November 9, 2010:  Lebanese from many political parties are trying to halt the UN sponsored tribunal investigating who killed former prime minister Rafik Hariri in 2005. The tribunal appears to have proof that senior members of Hezbollah were involved. Some Hezbollah leaders have openly boasted of Hezbollah playing a part in killing Hariri, but Hezbollah does not want that made a part of the public record. This is because such admissions could trigger another civil war. Iran backs Hezbollah, and has been pushing this Shia organization to try and take control of the Lebanese government, and adopt a more aggressive attitude towards Israel. But the Shia are only 40 percent of the population, and not all Shia support Hezbollah. Most Lebanese don't want another civil war, especially one sponsored by Iran. The one in 1975-90 devastated the country. But Iran sees another civil war as an opportunity, and supports the more radical Hezbollah leaders.

Although Lebanon has, over the last few years, arrested over 150 people for being Israeli spies, that is believed to be only a small fraction of the agents Israel has in the country. Israel continues to be well informed about what is going on inside Lebanon.

European leftists and local Arabs were captured on video as they set fire to Arab owned olive trees near a Jewish West Bank settlement. These burnings are usually blamed on Jewish settlers, and sometimes it's true, especially when settlers are seeking revenge for a recent Arab attack on them. The Palestinians have long used hoax attacks like this to make the Israelis look bad. But the growing proliferation of video cameras has made it more difficult for the Palestinians to hide these activities. Meanwhile, while the West Bank Palestinian leaders go through the motions of negotiating with Israel, the Palestinian media continues its barrage of "Israel has no right to exist" propaganda. The European leftists have been coming to the West Bank and urging the locals to be more violent towards the Israeli settlers. This often triggers counterattacks, which make great propaganda, because much of the Western media depicts Palestinians as victims whenever they are fighting Israelis, for whatever reason.

Although Israel has been successful at keeping Islamic terrorists out, most of the Egyptian border is lightly guarded, and, so far this year, over 11,000 illegal migrants (mostly from Africa) have crossed. Bedouin smugglers handle most of this illegal trade, and the understanding is that as long as they don't guide terrorists in, the police and army will not come down on them real hard. Israel is trying to make deals with the countries these migrants came from, to take the illegals back, for a price.  The African nations are asking for more money that Israel is willing to pay.

November 6, 2010: Several hours after Palestinian terrorists fired rockets in Israel from Gaza, Israeli F-16s fired missiles at two targets in Gaza.

November 3, 2010: A explosion outside a Gaza police station was apparently caused by an Israeli missile, fired at a vehicle carrying the leader of an Islamic terror group (Army of Islam).  Hamas continues to insist that they cannot control these small Islamic terror groups, or halt their continued rocket and mortar attacks on Israel. Hamas does continue to oppose any peace talks with Israel, at least those that call for a separate Palestinian state. Hamas wants Israel destroyed and all Jews expelled from the region.

October 27, 2010: Turkey has released its latest list of friends and enemies in the region. Israel is now considered a threat. Syria, Bulgaria, Armenia and Georgia are not considered threats.  Greece continues to be the major threat, because of the dispute over the territorial waters in the Aegean Sea. Iran is only mentioned as a neighbor who really should work harder to answer Turkey's call for a nuclear-free Middle East.

Israeli Arab author and activist Ameer Makhoul pled guilty to being a spy for Hezbollah. Confessions like this are happening more frequently, and some politicians are calling for mandatory loyalty (to Israel) oaths from all Israelis. There are also proposals for a new law to take away Israeli citizenship from anyone convicted of terrorism or treason.