Aipac Update

4 Sep 2008 12:22:13 -0400
www.aipac.org September 24, 2008
Palestinian Terrorist Rams Car into Israeli Pedestrians
As Arab Aid Falters, West Pledges $300 Million to PA
Olmert Resigns, Livni Works to Form Coalition
Truck Bomb at Pakistan Marriott Kills at Least 60
Iran's Supreme Leader Lashes Out at Israelis
Israeli Groups Bring Relief to Georgia

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Palestinian Terrorist Rams Car into Israeli Pedestrians
A Palestinian terrorist ran a car into a crowd of soldiers and civilians at a busy intersection in Jerusalem on Monday, wounding at least 19 people, The New York Times reported. Palestinian media reported that the attacker was killed at the scene by an off-duty IDF officer. The terrorist was identified as Qassem Mughrabi, 19, from Jebl Mukaber in east Jerusalem, the same town that was home to Ala Abu Dhaim, who murdered eight Israeli students in an attack on the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in March. Twice in July, Palestinian terrorists driving construction vehicles went on rampages down a busy central Jerusalem street, ramming buses and overturning and crushing private cars. Three Israeli civilians were killed and dozens wounded in those attacks.
As Arab Aid Falters, West Pledges $300 Million to PA
Due to significant shortcomings in financial and political support for the Palestinian Authority (PA), several Western nations, led by the United States, pledged on Monday an additional $300 million in new aid to the PA, Reuters reported. At a Paris conference last December, donors pledged $7.7 billion in aid over three years, but the Palestinians say only a fraction of that money has been paid. Arab states, in particular, have fallen short in fulfilling the more than $700 million they pledged to the PA. The new aid includes $150 million from the United States, $115 from the European Union and $15 million from Norway, the chair of the committee that organized Monday's meeting. Arab governments must match Israel's readiness for serious negotiations by demonstrating a commitment to ending the conflict and isolating the terrorist group Hamas.
Olmert Resigns, Livni Works to Form Coalition
Ehud Olmert officially resigned as prime minister of Israel on Sunday, following the election of Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni as head of the Kadima party last week, The New York Times reported. Under Israeli law, Olmert will oversee an interim government until a new prime minister is sworn in. Livni, who has emphasized her intention to continue negotiations with the Palestinians, has begun the task of forming a new governing coalition. If Livni is able to form a government within six weeks, all three branches of the Israeli government would be headed by women. (The speaker of the Knesset is Dalia Itzik and the chief justice of the Supreme Court is Dorit Beinish.) If not, new national elections could take place sometime early next year. During this peaceful transfer of power, Israel stands out as the only Western-style democracy in the Middle East.
Truck Bomb at Pakistan Marriott Kills at Least 60
A massive suicide truck bomb ripped through a luxury hotel in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad on Saturday night, killing at least 60 people, including several Americans, and wounding more than 250, The Washington Post reported. The bombing, one of the deadliest attacks ever in Pakistan, occurred just hours after the new president, Asif Ali Zardari, delivered his first speech to Parliament and vowed to free Pakistan from the "shackles of terrorism." Pakistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has been a hotbed of Al Qaeda and radical Islamic terrorist activity. Instability in Pakistan—which has an arsenal of some 30 nuclear weapons—poses deep concern throughout the region.
Iran's Supreme Leader Lashes Out at Israelis
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday said that his country's hatred of Israel extends beyond policy disagreements and reaches the Israeli people as well, The Los Angeles Timesreported. "It is wrong to say that we are friends with Israeli people like people in other parts of the world," Khamenei told a crowd gathered for Friday prayers in Tehran. "A Muslim nation cannot remain indifferent vis-à-vis such people who are stooges at the service of the arch-foes of the Muslim world." Khamenei's comments served as a rebuke to an Iranian official who said that Iran is a friend of the Israeli people, like it is a friend of all people. The Islamic Republic has consistently refused to recognize the legitimacy of a Jewish state in the Middle East.
Israeli Groups Bring Relief to Georgia
Israeli aid organizations have established several relief operations in the war-torn areas of Georgia, seeking to aid tens of thousands of locals displaced by the fighting with Russia last month, The Jerusalem Post reported. Among the aid groups is Israel Flying Aid, who has opened a soup kitchen in the town of Gori that produces 3,000 cooked meals a day. The group has also distributed hundreds of large packages of dry foodstuffs throughout the city. Much of the relief effort is being coordinated by IsraAID, an umbrella organization of dozens of Israeli humanitarian groups. The goal of the aid, says Shachar Zehavi, director of IsraAID, is "to show that Israeli civilian aid can get anywhere and help anyone in need, and that the Jewish people and Israel are among the first to help."