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* HIZBULLAH FIRES AT IAF AIRCRAFT, SHRAPNEL FALL ON KIRYAT
SHMONA
* COURT ORDERS INSURERS TO PAY FOR TREATMENT OF FOREIGN WORKER
* PSYCHOLOGY HOTLINE EXPERIENCES INCREASE DUE TO PALESTINIAN
VIOLENCE
* ECONOMIC BRIEFS
2
ISRAELI CIVILIANS MURDERED BY PALESTINIAN TERRORISTS
Two Israeli civilians were murdered today in separate incidents, one near
Bethlehem this morning, and another this evening in Givat Ze’ev, just north
of Jerusalem, HA’ARETZ reported. In the first attack, Avi Boaz, a 72-year-old
resident of Ma’aleh Adumim, used his U.S. passport to enter the Palestinian
town of Beit Sakhur near Bethlehem in order to purchase building materials.
He was kidnapped at gunpoint by terrorists and was shot next to the Beit Sakhur
soccer stadium, where his body was found. Palestinian officials informed Israeli
authorities of the murder, and handed over the man’s body to Israel.
In the second incident, an Israeli woman was killed and another suffered moderate-to-serious injuries in a shooting attack today at the entrance to the Givat Ze’ev settlement north of Jerusalem.
According to Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, the vehicle had stopped at a gas station when gunmen approached the car and opened fire at short range. The gunmen then fled the scene on foot. The wounded Israeli woman was taken to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital for treatment.
Israeli Defense Forces soldier Sgt. Elad Avogani was laid to rest today in the Tiberias cemetery. Avogani was killed by Palestinian terrorists on Monday when his convoy was ambushed near Nablus. Avogani grew up in Tiberias. He graduated from high school with honors, majoring in physics and computer sciences, and was a volunteer in an elite IDF unit
HIZBULLAH FIRES AT IAF AIRCRAFT,
SHRAPNEL FALL ON KIRYAT SHMONA
Hizbullah terrorists fired missiles on Israeli Air Force planes today, HA’ARETZ
reported. Shrapnel fell on the northern town of Kiryat Shmona, forcing citizens
there to take refuge in bomb shelters. Shards of the anti-aircraft shells
landed in two places in the city, causing minor damage to property but no
injuries. Kiryat Shmona has been the site of frequent Hizbullah mortar attacks.
Israel Defense Forces officials said that Hizbullah failed to hit any aircraft. Meanwhile, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Shaul Mofaz addressed the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee today and said that the Palestinians are planning a wave of terror attacks in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well as inside Israel.
Mofaz also said that Hamas and Islamic Jihad are continuing to develop long range rockets in the Gaza Strip, aimed at targeting Israeli towns. He said that once completed, these rockets are likely to be smuggled into the West Bank as well.
COURT
ORDERS INSURERS TO PAY FOR TREATMENT OF FOREIGN WORKER
The Tel Aviv Magistrate Court ordered Clal Insurance, Davidoff Insurance Agency
and Femi Medical Services to finance medical treatment for a foreign worker
from the Philippines who contracted cancer of the cervix, HA’ARETZ reported.
The worker, who has a legal working permit, has been working as a nurse since
December of 1999. This is the first case in which a foreign worker turned
to the courts for help in collecting health services payments, in accordance
with the new law on employment of foreign workers.
The law, approved last year, gives legal foreign workers basic health insurance equal to that of Israeli citizens. The worker, Ligaya Fernando, had no health problems during the first two years of her stay in Israel and was provided with an insurance policy by her employer on October 1, two weeks before the new law came into effect. On December 9 she was diagnosed with cervical cancer and her doctors recommended that Fernando undergo urgent chemotherapy. Doctors determined that her chances of overcoming the disease, if treated, were good. The treatments recommended by the doctors are included in the basic health services supplied by the insurance policies.
The same day Fernando was diagnosed with cancer, Fernando submitted a request to her health insurance company, asking them to finance the treatment. According to the prosecution, "the defendants waited four weeks before answering her request – an unreasonable delay given the urgency of the treatments needed to save her life." On January 3, a representative of Femi insurance company told Fernando they were rejecting her appeal because her insurance policy related to the legal situation in effect at the time – before the implementation of the new law – and therefore did not cover all of the basic health services. The insurance companies also claimed that Fernando was not fit to work in Israel and she was subsequently dismissed from her job. Fernando’s lawyer contested the insurance companies’ claims and demanded that they finance the treatments immediately. When they refused, he turned to the courts.
PSYCHOLOGY HOTLINE EXPERIENCES
INCREASE DUE TO PALESTINIAN VIOLENCE
The outbreak of Palestinian violence over the past year and a half resulted
an increase of 10,000 phone calls to ERAN (emergency psychological first aid
service), for the year 2001, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. The number of calls
expressing anxiety about security and terror this past year was up 12 percent
from the previous years. ERAN, which is run by volunteers, received a total
of 99,000 anonymous calls for help in 2001, an average of 278 per day.
ERAN director David Koren said that 15 percent of all calls are from children and teenagers. Three percent of callers are soldiers, and 41 percent are unemployed persons. About 4 percent of callers spoke about committing suicide, and 2 percent reported suffering from physical, sexual or verbal abuse. Other complaints are about loneliness, problems between parents and children and depression.
Women are more likely to seek help than men; callers to the Arabic-speaking lines are predominantly (80 percent) women. Those calling the Russian-speaking lines are younger and more likely to be concerned with family and absorption issues.
ERAN has also launched a Web site at www.eran.org as well as forums through the portal Walla (www.walla.co.il). The Ministry of Absorption provides aid to ERAN to assist new immigrants.
ECONOMIC BRIEFS
* The Government and the Knesset today agreed on the procedure for the debate
on the Economics Arrangements Law and for sending its sections to the various
Knesset committees, GLOBES reported. The agreement will make it possible to
start debating the law towards the end of next week, and complete the debate
by mid-February at the latest. Participants in the procedural discussions
included Minister of Communications Reuven Rivlin and Ministry of Finance
director general and budget director Ohad Marani, representing the Government,
and Knesset House Committee chairman Yossi Katz (Labor), who was vested with
full authority by Knesset speaker MK Avraham Burg (Labor). It was decided
that 35 out of 56 sections of the law would be brought up for abbreviated
debate, to be finished after an as yet unspecified period.
* Minister of Communications Reuven Rivlin said on Monday that high-speed
Internet licenses would be granted to the cable companies this month, GLOBES
reported. Rivlin added that his ministry would not allow Bezeq to raise the
rate for unrestricted Internet surfing from NIS 99 to NIS 149. In its request,
Bezeq said that many surfers often stayed online permanently, creating a burden
on the lines. The discussion was broadcast online, with 8,000 entries and
1,400 immediate responses registered.
Israel Line is a daily summary of major news items taken directly from the Israeli media.
* PALESTINIAN
SNIPERS KILL ISRAELI ARAB IN TERRORIST ATTACK
* SECURITY CABINET MEETS; PA DETAINS PFLP SUSPECT IN ZE’EVI
MURDER
* SAFER TRANSPORTATION FOR IDF SOLDIERS
* ISRAELI SWIMMERS WIN GOLD, BRONZE MEDALS
* ECONOMIC BRIEFS
PALESTINIAN
SNIPERS KILL ISRAELI ARAB IN TERRORIST ATTACK
An Israeli Arab man from the Beit Hanina neighborhood in the West Bank was
killed in a drive-by shooting today, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Sh’hade
Daades, 30, was found dead in a bullet-riddled vehicle near Jenin, in the
northern West Bank. The attackers reportedly fled towards the nearby village
of Anza.
According to Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, the security chief of the nearby village of Sa-Nur discovered the vehicle, bearing yellow Israeli license plates, some 500 meters north of the community. Israeli security sources regard the killing as a terror attack, and said the terrorists apparently thought they were firing at a Jewish vehicle. The rented Volkswagen carried medical supplies and bore a Palestinian Red Crescent first aid society sign. A large contingent of the Israel Defense Forces and police forces are investigating the circumstances of the killing.
The shooting comes on the heels of two attacks on Tuesday in which Avraham (Avi) Boaz, 71, and Yoela Chen, 47, were murdered near Jerusalem. Chen was killed in the suburb of Givat Ze’ev Tuesday night, and her aunt, Rahel Heini, 70, was moderately wounded. Boaz was abducted in Beit Jala and subsequently murdered in Beit Sahur, outside of Bethlehem.
Also today, terrorists opened fire on an Israeli school bus near the community of Hermesh in the northern West Bank this afternoon. There were no injuries in the attack, but the bus sustained damage.
SECURITY
CABINET MEETS; PA DETAINS PFLP SUSPECT IN ZE’EVI MURDER
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called a meeting of the security cabinet today
to discuss the Government’s response to the increase in terror attacks in
the last few days, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. "It smells almost like
the renewal of the intifada, which is in direct contradiction of the commitment
given by the Palestinian Authority," Minister of Foreign Affairs Shimon
Peres said.
Meanwhile, Ahmed Saadat, head of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, was detained by the PA on Tuesday in Ramallah for questioning to determine his involvement in the assassination of the late Minister of Tourism Rehavam Ze’evi.
According to Arafat’s advisor Bassam Abu Sharif, Saadat was arrested under an official order by PA Chairman Yasser Arafat and is undergoing questioning. Saadat is believed to have masterminded Ze’evi’s assassination. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has demanded that Arafat arrest Ze’evi’s killers or remain confined to the Ramallah area.
Until the arrest today,
Arafat had refused to give the green light to the PA security services to
arrest
Saadat. United States Special Envoy Maj.-Gen. Anthony Zinni apparently asked
Arafat to arrest Saadat and the two Palestinians suspected of killing Ze’evi.
In other news, according to HA’ARETZ, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern affairs, William Burns, will arrive in Israel today. Burns has been visiting Persian Gulf countries and before he left the U.S., Washington told Israel he would probably make a detour from the Gulf to visit Israel.
SAFER
TRANSPORTATION FOR IDF SOLDIERS
A new association was formed on Tuesday to create a transportation infrastructure
to benefit Israel Defense Forces soldiers serving at remote bases, YEDIOT
AHARONOT reported.
The association, entitled Am Chai, is the initiative of Shimon Chai, a Netanya resident. Its goal is to create an infrastructure of transportation operated by volunteer drivers, allowing soldiers a speedy and safe commute from their bases to their homes without having to wait for public transportation or risk hitchhiking in unsafe areas. Currently, soldiers serving at remote bases often face infrequent bus service and are not allowed, due to the security situation, to hitchhike. Many soldiers are therefore incapable of leaving their bases for their weekend vacations.
The new association was inaugurated by Minister of Defense Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and his deputy Dalia Rabin Philosoph. Among its key activists is Yehuda Waxman, whose son Nachshon was kidnapped and killed by Palestinian terrorists in 1994 while hitchhiking from his army base to his home in Jerusalem.
The association has already
begun a fundraising campaign to purchase vehicles and employ drivers.
ISRAELI SWIMMERS WIN GOLD, BRONZE MEDALS
Two Israeli swimmers were awarded the gold and bronze medals in the World
Swimming Cup held in Italy on Tuesday, YEDIOT AHARONOT ON-LINE reported.
Vered Borohovsky was awarded the gold medal in the 100-meter medley category, which she completed in 1:02.25 minutes. Last month, Borochovsky set the Israeli record for that category at the European championship, completing the swim at 1:01.82 minutes. Yoav Gat won the bronze medal for the 200-meter back swim, which he completed in 1:55.79 minutes.
ECONOMIC BRIEFS
* Given Imaging and Premier have signed an agreement to market the Given Diagnostic
System, including the M2A Capsule Endoscope, to Premier’s nationwide network
of hospitals and healthcare systems, GLOBES reported. Under the terms of the
two-year agreement, Premier, one of the largest healthcare purchasing groups
in the U.S. will market the system to its 1,600 facilities and affiliates.
The FDA cleared the M2A Capsule Endoscope -an ingestible, pill-sized, color
video camera – in August 2001. The innovative product is used for diagnosing
small intestine disorders, including obscure bleeding, Chrone’s disease, celiac
disease and intestinal tumors.
* Israeli start-up SimiGon has developed an advanced personal training system
that it will supply to the U.S. Navy, GLOBES reported. The four-year contract
includes systems that will be used to train US Navy F/A-18 pilots. The deal
was signed by one of SimiGon’s strategic partners, Visual Training Solutions
Group (VTSG) of the U.S. SimiGon’s share of the deal is estimated at $12 million;
$1 million of the systems will be delivered to the U.S Navy in March.
Israel Line is a daily summary of news items taken directly from the Israeli
media.
(Special Alert)
6 dead, at least 30 hurt in terror attack on Hadera banquet hall
Thursday, 17 January 2002 (15:30)
Six people have been killed
and 33 people injured in a terror attack on a banquet hall in the northern
city of Hadera Thursday night. A man entered the Armon David banquet hall
on Rehov Hanasi at around 10.45 P.M. and began firing an M-16 gun on the 150
guests.
Explosive devices were found in close proximity to the gunman’s body. Security forces and emergency crews reached the banquet hall shortly after the incident took place and evacuated the wounded to Hillel Yaffe Hospital in Hadera. Thirty of the injured were taken to Hillel Yaffe, one in critical condition, three seriously wounded, four moderately wounded, and the rest lightly wounded. An emergency telephone number has been issued: 1255166. Chief Inspector Shimon Lugasi of the Hadera police department told Ha’aretz that he arrived at the scene shortly after the attack took place.
According to Lugasi, the gunman did not detonate explosives and did not hurl hand grenades, but opened fire in all directions. Lugasi stated that seconds after he began shooting, the gunman was attacked by those present at the banquet hall. The party was for Ninia Kardashov, who was on stage when the shooting took place. Her grandmother attacked the terrorist with a chair and proceeded with others in tackling him to the ground.
According to members of the Al Aqsa Brigades, the attack was carried out by Fatah member Abed al Salem Tsadek Hasson, from the West Bank town of Nablus. The gunman’s name was announced over loudspeakers in the West Bank town of Tul Karm during celebrations that took place following the attack. The Al Aqsa Bridages announced that the attack was carried out to avenge the killing of Fatah member Raed Karmi on Monday.
Banquet hall owner Yossi Elbaz said that a Bat Mitzvah was taking place and that there were 180 guests present. Hadera police had been on a heightened alert in recent days following warnings of a possible attack, but had not received specific information.
Thursday night’s attack was close to a bus stop where four Israeli women were shot dead by two Palestinian police officers on October 28, 2001.
