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The Media Line Daily News Focus

1. WARD REPORT: PALESTINIAN FORCES UNFIT… The New York Times has released findings of the first independent review of Palestinian security infrastructure since the death of Yassir Arafat. The study was prepared by Strategic Assessment Initiatives, a Washington-based think tank, and was said to have been formulated in close coordination with U.S. envoy General William Ward. According to the report, Palestinian security forces are “divided, weak, overstaffed, badly motivated and underarmed.” It concluded that “more attention must be paid to building up institutions rather than personalities.” According to the authors’ on-site representative Dr. Jarat Chopra, “The critical gap is in command and control. There’s a blurring between state actors and non-state actors, and that’s very difficult from the military point of view.” The report was an effort – financed by the governments of Canada and the Netherlands – to analyze Palestinian needs as a way of “directing foreign donors and the Palestinians themselves.” It also seeks to address Israeli-Palestinian coordination for the pending Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

2. PRESIDENT BUSH NAMES CAREER DIPLOMAT AS AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL… U.S. President George W. Bush apparently believes that the sensitivity of Middle East diplomacy requires professional rather than political appointments as ambassadors in the region. He has bypassed political friends and perqs to name Richard Jones as Daniel Kurtzer’s successor as the United States Ambassador to Israel. Jones has spent most of his career working in Arab countries in the Middle East, but has no direct experience with Israel. He has held three ambassadorial posts, Lebanon, Kuwait and Kazakhstan; has headed the Egyptian desk at the State Department and has served in Saudi Arabia. Last March, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice named Jones Senior Adviser to the Secretary and Coordinator for Iraq. Francis Ricciardone will serve as the U.S. Ambassador to Egypt. Also a career diplomat, Ricciardone served as special coordinator for the transition to Iraqi control and helped set up the American Embassy in Baghdad.

3. POPE’S OMISSION OF JEWISH STATE AS TERROR VICTIM ANGERS ISRAELIS… The Vatican’s representative in Israel has been summoned to explain why Pope Benedict XVI omitted the Jewish state when he listed those nations recently hit by terror attacks. In his remarks on Sunday, the Pontiff said he “deplored attacks in countries including Egypt, Turkey, Iraq and Britain,” omitting reference to the July 12 suicide bombing that killed five Israelis in the coastal city of Netanyah. Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued a harsh rebuke of the Pope, saying, “We expected that the new Pope, who on taking office emphasized the importance he places on relations between the Church and the Jewish people, would behave differently.” The ministry said the omission can be interpreted “as granting legitimacy” to attacks on Jews.

4. UKRAINE LOOKING TO ISRAEL FOR JOINT MILITARY DEVELOPMENT… The Ukraine and Israel are considering joint aircraft and tank building. The Russian news agency RIA Novosti said that during a visit to Israel, Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatoly Gritsenko spoke of upgrading planes and helicopters and constructing tanks. Gritsenko was unambiguous in referring to the need for Russia to sign-off on the Ukrainian plans. He cited the need for a bilateral Israel-Ukraine track in negotiations as well as a trilateral Israel-Ukraine-Russia track according to the news agency.

5. ISRAELI DRUG COMPANY’S ACQUISITION OF FLORIDA FIRM MAKES IT THE WORLD’S LARGEST GENERIC MANUFACTURER… Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., will acquire Florida-based IVAX Corporation for $7.4 billion plus another billion dollars in debt it will take on. The move will make Teva the world’s largest manufacturer of generic drugs. According to the Israeli financial newspaper Globes, the deal is the largest acquisition by an Israeli company in history and the second largest in generic pharmaceuticals. In a statement, Teva said the deal “will generate sales of over $7 billion, it will operate directly in over 50 countries, and will employ approximately 25,000 people. The combined company will offer the widest range of cost-effective pharmaceuticals, both generic and branded, to consumers, customers, and healthcare providers.”