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* VIOLENCE
CONTINUES WITH WEEKEND ATTACK
* SHARON AND PERES REJECT LIKUD VOTE AGAINST PALESTINIAN
STATE
* HAIFA RESTAURANT REOPENS AFTER SUICIDE BOMBING 6 WEEKS
AGO
* ISRAEL SENDS AID TO GEORGIA; U.S. HOUSE APPROVES AID
FOR ISRAEL
* ARAB LEADERS PRESSURE ARAFAT TO MAKE CHANGE
* CHURCH OF NATIVITY "BACK TO NORMAL"
* Economic Briefs
VIOLENCE
CONTINUES WITH WEEKEND ATTACK
Nissan Dolinger, 43, a farmer from the community of Gush Katif, was murdered
Sunday morning when a Palestinian laborer shot him several times in the chest
at point-blank range with a silenced pistol, as they were driving together
not far from an Israel Defense Forces roadblock near Rafiah Yam, THE JERUSALEM
POST reported. An ambulance crew attempted to resuscitate Dolinger, but he
died from his wounds soon after the attack. Soldiers captured the Palestinian
terrorist as he attempted to flee toward Rafiah. Heis reportedly from the
al-Mawassi refugee camp, between Gush Katif and the Mediterranean Sea.
A dispute reportedly broke out between Dolinger and the laborer prior to the attack. The IDF has launched an investigation to determine how an armed Palestinian succeeded in passing through the crossing between Rafiah and Gush Katif. Dolinger’s wife, Eva, who runs the emergency and rescue headquarters at the Gaza Regional Council, received a report of the attack and immediately notified the emergency teams without realizing that the victim was her husband. The Dolingers have three girls and three boys.
Dolinger was buried in the Gush Katif Regional Cemetery on Sunday night. Thousands attended his funeral, which left his home and passed by the site of the attack before continuing to the cemetery. Standing in front of her husband’s grave, Eva Dolinger said, "Who could have believed it would happen to me. I who have worked so many years, days, and nights to ensure that residents of Gush Katif return to their homes safely. Protect our six children from up there in heaven and I will protect them down here on the ground."
SHARON
AND PERES REJECT LIKUD VOTE AGAINST PALESTINIAN STATE
The Likud Central
Committee turned down Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s request to postpone any
decision on a binding resolution against a Palestinian state on Sunday with
a vote of nearly 60 percent voting against the resolution, HA’ARETZ reported.
In an overwhelming show of hands, the Committee passed a resolution saying
that "no Palestinian state will be established west of the Jordan River."
The resolution that the Prime Minister initiated
Less than half the Central Committee’s 2,600 members attended the convention at Tel Aviv’s Mann Auditorium. Following the vote, the Prime Minister said he would "continue to lead Israel and the people of Israel according to those considerations that have always guided me – the security of Israel and its citizens and the common ambition for true peace. That’s what guides me, that’s what leads me, that’s how I’ve behaved, that’s how I’ll continue." "Peace is possible on two conditions," he continued, "a complete halt to the terror, violence and incitement" and "the Palestinian Authority must carry out internal reforms in every way – on security, the economy, the legal system and within society."
HAIFA
RESTAURANT REOPENS AFTER SUICIDE BOMBING 6 WEEKS AGO
The Matza restaurant in Haifa has officially reopened following the suicide
bombing in which 15 were killed and dozens wounded six weeks ago, THE JERUSALEM
POST reported.
"It is a very emotional time for me. I am crying, but I am also happy that we are back on our feet again," Ali Adawi, 57, the owner of the restaurant, said. "What happened here will remain with me all my life. I’m still not sleeping properly and the images of the atrocity are going to be in my head for a long time to come." His relative Soheil Adawi, 31, who had a three year-old child and whose wife is in her eighth month of pregnancy, was one of those killed. Dov Chernobroda, a member of the board of directors of the Beit Hagefen Arab-Jewish center and a long-time activist in promoting Jewish-Arab coexistence, was also killed in the attack.
Adawi had gone into the kitchen to help with an order when the suicide bomber entered and blew himself up. He was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for shock. He still has some difficulty hearing, but stresses that his injuries, for the most part, remain emotional and psychological. "You see something like this on the television, but it does not have in any way, shape, or form the same impact as when it happens to you personally. It is something you can never forget," he said. "The encouragement we have received has given me a great deal of encouragement, but my main hope and wish for the future is that something like this will never, ever happen again – not here or anywhere else in the country," Adawi added.
ISRAEL
SENDS AID TO GEORGIA; U.S. HOUSE APPROVES AID FOR ISRAEL
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Center for International Cooperation (MASHAV)
and the Ministry of Health are slated to dispatch humanitarian assistance
to Georgia in the former Soviet Union, in the wake of last week’s earthquake
there, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. The consignment will include medical equipment
and other supplies. Israel’s Ambassador in Georgia, Rivka Cohen, will transfer
the humanitarian supplies to local government officials. "Israel and
Georgia enjoy a long-standing friendship, which has been reflected recently
through Georgia’s expression of support for Israel’s war against terrorism,"
she said.
Meanwhile, according to HA’ARETZ, The U.S. House Appropriations Committee approved on Thursday a $200 million supplementary aid package for Israel. The aid package now requires approval by the Senate. When the proposal for the extra aid was first raised about two months ago, the Bush administration argued that it was not the appropriate time to grant additional funds to Israel. But the supporters of the proposal in the House pushed ahead with the initiative and tied it to a $50 million supplemental aid package for the Palestinian Authority. Israel requested the additional funds to help finance its war against terror.
ARAB
LEADERS PRESSURE ARAFAT TO MAKE CHANGE
Moderate Arab states are beginning to press Palestinian Authority Chairman
Yasser Arafat to stop the violence and are starting to understand that his
actions are endangering regional stability, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. According
to OC Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Aharon Ze’evi, who spoke before the Cabinet on
Sunday, "these Arab states – [Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia]are not
alone, and more and more world leaders see Arafat as the "problem, not
the solution," Ze’evi said. Arafat is also facing unprecedented domestic
criticism. Increasing numbers of PA officials are talking about "lost
opportunities" and a desire for a "change in direction," he
said. Ze’evi also briefed the Cabinet on what he said is a growing desire
among Palestinians to return to "normal life."
Meanwhile, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah completed talks on Sunday on the current crisis. According to press reports, Abdullah has recently opened lines of communications with Arafat to get Hamas and Islamic Jihad to halt suicide attacks. The meeting between Mubarak and Prince Abdullah followed Saturday’s mini-summit with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said the three states, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Syria, will continue their efforts at a meeting in Beirut next week by way of a committee that will be charged with the task of following up the Saudi peace proposal. The meeting is expected to take place on May 17 and 18.
CHURCH
OF NATIVITY "BACK TO NORMAL"
Hundreds of Christian worshippers crowded into Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity
on Sunday for services which marked an end to the 38-dayoccupationof the shrine
by Palestinian gunmen, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Bishop Aristorchus of
the Greek Orthodox Patriarch said the church was overflowing for a service
celebrated by Patriarch Irineos and several other senior church officials.
He also noted that the church had been left littered and dirty, but there
was no physical damage inside the church, whose foundations date back to the
third century.
"We thank God the church was evacuated in a peaceful way," Aristorchus said. The sermon, in Arabic, was delivered by archimandrite Father Hana Atala, a Palestinian from the Galilee who is an outspoken Palestinian nationalist. Attendees said he tried to avoid politics on Sunday.
* Florida Governor Jeb Bush has invited Israeli aerospace companies to cooperate with Florida-based companies, at an event in late June, initiatedby the Enterprise Florida and Israel Export Institute, GLOBES reported. According to Israel Export Institute’s Shortland, "The meeting will be a unique opportunity to reveal future aerospace technology. Cooperation will be in R&D, product development, and the developing of new markets, such as Latin America."
* Healthcare Technologies subsidiary Savyon Diagnostics, which produces clinical diagnosis tools, and ProChon Biotech, which develops fibroblast growth-factor (FGF) based therapeutics, have entered into a collaboration agreement for the development and manufacture of a genetic kit for diagnosis of mutations associated with forms of bladder cancer, GLOBES reported. These mutations, prevalent in inherited skeletal disorders, have been linked to tumor progression and prognosis in several types of cancer. Under the agreement, Savyon will be responsible for prototype kit development and manufacturing, and ProChon will focus on clinical development and retain worldwide exclusive rights for commercialization of the kit. Financial terms were not disclosed.
