PLO jumps gun on Palestinian state
PRESIDENT ABBAS?
      The PLO named Mahmoud Abbas the president of the future state of Palestine. In a show of support, the group gave the Palestinian Authority president the symbolic title held by the late Yasser Arafat. Abbas, the leader of the West Bank, has had frequent clashes with Hamas, which took over the Gaza Strip in June 2007.
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Bank leader says Israel protected
ECONOMIC WOE…
      Israel's economy is threatened but perhaps better protected than others, the governor of the Bank of Israel said. Stanley Fischer told about 1,000 lay and professional leaders of the Jewish federation system that during the worldwide economic crisis, Israel could be hurt as global buying power decreases.
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Israel facing grim threat assessment for 2009, according to security officials
By LESLIE SUSSER JTA
      JERUSALEM—Delivering a grim threat assessment for 2009, the Israeli National Security Council said that Israel in 2009 may well find itself alone facing Iran on the threshold of nuclear power, fighting rocket attacks on two fronts and without a Palestinian partner for a two-state solution.
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UJC resolution presses conversion
      The United Jewish Communities passed a resolution pressing the Israeli government to settle the conversion issue.
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Barak: Hezbollah three times stronger
      Hezbollah is now three times stronger than it was at the end of the Second Lebanon War, Ehud Barak said. The Israeli defense minister told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Hezbollah's 42,000 missiles could reach Ashkelon, Beersheba and Dimona. He said Lebanon has been unable to stop Hezbollah.
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Iraqi acquitted for Israel visit
      An Iraqi lawmaker was acquitted of a crime for visiting Israel. An Iraqi court ruled that Mithal al-Alusi did not actually break Iraqi law when he visited Israel in September to attend a counterterrorism conference, Reuters reported. Al-Alusi traveled to Israel on a German passport. He has visited Israel several times in recent years.
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