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** East
Jerusalem Terror Cell Planned Attacks on Prime Minister’s Residence
** Jewish-Arab Council Pushes for Equality in Israeli
Society
** New Combat Opportunities for Women in IDF
** Israel Wins Gold in World Mistral Sailboard Championship
** Israeli, US Companies Team Up for Homeland Security
System
** Economic Briefs
East Jerusalem
Terror Cell Planned Attacks on Prime Minister’s Residence
Israeli security forces arrested three Palestinians from
the village of Sur Baher near Jerusalem on Sunday, who allegedly planned
to attack the Prime Minister’s residence, Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL reported.
The terrorists also reportedly planned to shoot down a helicopter over
the Knesset parliamentary building in Jerusalem.
Meanwhile, two Israelis sustained light injuries on Sunday night when Palestinian gunmen ambushed their vehicle near the Jewish neighborhood of Shilo, north of Ramallah.
Also, three Hamas terrorists were shot by Israeli forces overnight near Beit Hanoun, located in the northern Gaza Strip. Israel Defense Forces officials report the men were attempting to plant an explosive device alongside the area’s security fence.
In other news, IDF troops discovered fifty sacks of fertilizer used to make explosive devices in Kafr Burka, near Jenin. The IDF banned the use of fertilizer by Palestinians farming in the West Bank before this incident.
Jewish-Arab
Council Pushes for Equality in Israeli Society
A joint Arab-Jewish committee, the Abraham Fund Initiatives
Public Council, called on all of the parties in Israel’s upcoming general
elections last week to involve equality and improved relations between
Israeli Arabs and Jews in their political platforms, YEDIOT AHARONOT reported.
"Co-existence combined with tolerance, understanding, and mutual
trust as the only model for life together in the state," the declaration
stated.
The Council applauded recent polls that found that a majority of Jews and Arab citizens of the State believe in living together side by side and in peace, and that a majority of Israelis believe that there is no alternative but to promote co-existence.
The Council’s position was endorsed by their guest speaker, former National Security Council chairman Maj.-Gen.(res) Uzi Dayan, who said that integration of Arabs and Jews is "critical" to the state’s future. Dayan said Arabs compose 19 percent of Israel’s population and by 2020 they will constitute about 24 percent of the Israeli population.
The Council was founded in 1989, with the goals of education and advocacy for coexistence between Jews and Arabs in Israel. Since its inception the Fund has contributed more than 8 million dollars to hundreds of projects.
New
Combat Opportunities for Women in IDF
Advisor on Women’s Affairs to the Israel Defense Forces
Chief of Staff Brig.-Gen. Suzy Yogev announced this week that beginning
in 2003, women will be placed in special combat units, such as the Artillery
Corps’ special forces, YEDIOT AHARONOT reported. "Women are capable
of fulfilling any position the IDF has to offer. Nowadays, women have
greater opportunities to succeed, and there is higher motivation among
them to volunteer for combat units," Yogev said.
Yogev also said that in the near future men and women will serve the same amount of time in the IDF, but added that "the IDF must adopt a professional and equal attitude toward women based on qualifications and not gender." She also said that it is the IDF’s responsibility to identify the potential of its soldiers and to put capable females in the appropriate positions. "Women can handle any job or position, even in the infantry brigades, and all combat units will eventually be open to women," Yogev said.
Israel
Wins Gold in World Mistral Sailboard Championship
Windsurfer Gal Friedman won the gold medal at the World Mistral Sailboard
Championship held in Pattaya, Thailand on Sunday, and became the first
Israeli to achieve this title, Israel Television, CHANNEL 2 reported.
Coach Mike Gebhardt said that Friedman "proved his great potential
and has the attributes of a champion, great technique and a strong character."
Friedman said "I didn’t try to go just for a medal, I went for the gold." He added, "this was a long and tough event, but I stayed close to the title all the way through. I have done it, and I have proved that I am part of the leading group in the world."
Friedman’s title places him as a leading contender for an Olympic medal in the 2004 Athens Games alongside pole vaulter Alex Averbukh and kayaker Mikhail Kalganov. Friedman won the bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996.
Israeli,
US Companies Team Up for Homeland Security System
Tadiran Electronic Systems has announced a strategic cooperation
with biometric security innovator VeriTouch Ltd., based in New York City,
to develop its SHARVIT sleeve gateway system for securing airport, government,
and military facilities in the United States, GLOBES reported. "We
are proud to be associated with one of Israel’s most advanced technology
companies in the development of this unique and powerful system for securing
vital infrastructures in the United States," Gary E. Brant, CEO of
VeriTouch, said.
Tadiran, a diversified world leader in the delivery of advanced military communications and command and control systems, is integrating VeriTouch’s fingerprint biometric technology into its computerized turnstile gateway which ensures that only one authorized person may gain entry to secure facilities including nuclear power plants, military bases, airport jetways, and government operations centers. The SHARVIT gateway gathers data about the person seeking passage into a secured facility in real-time, including biometric data and other physical data to ensure that only the authorized person can enter the guarded facility.
Dr. Nancy Caroline, 58, known as Israel’s Mother Teresa who helped pioneer paramedics, palliative medicine, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation in Israel, died of cancer late last week at her home in Metulla, THE JERSULAM POST reported. Natan Kudinsky, a student of Caroline, said, "She carried out a revolution in MDA and introduced Israel to paramedics…As a result of her work, treatment of trauma patients and other emergency patients permanently changed." Caroline also set up the first clinic of the Good Fence on the Lebanese border and helped run the emergency medicine center at Kiryat Shmona during the Katyusha attacks and set up a virtual hospice, with trained staff visiting cancer patients at home to give them care. She leaves behind her husband, Dr. Lazarus Astrachan.
Dr. Nancy Caroline, 58, known as Israel’s Mother Teresa who helped pioneer paramedics, palliative medicine, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation in Israel, died of cancer late last week at her home in Metulla, THE JERSULAM POST reported. Natan Kudinsky, a student of Caroline, said, "She carried out a revolution in MDA and introduced Israel to paramedics…As a result of her work, treatment of trauma patients and other emergency patients permanently changed." Caroline also set up the first clinic of the Good Fence on the Lebanese border and helped run the emergency medicine center at Kiryat Shmona during the Katyusha attacks and set up a virtual hospice, with trained staff visiting cancer patients at home to give them care. She leaves behind her husband, Dr. Lazarus Astrachan.
*An Israeli firm has developed a step-up scanner, ‘Safeshoe’, designed to spare travelers the nuisance of having their shoes removed and checked for hidden explosives at airports, GLOBES reported. Safeshoe also detects metal items, which could be used as a hijacking weapon. Avi Kostalitz, a former head of Israel’s Airports Authority, said the briefcase-size Safeshoe was portable and designed to be used in conjunction with standard airport X-ray gates. "This means an end to the humiliation of standing around barefoot while some stranger goes through your shoes," Kostalitz said.
*The Eitan Berglas
School of Economics at the Tel Aviv University made first place in a list
of 200 economics departments at European universities according to the
European Economic Review, HA’ARETZ reported. The ratings were determined
by a team of European researchers, based on publications in dozens of
professional journals from 1990 to 1999. The London School of Economics
made second place, followed by Oxford. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s
economics department came in fourth place.
** Mofaz
Meets with U.S. Officials in Washington D.C.
** IDF
to Withdraw from Church of Nativity for Christmas
** EU
Approves Over 8 Million in Aid for Palestinian Reform
** Egged
Considering Running Bus Lines Just For Haredi Community
** Economic
Briefs
Mofaz
Meets with U.S. Officials in Washington D.C.
Minister of
Defense Shaul Mofaz opened two days of talks in Washington D.C. with top
U.S. administration officials on Monday, calling for a "new and different"
Palestinian leadership, with the main goal highlighted as bringing the
Palestinians back to the negotiating table, HA’ARETZ reported. Mofaz told
reporters that a change in the Palestinian leadership would make it possible
for the Palestinians to act against terrorists and clear the way for Israel
to resume peace talks and that a changeover was a precondition for a resumption
of peace talks. "The main goal is to bring the Palestinians back
to the table," he said.
In an interview last Thursday with a London-based Arab newspaper, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Arafat was still the leader of the Palestinian Authority, "but we believe that his leadership has failed, it has been flawed, so we have been advocating new leadership to come to the forefront. We would like to see new leaders come forward who would be accountable and responsible, who would be successful in ending the terror and the violence."
Mofaz is expected to meet today with Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld and separately with National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.
IDF
to Withdraw from Church of Nativity for Christmas
A committee
of security officials chaired by the Prime Minister Sharon’s aide Dov
Weisglass decided on Monday that the Israel Defense Forces will be withdrawing
its troops from the vicinity of the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem in
time for Christmas, HA’ARETZ reported. The troops will be moved away from
the Manger Square area, but will remain deployed throughout Bethlehem,
due to intelligence warnings about terrorist plots in the city.
Meanwhile, according MA’ARIV, Israeli security officials have calculated that 167 Palestinians have exploded themselves in homicide bombing attacks over the past two years as compared to 43 suicide bombers in the 8 years between 1993-2000. The most recent suicide bomber attempted to blow himself up at the Tarmit Post in Gaza, but was killed by IDF forces before he succeeded in his mission.
Over the last 10 years, security studies have shown that 147 homicide bombers came from the West Bank and 23 came from the Gaza Strip. It is still unclear where the remainder of the terrorists came from.
EU
Approves Over 8 Million in Aid for Palestinian Reform
The
European Union approved 7.95 million euro ($8.1 million) in aid today,
to help support reform of the Palestinian Authority, including preparations
for next year’s election, HA’ARETZ reported. "Despite the extremely
difficult security situation, the Palestinian Authority… must continue
to advance the reform agenda," EU External Affairs Commissioner Chris
Patten said. The EU also earmarked 2.5 million euro ($2.6 million) to
fund an observer mission for the Palestinian elections scheduled for early
next year.
The remaining EU money – 5.45 million euro ($5.57 million) – will help preparations for the elections and help cover the EU’s contribution to international efforts to back reform of the PA.
Last week, Israel and the PA agreed on a mechanism to ensure the orderly transfer of tax revenues that Israel collects on the PA’s behalf to Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad. EU spokeswoman Emma Udwin reiterated that the EU maintains close monitoring to ensure there is no misuse of its regular 10 million euro ($10.2 million) monthly aid payments to keep the Palestinian Authority afloat.
Meanwhile, the United States accepted Israel’s contention that any arrangement must involve close supervision of the entire PA budget to ensure that no money is used to fund terrorism, and Fayyad agreed to allow American accountants to audit the PA’s books. These accountants have already started working on the audit.
Egged
Considering Running Bus Lines Just For Haredi Community
The Egged Bus
Company and the Ministry of Transportation in Jerusalem are considering
running separate bus lines for men and women to cater to the Orthodox
Haredi community, MA’ARIV reported. If religious lines are indeed established,
several restrictions will apply to the riders of those buses, such as
appropriate dress for the women; the driver will not be permitted to play
a secular radio station; and advertisements for non-kosher food items
will not be displayed on the bus itself. Haredi bus riders have also requested
that the seats on such buses be separated further from one another than
they are on regular buses.
Yossi Tzatzkas, director of the Egged branch in Jerusalem, said that the company is not against the idea of running religious bus lines. "We are in favor of anything that serves our community of customers, and the Haredi community comprises a significant portion of bus riders in Jerusalem. If the Ministry of Transportation approves it, we will proceed with the plan." Avner Ovadia, a spokesman for the Ministry, said, "a team of Egged and Ministry staff is currently examining the plan but that a decision has not yet been reached."
Over the past week, the level of the water in the Kinneret Lake rose 8 centimeters thanks to the heavy rains in Israel, YEDIOT AHARONOT reported. This past year, the level of the Kinneret was recorded at 214.42 meters below the red line (which indicates a healthy water level for the sea). Last week, the level of the water increased by 7 cm and reached 214.35 meters. On Monday, due to continuing rain, the level went up one additional centimeter. Meteorologists in Israel are predicting that the level will further increase as more rains are expected.
* The U.S. patent office has approved the ICQ inventors’ patent on their technology for instant messaging via the Internet, HA’ARETZ reported. The office also granted a patent on the entrepreneurs’ technology for the transmission of instant messages over cellular networks. America Online, which bought ICQ with its owner Mirabilis in 1998 for $400 million, can file patent infringement suits against Yahoo! and Microsoft which develop and market similar software for the transmission of instant messages, or, alternatively, can demand the companies pay royalties. An estimated 400 million people worldwide use instant messaging, about 135 million of them ICQ users.
* A start-up in Kibbutz Einat outside Petah Tikva has developed a novel approach to power sources, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Established in 1997, Power Paper produces paper-thin energy cells that are printed on silk-screen printing presses, can be adapted to fit the size and shape of almost any product and are safer for the environment than conventional batteries. The cell, which boasts a shelf life of two and a half years, can be printed, pasted, or laminated onto paper, plastic, or other media, becoming part of the end product itself. The battery creates electricity in the same way as conventional batteries, with two electrodes, a cathode and an anode separated by an electrolyte "ink" that conducts the energy. The patented ink is the key to the company’s success, and the secret recipe is referred to within the company as the "Coca-Cola formula."
Sharon
Briefed on Assad’s London Visit; Netanyahu Meets With Italian PM
IDF Removes Illegal Hebron Outpost
Supreme Court Rejects Prison Criticisms; Calls on IDF
to Take Specific Measures
Israel’s Ministry of Health Consulting With U.S. on Small
Pox Vaccine
Economic Briefs
Sharon
Briefed on Assad’s London Visit; Netanyahu Meets With Italian PM
In a meeting with British Ambassador Sherard Cowper-Coles, Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon was briefed on Wednesday on the meetings between Syrian President
Bashar and members of the British Parliament this past week, HA’ARETZ
reported. They also discussed British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s invitation
to Palestinian and other Arab leaders to visit London for discussions
about how to advance the peace process.
Meanwhile, Sharon met on Tuesday with two U.S. congressmen who arrived in Israel from Damascus and reported that Assad had expressed interest in peace. Sharon told the Congressmen, "we are ready for unconditional negotiations with any Syrian leader but if Syria wants to be a peace partner, it must stop supporting terror." Sharon presented a series of Israeli demands on Syria including cessation of arms supplied to Hizbullah, Lebanese Army deployment on the border with Israel, and expulsion of Iranian Revolutionary Guards from Lebanon.
In addition, Minister of Foreign Affairs Benjamin Netanyahu met with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi in Rome on Wednesday. Netanyahu praised the Italian leader and his understanding that "the real obstacle to peace is not Israeli policy but the fanatical ambition to destroy the state of Israel." At a news conference, Netanyahu urged European nations to use Israeli technology developed to protect civilian airplanes against missiles.
IDF
Removes Illegal Hebron Outpost
Minister of Defense
Shaul Mofaz announced that the Giborei Hebron (Heroes of Hebron) outpost
established last month on the road to the Tomb of the Patriarchs, the
site of a terrorist ambush which took the lives of twelve soldiers and
civilians, would be evacuated due to its illegal presence on private Palestinian
property, HA’ARETZ reported. Police officers backed by Israel Defense
Forces today evacuated some 200 members of the Jewish community, including
several dozen who arrived on Wednesday night to reinforce those who erected
the temporary dwellings at the outpost. Although most of the resistance
was passive and peaceful, seven people were arrested on suspicion of assaulting
soldiers, several of whom were lightly injured during the operation.
A spokesman for the Kiryat Arba Jewish community, Malahi Levinger, told Israel Radio that they would continue to press their claim for an Israeli presence along the lane to create a safe corridor for worshippers. The community’s demand for a large military base at the site was rejected, but a promise was made that guard post on the route would be established.
Supreme
Court Rejects Prison Criticisms; Calls on IDF to Take Specific Measures
The Supreme Court today
rejected petitions submitted by human rights organizations regarding conditions
at Ketziot and Ofer prisons, saying there have been improvements at the
institutions, HA’ARTEZ reported. The court, however, did criticize some
of the prison’s conditions, where Palestinians have been detained since
Operation Defensive Shield. The three-judge panel recommended that the
Israel Defense Forces improve conditions in a few areas which remain problematic.
The court also suggested that responsibility for the prisons’ conditions
be transfered from the IDF to the Prisons Authority, which, the judges
said, is a professional, experienced framework that balances security
requirements with prisoner needs.
The court’s ruling emphasized that most Palestinians incarcerated at Ofer and Ketziot are being held under administrative detention and have never been brought to trial or convicted. As a result, the court explained, the inmates should be subject to conditions no worse than those for other prisoners – in fact, their conditions should be better. Though there was reason to deny these prisoners’ liberty, there is no cause to violate their human rights, wrote the court.
Israel’s
Ministry of Health Consulting With U.S. on Small Pox Vaccine
Israel’s Ministry
of Health spokesman Ido Hadari said today that the smallpox vaccination
of 15,000 emergency workers in preparation for a possible United States-led
war on Iraq caused few side effects, HA’ARETZ reported. "You can
expect that one case out of a million that gets the vaccination might
die. In a population that has been vaccinated in the past, we can say
there will be only one death for every two to four million," Hadari
said. Since September, four people have been hospitalized as a result
of Israel’s vaccination drive, including the child of one worker and the
spouse of another, who had come into contact with their family member’s
vaccine scar, causing blisters and a mild fever. The other two were treated
for minor side effects.
Hadari said that the United States has been receiving ongoing advice from Israeli counterparts regarding implementing a smallpox inoculation campaign in the U.S. On Wednesday, 100 military medics were vaccinated in the first wave of a program to immunize one million military and public health workers who might be called to respond to any smallpox attack.
The U.S. administration launched the drive amid concern that some terror organizations might have developed smallpox for use as a weapon of mass destruction.
Local authorities across the country are gearing up for a major storm on Friday, HA’ARETZ reported. Authorities in Jerusalem, the Golan Heights and the Galilee have been warned by the meteorological office to expect winds of up to 100 kilometers per hour (62MPH) accompanied by snowstorms. Traffic police and the Israel Electric Corporation have also raised their level of alert and are warning people to exercise caution during the storm. According to the latest weather forecast, the winds will pick up during the course of Thursday, and by evening heavy rain will spread gradually across the country. By Friday morning most of the country will be covered by heavy rain and strong winds, which will continue over the weekend. The Safed municipality has set up a special team to deal with problems that could arise if snow settles on the town.
* Central Bureau of Statistics data show that exports of goods to the U.S. have climbed 15.2 percent since May, after remaining unchanged in April, GLOBES reported. Exports to the European Union (EU) have risen 3.2 percent in September-November, following a 1.2 percent decline in June-August. Exports to other countries, particularly in Asia, surged 6.2 percent in November, after remaining constant in October.
Imports of goods were distributed as follows: EU countries 40 percent, the U.S., 22 percent; Asia, 14 percent; other countries, 24 percent. Thirty percent of exports were to the EU countries, 31 percent to the U.S., 14 percent to Asia, and 25 percent to other countries.
* California-based Veritas Software Corporation announced it would buy Israel’s Precise Software Solutions in a deal valued at $537 million, GLOBES reported. Veritas, one of the world’s largest software companies, said it would offer Precise shareholders $16.50 per share in cash, a 37 percent premium above Precise’s closing price of $12.05 on Wednesday.
Veritas said that by acquiring Precise, which develops application performance management solutions, it can provide a solution for IT professionals to run mission critical applications with optimal performance and continuous availability. Industry analysts predict this market opportunity will grow to $11 billion by 2006, Veritas noted.
