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** RAFAH OPERATION AIMED AT UNCOVERING ARMS-SMUGGLING
TUNNELS ONGOING
** ARAFAT CONTINUES EFFORTS TO UNDERMINE AUTHORITY
OF PALESTINIAN PM
** ISRAELI RESEARCH BEHIND NEW CANCER-FIGHTING DRUG
** “GENEVA ACCORDS” DRAFT PUBLISHED
** OTHER NEWS IN BRIEF
** ECONOMIC AND HI-TECH BRIEFS
RAFAH
OPERATION AIMED AT UNCOVERING ARMS-SMUGGLING TUNNELS ONGOING
Dozens of armored Israel Defense Forces vehicles re-entered the Rafah refugee
camp in the Gaza Strip early this morning to conduct counter-terror operation
‘Root Canal 2’, the latest military mission to uncover arms-smuggling tunnels,
HA’ARETZ reported. An officer involved in the operation said that it could
last several days and that there were 12 known smuggling tunnels still being
used by Palestinian terrorists. Upon entering the camp, IDF bulldozers razed
four homes, while troops took over several buildings in their searches for tunnels
and weapons caches. The commander of the Givati brigade in the region, Colonel
Eyal Eisenberg, denied Tuesday charges that the IDF was being heavy-handed in
its efforts to uncover tunnels. "I want people to ask how many houses we
have not demolished, not how many we have,” he said. “I believe
that the IDF’s actions have been entirely moral, and that our behavior has been
above and beyond that of any other army in the world." Today’s operation
was a continuation of an ongoing mission, in which the first stage was completed
Sunday, to uncover and destroy arms-smuggling tunnels in Rafah.
In other news, IDF OC Central Command Maj.-Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky signed the expulsion
orders for 15 administrative detainees involved in terrorist activities – including
members of Islamic Jihad – from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip. The Israel
Defense Forces did not identify names of the detainees who now have 48 hours
to appeal the order in the High Court.
ARAFAT
CONTINUES EFFORTS TO UNDERMINE AUTHORITY OF PALESTINIAN PM
In yet another attempt to undermine the authority of Palestinian Authority Prime
Minister Ahmed Qurei, PA Chairman Yasser Arafat has decided to appoint Hakam
Balawi, his long time associate, as interior minister, THE JERUSALEM POST reported.
Balawi, who is a member of the Fatah central council and a former PLO ambassador
to Tunisia, served as cabinet secretary in Mahmoud Abbas’s previous government.
PA officials said Balawi would serve in the seven-member emergency cabinet for
a period of only three weeks, at the end of which the cabinet expires. Qurei
announced that he planned to quit at the end of this term following a bitter
confrontation with Arafat over the Interior Ministry. Qurei insisted on giving
the ministry portfolio to Nasser Youssef, a former security chief. Youssef agreed
to take the job, but demanded a written commitment from Arafat giving him full
control over all the security forces. When Arafat refused, Youssef retaliated
by boycotting the swear-in ceremony of the new cabinet last week.
ISRAELI
RESEARCH BEHIND NEW CANCER-FIGHTING DRUG
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a new drug developed by Israeli
scientists to fight cancer, ISRAEL21C reported. Velcade was acquired as the
result of research conducted by Haifa Technion Institute Professor Avram Hershko
and Dr. Aaron Ciechanover on ubiquitin, a small protein involved in protein
degradation. Velcade will be used to fight multiple myelom, the second most
prevalent blood cancer after non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Some 45,000 people in the
United States alone have been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, and an additional
14,600 new cases are discovered each year.
“Velcade shows a significant effect on patients with multiple myeloma
that have not responded to other treatments,” FDA Commissioner, Dr. Mark
McClellan, said.
Hershko and Ciechanover have received numerous awards for their pioneering medical
research, including the Wolf Prize in Israel and the Lasker Award for Basic
Medical Research (considered a precursor to the Nobel Prize).
Upon receiving the
Lasker award, Hershko said, "I don’t think we will find a cure for all
kinds of cancer, but I hope that through what we have done, some cure will be
found for certain types." He added, "I am especially hopeful for cancers
such as colon cancer, cervix cancer and melanomas, as well as some other cancers
known to be commonly caused by abnormalities in protein degradation."
“GENEVA
ACCORDS” DRAFT PUBLISHED
A draft of the "Geneva Accord" – a final status agreement spearhead
by former Minister of Justice Yossi Beilin and former Palestinian information
minister Yasser Abed Rabbo – was published on Sunday, HA’ARETZ reported.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said the accord would undermine future peace negotiations
by determining opening positions that the Government would not be able to retract.
"There is a government in Israel, and it deals with such matters,"
Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom said. "Everything else is virtual.”
Members of the Israeli delegation that met with the Palestinians over the weekend
in Jordan to finalize the terms of the agreement included Beilin, MK Haim Oron
(Meretz); MK Amram Mitzna (Labor); MK Avraham Burg (Labor); former MK Nehama
Ronen; Brig.-Gen. (res.) Giora Inbar and author Amos Oz.
Burg said the talks proved that Israel had a partner on the Palestinian side.
"In a situation where there is a vacuum, where there is no dialogue and
only violence for three years now, we were told we had no one to talk to,”
Burg said. “Now it turns out, after two years of intensive efforts, that
there is someone to talk to."
OTHER
NEWS IN BRIEF
Pentagon adviser Richard Perle qualified on Tuesday the recent Israeli attack on a training camp for Palestinian terrorists in Syria as long overdue and said that he would not rule out U.S. military action against the Arab state, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. "President Bush transformed the American approach to terrorism on Sept. 11, 2001, when he said he will not distinguish between terrorists and the states who harbor them," Perle said, addressing a Jerusalem conference of conservatives from the United States and Israel. "I was happy to see that Israel has now taken a similar step in responding to acts of terror that originate in Lebanese territory by going to the rulers of Lebanon in Damascus."
The foreign ministry advised
Israeli travelers to reconsider going to Bolivia and called on those already
in the country to stay in the capital, La Paz, Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL reported.
Weeks of a popular revolt has killed at least 52 people.
In Colombia, a rebel leader from the group holding seven tourists including
four Israelis, said the tourists were all in good condition. A statement on
the group’s ELN website said that the movement would agree to free the kidnapped
tourists if representatives from the UN and human rights organizations checked
into the difficult living conditions of villagers in Colombia’s northern mountainous
region.
The Supreme Court issued on Monday a temporary injunction preventing the publication of details surrounding the abduction of Elhanan Tennenbaum by terrorist organization Hizbullah, HA’ARETZ reported. Justice Salim Jubran issued the order in response to an appeal filed by Tannenbaum’s family over last week’s ruling by the Tel Aviv District Court that a gag order on the affair, in place for almost three years, could be lifted.
Lenslet of Herzliya, a developer of optical digital signal processors, has unveiled a revolutionary product that is already attracting worldwide interest, GLOBES reported. The company’s first commercial optical processor, called EnLight, boosts the performance of digital signal processing, and sets new performance levels of tera (one trillion, or 10 to the power of 12) operations per second. The EnLight facilitates next generation applications including video compression; defense applications such as high-resolution radar and sophisticated electronic warfare, anti-terrorist solutions, and advanced communication infrastructure.
Israeli start-up Sanctum, a developer of Web application protection software, has signed an agreement to have its products distributed by the support, training and consulting division at Sun Microsystems, GLOBES reported. The deal covers the AppShield and AppScan products. Over the last few months, Sun has been offering Sanctum-developed technology as part of its iForce information security initiative. The products are integrated into SunFire servers.
[Today’s Israel Line was prepared by Victor Chemtob, David Dorfman, David Nekrutman and Tallie Lieberman at the Consulate General of Israel in New York.]
** THREE AMERICANS KILLED IN U.S. CONVOY BOMBING
IN GAZA
** THREE IDF SOLDIERS WOUNDED AS COUNTER-TERROR
OPERATIONS CONTINUE
** U.S VETOES UN RESOLUTION AGAINST SECURITY FENCE
** THOUSANDS OF CHRISTIANS PARADE IN JERUSALEM,
SHOWING THEIR SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL
** OTHER
NEWS IN BRIEF
** ECONOMIC AND HI-TECH BRIEFS
THREE
AMERICANS KILLED IN U.S. CONVOY BOMBING IN GAZA
A massive bomb destroyed today an armor-plated jeep in a convoy carrying U.S.
diplomats and personnel in the Gaza Strip, killing three Americans, HA’ARETZ
reported. The bombing was the first deadly attack on an official American target
in the three years of Palestinian violence. A roadside bomb was detonated beside
an American convoy traveling in the same area three months ago, but did not
cause any injury.
The victims of today’s blast were security guards hired from a private
company – not U.S. government officials – as well as the driver of the vehicle,
an East Jerusalem resident. The American officials in the convoy were on their
way to discuss the awarding of study grants to Gaza Palestinians when the blast
went off on the outskirts of Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip around 10:15am.
Both Hamas and Islamic Jihad denied responsibility for the attack.
Soon after the blast, IDF tanks and armored vehicles were sent, along with a
helicopter gunship, to aid the Americans in evacuating a wounded man and the
victims’ bodies. The wounded man was airlifted to Soroka Hospital in Be’er
Sheva by an IDF rescue helicopter. Later in the day, American security officials
investigating the bomb scene were forced to leave abruptly when Palestinian
youths threw stones and rocks at them.
The U.S. ambassador to Israel called on Yasser Arafat’s Palestinian Authority
today to capture the bombers.
THREE
IDF SOLDIERS WOUNDED AS COUNTER-TERROR OPERATIONS CONTINUE
Three Israel Defense Forces soldiers were lightly injured this morning when
an explosive charge went off next to their jeep stationed between Nahal Oz and
the Karni crossing close to the security fence, Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reported.
The soldiers received medical treatment at Barzilai Medical Center.
IDF troops arrested a leader of the Hamas military wing, Baher Bilal, in Nablus
on Tuesday night. Bilal is suspected of involvement in two terrorist attacks
in which five Israelis were killed near the town of Ariel.
Meanwhile, a large-scale IDF operation is still ongoing in the southern Gaza
refugee camp of Rafah. The operation, which is expected to last for several
days, is aimed at locating tunnels used for smuggling arms from Egypt into the
Strip. Three wanted Palestinians were arrested overnight in Rafah. One house
used by a gunman to fire at troops in the area was destroyed.
According to HA’ARETZ, the IDF is calling up a limited number of reserve
soldiers to support regular forces stationed in the West Bank and Gaza. The
move follows a defense ministry evaluation last week that numerous terror attacks
were in the works. In most cases, the reserve soldiers will replace regular
troops who will return to training courses.
U.S
VETOES UN RESOLUTION AGAINST SECURITY FENCE
The United States vetoed a UN Security Council resolution Tuesday night that
would have condemned Israel’s security fence, the JERUSALEM POST reported. The
United States voted the resolution after Syria, which introduced the draft last
Friday, refused to consider an alternative U.S. text that called for the dismantling
of terrorist groups.
Four council members, Britain, Bulgaria, Cameroon and Germany, abstained from
the vote and the remaining 10 members, Angola, Chile, China, France, Guinea,
Mexico, Pakistan, Russia, Spain and Syria, supported the draft resolution. "We
do not believe a Security Council resolution focused on the fence furthers the
goals of peace and security in the region," U.S. Ambassador to the UN John
Negroponte said.
Israel’s UN Ambassador Dan Gillerman argued that the fence, when completed,
would benefit Palestinians by enabling the IDF to reduce its presence in the
West Bank. Gillerman also criticized the council for considering a resolution
concerned solely with the fence just 10 days after 20 Israelis were killed in
a suicide bombing in Haifa. He issued a statement saying: "In a pattern
that is as familiar as it is distasteful, we have gathered for yet another meeting
of this council, called to censure Israel for its measures to prevent terrorism,
rather than address the terrorism itself. Members might pause to consider what
message is sent to the citizens of the world by this kind of council activity."
THOUSANDS
OF CHRISTIANS PARADE IN JERUSALEM, SHOWING THEIR SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL
The Annual Jerusalem March took place Tuesday as thousands of Christians arrived
from around the world to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles and show their support
for Israel, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Organized by the International Christian
Embassy Jerusalem, the event gathered an estimated 4,000 Christians from some
70 nations, including approximately 1,000 local participants.
According to the ICEJ, “pilgrims come from many nations to worship the
Lord, pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and to bless Israel in this time of regathering.”
Prime Minister Sharon addressed the opening ceremony, welcomed the pilgrims
and thanked them for their support. “Your presence sends a strong message
to the world and your friendship is important to us,” Sharon said.
"It’s wonderful to see the city so alive," Florida resident Rhonda
Burnett said. She was participating in her 13th visit, and 11th Jerusalem feast.
The Ministry of Tourism said the festivities were Israel’s largest annual tourist
event. $15 to $18 million a year are collected from the event.
A 57-year-old Haifa resident injured in a suicide bombing in a crowded Haifa restaurant 12 days ago died of his wounds today bringing the death toll of the terror attack to 21, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. George Matar, an employee of Maxim Restaurant and a relative of one of its owners, died this morning. The popular seaside restaurant was a symbol of Jewish-Arab co-existence in the northern city.
Israeli youths aged 17-18
prefer Israeli fashion brands, which constitute the bulk of their wardrobe,
according to a BrandStorm survey commissioned by GLOBES. The survey was conducted
at teenage-oriented entertainment spots in order to discover their consumer
habits of fashion brands.
31.9 percent of the respondents said Castro was their preferred brand. 21.5
percent cited Fox, 19 percent Golf, 12.9 percent TNT, and 14.7 percent other
brands, including Zara, Skechers and DKNY.
Nike is the leading sports brand among teenagers. 55.4 percent of the respondents
said their sneakers were Nike, followed by Adidas (23.2 percent), New Balance
(5.6 percent), Reebok (4.1 percent), Puma (3.3 percent), and other brands (8.4
percent).
The most popular wireless telephone brand is Orange, with 37.5 percent of the
respondents owning this telephone. The second most popular wireless telephone
is Pele-Phone, with 32,2 percent. Third place was Cellcom, with 29.5 percent.
[Today’s Israel Line was prepared by Victor Chemtob, David Dorfman, Arielle Bernstein and Ravit Bar-Av at the Consulate General of Israel in New York.]
** ISRAEL: GAZA BOMBING ARREST ARE IMAGINARY
** BUSH: 3 AMERICANS DIED BECAUSE OF PA REFUSAL
TO FIGHT TERROR
** FBI AGENTS LAND IN ISRAEL TO INVESTIGATE
ATTACK
** OTHER NEWS IN BRIEF
** ECONOMIC AND HI-TECH BRIEFS
ISRAEL:
GAZA BOMBING ARREST ARE IMAGINARY
Israeli security officials dismissed the arrest by Palestinian police of three
members of the Popular Resistance Committees in connection with the killing
of three Americans in Gaza Wednesday as an imaginary measure designed to placate
the United States, HA’ARETZ reported.
Security sources in Israel pointed out that no evidence linked the three Palestinians
to the attack.
The Popular Resistance Committees consists largely of former Palestinian security
officials and disgruntled members of PA Chairman Yasser Arafat’s Fatah movement.
The group denied any involvement in the attack, but confirmed the arrests of
three of its members, one of whom was identified as Ahmed Saker, 25.
A massive remote-controlled bomb demolished an armor-plated jeep in a convoy
carrying U.S. diplomatic personnel, including a cultural envoy from the U.S.
embassy. The U.S. officials were traveling through the northern Gaza Strip to
interview potential Palestinian candidates for an academic Fulbright scholarship.
The U.S. State Department identified the three Americans killed as John Branchizio,
36, Mark Parson, 31, and John Martin Linde, 30. One other American was wounded.
Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz said Israel was treating the bombing like an
attack on Israeli soldiers or citizens. He added Israel would do everything
in its power to arrest the perpetrators.
BUSH:
3 AMERICANS DIED BECAUSE OF PA REFUSAL TO FIGHT TERROR
U.S. President George W. Bush blamed the Palestinian Authority Wednesday for
failing to fight terrorism and prevent the bombing of a diplomatic vehicle in
Gaza that took the lives of three American citizens, HA’ARETZ reported. "Palestinian
authorities should have acted long ago to fight terror in all its forms,"
Bush said. "The failure to create effective Palestinian security forces
dedicated to fighting terror continues to cost lives. There must be an empowered
prime minister who controls all Palestinian forces – reforms that continue to
be blocked by Yasser Arafat."
Bush also discussed Arafat’s policies as the greatest impediment to Palestinian
statehood. "The failure to undertake these reforms and dismantle the terrorist
organizations constitutes the greatest obstacle to achieving the Palestinian
people’s dream of statehood," he said.
Noting that "the U.S. embassy officials traveling in Gaza were there to
interview young Palestinian candidates seeking Fulbright scholarships to study
in the United States," the U.S. President deplored yet "another example
of how the terrorists are enemies of progress and opportunity for the Palestinian
people."
Meanwhile, according to THE JERUSALEM POST, European Union leaders increased
pressure on Arafat to crack down on Palestinian terrorists. EU foreign policy
chief Javier Solana called Arafat following the attack and told him that this
time "condolences and emotion won’t do, we need action."
FBI
AGENTS LAND IN ISRAEL TO INVESTIGATE ATTACK
A special team of FBI investigators and forensic experts landed in Israel this
afternoon to launch a probe into Wednesday’s deadly road bomb attack on a U.S.
diplomatic convoy in which three U.S. bodyguards were killed, THE JERUSALEM
POST reported.
The FBI agents do not intend to go immediately to the site of the attack. Instead,
they will examine in detail the evidence collected and preserved by Israeli
security officials and Israel Security Agency investigators. On Wednesday, U.S.
investigators at the scene had been greeted by rock-throwing Palestinians, forcing
them to depart.
Hours after the attack, Minister of Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz phoned U.S.
National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice to tell her that the attack had been
deliberately directed at Americans. He also told her that he had ordered all
intelligence information gathered on the attack to be handed over to the Americans.
Mofaz pledged that he personally instructed Israeli security forces to fully
cooperate with the FBI and other American investigators.
A Torah Scroll dedication ceremony took place in Yad Vashem Wednesday in honor Israel’s first astronaut, Colonel Ilan Ramon, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. The Torah scroll, which will be kept at Yad Vashem, was presented to Ramon’s widow, Rona, by a New York donor. It will be carried by IDF soldiers and officers visiting concentration camps in Poland under the auspices of the annual "Witnesses in Uniform" program.
Today marks the 17th anniversary of the capture of Israel Air Force navigator Ron Arad in Lebanon, Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL reported. A solidarity rally for Ron Arad is to be held at the Tel Aviv Museum plaza this evening. Among those participating will be the pilot who tried to rescue Arad, but succeeded only in saving his Phantom plane downed over Lebanon.
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohammed opened the Organization of the Islamic Conference Summit in Malaysia with anti-Semitic remarks, lashing out at the Jewish people, Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reported. "They succeeded in gaining control in most of the [world’s] powerful states, and they – a tiny community – became a world power," Mohammed said. "But 1.3 billion Muslims must not be defeated by a few million Jews. A way must be found." While voicing total support for the Palestinian cause, Mohmmed also said the Palestinians should stop suicide bombings because they did not lead anywhere.
Public sector sanctions are slated to resume on Sunday as about 50,000 workers in ministries and public offices – including the National Insurance Institute and the Employment Bureau – will not attend to the public, answer telephones, or handle mail, HA’ARETZ reported. The workers, who stopped the sanctions for the Sukkoth holiday, decided to renew them after talks between the treasury and the workers’ representatives reached an impasse. The talks concerned planned structural changes in ministries.
[Today’s Israel Line was prepared by Victor Chemtob, Matthew Miller and Tallie Lieberman at the Consulate General of Israel in New York.]
** JEWS FLEE BEFORE PALESTINIAN ATTACK ON JOSEPH’S TOMB
** MALAYSIAN OFFICIALS DEFEND ANTI-JEWISH STATEMENTS
** ISRAEL AIRCRAFT INDUSTRIES DEVELOPS TECHNOLOGY
TO PROTECT CIVILIAN AIRCRAFT FROM TERRORIST ATTACKS
** OTHER NEWS IN BRIEF
** ECONOMIC AND HI-TECH BRIEFS
SHARON CONFIRMS DIRANI
IS PART OF PRISONER SWAP WITH HIZBULLAH
In order to save Elhanan Tannenbaum from his captors, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
is willing to release Lebanese terrorist Mustafa Dirani as part of a prisoner
exchange with Hizbullah, despite public protests against his release, HA’ARETZ
reported. Dirani, along with Sheikh Abdel Karim Obeid, are featured prominently
in the prisoner exchange plan proposed by German mediators. Talk of their return
to Lebanon in exchange for the Israeli captive, Tannenbaum, has stirred a debate
in Israel. Many question the background of the Tannenbaum case and the circumstances
under which he was captured, while supporters of Israeli Air Force navigator
Ron Arad, whose whereabouts are unknown, insist that the deal must include information
about Arad’s fate. The Prime Minister’s Office issued statements
on Thursday insisting that Israel still held a number of bargaining chips with
respect to the matter of the missing navigator—namely, the Iranians being
held in Germany. Sharon also suggested that an examination of the circumstances
surrounding Tannenbaum’s arrival in Lebanon should be conducted only after
he is returned to Israel.
Meanwhile, HA’ARETZ has challenged the gag order imposed on information
about Tannenbaum’s kidnapping, and the court is still debating whether
to allow its release. Tannenbaum’s family maintains that revealing the
details of his capture will endanger his life.
The head of the Israeli negotiating team, Ilan Biran, is due to return to Israel
from Germany over the weekend. He is expected to present the final conditions
for the exchange to the prime minister; however, diplomatic sources assessed
that Sharon would not bring the deal to the cabinet for approval in the coming
week.
JEWS
FLEE BEFORE PALESTINIAN ATTACK ON JOSEPH’S TOMB
A large group of Jewish worshipers who visited Joseph’s Tomb near Nablus on
Thursday was evacuated by the Israel Defense Forces moments before a Palestinian
attack on the site, HA’ARETZ reported. The site had been evacuated by
the IDF in October 2000 at the inception of Palestinian violence and was subsequently
almost totally destroyed by the Palestinians. The site remained largely closed
to Jews even after the IDF re-took control the tomb last year. An unusually
large group – some 500 people – was allowed to visit the site on Thursday in
honor of the Sukkoth holiday. In the middle of a prayer service, the IDF received
warning of an impending attack and hastily evacuated the visiors. Not long afterward,
Palestinians set the site on fire with burning tires.
In other news, THE JERUSALEM POST reported that the IDF had lifted the closure
imposed on the Gaza Strip following the suicide bombing in Haifa’s Maxim restaurant
on October 4. The army said the decision was taken following an updated security
assessment. All roads in the Strip will be opened for Palestinian traffic but
a roadblock will remain in place around the Jewish town of Netzarim.
Meanwhile, it was revealed on Thursday that a member of the Palestinian Authority’s
Coastal Police was arrested by the Israel Security Agency on September 7 on
suspicion of purchasing weapons in Egypt and smuggling them into the Gaza Strip,
where he sold them to terrorist organizations and senior members of the PA security
services.
MALAYSIAN
OFFICIALS DEFEND ANTI-JEWISH STATEMENTS
Malaysian officials defended today Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad’s assertion
that Jews rule the world, but apologized for any misunderstandings or offense
caused, HA’ARETZ reported. The United States and Europe condemed Mohamad’s
remarks as outrageous. Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar, struggling
to contain the controversy wrought by his Prime Minister, said the remarks about
the Jewish people had been taken out of context in a speech primarily about
empowering Muslims to become stronger, nonviolent actors on the world stage.
"The only problem with the Jews is when the State of Israel was created,"
Syed Hamid said, adding that Jews worked and were welcomed in Malaysia.
"Islam has never advocated being anti anybody including the Jews,"
Albar told reporters. "I’m sorry that they have misunderstood the whole
thing. "The intention is not to create controversy. His intention is to
show that if you ponder and sit down to think, you can be very powerful,”
On Thursday, Mahathir, a respected leader in the developing world with a long
history of making articulate, provocative comments, told leaders from 57 Islamic
nations that Muslims had achieved "nothing" in more than 50 years
of fighting Israel. "They survived 2,000 years of pogroms not by hitting
back but by thinking," Mahathir said. "They invented socialism, communism,
human rights and democracy so that persecuting them would appear to be wrong,
so that they can enjoy equal rights with others." Mahathir said the world’s
"1.3 billion Muslims cannot be defeated by a few million Jews," but
suggested the use of political and economic tactics, not violence, to achieve
a "final victory." "In today’s world, we wield a lot of political,
economic and financial clout, enough to make up for our weaknesses in military
terms," Mahathir added.
ISRAEL
AIRCRAFT INDUSTRIES DEVELOPS TECHNOLOGY TO PROTECT CIVILIAN AIRCRAFT FROM TERRORIST
ATTACKS
Israel Aircraft Industries has developed a system to protect civilian aircraft
from terrorist missiles by deflecting heat-seeking missiles using flares, THE
JERUSALEM POST reported. "Flight Guard", a system that fits inside
three small boxes and which has been in place on military aircraft for a decade,
was displayed for the first time on Thursday.
The need for such a device became all the more apparent in November 2002, when
terrorists fired two shoulder-mounted missiles at an unprotected Israeli civilian
airliner in Mombasa, Kenya. The missiles narrowly missed their target preventing
the death of hundreds.
The Flight Guard is made up of three shoe-box sized gray boxes, along with antennas
dispersed around the aircraft. One box, using the radar sensors, detects the
incoming missiles, and the other two – one on each side of the aircraft – deploy
the decoy flares, causing the warheads to explode harmlessly away from the aircraft.
"The pilot just has to turn the system on before the flight, and Flight
Guard automatically detects and diverts the missiles," a project official
said. "It has been tested in real combat situations," he added, hoping
that the IAI system would be a standard feature on civilian airliners soon.
The U.S. House
of Representatives approved on Wednesday in a 398-4 vote, a bill that would
impose new sanctions on Syria, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. The bill is now
to reach the Senate for approval. The White House, frustrated by Syria’s refusal
in preventing the flow of jihadists into Iraq and by its refusal to shut down
Hamas and Islamic Jihad operations in Damascus, withdrew its opposition to the
bill last week, and backed Israel’s strike on a Palestinian terrorist group’s
training camp near Damascus.
Israel’s ambassador to Egypt, Gideon Ben-Ami, retired from his post and returned
to Tel Aviv today, HA’ARETZ reported. Ben-Ami, 65, completed his two-year
term as ambassador and will be replaced by career diplomat Eli Shaked. Shaked,
who will arrive in Cairo at the end of October, formerly headed the Israeli
consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. He has previously worked at the Israeli Embassy
in Cairo and served in the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s foreign policy unit.
The Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories announced Thursday that Israel would implement a plan to build seven industrial parks for Palestinians in Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. The parks are expected to cost tens of millions of shekels and will be based on the industrial park near the Erez checkpoint. They will be built on both sides of the Green Line – in Mukeibila near Jenin, Hadori near Tulkarm, Tarkumiya near Hebron, and near Atarot north of Jerusalem. In addition, two commercial centers will be established where Palestinians will be able to sell their wares to Israelis. Prior to the start of the current conflict, Israelis used to spend hundreds of millions of shekels a year in Palestinian markets throughout the West Bank and Gaza.
[Today’s Israel Line was prepared by Arielle Berntsein, Jonathan Schienberg and Victor Chemtob at the Consulate General of Israel in New York.]
