Roundup of news over the last week...

Caroline Kennedy supports an undivided Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel.

The scion of the Kennedy clan, who recently expressed her interest in assuming the seat of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) should Clinton be confirmed as secretary of state, answered a New York Times political questionnaire on Saturday, her first such policy statement.

Kennedy expressed "strong support for Israel," the Times reported, "and said an undivided Jerusalem must be the country's national capital."

The Madoff backlash has started and apparently all Jews are being placed on trial. What the heck did I do wrong to deserve that?

Okay, so this is a day late and a dollar short, pardon the pun, but this is what happened in Southern Israel last week.

An Israeli airstrike hit a Kassam-launching cell in Gaza, killing one terrorist and injuring three others.

The strike Wednesday evening on a launcher about to fire on southern Israel followed a full day of rocket barrages from the Gaza Strip in which at least 60 Kassam rockets and dozens of mortar shells struck homes, factories and a playground.

Two long-range Grad-type missiles struck a public area in northern Ashkelon. Homes in Kibbutz Shaar Hanegev and Sdot Negev suffered serious damage from direct hits. A rocket also struck next to a playground in Netivot. One factory in the western Negev was hit twice. Several people in those areas were treated for shock.

It's nice to see Amnesty International write to officials in Yemen, urging them to protect their Jewish citizens.

Need I remind you what President-elect Barack Obama said in Sderot, Israel on July 23, 2008:

I don't think any country would find it acceptable to have missiles raining down on the heads of their citizens.

The first job of any nation state is to protect its citizens. And so I can assure you that if -- I don't even care if I was a politician. If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that. And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.

In terms of negotiations with Hamas, it is very hard to negotiate with a group that is not representative of a nation state, does not recognize your right to exist, has consistently used terror as a weapon, and is deeply influenced by other countries. I think that Hamas leadership will have to make a decision at some point as to whether it is a serious political party seeking to represent the aspirations of the Palestinian people. And, as a consequence, willing to recognize Israel's right to exist and renounce violence as a tool to achieve its aims. Or whether it wants to continue to operate as a terrorist organization. Until that point, it's hard for Israel, I think, to negotiate with a country that -- or with a group that doesn't recognize Israel's right to exist at a country -- OK.

Here's more proof that Israel is fighting a TERRORIST organization, not a politically recognized party. Because of the wording and threats it involves, I've opted against printing it.

Hamas could have prevented this by letting the ceasefire continue, but no, they decided to end the ceasefire and fire rockets at innocent civilians, while cowardly hiding behind civilian shields. Abbas himself even asked Hamas to continue the ceasefire.

Hamas could have prevented Israel's attack on the Gaza Strip, Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday.

The Palestinian Authority president also called on Hamas to renew its cease-fire with Israel.

"We spoke to them and told them, 'Please, we ask you not to end the cease-fire. Let it continue,'" Abbas said during a news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit. "We want to protect the Gaza Strip. We don't want it to be destroyed."

Abbas also called the continuing rocket attacks on Israel "acts of foolishness."

The ADL makes an appeal to the Attorney General in the case of Sholom Rubashkin.