Candidates see Iran nuclear threat
By Carol Giacomo, Diplomatic Correspondent, Reuters, July 26, 2007

"Allowing Iran, a radical theocracy that supports terrorism and openly threatens its neighbors, to acquire nuclear weapons is a risk we cannot take," Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois said in a letter to the Israel Project, a pro-Israel group that educates the public about Israel and advocates an end to investment in Iran.

Obama's tough line on Iran was largely echoed in other letters from seven other candidates, including Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, both Democrats.

Two Republican candidates -- former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas -- stressed, as Bush has done, that the military option must remain on the table.

All were asked by the Israel Project to discuss their views and endorse a petition signed on-line by more than 75,000 people telling the United Nations Security Council "Iran must be stopped now -- before it develops a nuclear bomb."

Tehran, which insists its nuclear program is entirely peaceful, has defied a Security Council demand to halt its uranium enrichment program, resulting in two sets of sanctions. A third sanctions resolution is under consideration.

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Will the US bomb Iran? Will Israel?
By Shmuel Rosner, U.S. Chief Correspondent, Haaretz, July 8, 2007

A recent study by The Israel Project, which specializes in examining U.S. public opinion, asked 800 respondents to rank the issues over which the U.S. should fear Iran. Only 20 percent ranked Ahmadinejad saying that "Israel should be wiped off the map" in either first or second place. Above all, Americans fear terror: "conscripting suicide bombers" (31 percent); "Iran's promise to share nuclear technology with other Islamic extremists" (27 percent); "the continued development of its nuclear program" (26 percent) and "Iran's support for terrorists operating in Iraq and Afghanistan" (26 percent).

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Washington loves Sderot's residents
By Yitzhak Benhorin, Ynet News, June 16, 2007

The situation in Sderot got some unexpected attention over the weekend, courtesy of five of the city's residents, who were sent to the United States by the Foreign Ministry and the Jewish Agency.

The five met with American politicians, the media and leading members of the local Washington community on Capitol Hill Friday, and were, in their own words, 'overwhelmed' by the empathy shown to them.

"I thought we'd be criticized but all I found was understanding," 23-year old Itay Avitan told Ynet.

"I'm surprised by all the love. It gave me strength," added 21-year old Mor Yehudai, whose house suffered a direct Qassam hit two years ago.

The five also took part in a press conference held by the "Israel Project", a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the Israeli cause in the US.

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How US public sees the Mideast crisis
By Linda Feldmann, The Christian Science Monitor, July 24, 2006

In another poll of US voters, conducted last week by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research for the Israel Project, support for Israel had grown since conflicts began with Hizbullah and Hamas, the Islamist Palestinian group that was elected into power last January in the Palestinian territories. Conflict erupted between Israel and Hamas in Gaza last month over the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier. The latest Israel Project poll found that US public support of Israel had risen to 60 percent, up from 45 percent last January, before the election of Hamas. Support for the Palestinians remained at 7 percent in both polls.

"Americans are so close to Israel that when Israel's at war, they really rally around Israel," says Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, founder of the Israel Project, a US advocacy group for Israel. "You can't expect that that level of excitement will sustain throughout a military engagement."

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Embassy Row
Israel Gets Support 
By James Morrison, The Washington Times, July 21, 2006

Americans overwhelmingly support Israel and denounce Hamas and Hezbollah as terrorists, according to a poll released yesterday by the Israel Project. 

"Americans understand exactly what is happening here and who is behind it," said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, president of the Washington-based group, which promotes Israel in the press and public forums. 

The poll of 1,000 likely voters showed that 59 percent of Americans think Israel is justified in its attacks against Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon, while 19 percent called the strikes unjustified. Fifty-six percent approved of Israeli attacks on Hamas sites in the Gaza Strip, while 24 percent called them unjustified.

Seventy percent identified either Iran or Syria as the primary supporter of Hamas, and 74 percent cited either country as the main backer of Hezbollah. Fifty-four percent cited Hamas as a terrorist organization, and 60 percent identified Hezbollah as one.

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'Free Gilad' rallies held in NY and DC 
By Gal Beckerman, Elana Brownstein and Adinah Greene, The Jerusalem Post, July 10, 2006

More than 300 people gathered in front of the Syrian embassy in Washington, yelling chants such as "Tell Assad - free Gilad" and "Two, four, six, eight, Syria is a terror state."

"The rally was a very big success," said Ron Halber, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington. "We really focused attention on Syria's role in the capture of Gilad and I think we drew a direct line between Hamas and Syria."

Among the hundreds were a large group of teenagers who came by bus from Tel Yehudah, a Young Judaea overnight camp located in Barryville, NY. The campers held dozens of signs with Shalit's picture and led the group in chants and songs, including the US and Israeli national anthems.  

Speakers during the rally included Halber, several community rabbis and Laura Kam, an Israeli mother of three and senior communications adviser for The Israel Project. "Palestinian children, with full Syrian support, are unfortunately being taught to hate and to aspire to death," said Kam, 47, whose children are currently at summer camp in Ashkelon, where Kassam rockets have fallen in recent weeks. "I hope for the day when Palestinian children will be taught to aspire to be doctors, lawyers, and teachers." 
 
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You Say ‘Hitnatkut,’ I Say ‘Hitkansut’ 
By Joshua Mitnick, The Jewish Week, May 25, 2006

What’s in a name?

It’s a political question, not a literary one, for Israelis who are debating whether to call Ehud Olmert’s planned pullout of troops and settlers from the West Bank a withdrawal, a disengagement, a convergence, or a realignment.

Each pullback over the last 15 years received its own nickname.

The new Hebrew has a much more positive connotation. It shares the same root as the words for convention or entrance. It can also be translated as “ingathering,” but that word was thought to be too religiously charged.

Only in the final hours before Olmert’s White House meeting on Tuesday did Israeli government officials confirm that realignment had been chosen as the official translation.

“Realignment is a better translation of what they’re trying to accomplish,” said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, the president of the Israel Project. “Realignment speaks to shifting the lines, and it’s a way to dealing with friction between the sides” while not giving up Israel’s historic claim to the land.
 
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Ehud Olmert Puts Bush in a Quandary
By Barbara Ferguson, Arab News, May 24, 2006

WASHINGTON, 24 May 2006 — After weeks of research and polls, Ehud Olmert introduced a new buzzword at the White House yesterday during his first meeting as Israeli Prime Minister with President Bush. Olmert and his aides decided on the word “realignment” to describe his withdrawal plan from most of the Jewish settlements on the West Bank.

Olmert wanted a public pledge of support from President Bush, but the White House has indicated an endorsement is premature. Olmert reportedly has dropped plans to ask Bush during this trip for additional US aid for the border plan. Israel estimates the evacuation of the illegal Israeli settlers and the termination and maintenance of the unilaterally drawn border could cost as much as $10 billion, and it is hoping Washington will foot much of the bill.

Due to these high stakes, overseas marketing is crucial, Israeli officials told reporters. Which brings us back to the word “realignment.” Israeli officials debated three English words: convergence, consolidation and realignment. But the Israel Project, a non-profit media advocacy group, Monday released results of a poll that found 78 percent of Americans reacted positively to the “realignment plan.”

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Olmert asks for a word with Bush
By Joshua Mitnick, The Washington Times, May 23, 2006

TEL AVIV -- Listen for a new buzzword when Ehud Olmert arrives at the White House today for his first meeting as Israeli prime minister with President Bush: "realignment." 

After weeks of discussing and polling, Mr. Olmert and his aides have settled on that word to describe his ambitious withdrawal plan that would unilaterally dismantle dozens of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and relocate residents into three main settlement blocs. 

The Israel Project, a nonprofit media advocacy group, yesterday released the results of a poll that found that 78 percent of Americans reacted positively to the "realignment" plan.  

"Realignment is a better translation of what they're trying to accomplish," said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, president of the Israel Project in Washington. "Realignment speaks to shifting the lines, and it's a way to dealing with friction between the sides" while not giving up Israel's historic claim to the land.

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Olmert lands in Washington
By Ronny Sofer, Ynetnews.com, May 21, 2006

WASHINGTON - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert landed in Washington early Monday for his first official visit to the United States since his inauguration. During the visit Olmert is slated to meet with American President George W. Bush among other top US officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defense Donal Rumsfeld .

High on the agenda will be talks about the issue of Iran’s nuclear armament, along with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and Olmert’s proposed West Bank convergence plan.

Survey: Most Americans back Israel

Despite lacking full US support for Convergence, Olmert can be encouraged by the results of a survey carried out by the Israel Project organization in anticipation of his US visit, which found that 78 percent of those surveyed said they were positively impressed by the Convergence plan. Only 18 percent saw it as a negative process. The survey’s subjects were college-educated Americans with a yearly income of at least USD 75,000.

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Israeli Elections Drawing Few Voters to the Polls
By Julie Stahl, Jerusalem Bureau Chief, CNSNews.com, March 28, 2006

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Millions of Israelis were expected to vote in parliamentary elections on Tuesday but seven hours into the voting, turnout was described as the lowest ever.

Most polling stations opened by 7:00 a.m. local time, and as of 2 p.m., only 31 percent of Israel's 5-million-plus voters had showed up to cast ballots, the Central Elections Committee said.

By comparison, Israel's lowest overall voter turnout -- until now -- was in 2001, when 62.3 percent of the voters cast their ballots -- a higher turnout than U.S. elections command.

Israelis may vote for any one of 31 political parties. Analysts say that low voter turnout helps the smaller parties, which tend to attract people who are dedicated to specific causes, said Calev Ben-David, director of the Israel Project.

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'Two Mothers. Two Worlds. One Goal.'
By Helen Freedman, New York Metro Parents, March 9, 2006

Almost every day brings news of another devastating attack in the Middle East. Sadly, we respond with resignation: “There will never be peace there.”

But two women are traveling the country with a very different message. “Our children need hope,” declare the twosome, whose backgrounds are worlds apart, but who have come together, united as mothers.

 Miri Eisen, a transplanted Californian, is a recently retired Colonel, Israeli Army Intelligence, and a mother of three. Nonie Darwish grew up in Cairo and Gaza, the daughter of the leader of Egypt’s first terrorist organization. She remembers being pulled onto the knee of Egypt’s terrorist president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, to be comforted on the day her father was murdered. She is also the mother of three.

Last month, Eisen and Darwish came to New York City and spoke at a luncheon organized by The Israel Project, an international non-profit based in Washington, D.C., and dedicated to educating the press and public about Israel, while promoting peace.

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And the losers are . . .
By Cal Thomas, The Washington Times, March 3, 2006

Jews run Hollywood, some say. If they do, one might expect them to produce films that better reflect their heritage and values, rather than serve as apologists for those who wish to exterminate the Jewish people. 

Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony will not only be about the homosexual-friendly flick "Brokeback Mountain" but also about whether the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will award an Oscar to a film called "Paradise Now," which in January won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film. The Golden Globes often foretell likely Oscar winners. 

"Paradise Now" is well-produced propaganda for the Arab-Muslim-Palestinian side and a justification for people who blow themselves up and take innocent children, women and men with them. The film is about two young Palestinian males and their decision to become homicide bombers (I deliberately use the word "homicide," because it better reflects the true intentions of the killers, rather than "suicide," a word used to describe people who take only their own lives). 

Yossi Zur, father of one of the dead children, inspired a petition drive that at last count had collected more than 30,000 signatures. The petition asks the Academy to revoke the "Paradise Now" Oscar nomination. In an article written for the Israel Project, Mr. Zur expresses his grief for his then-16-year-old son, Asaf, adding, " 'Paradise Now' is a very professional production, created with great care for detail. It is also an extremely dangerous piece of work, not only for Israel and the Middle East, but the whole world."

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Oscar tune impugned
'Crash' song back in tune with Acad
By Timothy M. Gray, Variety, March 1, 2006

 Who ever thought that "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp" would be the least controversial song nominee this year?
On Wednesday, only four days before the Oscarcast, rumors were swirling that the tune "In the Deep," from "Crash," might be declared ineligible.

While Oscar rancor is an annual tradition, this rumor ended almost as quickly as it began.

Kathleen "Bird" York and Michael BeckerMichael Becker wrote the "Crash""Crash" song several years ago, when the project was in the script stage. York and director/co-writer Paul HaggisPaul Haggis had previously collaborated on his TV series "Family Law," and he needed a tune for the end of the movie to pull it all together.

Meanwhile, the Israel Project will hold a press confabconfab Friday protesting the nomination for Palestine's foreign-language entry "Paradise Now," a drama about Palestinian suicide bombers. Org says it has 33,000 signatures on a petition protesting the nom. Israel Project will deliver a petition to the Academy claiming that the film "attempts to explain away the actions behind mass-murderers."

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Israeli and Arab Mothers Tour U.S. for Peace
By Adam Phillips, Voice of America, Feb. 16, 2006

The continuing quest for Middle East peace is usually cast as a high-stakes political drama involving top officials from the Israeli and Palestinian sides. Yet significant peace-making efforts are also underway on the grassroots level.

The classroom at New York's Columbia University was packed earlier this month (February 9) with students for the Mothers for Peace event. It was the fourth stop in a six-city tour co-sponsored by a pro-Israel education group called The Israel Project and by a student organization called Pro-Israel Progressives.

The two mothers on tour are Nonie Darwish. an Egyptian who grew up in Gaza and moved to the U.S. over 25 years ago, and Miri Eisen, a recently retired colonel in the Israeli Defense Forces, where she worked for 20 years in Army Intelligence. Each woman is the mother of three.

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Mothers on the warpath for peace
By Abigail Leichman, Nothjersey.com, Feb. 16, 2006

Nonie Darwish was 8 years old when Israeli commandos assassinated her father. The Egyptian guerilla squad he headed had killed 400 Israeli civilians and wounded more than 900 others in cross-border attacks during the 1950s and early '60s.

She remembers the condolence call from Egypt's President, Gamal Abdel Nasser, who challenged her and her four young siblings: "Which one of you will avenge your father's death by killing Jews?"

"We looked at each other speechless, unable to answer," Darwish related last week during a presentation at the UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey, part of a six-city Mothers for Peace tour sponsored by The Israel Project. "I felt guilty that I didn't feel like killing anybody."

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Two different Middle East women talk alike for peace
They advocate, at most, starting a dialogue
By John Koopman, San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 15, 2006

Nonie Darwish and Miri Eisen couldn't be more different.

Darwish is the daughter of a former member of the Egyptian intelligence service who directed guerrilla attacks against Israelis in the 1950s. Her father, Lt. Col. Mustafa Hafaz, was killed by a special Israeli assassination team.

Eisen was born in San Rafael and moved to Israel with her family when she was 8. She was drafted into the army, like most young Israelis. She got out, got a degree, and returned to the military as a career intelligence officer. She retired as a colonel.

But the two women are both mothers, and they both want peace in the Middle East.

"There are moderate Arabs in the world, and this is one mother who loves her children but also loves Israel's children," said Darwish, speaking of herself.

"Israel is a democracy with lots of warts and pimples," said Eisen. "But if we reach out and teach our children, and if Nonie teaches her children, and if other mothers hear us and think about what they say to their kids, we really can make a difference.

"We can make a better future for our kids so that even if we won't be able to live it, they will."

Darwish, 57, and Eisen, 35, are touring the country as "Mothers for Peace" under the sponsorship of the Israel Project, a nonprofit agency whose mission is to promote peace and security, as well as educate the media about Israel. They have spoken in Washington, D.C., New York, Atlanta, New Jersey and in San Jose on Tuesday. They will speak at an invitation-only lunch today at the Westin St. Francis hotel.

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'If I Speak In the Arab World, I Will Be Shot'
By Ira Stoll, The New York Sun, Feb. 13, 2006

Khaled Abu Toameh used to work for a Palestine Liberation Organization newspaper. Now he writes for the Jerusalem Post and for Mortimer Zuckerman's U.S. News & World Report, and he's so critical of the PLO that two pro-Israel advocacy groups, StandWithUs and Hasbara Fellowships, recently brought him on a speaking tour to North America.

Nonie Darwish grew up in Gaza City, where her father was the head of Egypt's armed resistance to Israel known as the fedayeen. Now she worries about the "systematic indoctrination into hate in all Arab schools" and is on a speaking tour with a retired Israel Defense Force colonel that is sponsored by another pro-Israel group, the Israel Project.

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Peace moms push tough love in Arab-Israeli conflict
Arab women must stand up for their children against terror gangs, one says.
By Gannett News Service, Tucson Citizen, Feb. 10, 2006

Washington- Nonie Darwish was encouraged as a child to kill Jews after the 1956 assassintation of her father, who had directed attacks on Israel.

On Wednesday, she turned the focus on her own culture.

Darwish's tough-love message is part of a six-city Mothers for Peace tour sponsored by The Israel Project and other Jewish organizations. Joining her on the tour is Miri Eisen, who recently completed service as a colonel with the Israeli Defense Forces, the same military branch that carried out the attack years ago on Darwish's father.

At a time when a controversial Danish cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad has fueled destructive demonstrations in the Muslim world, the Israel Project's founder said Darwish's message is unusual - and dangerous.

"There are few and far between, Arabs who are willing and able to speak out," said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi. "There's a lot of intimidation and pressure."

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Arab mother, Israeli mother unite for peace
By Meagan Scott, Cantonrep.com, Feb. 10, 2006

New York (AP)- Nonie Darwish grew up in Gaza, the daughter of a man labeled a "martyr" after dedicating his life to organizing and carrying out attacks against Israel.

Miri Eisen was an Israeli soldier, on the front lines of the battle to defend the country from people like Darwish’s father.

These women were taught to despise each other, but now they are renouncing hatred and sharing their hope for a peaceful future. Darwish and Eisen, both mothers of three, stopped in New York on Thursday as part of a cross-country tour to promote peace in the Middle East.

Darwish and Eisen were paired up through The Israel Project, a non profit organization devoted to educating the press and public about Israel. The “Mothers for Peace” -- as they are known on their tour -- have known each other only for a couple of days, but they say they already feel like best friends.

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Disputed Film Draws Muted Response
By March Ballon, The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, Feb. 10, 2006

No large mainstream Jewish groups have plans to protest the Oscar nom for “Paradise Now.” 

Like the Wiesenthal Center, the Anti-Defamation League has no plans to protest the nomination of the controversial film. In fact, no large mainstream Jewish organization has called for a boycott.

A few Jewish groups have done more than simply verbally attack the film.

The American Jewish Congress (AJC), Pacific Southwest Region, hopes to take out an ad in the Hollywood Reporter to “make Academy members think twice before voting,” said local AJC Executive Director Gary Ratner. Israel Project, an international educational advocacy group, has helped an Israeli father of a 16-year-old suicide bombing victim place an article critical of “Paradise Now” in American newspapers, including the New York Daily News. The goal: to make sure “the voice of the victim is heard,” said Calev Ben-David, director of the project’s Jerusalem office.

In the opinion piece, Yossi Zur writes: “Nominating a movie such as ‘Paradise Now’ only implicates the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in the evil chain of terror that attempts to justify these horrific acts.”

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Israeli, Palestinian Moms Call For Peace
By Ruslan A. Myatiyev, Scripps Howard News Service, Feb. 9, 2006

(AXcess News) Washington - When the Arab daughter of a martyr and a former Israeli military colonel got together here this week, their talk was about what might have seemed an unlikely subject – how to live in peace.

Miri Eisen, of Israel, and Nonie Darwish, an Egyptian native who has lived in Gaza and is now a U.S. citizen, met for the first time Tuesday, one day before their first speech.

Now they are united to pursue their most desired goal for the next generations of Israel and Palestine. They are working with the new campaign of the Israel Project, a non-for-profit organization, "Moms for Peace," and will be traveling across the United States to give public speeches.

According to Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, president of the Israel Project, the new campaign is designed to "raise awareness" of human rights issues for children in Palestine and "to bring attention to the culture of hate" in their schools.

The women were also scheduled to speak in New York; River Edge, N. J.; Atlanta; San Jose, Calif.; and San Francisco. For more information and the complete speaking schedule, go to http://www.theisraelproject.org

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Spielberg headlines Jewish Oscar hopefuls
By Tom Tugend-JTA, Canadian Jewish News, Feb. 3, 2006

Two films that have encountered fierce controversy in the Jewish community and Israel received Oscar nominations last week.

Munich, director Steven Spielberg’s take on the Israeli hunt for the killers of its athletes at the 1972 Olympics, did better than expected with five nominations. These include best picture, best director, adapted screenplay by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, film editing and original musical score.

Picked among the top five foreign language film entries is the Palestinian film Paradise Now by director-writer Hany Abu-Assad, which follows two suicide bombers from Nablus on a mission to blow up a Tel Aviv bus.

Immediately after the nomination, the Israel Project, an advocacy group based in Jerusalem and Washington, released an article by the father of an Israeli suicide bombing victim that criticizes both the film and the nomination.

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Two Israel-themed Films Get Oscar Attention
By Anthony Weiss, Forward, Feb. 3, 2006

With the Hamas victory in the Palestinian elections still dominating the headlines, two films on the subject of Israel and terrorism were nominated for Academy Awards this week. Steven Spielberg's "Munich" was nominated for five Oscars, including best film, best director and best adapted screenplay, while "Paradise Now," a feature by Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad, was nominated for best foreign language film.

"Paradise Now," which won the Golden Globe Award for best foreign film last month, tells the story of two Palestinian friends attempting to carry out a suicide bombing. The Israeli government and several Jewish organizations have accused the film of presenting an overly sympathetic portrayal of the bombers' motivations. Hours after the nomination, The Israel Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to disseminating information favorable to Israel's image, sent out a statement by the father of a suicide bombing victim calling the film "an extremely dangerous piece of work."

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Palestinians receptive to Hamas' modified stance
By Matthew Gutman, USA Today, Jan. 18, 2006

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Hamas, one of the Middle East's deadliest Islamic terrorist groups, is easing its hard-line stance toward Israel in hopes of winning over wary Palestinian moderates in next week's parliamentary elections.

Israel's Cabinet, which voted Sunday to allow Palestinians to cast absentee ballots in Jerusalem, barred Hamas from campaigning in the city because of the group's pledge to destroy Israel. But in a nod to the likelihood that Hamas will be in the Palestinian legislature as the Reform and Change Party, Israeli President Moshe Katsav said Tuesday that talks with the group might be possible if Hamas disarmed and abandoned its pledge to destroy the Jewish state.

Calev Ben-David, Jerusalem director of the Israel Project, a pro-Israel advocacy group, says that as long as Hamas "operates as a paramilitary group outside the confines of the Palestinian Authority," it will remain a terrorist group in the eyes of Israel.

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Leading Israeli Hospital in Global Spotlight
By Tracy Wilkinson, Los Angeles Times, Jan. 10, 2006

Mor-Yosef, a no-nonsense, bespectacled gynecologist, has become the voice and furrow-browed face of one of modern Israel's most wrenching dramas: the life-and-death struggle of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. He was thrust abruptly into that role by virtue of his position as director of Hadassah University Medical Center, arguably Israel's best-known, world-class hospital.

It is fitting that Sharon's fate is being decided at Hadassah's hillside Ein Kerem complex.

"During the intifada, this hospital became the symbol of the resiliency of Israeli society," said Calev Ben-David, former managing editor of the Jerusalem Post, referring to the Palestinian uprising. "The most attractive face of Israel can be seen here."

Ben-David, now director of the Israeli office of  the Israel Project, a promotional organization, was staked out Monday in front of Hadassah, offering free sandwiches to journalists who were posted there round-the-clock in rainy, cold, gusty weather, awaiting briefings by Mor-Yosef.

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Sharon responds to pain
As sedatives are reduced, Israeli leader shows limb movement and other signs of brain activity
By Sonia Verma, Newsday, Jan. 10, 2006

JERUSALEM -- Doctors began yesterday to reduce the sedatives that have kept Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in a coma since undergoing surgery for the huge stroke he suffered Wednesday.

Although tests showed Sharon can breathe and react to pain - he showed slight movement in his limbs as the anesthetic was reduced - doctors at the hospital where he is being treated said Sharon's situation remains life-threatening.

"He is a symbol of the resiliency of Israeli society," said Calev Ben-David, who is originally from North Woodmere. He moved to Jerusalem 20 years ago and is director of The Israel Project, a local nongovernmental organization. Yesterday, he was passing out coffee and croissants to the crowd outside the hospital. "This is an incredibly traumatic time for all of us," he said, "and I think people are having a hard time imagining what will come next, and everybody is hoping for the best."

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Peace prospects after Sharon
Israeli moderates may be key to any progress if the US keeps its involvement modest.
By Howard LaFranchi, The Christian Science Monitor, Jan. 9, 2006

WASHINGTON - The departure of Ariel Sharon from the Middle East political landscape casts a new question mark over the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, at the very time when a combination of Mr. Sharon's own ambitions and renewed US interest in tackling the conflict had lifted hope for progress.

Nothing groundbreaking is likely to happen in the short weeks before Israeli elections are held March 28 - weeks that will be under the stewardship of Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Israeli voters, who appeared poised to follow Sharon's vision for effectively setting the borders for both Israeli and Palestinian states, will now be sizing up potential bearers of his mantle. "I would say Ehud Olmert has an audition with the Israeli public that is significant," says Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, founder of the Israel Project in Washington.

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Sharon puts Mideast future in flux
By Tod Robberson, The Dallas Morning News, Jan. 6, 2006

LONDON - Love him or hate him, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been an undeniable fact of life in Middle Eastern politics and military affairs for nearly six decades. Bewildered Arabs and Israelis spent Thursday trying to fathom the region without him if a massive stroke forces him to step down.

Ehud Olmert, his deputy, convened an emergency Cabinet meeting Thursday as acting prime minister and is directing Kadima's election campaign in Sharon's absence. Although acquaintances described Olmert as friendly and outgoing, with 11 years' experience as mayor of Jerusalem, doubts remained about his ability to match Sharon's national stature.

"I think there's a big state of shock," said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, president of the Israel Project, a political-analysis group based in Washington and Jerusalem.

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