1. ‘ABBAS, SHARON TO MEET; ISRAEL HALTS TARGETED KILLINGS… Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is expected to meet with his newly-elected Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud ‘Abbas, possibly as early as Wednesday evening or Thursday morning. Word of the meeting comes after Israel conceded to the Palestinian demand that it end its campaign of targeted killings of terrorist leaders. It had been the key stipulation in reaching a cease-fire agreement with the Palestinians. The Palestinian Authority has agreed to deploy its police force in the central and southern portions of the Gaza Strip in order to prevent terrorist attacks on Israeli targets. But violence continued on Wednesday morning. Two Qassam rockets were fired into southern Israel causing no injuries or damage. Israel Radio reported that the army launched an operation in the West Bank town of Tul Karem searching for terrorists and weapons.
2. ‘ABBAS, HAMAS REACH AGREEMENT… Mahmoud ‘Abbas has reached an agreement with the Hamas terrorist organization that will bring an end to violent attacks against Israeli targets and Hamas’s participation in a new government structure. Under the agreement, a “supreme diplomatic authority” will be created to oversee negotiations and agreements with Israel. It will replace the Palestine Liberation Organization and will include all Palestinian organizations, both in the territories and abroad. Hamas will stand candidates in the Palestinian parliamentary elections and will receive a 30 percent representation in the new governing organization, equal to that of Fatah which until now has been dominant. It was also agreed that any formal cease-fire with Israel would require international guarantees. Hamas will not be part of the new ‘Abbas-Qurei’-led government being formed subsequent to the presidential election held earlier this month.
3. ISRAELI AMBASSADOR BACKS OUT OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PANEL… Bowing to pressure from students who claim that some professors are anti-Israel and discriminate against students who differ, Israel’s ambassador to the United States has withdrawn from a Columbia University panel on the Middle East. Thursday’s conference is being organized by Columbia University’s Center for International Conflict Resolution. Former U.S. senator George Mitchell, author of the “Mitchell Plan” during the Clinton administration, is a Senior Fellow of the Center. The controversy is the latest centered around Columbia’s Middle Eastern Studies department. Recently, a committee was appointed to investigate claims by Jewish students that professors in the department violate educational norms by using their classes as a platform to spread anti-Israel positions. Some members of the Jewish community disagree with Ambassador Danny Ayalon’s decision and believe that he should represent Israel in the forum.
4. BURNS ARRIVES IN ISRAEL ON WEDNESDAY… The first high-ranking member of the Bush administration to visit Israel and the Palestinian Authority since the President’s inauguration and the Palestinian election arrives on Wednesday. Earlier in the week, Assistant Secretary of State William Burns met in Frankfurt with members of the “Quartet,” the four entities that sponsored the Road Map peace plan for the Israel-Palestinian conflict. On Tuesday, he consulted with Egyptian leaders on Israel’s pending withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. On Wednesday, Burns arrives in Israel for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Burns’s trip comes against the background of American praise for Mahmoud ‘Abbas’s seeming willingness to tackle the issue of terror. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Tuesday that, “We’re encouraged overall that President Abu Mazen is taking concrete steps to control the security situation…and at the coordination that’s taking place between Israeli and Palestinian officials.”