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Israeli Election Briefing: Political Parties
by Sharmila Devi
 Israelis head to the polls on Tuesday, March 28 to elect members to the 120-seat Knesset or parliament. The last elections in January 2003 were won by Ariel Sharon, who is in a coma after suffering a massive stroke almost three months ago. Polls give the lead to the party he founded, Kadima, now led by Ehud Olmert, acting prime minister. Mr. Olmert says he will accept in coalition only those parties that approve his ‘convergence plan’ for a unilateral withdrawal from some isolated Jewish settlements in the West Bank in order to keep the large settlement blocs. (Financial Times)
Abbas Will Disband Palestinian Cabinet If Needed
by Khaled Abu Toameh
 Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday he would use his "constitutional powers" against the new Hamas cabinet unless it altered its political program and honored all agreements with Israel. The warning was yet another indication of the growing tensions between Hamas and Fatah. The latest crisis came as Hamas prepared to seek the approval of the Palestinian Legislative Council for its new cabinet, which is comprised solely of Hamas members. (Jerusalem Post)
Al-Qaida Eyes Israeli Battleground
by Steven Gutkin
Signs are mounting that al-Qaida terrorists are setting their sights on Israel and the Palestinian territories as their next battleground, officials in the region said last week. Israel has indicted two West Bank militants for al-Qaida membership, Egypt arrested operatives trying to cross into Israel and a Palestinian security official has acknowledged al-Qaida is "organizing cells and gathering supporters." (AP/Toronto Sun)
Imams, Rabbis Deplore Calls to Eliminate Israel
by Walter Ruby
In a stunningly positive denouement after days of unremitting hostility by Palestinian participants, the 2nd World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace being held in Seville, Spain issued a concluding statement deploring "any incitement against a faith or people, let alone a call for their elimination," a statement Jewish and Israeli representatives took to be a rebuke of Hamas calls for the elimination of Israel. (Jerusalem Post)
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40,000 North American Students 'Vote' Online in Israeli Elections
by Daphna Berman
 Some 40,000 students on more than 75 North America college campuses participated in a mock Israeli election this week. The online voting kicked off last week and results will be announced on Sunday. As part of this year's project, students logged on to www.Israelvotes.com and received background information on various parties, candidates and their platforms. (Ha'aretz)
Iran's Nuclear Steps Quicken, Diplomats Say
by Alissa J. Rubin and Maggie Farley
 With efforts to halt its nuclear program at an impasse, Iran is moving faster than expected and is just days from making the first steps toward enriching uranium, said diplomats who have been briefed on the program. If engineers encounter no major technical problems, Iran could manufacture enough highly enriched uranium to build a bomb within three years, much more quickly than the common estimate of five to 10 years, the diplomats said. (Los Angeles Times)
Harvard's Paper on Israel Parallels Material on Neo-Nazi Sites
by Meghan Clyne
 Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz is alleging that the authors of a Harvard Kennedy School paper about the "Israel lobby," one of which is the Kennedy School's academic dean, culled sections of the paper from neo-Nazi and other anti-Israel hate Web sites. The paper, the law professor said, was "simply a compilation of hateful paragraphs lifted from other sources and given academic imprimatur." Mr. Dershowitz said that he and his research assistants were currently working on a comparative chart showing the parallelism between parts of the Walt-Mearsheimer paper and quotes available on neo-Nazi Web sites. (New York Sun)
Israeli Doctors to Assist Vietnam in Heart Surgery for Children
 A group of Israeli heart doctors from the Save a Child's Heart (SACH) organization arrived in Vietnam on March 22 to accelerate cooperation in children's heart surgery. The cooperation will focus on organizing training courses for Vietnamese doctors at Israel's Wolfson Medical Center, and sending Israeli experts to Vietnam to exchange experiences with Vietnamese colleagues and give treatment to poor Vietnamese children. The Israel-based humanitarian organization has since 1996 conducted heart operations for 1,400 children in 24 countries. (VNA-Vietnam)
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