update

Israel and the Peace Process

Netanyahu: We're ready to compromise for sake of peace, but won't be suckers
Yuval Azoulay, Barak Ravid and Akiva Eldar

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said yesterday that Israelis were ready to make concessions for peace, but will not be "suckers" in peace negotiations.

The prime minister's speech to Likud activists came as he was reportedly set to announce a freeze on construction in West Bank settlements - a move hotly opposed by some in his party. He met with Likud ministers over the weekend in an attempt to persuade them to support the freeze.

President Shimon Peres said yesterday that Netanyahu is willing to suspend construction in the West Bank settlements and start immediate negotiations with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Click here to read more
(Haaretz)
Iran

US shifting Iran policy toward sanctions
Hilary Leila Krieger

The United States is laying the groundwork for sanctions against Iran after having become increasingly disenchanted with the strategy of engagement, two senior administration officials told Jewish leaders in Washington on Thursday.

William Burns, US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, said the Obama administration wants to prepare for sanctions now, so that it will be ready to implement them at the end of the year if it comes to that, and not have to start from scratch at that point.

Top White House Middle East adviser Dennis Ross, appearing beside Burns at the panel discussion with the Jewish leaders, explained that the administration's focus on diplomatic engagement had shifted following the Iranian elections, and indicated that the White House now had a more skeptical view of that approach which could give way to sanctions.

Click here to read more

(The Jerusalem Post)
The Emerging Axis of Iran and Venezuela
Robert M. Morgenthau

The diplomatic ties between Iran and Venezuela go back almost 50 years and until recently amounted to little more than the routine exchange of diplomats. With the election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2005, the relationship dramatically changed.

Today Mr. Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez have created a cozy financial, political and military partnership rooted in a shared anti-American animus. Now is the time to develop policies in this country to ensure this partnership produces no poisonous fruit.

Meanwhile, Iranian investments in Venezuela have been rising. The two countries have signed various Memoranda of Understanding on technology development, cooperation on banking and finance, and oil and gas exploration and refining. In April 2008, the two countries also signed a Memorandum of Understanding pledging full military support and cooperation. United Press International reported in August that Iranian military advisers have been embedded with Venezuelan troops.

Click here to read more

(The Wall Street Journal)
Egypt

As Netanyahu, Mubarak Prepare to Meet, National Survey of Egyptians Shows Openness to 2-State Solution and Peace

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak prepare for talks Sunday (Sept. 13) to discuss peace issues, a national survey of 800 Egyptians shows that millions of Egyptians show an encouraging openness to Israel.

Egypt is the lead Arab nation in the region and for the moment has moved toward accepting engagement and normalization with Israel. On many issues, the Egyptian public is ready for peace and has more open views than others in the region.

Given the history of stability on the Israeli-Egyptian front and the new posture of the United States, many citizens there are beginning to approve of diplomatic relations with Israel.

Many Egyptians also are receptive to Israel's right to exist - a much bigger statement about relations and history.