A Daily Analysis
By Marc Schulman

March 5, 2008 Opoeration to Continue in Gaza

The Israeli government met today and ordered the IDF to continue operating in Gaza until the rocket fire stops.  It is unclear what that means exactly.  In the meantime, it has not been given the green light for a large scale action, so the current status quo continues. There is no good solution.  The Israeli public is not very happy. 73% of the population thinks that the government is not doing a good job in dealing with the problem.  Only 17% of the population agrees with the government’s policy.  44% of the population believes in a large scale operation while 22% believe in more small scale operations while attempting to talk to Hamas. 

It is clear that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was forced to twist Palestinian leader Abbas’ arms to force him to agree to return to the negotiations table.  He announced that they would not negotiate until there was a ceasefire.  Rice was meeting with Minister of Foreign Relations Tzpi Livni when she was informed of the announcement.  She called Abbas and a few minutes later he announced the resumption of talks. 

A survey was done in Israel on the most popular presidential candidates in the US among Israelis.  Senator Clinton came in first followed by Senator McCain.  Senator Obama was not popular, with only 16% of the respondents supporting him. 

In honor of International Women’s Day, the Israeli Bureau of Central Statistics released some interesting statistics.  There will be 140,000 births in Israel this year, 30% the first child of the mother.  The average Israeli woman has 2.9 kids and lives to 82 years old.  The average woman earned 5,521 NIS a month, 2/3 of a man’s salary.