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Netanyahu to Abbas: The Time Has Come for Peace
by Barak Ravid
 Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday called on Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas to renew peace negotiations with Israel. Speaking at the opening of the Presidential Conference, Netanyahu urged the Palestinian leader to tell his people: "The time has come to end this conflict; tell them that the time has come for two nations to live side-by-side in peace and security....We must discuss peace as soon as possible, and I am ready to do so. But these cannot be closed talks. We must say these things to the world, to our people and to the Palestinian people." (Ha'aretz)
Tens of Thousands Watch Pro-Israel UN Testimony
 Well over 100,000 people have watched a video clip of Col. Richard Kemp, the former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, giving a pro-Israeli testimony at the UN Human Right Council's special session on the Goldstone Commission's Report on Operation Cast Lead. As of Monday night, after it had been published on the site for only three days, Kemp's testimony had made it into the 100 'top rated' and 'top favorited' news videos list on YouTube this week. In his testimony, Kemp said the IDF took more precautions during Operation Cast Lead than any military in the history of warfare. Kemp spoke on behalf of UN Watch, an NGO that monitors UN activities. (Jerusalem Post)
See also Col. Richard Kemp's testimony (YouTube)
Clinton to Obama: We've Made Scant Progress on Mideast Peace
by Barak Ravid and Natasha Mozgovaya
 The United States has made little progress in its efforts to renew stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton reported to President Barack Obama on Thursday. Clinton met with Obama on Thursday to submit an interim report on the status of U.S. peacemaking efforts. Obama's envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, also participated in the meeting. An administration official said that during the meeting, Clinton advised the president that challenges remain before the negotiations could resume. The official said the Palestinians have strengthened their security efforts, while the Israelis have expressed a willingness to curtail settlement activity. But the official said both sides need to do more for the process to move forward. (Ha'aretz)
U.S. and Israel Stage Major Air Defense Exercise
by Michael Barajas
 The Israeli and U.S. militaries conducted a major joint air defense exercise Wednesday, highlighting military ties between the two allies at a time of heightened tensions over Iran's nuclear program. The drill could have political implications for Israel's regional foes, with the exercise testing technology that could be used to defend Israel against an Iranian attack. The maneuver underlines the strong alliance between the U.S. and Israel, despite recent spats over Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. (AP/Washington Post)
Daily Alert
The highly acclaimed Daily Alert Internet newsletter,  produced for the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, offers 100 hyperlinked excerpts of Israel-related news stories each week from mainstream English and Hebrew medi sources.
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Iranian Officials Accept Draft Deal on Uranium Transfer
by Glenn Kessler
 Iranian negotiators on Wednesday accepted a draft agreement that would transfer the bulk of Iran's enriched uranium stockpile out of the country. U.S. officials and other diplomats stressed that the deal would be only the first step in a difficult process to persuade Iran to suspend its uranium-enrichment activities and that suspension remains the primary goal. Nonetheless, they said Iran's willingness to accept the agreement would be viewed as an early test of its intentions. (Washington Post)
See also Netanyahu Interview "It’s too early to [evaluate the deal], because the crucial thing is that the international community pressure Iran to stop the enrichment of uranium, which has only one purpose—the development of nuclear–weapons capability. (Newsweek)
Protesters Clash at Jerusalem Temple Compound
by Isabel Kershner
 Israeli police clashed on Sunday with stone-throwing Palestinians at a site sacred to Muslims and Jews in the latest sign of tension in this volatile city. The Temple Mount, revered by Jews as the site of two ancient temples, is known to Muslims as the Haram al-Sharif and contains the Dome of the Rock and the Aksa mosque. The scene of deadly violence in the past, it has been the focus of simmering unrest in recent weeks. The Israeli police chief, David Cohen, said the disturbances on Sunday were precipitated by calls from both Jewish activists and the Islamic Movement for their faithful to ascend the mount. (New York Times)
See also Hamas, Islamic Movement Blamed for Jerusalem Clashes (Jerusalem Post)
From Kaifeng to Kibbutzim, Chinese Jewish Descendants Start a New Life in Israel
 Seven young Chinese men wearing kippot arrived in Israel on Tuesday via Uzbekistan to make aliya, descendants of the Jewish community of Kaifeng. Shavei Israel organization chairman Michael Freund said he hoped this group's arrival and absorption would serve as a pilot and, if successful, would open the door to bringing more potential immigrants from China. "Kaifeng's Jewish descendants are a living link between China and the  Jewish people, and it is very moving to see the remnants of this community returning to their roots," he said. At its peak during the Middle Ages, Kaifeng Jewry numbered about 5,000, and the community lasted until the middle of the 19th century. Hundreds of people in Kaifeng still cling to their identity as descendants of the city's Jewish community. (Jerusalem Post)
Israeli Ex-Security Guard Solves 38-Year-Old Math Problem
A mathematical mystery that has baffled top minds in the field of symbolic dynamics for nearly four decades was cracked last year by a 63-year-old former Israeli security guard. Avraham Trakhtman, a mathematician who worked as a laborer after immigrating to Israel from Russia, succeeded in solving the elusive Road Coloring Problem. The conjecture assumes that it is possible to create a universal map that would direct people to arrive at a certain destination, at the same time, regardless of their original location. Experts say this proposition, which seems to defy logic, could actually have real-life applications in the fields of mapping and computer science. Trakhtman's solution is available for viewing on the Internet and will soon be published in the Israel Journal of Mathematics. (AP/Ha'aretz)
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