Monday,
September 22
Israel
Delegation Heads to US to Discuss Fence
The chief of the Prime
Minister's bureau, Dov Weisglass, left for Washington on Saturday
night at the head of a high-level delegation dispatched to present
the United States with a revised route proposal for the separation
fence, which now includes a "break" opposite Ariel,
one of the largest West Bank settlements. Weisglass, who is
accompanied by Defense Ministry Director General Amos Yaron,
will meet with U.S. national security advisor Condoleezza Rice
on Monday to discuss the new route. Israel will tell U.S. officials
that the section of the fence between the settlements Elkana
and Alei Zahav will not be built, leaving the "break"
opposite Ariel. Instead, the area left open will be guarded
by a bolstered IDF presence, as well as roadblocks and other
barriers aimed at protecting the adjacent settlements. (From
Ha'aretz) more
Audit:
Arafat Diverted $900M in Public Money in 1999
An audit of the Palestinian
Authority revealed that President Yasser Arafat diverted $900
million in public money in 1999 to a special bank account he
controlled, an International Monetary Fund official said Saturday.
Most of the cash, which came from revenue in the budget, went
into some 69 commercial activities in Palestinian areas and
abroad, said Karim Nashashibi, IMF resident representative in
the West Bank and Gaza. Official Palestinian figures show that
investment in the Palestinian private sector amounts to about
$300 million. The money was funneled in the past through a fund
operated by Arafat's financial adviser, Khaled Salam. U.S. and
European governments have complained for years that the Palestinian
financial structure is not transparent and does not allow donors
to follow their money to projects for the benefit of the people.
(From AP) more
Israeli
Woman Wins Windsurfing World Championship
Lee Korsitz, 19, won the
gold medal in the women's Mistral event at the World Sailing
Championship in Cadiz, Spain yesterday, making her the first
woman athlete to win a world championship for Israel in any
sport. Outgoing world champion Gal Friedman won the bronze medal
for Israel in the men's event. (From Ha'aretz) more
Tuesday,
September 23
Thai
Police Foiled Al Qaida Plot to Shoot Down El Al Plane
Police in Thailand three
months ago arrested a man suspected of planning an attack on
an El Al plane or against Israeli travelers in the country.
Channel Two television, which broke news of the arrest Tuesday
night, said the man is a suspected member of Osama Bin Laden's
Al-Qaida terror organization. The suspect was arrested when
Thai police spotted him photographing an El Al counter at Bangkok
International Airport, Channel Two said. Investigators found
in the suspect's residence relatively detailed plans for a terror
attack. (From Ha'aretz) more
FM
Shalom: Terrorism is Problem for Whole World;
Pres. Bush: Arafat a Problem for Palestinians
Foreign Minister Silvan
Shalom said that terrorism had in the past been considered a
localized problem, but had become one that affected the entire
world. Speaking at an international anti-terrorism conference
in New York, Shalom called on the Palestinians to join the world
fight against terrorism, saying that such a move would benefit
the Palestinians, not Israel. The foreign minister said that
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat should have resolved
the strife between Israel and the Palestinians 10 years ago,
before 1,126 Israelis were killed in over 19,000 terror attacks,
including 102 suicide bombings.
U.S. President George W. Bush said Monday that plans for a Palestinian
state hinged on finding new leaders committed to fighting terrorism.
"The Palestinians have suffered under [Arafat's] leadership,
and hopefully new leaders will emerge that will be committed
to peace, willing to fight terror, and out of that will come
a Palestinian state," Bush said in an interview. "I
believe it's in everybody's interest that there be a Palestinian
state. But it will not happen so long as the interlocutor, the
so-called representative of the people, won't fight terror.
And that's the problem with Mr. Arafat," he said. (From
Ha'aretz) more
US
Will Not Deduct Fence Costs From Loan Guarantees
Senior Israeli officials
estimated Tuesday that the United States will not deduct the
cost of building the West Bank security fence from American
loan guarantees if Israel leaves gaps in the fence around the
settlement of Ariel, Ynet reported. US National Security Adviser
Condoleezza Rice emphasized America's objection to the construction
of the fence along a route not parallel to the Green Line but
expressed willingness to an Israeli proposal to find solutions
to building the fence around Ariel and surrounding settlements.
(From Jerusalem Post) more
Iraq
Off Limits to Israeli Investments
Israel will not be allowed
to take advantage of the liberalisation of the Iraqi economy
to penetrate the market, Iraqi officials said. "This is
out of the question," interim Planning Minister Mahdi al-Hafez
told journalists on the sidelines of a conference held at the
annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World
Bank in this Gulf emirate. "There is no intention to recognise
Israel," added Adel Abdul Mahdi, a member of the US-appointed
Iraqi transitional Governing Council who is leading the Iraqi
delegation to the meetings. The delegation announced Sunday
a plan of economic reforms allowing 100-percent foreign ownership
in all sectors except oil and natural resources, and the establishment
of a free and open market including banking and services. (From
AFP) more
Commentary:
U.N. Places a Double Standard on Israel
By Anne Bayefsky
According to the United Nations Charter, every U.N. member state
has ''the inherent right of . . . self-defense if an armed attack
occurs against'' it. However, as the discussion in the Security
Council this week makes clear, Israel has become the only U.N.
member state excluded from the charter's guarantee. The key
international rule governing the use of force against terrorists
is the requirement of proportionality. The Geneva Conventions
say an attack on a military target ''which may be expected to
cause incidental loss of civilian life'' is prohibited if ''excessive.''
Only in Israel's case does the U.N. apply this rule to mean
zero civilian deaths.
It is the Palestinian Authority that violates international
humanitarian law by putting civilians, deliberately and directly,
in harm's way. Permitting killers to live, socialize and plot
freely in densely populated civilian neighborhoods is the violation
of international law. The U.N.'s refusal to deplore the Palestinian
Authority's cold-blooded complicity in the use of Palestinian
civilians as human shields encourages terrorism. (From Chicago
Sun-Times) more
Wednesday,
September 24
Commentary:
Arafat Must Be Stopped
By Mortimer B.
Zuckerman
There will never be peace in the Middle East while
Yasser Arafat does his bloody work. It is understandable that
Israel should now be considering whether to tolerate his presence
on the West Bank. His influence is wholly destructive and a
betrayal of the best aspirations of the Palestinians. It took
this wretched man just 100 days to torpedo the hope of President
Bush that the Palestinians could be served by a new leader.
Now he has personally appointed a new prime minister--clearly
to serve under him, not next to him.
Israeli intelligence, has concluded that Arafat is a central
factor in the resumption and escalation of terrorist acts that
blew up the peace process. The bus bombing in Jerusalem that
killed 23, including six children, is exactly parallel to what
he did on unleashing the intifada to destroy the Camp David
Accords. Four months into the intifada, on Feb. 12, 2001, Arafat
thought the Israelis had not suffered enough casualties. He
asked a group of Palestinian officials, "Why don't the
Israelis have more dead?" Then he added, "You know
what you have to do." Arafat's statement marked the beginning
of the suicide bombing onslaught. It was his way of passing
on the order to kill. After Mahmoud Abbas was appointed prime
minister, Arafat let it be known he wanted the terrorism continued.
A case in point: After the cease-fire was declared in late June,
Zakariya al-Zubaydi, the brigade commander of Islamic Jihad
in Jenin, issued a leaflet opposing it. Days later, his fighters
carried out the first major violation of the truce by killing
an Israeli in the West Bank. Arafat responded with a public
order for the arrest of Zubaydi and his gang, but he privately
approved paying him $10,000. (From US News & World Report)
more
Commentary:
Taking a Knife to Israel's Last Sacred Cow
By Bradley Burston
In Israel's national mythology, the aura of the army has no
parallel. It may be the last sacred cow left standing in the
Jewish State. Nominally universal in its melting-pot policies
of conscription and regulation, the Israel Defense Force is
still viewed by many as the Army of the People, a rare unifying
phenomenon. From the inception of the state, the army has been
the gateway to Israeli society, teaching the language and the
singularly peculiar mind-set of those who spoke it to immigrants
from more than 100 nations, and forcing residents of tony quarters
literally to rub shoulders - and make life-or-death friends
- with the likes of farm boys and residents of dead-end development
towns. However, if an army-appointed panel of experts has its
way, the army, too, will change radically. The committee has
recommended a series of steps intended to revolutionize the
army, the institution that, more than any other, has molded
modern Israel. Among the committee's recommendations: Draft
the best candidates, and only as many soldiers as the army absolutely
needs for military purposes. Direct other youths to national
service work, which would be mandatory but not military. National
service could be performed in hospitals, development towns and
social welfare institutions, or in police, fire or ambulance
work. National service could be extended to Arabs as well, aiding
rather than narrowing the integration process in Israel. Only
a small fraction of Israel's more than one million Arab citizens
serve in the army or in national service roles. Committee members
also noted that in an era of severe cuts in the defense budget,
many army jobs deserve to be eliminated. "Instead of mobilizing
people for all sorts of marginal jobs such as drivers and cooks,
we need people who can fill positions as firefighters and highway
police," said Yaakov Sheinin, a member of the committee.
(From Ha'aretz) more
Thursday,
September 25
Israeli
Soldier Killed, 6 Others Injured, as IDF Operates in Gaza
Israeli soldier
St.-Sgt
Avihu Keinan, 22, from Shilo was killed and six others were
injured, as the army operated in the El Bureij refugee camp
in the central Gaza Strip early Thursday morning. Two terrorists
and a Palestinian child were killed in a gun battle in the camp.
In another operation, two Islamic Jihad terrorists were killed
after they opened fire on a Border Police anti-terror unit that
tried to arrest them in Hebron. (From Israel Insider) more
At
UN, Shalom Calls for 'Infrastructure of Peace'
Holding
a 175-page thick sheaf of anti-Israel resolutions adopted by
the United Nations General Assembly last year, Foreign Minister
Silvan Shalom urged the international body to "rise above
the tired politics of yesterday and adopt a new, courageous
agenda for tomorrow." Shalom, who addressed the General
Assembly yesterday, called on member states to "move away
from the partisan hostility that has taken over the Middle East
agenda." "No country has suffered such unjustified
attack and consistent discrimination within the UN system. The
time has come to end this campaign of diplomatic incitement,"
he said. He called for an end to the yearly passage of dozens
of anti-Israel resolutions, most of them adopted annually by
a majority of the UN's 191 members since the 1970s. Shalom's
20-minute address was followed by loud applause from the audience,
and he was greeted by a receiving line of foreign dignitaries
upon his exit from the assembly chamber. (From Jerusalem Post)
more
Text
of Silvan Shalom's Address to UN General Assembly
"I
Care, And I'm Going"
A
new visit-Israel campaign was kicked off in New York Tuesday,
under the theme, "I Care. And I'm Going." Israel's
Minister of Tourism Benny Elon called a press event sponsored
by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations
as well as leaders of Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist
Jewry. During the upcoming holiday season, beginning with Rosh
HaShanah and ending with Simchat Torah, as many as one million
Tourism Pledge Cards will be distributed at synagogues across
America. Participants are asked to sign the card, pledging to
visit Israel some time in the coming year.(From Arutz Sheva)
more
Visit goisrael.com/pledge2israel
to pledge online.
Friday,
September 26
Quartet
to PA: Take 'Immediate and Decisive Steps' Against Terror
Major powers steering
Middle East diplomacy urged the Palestinians on Friday to take
immediate, decisive steps to stop violence and told Israel to
halt settlement activity. In a statement that appeared to put
the onus on the Palestinians for the current impasse in peace
efforts, the United States, Russia, the European Union and the
United Nations recognized Israel's right to self-defense in
the face of attacks on its citizens. "The quartet members
condemn the vicious terror attacks of August and September.
They call on the Palestinians to take immediate and decisive
steps against individuals and groups planning violent attacks,"
the statement said.
Reports ahead of the meeting said that Powell would ask the
other participants to tell Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser
Arafat that the time has come to step aside. Israel has promised
to consult with the United States before deciding whether to
expel Arafat from the territories, a senior U.S. official said
Thursday. (From Ha'aretz) more
Speech:
Looking Forward - The Investment Potential in Israel
By Leonard Rosen
There has been a program going on advocating "buying
Israeli"...buy Osem snacks, Tnuva cheese, Yarden wines,
Maccabee beer, Jaffa Oranges. And that is great, and very important,
but I think perhaps it doesn't go far enough, so let me tell
you about a few more ways to buy Israeli:
1) When you make a cellphone call, and the call doesn't go through,
leave a voicemail. That's it. Or make calls just to leave voicemails.
How is that buying Israeli? Because an Israeli company, Comverse
Technology, main operations in Tel Aviv, is the world's largest
producer of voice messaging systems worldwide.
2) Use more drugs. No, not what you're thinking. I mean prescription
drugs. And when you do, have your doctor check the box that
permits dispensing a generic version. Teva Pharmaceuticals of
Petach Tikva is the world's largest manufacturer of generic
pharmaceuticals.
3) The next time you are stuck on the phone with customer service
somewhere, and you get a message that says "to insure proper
service, this call is being recorded," buy Israeli by yelling
at a customer service rep. The two largest companies providing
the systems that monitor those calls are Verint Systems of Tel
Aviv and Long Island and NICE Systems of Ra'anana.
4) Get one of those cool flat panel
display televisions. Because the leading company that makes
the inspection equipment used to produce those displays is Orbotech,
traded on Nasdaq, based in Yavne, Israel. And while you're at
it, on your couch, snack on some Osem pretzels with Maccabee
beer or Yarden wine.
Excerpts from speech presented by Leonard Rosen, Managing
Director, Lehman Brothers at a J2J Network (www.j2jnetwork.org)
Conference, entitled "Shifting from Divestment to Investment,"
June 2003. more
The
Economist:
Israeli Economy on Verge of Recovery
In its most recent issue,
published September 21, 2003, British economic magazine “The
Economist” ranks the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) and
the Israeli capital market among the 10 most promising of 25
emerging markets around the world. “The Economist”
noted that since June, the Tel Aviv 25 index is up 19%, and
the Tel Aviv 100 25%. “The Economist” also predicted
that the Israeli economy was on the verge of recovery, and that
growth would rise from 0.8% this year to 2.5% in 2004. (From
Globes) more
New
Israeli Device Saves Crops from Fruit Flies
Scientists in Israel have
developed a high-tech device that they hope will eliminate the
fruit fly, believed responsible for billions of dollars in damaged
crops and plants worldwide. The device lures female fruit flies
to a death trap by mimicking the chant of amorous male fruit
flies. Eager females drawn to the noise are then electrocuted.
(From Channel NewsAsia) more
