April 26-30, 2004

• SECURITY
  • Border Policeman Killed near Hebron
  • A-Zahar Replaces Rantisi as Hamas Leader
  • 4 Soldiers Hurt Foiling Major Hamas Attack
  • Explosive Belt Found in Jeans Shipment - Two Soldiers Hurt by Gaza Missile
• DIPLOMACY
  • Powell Issues Strong Statement against Anti-Semitism at Conference's Opening
• POLITICS
  • Likud Party Prepares For Sunday's Disengagement Plan Referendum
  • Sharon to Likud: A Vote Against Gaza Withdrawal Plan is a Victory for Hamas
• SOCIETY
• Israel Remembers its Fallen
• As New Immigrants Arrive on Independence Day's Eve, Population Stands at 6.78 Million
• Schwarzenegger to Visit Israel this Weekend to Promote New Tolerance Museum in Jerusalem
• ECONOMY & HIGH-TECH
  • Weizmann Institute Develops New Computer That Identifies and Destroys Cancer
• SPORTS
  • Maccabi Tel Aviv Beats CSKA Moscow in Final Four Semifinal

 

SECURITY

Border Policeman Killed near Hebron
Monday, April 26, 2004

Border Policeman Corporal Yaniv Mashiah, 20, became Israel's 21,782nd military casualty after he was killed by Palestinian gunmen in the West Bank on Sunday night, HA'ARETZ reported. The shots hit Mashiah's vehicle near the West Bank city of Hebron, barely an hour after a siren was sounded throughout the country for one minute at 8 pm to mark the start of Memorial Day for Israel's fallen soldiers. The attack was later claimed by the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.
At 10:30 P.M. Sunday, a Bedouin citizen working as a guard was seriously wounded after being shot in the Migdal Oz town, which is located in the Gush Etzion bloc in the West Bank. The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades claimed responsibility for the shooting, though an IDF source said the incident was apparently not a terror attack.
Security forces were on high alert for possible terror attacks planned for today's Memorial Day ceremonies and the start of Independence Day Monday evening. Intelligence information indicates that Hamas has prepared several attacks in the Gaza Strip, and is also trying to get a terrorist from the Strip into Israel.

 

A-Zahar Replaces Rantisi as Hamas Leader
Monday, April 26, 2004

Dr. Mahmoud A-Zahar has allegedly been elected leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, replacing Abdel Aziz Rantisi who was killed in an Israel Air Force strike 10 days ago, HA'ARETZ reported. Ismail Haniyeh has been appointed as A-Zahar's deputy, while the new No. 3 in the Hamas hierarchy is Said A-Siam.
Shortly after Rantisi's assassination, the head of Hamas in Syria, Khaled Meshal, ordered the movement in Gaza to elect a new leader. But fearing that the new leader might be targeted by Israel, Meshal instructed movement members not to make the new leader's name public.
According to Palestinian sources, A-Zahar, who belonged to the small group of Hamas founders (along with Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Rantisi), was officially elected to head the Hamas "political bureau" in Gaza. In recent days, he has been conducting most of the contacts with the Palestinian Authority and is the main address for PA leaders.
A-Zahar, a surgeon, who for many years lectured at the Islamic University - a Hamas stronghold in Gaza - is considered one of the movement's most eloquent spokesmen. He was among the 415 Hamas members expelled by Yitzhak Rabin to Lebanon in 1992.

 

4 Soldiers Hurt Foiling Major Hamas Attack
Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Four Israel Defense Forces soldiers were injured - two moderately and two lightly - when they foiled a major suicide car bomb attack today in the Gaza Strip, HA'ARETZ reported. Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack, which involved a jeep packed with as much as 300 kilograms of explosives flying an Israeli flag. Givati Brigade infantrymen, on patrol near the Mor Bridge between the Kissufim crossing and the Gush Katif bloc, spotted the jeep as it headed through an off-road area toward a road connecting Kfar Darom and the Gush Katif bloc. As soldiers were attempting to stop the Jeep's driver, the vehicle blew up. Hamas identified the man driving the Jeep as Tariq Khamayed, 24, of the Nuseirat refugee camp. The IDF believes Khamayed planned to blow himself up against a bus or a convoy on the Kissufim-Gush Katif highway.

 

Explosive Belt Found in Jeans Shipment - Two Soldiers Hurt by Gaza Missile
Friday, April 30, 2004

Police sappers blew up an explosives belt found hidden in a pile of jeans at the Karni crossing in the north Gaza Strip on Thursday afternoon, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Officials said the belt contained at least five kilograms of explosives and was hidden among clothes and textiles sent from the Gaza Strip and destined for a merchant in the West Bank. The female security guard who discovered the explosive expressed her satisfaction at possibly having saved the lives of many people. Anat Mor, the Airports Authority spokeswoman, said that security guards deployed at the terminal became suspicious after spotting something in the load of clothes as it underwent X-rays.
According to Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, two Israel Defense Forces soldiers were lightly wounded this morning when an anti-tank missile was fired at an army base in Gaza's Gush Katif bloc by Palestinian terrorists. The Gaza Jewish town of Neve Dekalim and military forces on the Karni-Netzarim road in the Strip also came under fire earlier today.

 

DIPLOMACY

Powell Issues Strong Statement against Anti-Semitism at Conference's Opening
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Speaking at the opening of the conference of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on anti-Semitism in Berlin on today, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell stated that, "we will stand together and we will declare with one voice that anti-Semitism shall have no place among us and hate shall not find an home," THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Five hundred high-ranking participants from 55 member states from Europe, Central Asia, and North America are attending the conference. German President Johannes Rau called upon European states to intensify their battle against anti-Semitism, and said that, "it is sad to see that in 2004, there is still need for a convention to devote itself to battling anti-Semitism."
Friday, April 30, 2004
Concluding a two-day conference on anti-Semitism in Berlin, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe announced on Thursday that Israel's actions did not legitimize anti-Semitism, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. The statement, which constitutes a major victory for Jewish leaders, read that, "international development or political issues, including those in Israel or elsewhere in the Middle East, never justify anti-Semitism."

 

POLITICS

Likud Party Prepares For Sunday's Disengagement Plan Referendum
Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Some 193,190 Likud party members are expected to participate this coming Sunday in a referendum on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan, MAARIV reported. In preparation for the vote, the party has set up 443 polling stations at 168 locations across the country, and 176 lawyers have been selected to supervise the counting of the ballots.
In view of threats of terrorist attacks, five security companies have been hired by the party to ensure safety at the polling stations and at party headquarters. Over 1,300 administrators and security guards will oversee the referendum.

 

Sharon to Likud: A Vote Against Gaza Withdrawal Plan is a Victory for Hamas
Thursday, April 29, 2004

In anticipation of a possible Likud party vote against a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza on May 2nd, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon warned his party members that a defeat for the plan would be a "victory for Arafat and Hamas," ARMY RADIO reported. According to Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, a poll showed that 47 percent of the Likud's voters oppose the disengagement plan, while 43 percent are in favor of it. If the referendum on the disengagement plan were held today, a poll published in MA'ARIV found out that 45 percent of Likud members would vote against it and 42 percent would vote in favor. However, a survey conducted by the Dahaf agency and Mina Tzemach published in YEDIOT AHARONOT revealed that 49 percent of Likud members said they supported it and 39.5 percent of the voters opposed it.
Meanwhile, Minister of Justice Minister Yosef Lapid (Shinui) wrote a letter to Sharon on Wednesday urging the prime minister to immediately bring the disengagement plan for government and Knesset approval, regardless of the outcome of the referendum.

 

SOCIETY

Israel Remembers its Fallen
Monday, April 26, 2004
The main Remembrance Day memorial took place this morning at Mount Herzl Military Cemetery, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Speaking during the ceremony, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he would carry the memory of the fallen, and promised to do everything in his power to make sure that Israel would initiate and lead the way to peace. "All we wish for is peace and security for the citizens of the State of Israel," the prime minister said. "Those who wish to make peace with us will see that Israel is willing to make "painful concessions", he added.
Two-minute sirens were heard across the nation at 11 am and the principal ceremony for the fallen was held on Mount Herzl at 1 pm. Memorial services were carried out simultaneously at 43 military cemeteries around the country, as well as schools and public institutions.
A ceremony took place in the Acre Prison courtyard at 4 pm for underground organizations' members who were killed and for those who were executed by the British.
Since 1860, 21,782 died defending the country. Since November 1947, 20,196 servicemen and women have fallen in defense of the state. Israel has fought wars in 1948-49, 1956, 1967, l969-70, 1973 and 1982, in addition to skirmishes with infiltrators and conflicts with Palestinians from 1987-93 and 2000 to the present.
In the past year, 184 members of the Israel Police, IDF, Border Police, Prisons Service, General Security Service, and other organizations were killed in the service of the state.

 

As New Immigrants Arrive on Independence Day's Eve, Population Stands at 6.78 Million
Monday, April 26, 2004
A group of some 70 new immigrants from the former Soviet Union arrived Sunday - the eve of Independence Day - at the Haifa Port aboard the passenger ship "Iris" after sailing directly from Odessa, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. The new arrivals were greeted with Israeli flags and flowers by members of the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, headed by director-general Mirla Gal. "The arrival of new immigrants is always a cause for celebration and excitement," said Gal after the welcoming ceremony.
Israel's population on the eve of Independence Day stands at 6,780,000, according to official government figures released Sunday by the Central Bureau of Statistics. Eighty one percent of the population - or some 5,180,000 people - is Jewish, and the remaining 19 percent of the population is Arab. Jerusalem is Israel's largest and most populated city, with 692,000 residents, of which 464,000 are Jewish and 228,000 are Arab. Haifa is Israel's third largest city with a population of 270,500. The city had a population of less than 100,000 in 1948.
Among the 14 largest cities in the country are several of the first communities built by Jews who immigrated in the 1880s. Rishon Letzion, the first such community, is Israel's fourth largest city today with over 200,000 residents. In 1948 it had a population of 11,000 residents.
Sixty-six percent of Israel's Jews were born in Israel, and 34 percent were born abroad. In contrast, in 1948, the figure
s were just the opposite, when just 35 percent of the Jewish population was native born.

 

Schwarzenegger to Visit Israel this Weekend to Promote New Tolerance Museum in Jerusalem
Thursday, April 29, 2004

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger will travel to Israel this weekend - his first foreign trip since taking office - to promote a "dialogue of tolerance" at a museum groundbreaking in Jerusalem, HA'ARETZ reported. Schwarzenegger, who has depicted Nazi atrocities as the darkest chapter in Jewish history, is expected to be in the country for about 24 hours to attend the ceremony for the Simon Wiesenthal Center museum and scout for business opportunities for California's ailing economy.
He also plans to meet with government leaders, including Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Minister of Finance Benjamin Netanyahu. In a speech earlier this month, Schwarzenegger called the upcoming visit "an extraordinary moment for me."
The museum, designed by architect Frank Gehry, is a project of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center and is expected to be completed in 2007. The museum is intended to promote unity and respect among Jews and with people of all faiths.

 

ECONOMY & HIGH-TECH

Weizmann Institute Develops New Computer That Identifies and Destroys Cancer
Thursday, April 29, 2004
Weizmann Institute scientists have developed a prototype biological computer that identifies and diagnoses cancerous cells and then releases medication to destroy them, HA'ARETZ reported. The research, whose results will be published in the upcoming issue of Nature magazine, was carried out by a team headed Professor Ehud Shapiro and composed of Dr. Rivka Adar and three graduate students, Yaakov Benenson, Binyamin Gil and Uri Ben-Dor.
The researchers first reported the development of their molecular computer, which is built of synthetic DNA and various enzymes, in November 2001. However, Shapiro said, that was "a toy computer that didn't know how to do anything medically or computationally significant. This time, we are demonstrating a real use that could have medical applications."
The computer makes its diagnoses by testing the concentration of mRNA molecules in the surrounding fluid, as changes in the quantity of mRNA often indicate the presence of cancerous cells. Once it detects the existence of a cancer, it performs additional tests to determine what kind of cancer is involved, and then releases the appropriate medication to cause the cancerous cells to self-destruct. It will take many years, perhaps even decades, of additional work before the computer is adapted to be able to function in a living environment, Shapiro said.
Click here for press release

 

SPORTS

Maccabi Tel Aviv Beats CSKA Moscow in Final Four Semifinal
Friday, April 30, 2004

Maccabi Tel Aviv, who defeated CSKA Moscow in the Euroleague Basketball Final Four Semifinal 93-85 on Thursday, will face Italy's Skipper Bologna at the tournament's final on Saturday night. HA'ARETZ reported. Playing in front of a sold out home crowd at the Nokia Arena, Maccabi Tel Aviv converted 12 offensive rebounds for 14 points and stole the ball 12 times from the Russian team. Anthony Parker was Maccabi's offensive leader, especially during the first half. He finished the game with 27 points, including a pair of alley-oop dunks in the third quarter that ignited the crowd. Despite being down in the first-half, Maccabi Tel Aviv controlled the second half by maintaining at least a five-point advantage starting late in the 3rd period.