Shorts: Mideast

Olmert-Abbas summit could be on horizon

jerusalem (jta) | Israel's vice premier said Tuesday, Sept. 5 that once Cpl. Gilad Shalit is released, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert plans to invite Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for their first formal meeting.

Abbas "should be invited to talks, and I believe the prime minister will do so in the coming days. Negotiations must be launched on the basis of the 'road map,'" Shimon Peres told Army Radio, referring to the U.S.-led peace plan. "This will take place when the situation of the captive soldier is resolved."

A Bahrain newspaper quoted Abbas as saying that a deal had been reached for Shalit to be transferred to Egyptian mediators, then repatriated, in exchange for Israel's release of an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners. Israel, which has publicly refused to negotiate for Shalit, played down the report.




Israel may be eyeing Iran, Syria war

jerusalem (jta) | Israel's air force chief has reportedly been put in charge of planning for possible war with Iran and Syria.

Britain's Sunday Times reported that Maj. Gen. Eliezer Shkedy was recently named officer in charge of the "Iranian front," a reference to expectations of a flare-up with Iran and its ally Syria in the wake of the recent Lebanon conflict.

According to the newspaper, Jerusalem believes that Tehran and Damascus have been buoyed by the perceived success of their Lebanese proxy, Hezbollah, against Israeli forces, and might therefore consider entering open conflict themselves.

Raising the stakes further is Iran's refusal to abandon uranium enrichment despite the threat of U.N. Security Council sanctions. Israel has not ruled out military action as a last resort for denying its arch-foe the means to make nuclear weapons. Israeli officials had no immediate comment on the report.




W. Bank settlements

to be expanded

jerusalem (jta) | Israel issued requests for construction bids for hundreds of new homes in two West Bank settlements.

The tender for 348 construction plots in Ma'aleh Adumim and 342 in Beitar Illit were published by the Israel Lands Administration on Monday, Sept. 4, the biggest such expansion initiative since Prime Minister Ehud Olmert took power in May.

Israel is obligated to freeze settlement construction under the U.S.-led "road map" for peace with the Palestinians, but Olmert has vowed that major settlement blocs will remain in the Jewish state under any final accord.




Holocaust survivors write to Ahmadinejad

jerusalem (jta) | An Israeli group representing Holocaust survivors offered to take Iran's president on a tour of Auschwitz.

The Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in Israel announced Aug. 31 it had written to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, via the Iranian Embassy in Germany, and proposed taking him to the site of a Nazi death camp in a bid to counter his assertions that the wartime genocide against the Jews did not take place.

The group, which sent a copy of the letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, also asked to be invited to a Holocaust denial conference scheduled to take place in Tehran at the end of the year. Iranian officials had no immediate comment on the overture.




Hebrew University gets recognition in Newsweek

jerusalem (jta) | The Hebrew University of Jerusalem came in 82nd on Newsweek magazine's list of the world's 100 top institutes of higher learning. Hebrew University was the only Israeli institute represented in Newsweek's ranking.

The magazine said its ranking system took into account "openness and diversity, as well as distinction in research."

Hebrew University said it also placed 60th among a list of the world's 500 best institutes of higher learning put together by Shanghai Jiao Tong University in China.




Livni on Forbes' powerful women list

jerusalem (jta) | Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni placed 40th on Forbes magazine's list of the world's most powerful women.

Livni came in just ahead of the U.S. first lady, Laura Bush, and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in the prestigious annual ranking of the world's 100 top female politicians, business executives and aristocrats.

The Israeli foreign minister was noted for her recent efforts to muster foreign support for the war on Hezbollah. Livni's American counterpart, Condoleezza Rice, placed second, and her British counterpart, Margaret Beckett, was ranked 29th. Topping the list was German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) placed 18th.