Aipac update

www.aipac.org June 10, 2008
Bush Presses Europeans for Tough Steps on Iran

Terror Attack Thwarted as Rockets Rain Down on Negev

Candidates, Congressional Leaders Tout U.S.-Israel Ties

U.S. Urges Search for Additional Syrian Nuclear Sites

Bush, Olmert Meet in Washington to Discuss Iran Threat

Israeli Start-Up Seeks to Harness Energy from Nature


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Bush Presses Europeans for Tough Steps on Iran At an E.U.-U.S. summit in Slovenia, President Bush on Tuesday called the prospect of Iranian nuclear weapons "incredibly dangerous for world peace," and urged European allies to join the United States in enforcing strong diplomatic and financial sanctions against the Islamic Republic, Reuters reported. "They can either face isolation, or they can have better relations with all of us," Bush said of Iranian leaders. "Now's the time for all of us to work together to stop them... Now's the time for there to be strong diplomacy." Iran has rebuffed multiple binding U.N. Security Council resolutions demanding it suspend its atomic work. Click here to learn about efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Terror Attack Thwarted as Rockets Rain Down on NegevA Palestinian teenager was arrested on Sunday when he attempted to cross a Nablus-area checkpoint with a bag full of pipe bombs and rifle ammunition, the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported. "It's routine to find bombs at this checkpoint... every day, we find knives and other weapons," an Israeli security official said. Earlier Sunday, Israel announced that it had removed 10 roadblocks in the West Bank, in an effort to ease Palestinian movement. The thwarted attack follows a week of near-constant Hamas rocket fire on southern Israeli communities, which left a father of three dead and several others injured. Since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, Hamas has turned the coastal area into a base for launching attacks on the Jewish state. Click here to learn more about Hamas' war against Israel.
Candidates, Congressional Leaders Tout U.S.-Israel TiesMore than 7,000 activists, students and scholars from all 50 states traveled to the nation's capital on June 2-4, for the pro-Israel community's premier annual event: the AIPAC Policy Conference. The conference—AIPAC's largest ever—featured addresses from top U.S. policymakers, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, (D-CA), Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the bipartisan leadership of the House and Senate. Both the Democratic and Republican presumptive nominees for president—Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)—spoke to the record crowd, as did Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY). Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert addressed the Gala Banquet, which was attended by nearly half of Congress. Click here for full videos and transcripts from Policy Conference speeches.
U.S. Urges Search for Additional Syrian Nuclear SitesThe Bush administration is pressing U.N. inspectors to broaden their search for secret nuclear sites in Syria, hinting that Damascus' nuclear program might be more expansive than the reactor destroyed by Israeli warplanes last year, The Washington Post reported. At least three sites have been identified by U.S. officials and passed along to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is negotiating with Syria for permission to conduct inspections in the country. "Do not assume that Al Kibar exhausted our knowledge of Syrian efforts with regard to nuclear weapons," CIA Director Michael Hayden said, referring to the destroyed site. In a recent statement, the administration defended the Israeli operation: "We believe this clandestine reactor was a threat to regional peace and security... and we have stated before that we cannot allow the world's most dangerous regimes to acquire the world's most dangerous weapons."
Bush, Olmert Meet in Washington to Discuss Iran ThreatWhile in Washington for the AIPAC Policy Conference last week, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visited President Bush in the Oval Office to discuss Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran, the Associated Press reported. "Iran is an existential threat to peace," Bush said. "It's very important for the world to take the Iranian threat quite seriously, which the United States does." Bush's meeting with the Israeli prime minister comes just a few weeks after the president's historic visit to the Jewish state, where he addressed the Israeli Knesset and reaffirmed the strength of the U.S.-Israel alliance. Click here to read Bush's speech.
Israeli Start-Up Seeks to Harness Energy from NatureAn Israeli company called Leviathan Energy is attempting to harness clean energy through a variety of technologies suited to collecting hydroelectric energy, wind energy and ocean energy, the Web site Israel21c reported. The company will soon sign a deal with a small U.S.-based clean-tech company to install turbines inside pipes to generate hydroelectric power. Leviathan Energy has built a pilot plant in Israel at the Rotem Industrial Park in Dimona, where the company is demonstrating the fluid dynamics of wind farms. One product—the low-cost Benkatina Turbine, a hydroelectric turbine—is about to go commercial in the northeast United States. "We are the first in-pipe turbine," Farb said. "We are currently working on contracts for use in fresh and dirty water systems." Israel is a world leader in developing alternative sources of energy.