East issues.

“The president’s priority is domestic, and the Middle East is right now about maintaining stability and leaving key issues for the next administration,” a Bush administration official commented.

Ms. Rice has scheduled a Middle East tour immediately after the U.S. presidential elections. Tomorrow, the U.S. Secretary of State will begin a series of visits that will include Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Egypt.

“While in the region, she will meet with her Quartet counterparts and senior government officials to discuss efforts to achieve positive and lasting peace in the region consistent with the Annapolis process and the shared goal of a two-state solution,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

U.S. Security Coordinator James Jones has concluded a report that outlines Israeli security requirements in the formation of a Palestinian state. Mr. Jones is expected to remain in his post under any next administration.

Ms. Rice was expected to visit Gulf Cooperation Council states for the last time under the Bush administration. Officials acknowledged that several GCC states, particularly Saudi Arabia, have reduced contacts with the secretary.

Mr. Bush has also ordered the U.S. intelligence community to brief presidential candidates Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama on Middle East and other major issues. They said Mr. Bush wanted to ensure that the candidates were updated on threats to the United States, particularly concerning al-Qaida.

“What we proposed to the administration is give us the opportunity to tee up intelligence substance to the leading candidates before the conventions,” U.S. National Intelligence Director Michael McConnell said.

“We came up with 13 topics. If you made a list, you’d probably get 11 or 12 of the 13. It’s the normal things you would expect. We made those available to the campaigns.”

Sen. John McCain’s senior foreign policy adviser, Max Boot, sees the next president facing a “daunting array of challenges in the broader Middle East.” These range from preventing terror attacks, stemming weapons proliferation, maintaining the free flow of oil and protecting U.S. allies from Afghanistan to Israel.

Mr. Boot made his comments to a conference organized by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Richard Danzig, a senior adviser to Sen. Barack Obama, said any Democratic administration must revise U.S. policy toward Iran. Mr. Danzig, a former secretary of the navy, said the next president must be willing to negotiate a resolution to the Iranian nuclear crisis.

“Regarding Iran – a threat to regional stability and an existential concern for Israel – the United States and its allies should pursue a preventive strategy that involves tasty carrots and big sticks,” Mr. Danzig said. “Washington should not rely on a fundamentally risky strategy of deterrence. The Bush administration’s policy of refusing to talk to Tehran has failed, and the regime has continued to produce enriched uranium.”