A Daily Analysis
By Marc Schulman

November 13, 2007 Gaza Tense, Annapolis Summit Turning into Photo Op.

The situation in the Gaza Strip remained very tense today, with Hamas arresting hundreds of Fatah supporters. There is a sense that Hamas might be losing its grip on the Strip. We will see. It is clear that they do not have plan on how to ease the economic suffering in the strip.

The Annapolis Summit now seems to be a photo op and not much more. Prime Minister Olmert has stated that it will last only one day and will only be the beginning of the process. That description is a long way from the summit that was previously planned.

IsraelŐs new State Prosecutor has been nominated by the nominating committee. He is Moshe Lador, an attorney with many years of experience in criminal prosecution in Israel. He was previously suggested for the job three years ago, but was thought to be too little independent. Five ministers will have to absent themselves from the vote due to the fact they are under investigation.

The speech today by Israeli President Shimon Peres before the Turkish Parliament received world-wide publicity, with the worldŐs journalists referring to it as the first time an Israeli has spoken to an Islamic parliament. The speech by President Yitzhak Navon before the Egyptian Parliament in Arabic has been forgotten. PeresŐ was the first speech in Hebrew