Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters during his historic visit to Cyprus on Thursday that  “if anybody needed a reminder that the sanctions have not stopped the nuclear program, it was the guided tour by Iran’s president (Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) in the centrifuge hall yesterday.  I hope they work, but so far they have not.” He added that the regime in Teheran “breaks all the rules” because it “send children into mine fields, they have suicide bombers, they send tens of thousands of rockets into our cities and towns. Such a regime should obviously not have an atomic bomb, and I believe that the international community is becoming aware by the day of what it means for Iran [to have nuclear potential].” During the visit, Netanyahu and Cypriot President Demetris Christofias also announced enhanced cooperation in the development of natural gas fields in the Mediterranean.

Netanyahu’s assessment was supported on Thursday by Lt.- Gen. Ronald Burgess, director of the Pentagon’s Defense Intelligence Agency.

“Iran today has the technical, scientific and industrial capability to eventually produce nuclear weapons,” Gen. Burgess told the US Senate Armed Services Committee.  “While international pressure on Iran has increased, including through sanctions, we assess that Tehran is not close to agreeing to abandon its nuclear program.”

Adding that Iran posseses plenty of option for disrupting oil exports out of the Persian Gulf, carrying out terrorist attacks and asymmetrical warfare in the Gulf, but “the agency assesses Iran is unlikely to initiate or intentionally provoke a conflict.”

“We believe that the decision would be made by the Supreme Leader [Ali Khamenei] himself and he would base that decision on a cost-benefit analysis,” agreed Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. “I don’t think he’d want a nuclear weapon at any price, so that I think plays to the value of sanctions.”

He added that he did not think Israel had made a firm decision on attacking Iran in the spring as has been widely reported, and that the US and Israel “largely agree” in their assessments of Iran’s nuclear progress.

“Iran and al-Qaida have, to a certain extent, a shotgun marriage,” he added. “The Iranians may think that they might use perhaps al-Qaida in the future as a surrogate or proxy.”

Elsewhere, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told the House Appropriations subcommittee that;

“The international community has sent a very clear message (to Iran.) We will not tolerate this. You’ve got to change your ways. You’ve got to come into the international community. You’ve got to abide by international laws, rules and regulations.”

“We will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. (However) intelligence does not show they’ve made the decision to proceed with developing a nuclear weapon. That is the red line that would concern us and that would ensure the international community, hopefully together, would respond.”

 “We are open … to negotiations with them to try to find a diplomatic solution to these issues, but we do keep all options on the table in the event the red lines, I just made very clear, are crossed,” Panetta said.

A recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center showed high support for an Israeli military attack on Iran’s renegade nuclear program if it should become necessary. The same poll showed low levels of faith in the efficacy of sanctions.

Warships of the Iranian Navy sailed into the Mediterranean Sea on Saturday, docking in Syria’s port of Tartus in a demonstration of support for the besieged regime of president Bashar Assad. An Iranian official triumphantly declared that the two ship flotilla would show “the might” of the Islamic Republic to regional countries while also conveying Tehran’s “message of peace and friendship.” The Iranian port call had little visible effect on the escalating violence between troops loyal to Assad and opposition forces over the weekend, with large clashes breaking out in the heart of Damascus and massive bombardments of Homs and Hama continuing. Two senior regime officials were assassinated in the northwestern province of Idlib, joining a long list of casualties over the weekend as the Egyptian ambassador in Damascus became the latest diplomat to be recalled and an official newspaper in China published an editorial accusing Western powers of fomenting civil strife in Syria for their own purposes.

Public Diplomacy Ministry prepares for ‘Israel apartheid week’
Israel’s Public Diplomacy Ministry has announced a plan called “Faces of Israel” to dispatch 100 citizens, representatives from all different parts of Israeli society, to events at universities abroad connected to the upcoming “Israel Apartheid Week” to represent and defend the Jewish State. The participants, including Israeli-Arabs, West Bank settlers, artists, immigrants and security experts, will travel to events in New York, Boston, Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Toronto, Montreal, Dublin, London, Madrid, Johannesburg and Cape Town. “Most of those who hate Israel have the same disease: ignorance,” Public Diplomacy Minister Yuli Edelstein said. “We are sure that the answer to the attempts to de-legitimize Israel is not just to give facts and data, but to bring Israel to them.” Edelstein added that he hopes students meeting real Israelis will be able to see past the stereotypes and  stop the “messages of incitement and hatred that, at the end of the day, could reach students that are the leaders of tomorrow.”

‘Price tag’ attack directed against church
Graffiti including “Death to Christianity” and profanity about Jesus was spray painted on the walls of the Baptist Narkis Street Congregation in Jerusalem overnight on Sunday, as well as the words "price tag." The tires on three vehicles parked at the church were also slashed. "Officers are investigating a strong possibility of a (Jewish) nationalist motive but no one has been apprehended yet," said police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld. The vandalism follows a similar incident two weeks ago at the 11th-century Monastery of the Cross.

MDA gives aid to African refugees
The Magen David Adom headquarters in Tel Aviv turned into an improvised shelter over the weekend for some 100 homeless refugees from African countries who would otherwise have been out in the cold and wet weather. Many of the refugees from Sudan and Eritrea live in tents and other flimsy shelters in Levinsky Park, near the central bus station. The MDA doctors examined the refugees and volunteers provided hot food, showers, blankets, clean clothes and other necessities. An Arabic-speaking MDA staffer also gave the refugees a first-aid course. Ahmed Isaman, one of the refugees who fled from Darfour four years ago, said “I have no words to express my thanks.”

Iron Dome to be deployed in Gush Dan
Reports surfaced over the weekend that the IDF’s newly formed Air Defense command will deploy an Iron Dome battery in the Gush Dan/Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area for a drill in the near future simulating missile attacks on the city. "The Iron Dome is in the process of being made operational as part of which the battery is being placed in various locations from time to time," said a statement by the IDF spokesperson’s Office, stressing that the move is part of a routine and pre-scheduled training program without any special significance.

Jerusalem ‘blizzard’ falls short of expectations
Israel had another wet weekend including light snow in several areas and several centimeters of rain, although the hopes of Jerusalem schoolchildren for heavy snow to play in failed to materialize. The Israel Meteorological Service reported that 20-25 centimeters of snow fell in the northern Golan Heights, along with several centimeters in Hebron and Gush Etzion. About 14-18 cm. of rain fell in the southern Golan and the northern Galilee, raising the level of the Sea of Galillee another 16 cm. to 212.67 meters below sea level on Sunday morning. Heavy rains and gusty winds also hit many areas of the center and northern Negev regions. Water Authority officials stressed that although the precipitation has been significant, Israel is still in the midst of a severe drought and urged residents to use water carefully. Meanwhile, forecasts call for another wet weekend starting on Thursday.

An Israeli diplomatic source confirmed on Sunday that talks with the Palestinian Authority which ended last month without any tangible signs of progress will not be renewed until the dust settles from the recent agreement signed in Doha, Qatar between the PA and the Islamist terror militia Hamas. The possibility of Hamas, which makes no effort to hide its antipathy to Israel and unwillingness to recognize the Jewish State’s right to exist, could join the PLO and become part of a unity government with the PA has put relations between the PA and Israel in deep freeze. The source added that Israel expects the PA to return to the UN for another try at gaining statehood recognition from the Security Council in a matter of weeks. The source further stated that the proposals the PA put forward in Amman “harmed confidence,” and that no Israeli government could “accept them.”

The political agreement between Fatah, the largest party in the PA, and Hamas has been fragile from the beginning, with disputes also arising within each group. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, who signed the agreement in Doha, have both been criticized by rivals who say they didn’t have the authority to sign an agreement without consulting other members of their respective leadership teams. Hamas leaders also denounced a statement by Abbas over the weekend that the future unity government would honor all agreements that were signed between the PLO and Israel, including the Oslo Accords, saying they had never agreed to this.

“The [unity] transitional government’s task would be restricted to rebuilding the Gaza Strip and preparing for elections,” said Hamas spokesman Ismail Radwan. “After we hold elections, the new elected government will decide on its future steps in the political arena.”

In related news, the large number of rockets fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip in recent days has led to urgent requests from the IDF for a large-scale ground incursion and not just retaliatory air strikes. “There is no need to wait for a provocation to launch an offensive against terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip,” a senior officer in the Southern Command explained. “The ongoing attacks – by rockets and along the border – are cumulatively more than enough to justify immediate action.”

The carnage gripping Syria took another turn for the worse on Tuesday as forces loyal to the regime of president Bashar Assad used live ammunition on protesters in the capital of Damascus in the latest sign of the deteriorating situation in the heartland of the country. Until this week, the violence had mostly occurred in outlying areas, leaving the rich merchants and other pillars of regime support largely unscathed. But violence in Damascus in recent days has led many analysts to question how much longer the regime can cling to power in the face of rising discontent among his remaining supporters. Meanwhile, clashes between regime loyalists and an increasingly powerful opposition continued in several areas, claiming dozens of new casualties on both sides.

Meanwhile, a “Friends of Syria” group comprised of Western and Arab countries trying to reign in Assad is reportedly preparing an explicit show of support for opposition groups. Representatives of the group gathered in Tunisia over the last days to decide on a plan, even as Assad continues to enjoy support from Iran, Russia and China, although there were indications on Tuesday that at least some of that support might be wavering.

"There are indications coming from China and to some extent from Russia that there may be a change in position," Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby told a news conference in Cairo.

"It seems to me that it would be possible now to take concrete steps aimed at resolving humanitarian issues, relying on the fact that very recently, a few days ago, Damascus allowed the International Red Cross to deliver humanitarian aid to certain regions that ended up in the conflict zone," Russia's ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, told state-run Rossiya-24 television in an interview. "It can be expected that in the coming days, Russia will put forward certain proposals on that account in the Security Council."

China’s Communist Party mouthpiece, the People’s Daily, published an editorial on Monday saying; “If Western countries continue to fully support Syria’s opposition, then in the end a large-scale civil war will erupt and there will be no way to thus avoid the possibility of foreign armed intervention.”

Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor, asked about the Iranian move at briefing in Jerusalem, said Assad was receiving generous support from Iran and its terrorist proxy, the Shi’ite terror militia Hezbollah, and that Russia and China had given him “a license to kill.”