Middle East Inside Line: Sarkozy on Palestine State, Barak in US for Iran Talks, Son of Hamas Founder Spied for Israel

Sarkozy Steps Back from Palestinian State: On Monday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the leader of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas discussed the future of negotiations and a Palestinian state. Sarkozy made two points: there should be no unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state before borders are defined with Israel, and there was no time to be waste in starting negotiations since "if there are no talks....we take the risk, the international community, of a third intifada".

Abbas supported Sarkozy's line, "Negotiations first, proclamation of a state later."

Israel Pushes Washington for Harsher Sanctions on Iran: Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak left for the US on Tuesday, for five days of talks with senior American officials, including US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, that will focus on Iran.

PA Security Prevents Attacks into Israel: According to Haaretz, the Palestinian Authority prevented a suicide attack about six weeks ago that a young woman (from Islamic Jihad) from Nablus had planned to carry out in Israel. Palestinian security sources said that it was not the first success to thwart such terrorist activities.
Shimon Peres Advocates Extension of Heritage Sites in West Bank: Israeli President Shimon Peres, during his meeting with Robert Serry, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said Wednesday that Hamas is trying to create an artificial conflict over the extension of Israeli national heritage sites in the West Bank. On Tuesday, Hamas leader Ismail Haniya urging Palestinians in the West Bank to rise up against Israeli forces after the Israeli cabinet added the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron and Rachel's tomb in Bethlehem to the list of sites.

Top Hamas Official's Son Worked for Israel's Shin Bet: Haaretz says that Mosab Hassan Yousef, the son of leading Hamas figure Sheikh Hassan Yousef, served for over a decade as the most valuable source for Israel's Shin Bet domestic security service. During the second Intifada, Haaretz says,information Yousef gathered led to the arrests of a number of high-ranking Palestinian figures responsible for planning deadly suicide bombings.

Middle East Inside Line: Dubai Killing, French FM on "Palestinian State", Moscow Missiles to Tehran?

Israel's Official Response on Dubai: Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said on Saturday that there was no evidence tying Israel to the assassination of Hamas strongman Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. He added:

I don't forsee a crisis with European allies because there is nothing that ties Israel to the assassination.

Britain, France and Germany all share our interests in the battle against global terror, therefore there will be no crisis, instead our relations [with these countries] will continue to deepen.

Palestinian-French Relations: French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told the French Journal du Dimanche that the assassination in Dubai underscores the need for peace in the Middle East and demonstrates the need for an immediate recognition of a Palestinian state.

Before Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas's scheduled visit to Paris next week, Kouchner said, referring to Abbas's reportedly acceptance of indirect talks under U.S. mediation:

France is training Palestinian police, businesses are being created in the West Bank... It follows that one can envision the proclamation soon of a Palestinian state, and its immediate recognition by the international community, even before negotiating its borders.

Palestinian Authority leader Salam Fayyad had said on Friday:

If by mid-2011, the political process has not ended the [Israeli] occupation, I would bet that the developed state of Palestinian infrastructure and institutions will be such that the pressure will force Israel to give up its occupation.

Russia to Deliver S-300s to Iran: Interfax news agency quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov as saying that Russia intends to fulfill a contract to supply S-300 air defense missile systems to Iran. He said:

There is a contract to supply these systems to Iran, and we will fulfill it. Delays (with deliveries) are linked to technical problems with adjusting these systems.

It is absolutely incorrect to put the emphasis on the issue of S-300 supplies... and to turn it into a major problem, to say nothing of linking it to the discussion on restoring trust in the purely peaceful character of Iran's nuclear program.

Syrian-Israeli Row: Following the meeting between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met with the French Prime Minister Francois Fillon on Friday, Syrian Prime Minister Naji al-Otari warned Israel Saturday that any new Middle East war would be catastrophic for the region and beyond.