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Israel Will Be Annihilated in One Storm, Says Iran Leader
Tim Butcher
 President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran appeared to threaten Israel with a nuclear attack on Friday when he described it as a "rotten, dried tree" that would be annihilated by "one storm." In his most vitriolic and anti-Semitic attack to date, Ahmadinejad warned that Israel faced imminent destruction. Speaking at the opening of a conference in Teheran to support the Palestinian cause, Ahmadinejad repeated earlier anti-Semitic attacks in Israel, questioning the scale of the Nazi Holocaust and attacking Zionism. (Telegraph-UK)
Mashaal: We'll Never Recognize Israel
by Roee Nahmias
 Hamas political chief Khaled Mashaal (pictured) warned last week that the Palestinians will never recognize Israel. Speaking in Tehran at International Conference on Jerusalem and Support for the Palestinian People, Mashaal congratulated the Iranian people on the progress in their nuclear ambitions. The Islamic Jihad secretary-general Ramadan Abdallah Salah pledged, “The only solution to the Palestinian problem is Jihad and resistance. It is impossible to recognize the Zionist entity, even at the cost of our lives. We will not be sidelined and will lead the struggle. We and Hamas will continue the resistance,” he added. (Ynet News)
Ex-USF Professor Sami Al-Arian to Be Deported in Terrorism Case
 Federal authorities have decided to deport a former University of South Florida professor and long-time Palestinian rights activist, Sami Al-Arian, after failing to convict him on charges he helped finance terrorist attacks in Israel. Al-Arian had been a computer engineering professor at the University of South Florida. (AP)
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Olmert: "Israel Should Not Be on the Forefront of a War Against Iran"
by Romesh Ratnesar
 "I don't know why people think this is first and foremost a war for Israel. It's a problem for every civilized country. Iran is a major threat to the well-being of Europe and America just as much as it is for the state of Israel. I don't think America can tolerate the idea of a leader of nation who can openly speak of the liquidation of another country. And therefore it is incumbent upon America and Europeans to form a strategy and implement it to remove this danger of unconventional weapons in Iran. To assume that Israel would be the first to go into a military confrontation with Iran represents a misunderstanding of this issue." (TIME)
Sharon Era Comes to Symbolic End in Israel
by Jeffrey Heller
 Ariel Sharon's tenure as Israel's prime minister came to a symbolic end last week at a cabinet meeting that formally designated Ehud Olmert to replace the comatose stroke victim. Under Israeli law, Sharon will be categorized as permanently incapacitated and unable to serve as prime minister, 100 days after suffering his stroke. Olmert, deputy prime minister when Sharon fell ill, was named interim prime minister at the time. (Reuters)
U.S. Blocks "Unfair" UN Arab Draft
by Yizhak Ben-Horin
 The United States last week torpedoed a UN Security Council statement drafted by Arab nations and aimed at putting pressure on Israel to stop military strikes on Palestinian targets. U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the draft, even after three days of intense negotiations, "was disproportionately critical of Israel, and unfairly so, and needlessly so." (Ynet News)
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