The international community must be more decisive in making itself heard, and in using its influence, in the face of these attacks”. (Communicated by the Foreign Minister’s Bureau) Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni talked with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon yesterday.
During the phone conversation, FM Livni demanded that the international community cease its policy of restraint in face of terrorist acts aimed solely at innocent civilians residing in the southern settlements. “Whoever thinks that a situation of them firing at us, while everything continues as usual, can exist - is mistaken. The Israeli government will take action in the event that the attacks against Israeli civilians continue. The international community must be more decisive in making itself heard, and in using its influence, in the face of these attacks”.

His Excellency Shimon Peres, the President of the State of Israel, was awarded today the Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) by Her Majesty, the Queen Elizabeth II. President Peres was awarded the title during  an audience with Her Majesty held  in Buckingham Palace at midday today.
 
After the meeting Peres said: “this honour was not bestowed upon me personally, but upon the entire State of Israel. It reflects a public recognition of Israel and a public recognition of the importance of the relations between the two states”

Oil-Producing Countries in Middle East Face Plummeting Oil Prices - Nimrod Raphaeli
After oil prices reached a high of $147 a barrel in July, prices plummeted to below $55 a barrel in mid-November. Some countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE have deep pockets and can survive the dip in revenues. In other countries, particularly Iran and Iraq, oil shocks could trigger serious economic dislocation.
    Iran, the second largest oil producer among OPEC members, is likely to feel the pain of declining oil prices more severely than any other oil-producing country in the Middle East. (MEMRI)

 The Sejil: A New Iranian Missile - Yiftah Shapir (Institute for National Security Studies-Tel Aviv University)

Military Consequences of a Gaza Ceasefire Collapse - Jeffrey White
Hamas used the period after Israel’s August 2005 withdrawal to expand its forces to the point where it could prevail over Fatah and emerge as the only serious military and political power in Gaza. With Israel gone and Fatah defeated, Hamas gained control of Gaza’s military and intelligence resources and infrastructure once controlled by the PA. The subsequent ceasefire agreement created even better conditions for Hamas’ military ambitions by freeing the organization from the threat of Israeli raids and incursions. 
    The writer, a defense fellow at The Washington Institute, is a former career intelligence officer. (Washington Institute for Near East Policy)

Lebanon, Syria & Hizbollah

 UK Foreign Secretary Sums Up the Trouble with Syria - Editorial (Telegraph-UK)

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband accurately summed up the West’s perennial conundrum over how to deal with Syria after his talks on Tuesday with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus.

The Syrian regime, he said, “can be a force for stability or it can be a force for instability,” and more often than not it has chosen the latter course through its active support for Islamist-inspired terrorism and nuclear proliferation.

Hizbullah Disputes Legitimacy of Israel-Lebanon International Border
Recently, Hizbullah international relations official Nawaf al-Moussawi again raised the issue of the so-called “seven villages,” disputing the legitimacy of the Israel-Lebanon international border and the “blue line” (the line agreed upon by the UN and Israel following the IDF’s pullout from the security zone on May 23, 2000). (Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center)

Egyptian Court Annuls Natural Gas Deal with Israel - Mona El-Naggar (New York Times)  
An Egyptian court on Tuesday ordered the government to stop piping natural gas to Israel, saying the 15-year contract was improperly awarded because it was not approved by Parliament. The government said it would appeal the decision, and officials in Cairo and Israel said gas would continue to flow. 

 

Israeli Analyst Proposes New Mideast Plan: Deal with Jordan, Egypt - Oakland Ross (Toronto Star-Canada)  

 

 

 

Israeli Rock Band Mashina to play in Brazil

 

 

Israeli rock band Mashina to play in Brazil
Popular band invited by Jewish community to play in Rio de Janeiro. Members hope concert might lead to South American tour

The popular Israeli pop rock band Mashina is already quite familiar with concert venues in the United States, where it has played on several occasions in the past. But until today it has never visited South America.
 
This is about to change, when the band will perform, for the first time in its long career in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the end of November.