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Israel

  • On Oct. 21 Israel Internal Security Director Yuval Diskin exposed a Palestinian plan to assassinate Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. According to a report delivered to cabinet ministers on Sunday, militants belonging to Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction planned to attack Olmert's convoy on Aug. 6 during a meeting with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas in Jericho. The terrorists who carried out the attacks were arrested by the PA, but subsequently released despite having admitted to planning the attack. [1]
  • Speaking on the PA's failure to deal with terrorist groups, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni stated to Israeli cabinet ministers on Oct. 21 that in her meetings the week before with United States (U.S.) Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and chief PA negotiator Ahmed Qureia she told both officials that "A return to the revolving door policy fundamentally harms Israel's ability to put faith in the Palestinian side ." [2]   
  • Olmert said the plot to assassinate him is "a source of discomfort," but added that Israel "has no intention of halting negotiations with the Palestinians ." [3]  
  • On Oct. 22, Livni called for the creation of a negotiations administration to handle core issues following the Annapolis summit expected to take place in late November or December. Livni and Foreign Ministry Director General Aharon Abramovitch met with former government and military officials who took part in previous negotiations, including: Col. (res.) Shaul Arieli, attorney Gilad Sher, Dr. Nimrod Novick, Col. (res.) Daniel Reisner and Gidi Grinstein. [4]  

Palestinian Authority    

  • In a meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in Kuala-Lumpur on Oct. 20, aimed at coordinating the Palestinian and Malaysian positions prior to the summit, Abbas stated to reporters that the Palestinians "Strive to attain the support of others and coordinate with them in order to reach the best results in the [Annapolis] conference. This is what we shall do from now until the time of the conference ." [5]
  • Prior to Malaysia's participation in the Annapolis summit, Abbas voiced his doubt that the talks would take place as scheduled, telling the Malaysian prime minister, "The conference will take place in November; so we have heard, but there are no guarantees ." [6]   
  • The Arab daily Al-Hayat reported that Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are entering the "draft stage " and that both parties have agreed to conduct tri-weekly meetings. [7]
  • The official PA daily Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported on Oct. 22 that Abbas said the forthcoming Annapolis summit "Must address all core issues, based on the principles of the peace process, and especially of the Arab initiative, the resolutions of international legitimacy and the vision of President Bush ." [8]  
  • Following a meeting with the Indonesian president on Oct. 21, Abbas expressed confidence that a solution to the Middle East crisis would be found before the end of 2008. [9]  

Hamas and Palestinian Militant Groups  

  • Former Hamas spokesman Ghazi Hamad openly criticized the terrorist group's hostile takeover of the Gaza Strip, the first such statement since he resigned, calling it a "trap" and "a grave strategic mistake." "Instead of expanding its relations with the Arab and international community ... [Hamas] has become isolated and besieged in the narrow strip ," Hamad said, speaking about the group's current political strategy. [10]  
  • Ten Damascus-based Palestinian factions will host a conference Nov. 7-9 entitled "Fighting Plans to Obliterate the Palestinian Issue." The conference aims to send a message to the international community to boycott the Annapolis summit, due to take place at the end of November. A member of the preparatory committee said that 500 invitations have been sent to leading Arab and Islamic figures. The conference will stress the Palestinian right to continue the 'resistance' and the 'inalienable' right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes. [11]  
     

Arab World

  • Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said in an interview Oct. 22 with the Austrian daily Der Standart, that there will be "Grave consequences for the Middle East and beyond" if the Annapolis summit fails to produce a practical outcome to the current situation and that "The region cannot afford another failure in peace efforts." [12]  

Footnotes

[1] Ravid, Barak, "Shin Bet: Fatah cell tried to attack PM convoy in Jericho," Haaretz, Oct. 21, 2007,
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/915163.html
[2] Mualem, Mazal, Benn, Aluf, & Issacharoff, Avi, "PM: Annapolis conference will not bring historic breakthrough," Haaretz, Oct. 21, 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/915135.html 
[3] "PM expresses 'discomfort' over release of would-be assassins," Jerusalem Post, Oct. 21, 2007,
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1192380611219 
[4] Ravid, Barak, "FM calls for post-summit peace team to deal with 'core issues'," Haaretz, Oct. 22, 2007, http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/915678.html 
[5] "President meets Malaysian prime minister: we coordinate to reach best results in peace conference," Alayam, Oct.  21, 2007,
http://www.al-ayyam.com/znews/site/template/Doc_View.aspx?did=68412&Date=10/21/2007     
[6] "President meets Malaysian prime minister: we coordinate to reach best results in peace conference," Alayam, Oct.  21, 2007,
http://www.al-ayyam.com/znews/site/template/Doc_View.aspx?did=68412&Date=10/21/2007     
[7] Younis, Mohammad, "Both parties to conduct 3 weekly meetings and individual meetings to be held between Qureia and Livni…Israeli-Palestinain negotiations enter draft stage," Alhayat, Oct. 21, 2007,
http://www.alhayat.com/arab_news/levant_news/10-2007/Item-20071020-bed8aca0-c0a8-10ed-00c3-e8c443613224/story.html   
[8] "President stressed the need for international conference to address all core issues," Al-Hayat al-Jadida, Oct. 22, 2007, http://www.alhayat-j.com/details.php?opt=2&id=53364&cid=954   
[9] "Abbas confident solution to Middle East crisis will be found," YnetNews, Oct. 22, 2007,
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3462527,00.html  
[10] "Senior Hamas figure criticizes takeover of Gaza," Reuters, Oct. 20, 2007,
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSROB07945920071021?pageNumber=1   
[11] AlKhadr, Mohammed, "Palestinian factions prepare for their conference to coincide with fall meeting," Aljazeera.net, Oct. 21, 2007,
http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/A22E982D-C779-498B-8C12-4E9BB7A450BD.htm  
[12] "I cannot do the impossible," Der Standart, Oct. 22, 2007,
http://derstandard.at/

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