Investigators are still trying to determine if the Jan. 15 fire at the Cornwall Industrial Park on Mill Road, which destroyed several businesses, could be a case of arson.

State and county fire investigators have now been joined by the FBI, which has raised the possibility that arson could be the cause of the inferno.

The entire western portion of the industrial park was destroyed in the blaze, taking numerous businesses with it.  News12

Ths request came to light through the disclosure of emailed correspondence between former British MP George Galloway, who heads an organization called Viva Palestina, and Bouthaina Shaaban, who serves as media adviser to Assad.

The correspondence, which was obtained by Haaretz, was leaked following an attack by the hacker group Anonymous.

Galloway, who is identified with the extreme left in Britain, served as a member of the British parliament until May 2010. A former member of the Labour Party, he was thrown out in 2003 in the wake of his attacks against party chairman and then-prime minister Tony Blair, and his opposition to the war in Iraq.

Galloway has for many years carried on close contacts with dictators and extremist elements in the Arab world. In the late 1990s, he was closely linked with Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, the Assad regime in Syria, Hamas in Gaza and the Iranian regime.

In July 2011, at a time when Assad was perpetrating massacres of his own people, Galloway was interviewed on Hezbollah's al-Manar network, where he heaped praises on the Syrian president. "Bashar Assad wants reform and change, to realize the aspirations of his people," he said in the interview, which was quoted in the official Syrian news agency Sana. "They are trying to pressure Syria and President Assad because of the good things that he did, such as supporting Palestinian and Lebanese resistance and rejecting to surrender to Israel."

In January 2009, Galloway founded the Viva Palestina organization, which began to organize aid flotillas to the Gaza Strip. The Shin Bet security service describes the organization as being "pro-Hamas" and assesses that Viva Palestina activists are involved in the transfer of funds to Hamas.

Galloway is considered persona non grata in several countries. In March 2009, Canada refused to permit his entry, stating that his organization was aiding Hamas in several ways, including the transfer of funds. In January 2010, Galloway was deported from Egypt following a visit he made to the Gaza Strip in the course of which members of his organization clashed with Egyptian soldiers at the Rafah border crossing, leading to the death of an Egyptian policeman. Egypt has since then refused to permit his entry into Gaza from its own territory.

On August 11, 2010, Galloway wrote to Bashar Assad's media adviser, Bouthaina Shaaban, who is considered to be one of the closest aides to the Syrian president. In an email message that bore the subject heading "IMPORTANT - private and confidential," Galloway asked Shaaban for Syrian help in organizing the aid flotilla to Gaza.

"I am writing once again to ask for Syria's co-operation although I do not doubt it for one moment. Syria is as I have often said is the last castle of Arab dignity," Galloway noted. "This convoy sets out simulataneously [sic] on September 18th 2010 from London, from Casablanca and from the Gulf. The London and Gulf columns of vehicles would like to converge on Latakia and sail from there to Al Arish."

Galloway listed the organizations that would be taking part in the flotilla, including IHH, the Turkish group that organized the flotilla to Gaza in May 2010. "It is intended that the vehicles and passengers should sail to Al Arish on board the Mavi Marmara, which as you know is owned by IHH," he wrote. "If His Excellency the President Bashar al Asad and his government can accept this proposal in principle perhaps you could nominate partner organisation(s) and individuals with whom my colleagues could liaise about the practical details?"

Galloway informed Shaaban that the two members of Viva Palestina responsible for the flotilla were Kevin Ovenden and Zaher Birawi. The Shin Bet charges that Birawi is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. He lives in England, where he engages in intensive anti-Israeli activity. Birawi has been linked to the organizing of past convoys and flotillas to the Gaza Strip. Ovendon is a far-left British activist who was aboard the Mavi Marmara in the May 2010 flotilla to Gaza.

Three days later, Shaaban sent an emailed response to Galloway in which she expressed enthusiasm for the idea. "God bless your amazing efforts and I will be honored to be part and parcel of it and to be the catalyst for my country too," she wrote. "You will find me happy to put my time and energy to help with this most important cause of the Twenty First Century."

Galloway responded in another email, in which he wrote, "I knew that I could rely on you and the last Arab country in this historic endeavour. Can I respectfully request that you task officials in Damascus and Latakia to make contact with my comrades in advance of your arrival back to Syria?"

The flotilla ultimately sailed from Latakia on October 18, 2010 and arrived in Al Arish three days later, and from there continued in a land-based convoy comprising dozens of vehicles and hundreds of activists to the Gaza Strip. The entry into Gaza by Galloway and 16 others was denied by the Egyptian security services, although the convoy itself was permitted to enter following talks between the Egyptian and Syrian governments.

The following is the original correspondence between George Galloway and Bouthaina Shaaban:

From: b.shaaban@mopa.gov.sy
Sent: Sun 15/08/10 6:30 PM
To: buthainak1@hotmail.co.uk

Fwd: VivaPalestina5 convoy to Gaza

Your Excellency dear Ambassador and honourable lady Dr Shaaban,

Assalam o Aleukum.

Thank you for your beautiful reply. I knew that I could rely on you and the last Arab country in this historic endeavour.

Given the shortness of the time (we leave London Casablanca Doha on September 18th, and these three columns joined by big contingents from Turkey Jordan and Lebanon hope to sail from Latakia aboard the Mavi Marmara between October 5-7th) can I respectfully request that you task officials in Damascus and and Latakia to make contact with my comrades in advance of your arrival back to Syria?

I remind you they are Kevin Ovenden kevin.ovenden@gmail.com and Dr Zaher Birawi zkb2002@hotmail.com

This would be very helpful to us.

I hope you are enjoying your travels and have a safe journey back to Damascus.
With all my good wishes,
Yours fraternally
George Galloway
VivaPalestinaArabia

From: b.shaaban@mopa.gov.sy
Sent: Sat 14/08/10 12:05 PM
To: office@georgegalloway.com

Re: IMPORTANT - private and confidential

Dear George

Thank you very much for your email which I was delighted to receive. God bless your amazing efforts and I will be honored to be part and parcel of it and to be the catalyst for my country too. I am now abroad for about 10 days and expected to be back in Syria on August 24. If we can touch base then and get further details about what is really required and from whom in more details you will find me happy to put my time and energy to help with this most important cause of the Twenty Firtst Century. I hope you are following my writings in Counter Punch. Take care and God bless you and your efforts.

As ever
Bouthaina

On Wed 11/08/10 3:05 PM , Ayesha Bajwa <office@georgegalloway.com> wrote:

Your Excellency Dr Bouthaina Shaaban
Special Advisor to President Bashar al Asad
President of the Syrian Arab Republic
Damascus
By e-mail
Your Excellency, dear Dr Shaaban

I hope this letter finds you well. Please be assured of my warmest fraternal greetings always. I am writing on behalf of Viva Palestina whose world-wide family of solidarity organisiations and registered charities will soon be setting out for beseiged Gaza again with our fifth convoy of aid. You will recall the outstanding assistance
afforded us in Syria on previous occasions over the last period. I am writing once again to ask for Syria's co-operation although I do not doubt it for one moment. Syria is as I have often said is the last castle of Arab dignity. My only regret is to have to ask for your help again.

This convoy sets out simulataneously on September 18th 2010 from London, from Casablanca and from the Gulf. The London and Gulf columns of vehicles would like to converge on Latakia and sail from there to Al Arish. The Casablanca column hopes to join us in Al Arish and we hope all three columns - hundreds of vehicles strong – will enter Gaza through Rafah without hinderance.

The aid on board the vehicles will be 50% medical equipment and 50% educational, construction and other aid.

The organisers of the convoy are Viva Palestina UK, Viva Palestina USA, Viva Palestina Arabia, Viva Palestina Malaysia, Viva Palestina Ireland, the Turkish NGO IHH,the International Committee to break the Seige on Gaza, Kia Ora - the Viva Palestina sister organisation in New Zealand, Viva Palestina Australia, Viva Palestina South Africa, Viva Palestina Spain, Viva Palestina Italia, and Viva Palestina France.

It is intended that the vehicles and passengers should sail to Al Arish on board the Mavi Marmara, which as you know is owned by IHH.

If His Excellency the President Bashar al Asad and his government can accept this proposal in principle perhaps you could nominate partner organisation(s) and individuals with whom my colleagues could liaise about the practical details? The liaison from our side would be Mr Kevin Ovenden and Mr Zaher Birawi of Viva Palestina UK (as we believe 2 is enough).

In any case please convey my respect and my admiration to His Excellency the President.

With all good wishes

George Galloway

Stanley R. Joseph, 18, of Suffern and Jennifer C. St. Amand, 20, of Airmont were charged with the enhanced hate crime designation after they told officers “that they were specifically targeting Jewish community members,” Sgt. Sal Matos said in a news release.

Qwesi Williams, 19, of Brooklyn also was arrested after the other two. Police did not immediately have the specific charges against him but said they weree along the same lines as Joseph and St. Amand.

Adding the designation of hate crime raises the seriousness of the criminal charge.

A man told police he was attacked at 11:49 p.m Monday while walking near 16 Grove St. He was struck from behind with an unknown object, with officers speculating the object might have been a “stick or other long thin object,” Matos said.

After a description was broadcast of the attackers, one officer saw a man running from the scene and police vehicles. The officers ran after the man and apprehended him in the area of Route 306 and Maple Avenue.

Area residents gave police a license plate number for the car, leading officers to a home in Airmont where they took St. Amand in for questioning.

Police charged Joseph with second-degree robbery and second-degree assault, both as a hate crime, felonies. Police charged St. Amand with second-degree robbery as a hate crime and making a false written statement, a misdemeanor.

All three were being held in the Ramapo police lockup for arraignment in Ramapo Justice Court. Lohud

“Protecting and helping my constituents is my utmost priority,” said Hikind. “If the life of even one child, adult, or senior citizen is spared because they were wearing these reflectors, it more than outweighs the cost to purchase them.”

According to the New York State Department of Transportation, between the years 2005 to 2010, 119 pedestrian accidents occurred on 13th Avenue in Boro Park. The intersections with the most accidents were 38th Street, 39th Street, 43rd Street, 49th Street, 50th Street, 52nd Street, 71st Street, 86th Street, and Bay Ridge Avenue.

Hikind purchased the safety reflectors at the suggestion of Rabbi Yitzchok Fleischer, a community liaison to State Senator Diane Savino. Rabbi Fleischer had seen these same reflectors in use in Monsey, New York. There, the Town of Ramapo purchased thousands of reflectors for distribution to area residents, and the initiative was met with great success.

To obtain these reflectors, please visit the Office of Assemblyman Hikind at 1310 48th Street, 2nd Floor, in Boro Park, or for more information, please call 718.853.9616. Please note that there is a limit of two reflectors per family and supplies are limited.

The Assemblyman and Congressman also conversed about thetimely issue of allowing religious groups to utilize public school facilities forprayer and other religious activities. A bill in the Assembly (A8800A), ofwhich Hikind is a co-sponsor, would amend the State Education Law to allow religiousmeetings and services to take place in public school buildings and sites whenthe school is not in use, or when the school is in use, but the trustees of theBoard of Education determine that such use will not be “disruptive of normalschool operations.

“The Congressman and I are in complete agreement aboutthis issue,” said Hikind. “There is absolutely no reason in the world why religiousgroups should not be able to use public school facilities when school is not insession. These groups pay to use the premises and are not disruptive to anyone.There is really no justification for the City to block these groups from makinguse of the facilities for prayer services or other religious purposes. I thankCongressman Turner for being at the forefront of these issues and representingthe interests of our community in Washington.”

“Whether it’s helping to ease the financial burden forparents who choose to educate their children privately or tackling the issue ofpermitting prayer services in a vacant public school building, I have alwaysbeen and remain committed to improving the quality-of-life for all Americans, particularlythose who reside in the 9th Congressional District,” remarked Turner.

Trump made the announcement in Las Vegas and called Romney “tough,” “sharp,” and “smart.”

Trump also said Romney is “not going to allow bad things to continue to happen to this country we all love.”

Romney gladly accepted the endorsement from the business magnate and star of the “The Apprentice” reality show. Romney wrapped up his comments by telling Trump “Thank you so much for your help and your endorsement today. I look forward to seeing you on the [campaign] trail.”

Earlier, a source close to Newt Gingrich’s campaign said Trump, who last year openly considered running himself, was expected to endorse the former House speaker for the presidency.

When asked about the possible endorsement Wednesday in Reno, Nev., Gingrich said he had “no idea what the Donald is going to do.”

“He is always interesting,” Gingrich said of Trump. “And I don’t know of anybody who does a better job of getting attention by announcing that he will presently announce something.”

Gingrich sought Trump’s endorsement at a meeting in December at the real estate mogul’s Trump Tower office in Manhattan. There, Gingrich told reporters he had persuaded Trump to mentor promising children from some of New York’s poorest schools.

Appearing on CBS’ “Face The Nation” on Sunday, Trump praised Gingrich. ”He’s got great ideas. He’s very smart, he’s very tough and he is a great debater,” he said.

As for front-runner Mitt Romney, the glow of Tuesday’s big win in Florida didn’t last long. He’s being criticized for saying he’s not concerned about the very poor.

Romney says he was taken out of context.

“I’m not concerned about the very poor,” he said. “We have a safety net there. If it needs repair, I’ll fix it. I’m not concerned about the very rich, they’re doing just fine.”

Right after that statement, Romney found himself doing damage control. His critics, including Gingrich, pounced.

“I am fed up with politicians in either party dividing Americans against each other,” said Gingrich. “I am running to be president of all the American people. Of course, I’m concerned about all Americans. Poor, wealthy, middle class, but the focus of my effort will be on middle-income families who I think have been most hurt by the Obama economy.”

President Obama’s campaign also jumped on Romney’s statement. The campaign sent a tweet saying, “So much for ‘we’re all in this together.’” CBSNY

Sources close to the Gingrich campaign confirmed Trump would endorse Gingrich, according to several television and newspaper reports.

Trump's announcement would come on Thursday, two days before the Republican caucus in Nevada, the next state in the party's presidential nominating contest, the reports said.

A spokesman for the Gingrich campaign was not immediately available for comment.

An adviser to Trump said earlier on Wednesday that Trump planned to make major announcement in Las Vegas on Thursday about the presidential race.

Trump last year flirted with a presidential run as a Republican and was derided for pushing a discredited charge that President Barack Obama, a Democrat seeking re-election, might not have been born in the United States.

He left the Republican Party in December after a presidential debate he'd planned to host fell through. reuters

The remarks by Military Intelligence Chief Major General Aviv Kochavi came after IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz said on Wednesday that the threats facing Israel have increased and intensified in recent years due to regional instability.

Speaking to the Herzliya Conference, Gantz said that Iran's nuclear program is a "global problem and a regional problem," adding that Tehran's attempts to acquire nuclear weapons must continue to be disrupted.

On Thursday, Kochavi, speaking at the opening session of the Herzliya Conference's closing day, spoke of the growing threats Israel was facing: "a more hostile, more Islamic, more sensitive Middle East, one more attune to public sentiment, less controlled by the regimes, and less susceptible to international influence."

The chief of military intelligence then indicated that about 200,000 missiles were aimed at Israel at any given time, adding, however, that "Israel's military deterrence is intact."

Referring to Israel's concerns over Iran's nuclear ambitions, Kochavi presented a relatively tame estimation of a possible timeline en route to an Iranian atomic bomb, saying that the project depended more on the will of Iran's Supreme Leader than on any technological advancement.

"If Khamenei issues a command to achieve a first nuclear explosive device, we estimate it would take another year before that's achieved," the top IDF official said, adding that "if he asks to translate that ability to obtain a nuclear warhead, that would take another year or two."

Kochavi also reiterated the IDF estimate that Iran is in possession of more than 4 tons of low-grade enriched uranium as well as almost 100 kilograms of uranium enriched at 20%.

"If those are enriched more, to a 90% level, that would be enough for 4 atomic bombs," the IDF officer said.

The military intelligence chief added that the sanctions on Iran "are taking their toll. There's 16% unemployment, 24% annual inflation, and practically no growth," he said adding that "at this point the pressure isn’t leading Iran to a strategic shift."

However, Kochavi added that "there's a potential, with greater pressure, that the regime, interested first and foremost in its own survival, would reconsider its position."

Speaking at the Herzliya conference on Tuesday, President Shimon Peres also referred to the Iranian nuclear threat, saying that Tehran's "evil" leaders cannot be allowed to obtain nuclear weapons.

"It is the duty of the international community to prevent evil and nuclear [weapons] from coming together. That is the obligations of most of the leaders of the free world, one which they must meet," Peres said.  Haaretz

According to its producers, “Rainbow in the Night” is the first Holocaust clip ever to be made. It includes hundreds of actors, and took hundreds of hours to shoot. Daniel Finkelman, an ultra-Orthodox man living in Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, is behind the project.

As the number of Holocaust survivors decreases with time, so too do the voices that keep the memory of the atrocity alive, explains Finkelman. “As those voices fade, the voices of Holocaust deniers are amplified.”

This thought had plagued Finkelman for the past few years, and drove him to initiate a campaign aimed at non-Jewish teenagers in the United States.

“There is an entire generation that is growing up in a fast-paced world, in which something new happens every moment. That young generation hasn’t got the patience to learn about the Holocaust,” says Finkelman. “For us it is an inseparable part of the Jewish history; for them it is another black and white entry in the encyclopedia.”

Finkelman explained that the goal of his campaign was to grab the attention of those teenagers via a medium that interests them, and – in a five-minute clip – encapsulate the horrors of the Holocaust alongside the tremendous hopes of the Jews who suffered there.

In addition, he hoped the clip would warn young Jews against assimilation. Keeping our Jewish identity, said Finkelman, was a way of showing victory over the Nazis.

Most of the clip was shot in Krakow, Poland, and at the Majdanek concentration camp, said Finkelman, who believes the group was the first to receive permission to shoot the film from inside the camp. “We had to go through a difficult process in order to receive permission to film right inside the concentration camp,” he said.

Last week, a new survey to mark International Holocaust Memorial Day showed that only 6 percent of Israeli children cite history lessons as a significant source of learning about the Holocaust.

The annual survey, conducted by the Massuah Institute for Holocaust Studies among 919 students, shows school education has a very limited influence on shaping young Israelis' understanding of the Holocaust. Only 0.5 percent said the Holocaust memorial ceremonies, which take place for Israeli children throughout their school years, were significant in their Holocaust education.

Almost 40 percent cited survivors' testimonies as having the highest educational value.  Haaretz

Witnesses say the driver, a woman, ran a red light in Sunset Park Wednesday night. Her car slammed into the man near 50th Street and 6th Avenue.

“I heard a squeak so I quickly picked my head up and I see a car on the sidewalk and I said ‘what the hell’ and just smashed into another two cars and drove off,” said one witness.

The driver abandoned the car in Borough park and reportedly removed the license plates.

Police say the victim is 47-years-old. His name has not been released. CBSNY

Anthony Graziano pleaded not guilty Tuesday to an additional charge that he planned to attack the Jewish Community Center in Paramus.

Prosecutors told the court that the 19-year-old confessed to firebombing a synagogue in Paramus on Jan. 3. and then attacking a home attached to a synagogue in Rutherford several days later.

“He told police he failed in the original incident in Paramus. He considered it a failure, remember that building doesn’t burn down, and that he was going to ‘raise some eyebrows’ with what he did next,” Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Martin Delaney said in court.

Last week, officials  announced new charges against Graziano, saying he planned but failed to carry out a firebombing at the JCC on Jan. 7. Prosecutors said that Graziano was seen on surveillance video and may have been spooked by a passing patrol car.

Graziano has already pleaded not guilty to nine counts of first-degree attempted murder, bias intimidation and aggravated arson for the Jan. 11 attack on Temple Beth-El in Rutherford.

“Mr. Graziano says after throwing the first Molotov cocktail, he heard screams from inside the house and continued to lob more bombs inside the house,” Delaney said.

But Graziano’s defense attorney Robert Kalisch is putting the blame on violent video games.

“Someone with their own problems they have within their own head who has been taken over by these games young people play now,” said Kalisch. “This young man does actually have a mental health history.”

“If he truly was mentally unstable, if he had some emotional issues, those sorts of things are also something that could contribute to overall risk that would lead him to engage in that sort of behavior,” said Paul Boxer, associate professor of psychology at Rutgers University.

“It’s extensive but I’ve learned through my investigation that this November he was in a situation where he actually called the Lodi court himself to bring him to the hospital because he was feeling crazy or something,” said Kalisch.

Prosecutors said Graziano had a special permit that allowed him to purchase rifles and shotguns, and that he was looking into buying a weapon but was arrested before he could.

After his arrest, authorities conducted a sweep of every Jewish facility within 10 miles of Graziano’s home. They used dogs to sniff for flammables and accelerants within the 10-mile radius because investigators say Graziano allegedly used a bike to carry out his attacks.

On Tuesday, a judge reduced his bail from $5 million to $2.5 million WCBS-TV

Jafar Daghlas, 27, a resident of the West Bank town of Burka who until recently lived in Abu Dhabi, has been questioned by two different Arab security services recently - those of the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. He suspects Israel was trying to get him extradited here, as it did with another Palestinian engineer with alleged Hamas ties, Dirar Abu Sisi, after the latter's arrest in Ukraine last February.

But Hamas accused the PA of being behind Daghlas' arrest, saying he has been wanted by the PA since 2008 on account of his political activity in Hamas.

Daghlas is known to both Israel and the Fatah-led PA as a Hamas activist, and in 2006 he was shot in the stomach during clashes in Nablus between Fatah and Hamas supporters.

According to PA security officials, Daghlas was involved in funneling both money and arms to Gaza Strip from overseas.

On December 29, the Friends Of Humanity organization announced that Daghlas had been arrested in Abu Dhabi by the United Arab Emirates' intelligence service and interrogated for 18 days, during which time he wasn't allowed to meet with a lawyer or his relatives, or even be informed why he had been arrested. This was just the latest time he had been arrested by the UAE security service over the previous four months; Emirati intelligence agents also raided his home and seized his personal computer.

"He was held for 24 days in the Emirates, and we have no idea why," his father told Haaretz. "He calls us from time to time. We don't know whether Israel or the Palestinian Authority is the one that pressed the Emirates to arrest him."

After it had finished interrogating him, the UAE deported Daghlas to Jordan, as he holds Jordanian citizenship. There, he was arrested immediately upon landing at the airport and imprisoned in Amman, where he was interrogated by Jordanian intelligence.

Daghlas sought help from a Jordanian engineering association to which he belongs. The association wrote to Jordanian Prime Minister Awn Shawkat al-Khasawneh demanding that Daghlas not be extradited to Israel, noting that he feared Jordan was planning to do precisely that.

His parents said that Daghlas is still in Amman but no longer in jail. "He was summoned for interrogation by the Mukhabarat [Jordanian intelligence]; they asked him five questions and released him," his mother told Haaretz.

One reason Daghlas suspects Israel of being behind his arrest, she added, is that a few months ago, it barred his wife from traveling from the West Bank to Jordan to meet him.

His story is also very similar to that of Abu Sisi, who was deputy director of the Gaza power plant. Abu Sisi was arrested by Ukrainian intelligence while visiting that country and transferred to Israel, though his arrest because public knowledge only after his wife declared him missing and asked the United Nations for help in finding him. Under interrogation in Israel, Abu Sisi admitted his involvement in developing rockets and antitank missiles for Hamas.

Daghlas studied chemical engineering at An-Najah University in Nablus, then moved to Abu Dhabi in 2008 to do his master's degree. After that, he worked for Abu Dhabi's national oil company.

The Shin Bet security service declined to comment. Haaretz

The party's current leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was expected to win easily against his only challenger, extreme rightist Moshe Feiglin. If he indeed secures the chairmanship, this will be Netanyahu's fifth time be elected to the post since 1993.

In the previous Likud leadership primary in August 2007, Netanyahu beat Feiglin by 73.2 per cent to 23.4 per cent.

Some 125.000 Likud members are eligible to vote, in more than 150 countrywide polling stations. Polls opened at 10 A.M. and were to close at 10 P.M. Results are not expected until early Wednesday.

Members of Feiglin's camp issued a complaint within the first hour after polls opened, claiming of disruptions in various stations in the West Bank settlements. According to the complaints, stations in Beit El, Efrat, Otniel and Gush Etzion – towns where Feiglin was expected to win by a significant margin – did not receive their voters' guides and those who turned up at the polls were sent home. The Likud has not yet responded to the complaints.

After casting his own vote, Netanyahu issued a call out Likud members to "come and vote for me, I know most of you support me."

"If people stay home, there will be no way to express this great support, and the way that I lead the Likud, which has garnered such support among the members of Knesset and the ministers. The more voters that turn out, the clearer it will be how great the support is for me," he said.

National elections are not due until late 2013, and Netanyahu's decision to hold the Likud primaries now has raised speculation that he intends to call a national vote closer to the time of the U.S. presidential election late this year.

Political commentators say a Likud victory in a parliamentary poll held before or shortly after the U.S. vote in November would leave Netanyahu better placed to deal with Barack Obama, with whom he has had a frosty relationship, if the Democrat is re-elected.

Many Israelis worry that Obama, in a second term, may exert greater pressure on Israel to yield land for peace with the Palestinians, which could upset Netanyahu's clout in his pro-settler party and its core conservative electorate.

His coalition government of right-wing and religious parties has shown few cracks and opinion polls show that Likud would emerge on top if a parliamentary election were held now.

In the Likud leadership poll, Netanyahu's only challenger is a far-right settler who has no chance of unseating him.

"It's a done deal," Danny Danon, one of the Likud's most prominent legislators, said about the primaries.

"There is no tension or competition. Our main battle is with Kadima," he said, referring to the centrist, main opposition party led by former foreign minister Tzipi Livni.

Danon said he saw a possibility of Israel holding the general election later this year. While Netanyahu has not said he wanted an early poll, "he prefers to lead and not be dragged there", Danon told Reuters.

Likud Challenger

Netanyahu's opponent in the Likud race is Moshe Feiglin, 49, who lost a party contest to him in 2007 but hopes to win more than the 24 percent of the vote he polled then.

Results of Tuesday's poll are expected to be announced by early on Wednesday.

"I want to return the Likud to its real path," Feiglin told Reuters. Feiglin opposes Netanyahu's embrace the goal of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

U.S.-sponsored peace talks stalled shortly after they began in 2010 in a dispute over settlement building in the occupied West Bank.

Feiglin applauded U.S. Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich for recently calling the Palestinians an "invented people" and thought Israel should pay Palestinians living in West Bank land they seek for a state to leave.

"They don't deserve a state, certainly not in land that God promised the Jews," Feiglin said.
Though Feiglin's views mirror those of many pro-settler lawmakers in Likud, he is supported by few in the party's mainstream.

But political analyst Jonathan Rhynold of Bar-Ilan University said Netanyahu had reason to be wary of Feiglin.

"The Israeli public is not where Feiglin is. Any rise in Feiglin's influence in the party can hurt Netanyahu," he said.

The Likud poll will be followed by a Kadima primary election on March 27. Both Kadima and the left-of-centre Labour party have been actively recruiting popular figures, and some influential wild cards, such as former journalist Yair Lapid, have thrown their hats into the electoral ring as well. Haaretz

Pataki said the Republican Party, with the support of Conservatives, must defeat Democratic President Barak Obama in the fall. He would not back one particular candidate, though.

“I think the weakest Republican candidate would be a dramatic improvement over this president,” Pataki said.

Former Congressman Rick Lazio, who ran unsoccessfully for governor and US Senate, told the Conservative Party members that he supports Mitt Romney as the GOP candidate for president.

“I think he has the experience and management skills, I think he’s got the standing, I think he’s got the morality to lead the nation,” Lazio said. “That’s what I am looking for, someone who is smart and will be a great manager. The job is to run the biggest enterprise in the world. It would be nice to have someone who has management skills for a change.”

Pataki, meanwhile, called Obamacare “the single worst law passed during my lifetime. Until we repeal Obama, we’re not going to be able to repeal Obamacare.”

The former governor and now Garrison resident would not comment on the current state administration, saying it is his policy not to do so.

During the session, the agents gained an understanding of various Jewish traditions, including requirement for a hasty burial and the need to bury the body of a deceased in its entirety. Misaskim explained the reasons for its endeavors to prevent an autopsy on a deceased Jewish person whenever possible. The Misaskim participants also outlined the organization’s role of serving as a liaison between law enforcement and bereaved families when it becomes necessary to ensure that legal requirements, as well as Jewish traditions, are upheld.

“I learned a lot about Misaskim, and about particulars of how to better extend the appropriate sensitivity in dealing with deceased members of your faith,” said Special Agent Tim Chapman.  Chapman was among approximately 70 agents who participated in the training session.  “I admire the sense of self-sacrifice and the great internal fortitude Misaskim must have in order to carry out its mission” 

Misaskim’s training session at the FBI was preceded by months of dialog and relationship-building. In fact, Misaskim has hosted representatives of the FBI several times recently in an attempt to further its goal of building bridges between the Jewish community and law-enforcement agencies.

Only a few weeks ago, as an outcome of the working relationship that has been established with the Bureau, the FBI participated in a school safety forum hosted by Misaskim. Special Agent Scott Olsen spoke to educators about important issues related to the connection between child safety and employee background checks.

FBI representatives from the New York Field Offices and from the New Jersey Field Office toured Misaskim’s facilities in the fall and early winter. The representatives were visibly impressed by Misaskim’s activities and capabilities. In October, several agents also participated in Misaskim’s Chol Hamoed event for orphaned children. “This was the first time I ever attended such an event and it was a great experience,” said Evelyn Vera. “It was amazing to see how much Misaskim does and how happy the kids were.”