I have viewed many sites on the Arab/Israeli conflict, and seen Israel
pointed out as  the strongest  military power in the Middle East.  I
wonder if there are any current stats. or objective appraisal  of
Arab(not only Palestinian) military power compared with Israel's. 
Thank you.

Dear Carmi, 

The book "The Middle East Military Balance" gives a comparison of the
strength of forces in quantities (quality of the forces, such as
technological education level, is less measurable):

As a book: 
The Middle East Military Balance 2000-2001 (BCSIA Studies in
International Security) / by Shai Feldman (Editor), Yiftah Shapir
(Editor)

A summary of the findings of the book in a Website: 
The Military Balance in the Middle East (2003)
<http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Threats_to_Israel/milbal.html> 

A more comprehensive site with the same research is the Jaffee Centre homepage: 
Middle East Military Balance 2002 - 2003 
<http://www.tau.ac.il/jcss/balance/> 

The CIA World Factbook could provide other comparative tools
(unfortunately, all countries, not only Middle Eastern ones):

Military manpower - availability:
<http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/fields/2105.html> 

Military manpower - fit for military service: 
<http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/fields/2025.html> 

Military manpower - reaching military age annually: 
<http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/fields/2026.html> 

Military expenditures - dollar figure: 
<http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/fields/2067.html>
<http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2067rank.html>
(in rank order).

Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 
<http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/fields/2034.html> 
http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2034rank.html>
(in rank order).

I hope this answered your question. Please contact me if you need any
further clarifications on this answer before you rate it.

Search Strategy: "military balance" "Middle East".

Thank you very much!  This answers my question and I have learned many
facts hitherto unknown to me.

Dear Carmi, 

Thank you for the rating and the tip!