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February 7 - 11, 2005
- ISRAEL & PALESTINIANS DECLARE CEASEFIRE
- Sharon and Abbas Declare End to Four Years of Hostilities
- Following Summit, Israel Starts Implementing Goodwill Gestures
- World Leaders React to Ceasefire Announcement
- Abbas Attempts to Convince Hamas and Islamic Jihad To Respect Ceasefire
- Jericho Will Be First City Transferred to PA Control
- SECURITY
- Female Suicide Bomber Arrested as Fear of Attacks Ahead of Summit Grows
- Barrage of Mortars and Qassams Hits Gaza Jewish Towns
- IDF Nabs Palestinian Planning Suicide Attack on Jerusalem Bus
- Yuval Diskin Named New ISA Head
- DIPLOMACY
- Rice: U.S. to Appoint "Security Coordinator"
- France Still Reluctant to Place Hezbollah on EU Terror List
- Canada Will Always Support Israel
- ECONOMY & HIGH-TECH
- Technion Raises $88m for New Nanotechnology Research Institute
- HOME
- Yad Vashem Honors Italian Citizen Who Rescued Jews During Holocaust
ISRAEL & PALESTINIANS DECLARE CEASEFIRE Sharon and Abbas Declare End to Four Years of Hostilities
Tuesday, February 8, 2005Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas announced today in Sharm al-Sheikh an agreement to end more than four years of hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians, HA'ARETZ reported. "Today, in my meeting with Chairman Abbas, we agreed that all Palestinians will stop all acts of violence against all Israelis everywhere, and, at the same time, Israel will cease all its military activity against all Palestinians everywhere," Sharon said, closing a day-long summit in the Red Sea resort town.
Sharon indicated that his plan to withdraw from Gaza could kick start the U.S.-backed road map peace plan, which provides steps towards Palestinian statehood but has been balked for almost two years.
"For the first time in a long time there is hope in our region for a better future for our children and our grandchildren. We have to proceed carefully. It is a very fragile opportunity. Only breaking the back of terror and violence will build peace," Sharon added.
[Full statement by PM Ariel Sharon at the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit]
For his part, Abbas declared that the PA and Israel had agreed "to cease all acts of violence."
"We have agreed with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to cease all acts of violence against the Israelis and the Palestinians wherever they are," he said in a statement at the completion of the summit. He added that peace meant the establishment of "a democratic Palestinian state alongside Israel." During their talks, Sharon invited Abbas to his ranch in the Negev desert, an offer which the Palestinian leader accepted. Sharon also extended invitations to visit Israel to the summit's host President Hosni Mubarak, and King Abdullah of Jordan. Both said that they would make the trip.
Meanwhile, reacting to the announcement of a cease-fire, the Hamas representative in Lebanon that his group would not be bound by the truce declarations. Complete HA'ARETZ coverage
Following Summit, Israel Starts Implementing Goodwill Gestures
Wednesday, February 9, 2005One day after the Sharm el-Sheikh summit between Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, senior Israel Defense Forces official confirmed an announcement by the Palestinian leader today that Israel had agreed to remove major roadblocks as part of its forthcoming withdrawal from five West Bank cities, HA'ARETZ reported. Israel is to hand over security control in the towns of Jericho, Tul Karm, Qalqilyah, Bethlehem and Ramallah in the coming weeks according to a timetable agreed upon at Tuesday's summit. Abbas indicated that Palestinian security forces would man the checkpoints after the IDF withdrawal.
Meanwhile, Israel reopened the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza today as one of several gestures meant to ease the lives of Palestinians. Some 1,000 Palestinian workers will be able to go through the crossing into Israel starting Thursday.
In other news, Egypt's ambassador will return to Israel in a week or 10 days, the Egyptian cabinet spokesman said today. Who the ambassador will be is yet to be determined. Jordan also announced after the summit that it would return its envoy to Israel without giving a specific date.
World Leaders React to Ceasefire Announcement
Wednesday, February 9, 2005U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday that the Sharm el-Sheikh summit was an important step forward, and that it stood as the best chance for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal to be reached in the next few years, Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reported. In a policy address in Paris, the U.S. secretary of state repeated that the job of the newly appointed U.S. security coordinator, Lt. Gen. William Ward, would not be to take the place of the Israelis and Palestinians, but to deal with security issues.
Reacting to the Sharm summit announcement, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw pointed out there was a new determination in the Middle East to achieve peace. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer hailed the ceasefire agreement, hoping it would mark the definite end to terrorism and violence and a return to the negotiating table.
After talks with President Moshe Katsav in Jerusalem on Tuesday, European Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero Waldner described the ceasefire declaration at the summit as a message of hope.
China applauded Egypt's efforts allowing the Israelis and Palestinians to meet.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmed Badawi of Malaysia, a Muslim country with no diplomatic relations with Israel, hoped a ceasefire would lead to lasting peace in the Middle East. Malaysia chairs the 57-member Islamic Conference Organization.
Abbas Attempts to Convince Hamas and Islamic Jihad To Respect Ceasefire
Friday, February 11, 2005Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas was scheduled to arrive in Gaza today to hold talks with terror leaders and request that their groups respect of the ceasefire brokered with Israel, HA'ARETZ reported. Abbas has vowed to take action against any future Palestinian ceasefire violations after Hamas terrorists fired more than 40 mortar shells and Qassam rockets at Gush Katif Jewish towns in the Gaza Strip Thursday.
Following the attacks, Abbas convened an emergency meeting of his Fatah party's central committee which announced a "general alert and state of emergency among the Palestinian security services and the Fatah movement to deal with the severe security violations, the attempts to undermine the Palestinian Authority's deterrent capabilities, and the attempts to undermine its international commitments."
Israel announced that it would refrain from any military response for now. Thursday's barrage of mortars and Qassams caused some damage but no injuries. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's adviser, Dov Weisglass, phoned PA Minister Saeb Erekat and explained that Israel viewed the attack "very gravely."
Jericho Will Be First City Transferred to PA Control
Friday, February 11, 2005Jericho will be the first city where Palestinian forces will gain full security control as part of the transfer process scheduled to begin some time next week, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Israel has promised to hand over the security control of five major West Bank cities within the framework of confidence-building measures toward Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. After Jericho, Palestinians will take control of Qalkilya and Tulkarm. Bethlehem and Ramallah will follow at a later stage.
Nablus, Jenin and Hebron - all considered major terror nests - would not be handed over to the Palestinians until a later date, security officials said. The Fatah Tanzim cells in Nablus and Jenin continue planning and launching attacks, while refurbishing the infrastructure damaged by Israel's military operations.
Because of the threats emanating from Nablus, an IDF blockade has remained in place. In Hebron, Hamas is considered the dominant terror force and the group continues its efforts to launch attacks, officials said.
Jericho's location and the fact that there has been no major terrorist activity in the city for some time has made it the most obvious choice to serve as the first test case, Israeli security officials said Thursday.
SECURITY Female Suicide Bomber Arrested as Fear of Attacks Ahead of Summit Grows
Monday, February 7, 2005Israel Defense Forces troops arrested today in the West Bank city of Jenin a female Islamic Jihad member suspected of intending to carry out a suicide bombing, HA'ARETZ reported. In a separate incident, IDF troops near Maccabim arrested Yousuf Kadakh, a Hamas member suspected of involvement in planning a terror attack.
Also today, Israeli and Palestinian security officials expressed concern that terrorists groups would attempt to assassinate Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in order to undermine Tuesday's Sharm al-Sheikh summit. Palestinians have also warned that Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement has been offering more money to Palestinians who would carry out attacks in the territories, especially in the Gaza Strip. Hezbollah is prepared to pay up to $20,000 per month to Palestinians who recruit terrorists, compared to $1,000 in previous years.
In other news, the Israel Defense Forces reopened the Karni cargo crossing into the Gaza Strip this morning. The crossing, Gaza's lifeline, was closed down on January 13 after Palestinian terrorists staged a large-scale attack there, killing six Israelis.
Barrage of Mortars and Qassams Hits Gaza Jewish Towns
Thursday, February 10, 2005At least twenty-five mortar shells and Qassam rockets have landed on Gaza Strip Jewish communities since 2:00 am today, hitting towns in Gush Katif, southern Gaza, and northern Gaza, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. An estimated total of 38 Qassam rockets and mortar shells have been fired at Jewish towns, 13 of which apparently exploded in Palestinian areas. No injuries have so far been reported, but damage was caused to one building and to the electrical system in one of the communities.
Hamas claimed responsibility for the attacks which emanated from western Khan Yunis, which is not far from Neveh Dekalim.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has reportedly ordered his security forces to take the necessary actions to preserve the announced cease-fire. Head of the Israel Defense Forces' Southern Command, Dan Harel, was expected to meet this evening with the commander of PA security forces in the Gaza Strip to demand an end to the Palestinian attacks.
Meanwhile, Palestinian sources revealed that Abbas had fired his top Gaza security commanders and two other senior commanders over the failure to rein in the terrorist elements.
Sources in the Israel Security Agency expressed no surprise at the escalation in violence, noting that Hamas had explicitly refused to recognize the cease-fire brokered by Abbas.
The number of terror threats today, mainly emanating from the Gaza Strip, reached an average of close to 60.
IDF Nabs Palestinian Planning Suicide Attack on Jerusalem Bus
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Israel Defense Forces soldiers operating in Nablus this afternoon arrested a Palestinian man planning a suicide bus bombing attack in Jerusalem's French Hill section in the near future, HA'ARETZ reported. This morning, IDF soldiers arrested two Fatah members who led the troops to an armed explosive device they had planted in the Nablus area.
Also today, IDF troops killed a Palestinian car thief who attempted to run a roadblock north of Ramallah.
According to Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, a Hamas member was killed on Wednesday in a blast apparently caused by the premature explosion of a bomb in Gaza. Hamas officials termed the death a "work accident."
Yuval Diskin Named New ISA Head
Thursday, February 10, 2005
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon named Yuval Diskin the next head of the Israel Security Agency (aka Shin Bet) this morning, in replacement of Avi Dichter whose tenure at the head of the internal security organization comes to an end in May, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Diskin, 49, is said to have been the driving force behind perfecting the policy of "preemptive strikes" against terrorists during the past few years of the conflict with the Palestinians.
"Diskin is a philosopher, but he is also a fighter. He's got a great sense of balance between cloak and dagger, so he was the best choice," said a source close to Sharon.
"It's an excellent choice," said Ya'akov Perry, a former ISA head. "He has gone through all the stages of the organization's hierarchy from a young field officer to staff commander. I wouldn't say his rise was meteoric."
A source in the Prime Minister's Office, said, "Diskin worked together very closely with his IDF counterpart [Maj.-Gen. Gaby] Ashkenazy and then IAF chief [Maj.-Gen. Dan] Halutz to create an interoperability for a more efficient and accurate interception of terrorists. They had to break down numerous bureaucratic obstacles and enhance communications between the various security arms and did an excellent job."
DIPLOMACY Rice: U.S. to Appoint "Security Coordinator"
Monday, February 7, 2005U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice vowed active U.S. involvement in Middle East peace-making, saying Washington would dispatch a high-level "security coordinator" to the region and send more than $40 million in immediate aid to the Palestinians, HA'ARETZ reported. Speaking ahead of her departure from Ben-Gurion International Airport in Israel today, Rice said General William E. Ward had been chosen for the job of security coordinator. She said Ward would visit the region in the coming weeks, and would supervise, among other things, reform of the Palestinian security forces.
Rice, who met today with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, said the most important need was to establish security. "Ward's mandate is on security, which really has to be established," she said.
Rice revealed that Abbas and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had accepted invitations for separate meetings with U.S. President George W. Bush at the White House in the spring.
On Sunday, the U.S. Secretary of State met with Sharon, President Moshe Katsav and Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom. "We did talk about the need to make sure that both obligations are carried out concerning settlements and outposts," she said of her talks with Israeli leaders. "[If] it looks as if there is somehow continued effort to create facts on the ground, then we do not support that," she added.
Rice said Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and four northern West Bank settlements this summer should be seen as a major breakthrough. "I just can't emphasize enough how historic a decision that is, how fundamental a decision that is, that with all of the going back and forth that we've done over the last 30 plus years, the return of territory is a major step forward," she said of the planned pullback.
France Still Reluctant to Place Hezbollah on EU Terror List
Tuesday, February 8, 2005French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, who is on an official visit in Israel, failed to guarantee that France would help place Hezbollah on the European Union's list of terror organizations, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Both Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom and Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres warned Barnier in separate meetings about Hezbollah's attempts to thwart Israeli-Palestinian progress. "Just as Hezbollah destroyed Lebanon, it is also trying in any way possible, including the use of extremist Palestinian elements, to destroy Israel as a Jewish state," Peres explained.
Shalom recalled that France supported UN Security Council resolution 1559 calling for militias in Lebanon to be dismantled, arguing that Hezbollah is one of those militias.
Israel has been claiming for weeks that the Hezbollah has been trying its utmost to undermine Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and carry out terror attacks in Israel in an attempt to thwart Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. Security officials in recent days have warned both of a Hezbollah attempt to assassinate Abbas and to carry out a major terrorist attack prior to today's summit in Sharm al-Sheikh.
One diplomatic source said that Barnier listened to the arguments, but repeated France's traditional line that Hezbollah had a parliamentary faction inside Lebanon. Barnier remained non-committal regarding a possible change in France's position on the issue.
Meanwhile, Shalom praised France for recently banning broadcasts by Hezbollah's satellite TV channel al-Manar, which was using a Paris-based satellite operator.
Canada Will Always Support Israel
Wednesday, February 9, 2005"Canada will never, ever waver in its support for Israel," Canada's Foreign Minister Pierre Pettigrew said while on his first visit to Israel, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Addressing a gala gathering of the Israel-Canada Chamber of Commerce in Tel Aviv on Monday, Pettigrew said that relations between Israel and Canada were rock solid and that his country held strong beliefs in Israel's right to defend itself.
Canada also believes firmly in the need to find a just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, said Pettigrew, who spoke in both French and English. Pettigrew did not allow recent positive developments to create a false aura of euphoria. "Despite the positive events of the past few weeks, I know we need to be cautious," he said. "We cannot let vague hopes obscure stark realities. A week or two or even a month or two of calm and absence of terror attacks does not make a peace process. But it can be a beginning. The fact is that things have changed."
Declaring that Canada also wanted to be an active partner for peace, Pettigrew announced that he was sending a fact-finding mission that would meet with Palestinians and Israelis to learn how and where Canada could best assist.
ECONOMY & HIGH-TECH Technion Raises $88m for New Nanotechnology Research Institute
Monday, February 7, 2005
The Technion - Israel Institute of Technology has announced that it will found a nanotechnology research institute with donations totaling $88 million, GLOBES reported. Among the biggest donors are the New Jersey-based Russell Berrie Foundation which donated $26 million, and the Israeli government, which contributed $26 million. The Technion will raise an additional $26 million over the next five years from donors who are members of Technion friendship societies around the world.
Prof. Uri Sivan, one of the world's best-known nanotechnology researchers, will head the new center, which will be one of the largest in the world. "The Technion's status as a major world leader in this field significantly influenced our decision," said Russel Berrie Foundation president Angelica Berrie, who visited Israel for the announcement of the center. "Existing developments in nanotechnology can offer hope to people around the world, and suit our missions support in activities that can significantly and positively influence the lives of others."
Nanotechnology is already responsible for the development of many products, including medical diagnostic equipment and new light sources, which have extensive commercial and military applications. Possible future nanotechnology applications include smaller and faster computers; lightweight materials many times stronger than steel; nanotechnology robots that can travel in the human bloodstream and treat diseases; and materials that can filter microbes, viruses, and toxins from water.
HOME Yad Vashem Honors Italian Citizen Who Rescued Jews During Holocaust
Friday, February 11, 2005Giovanni Palatucci, an Italian who rescued hundreds of Jews from the Nazis and perished in Dachau after getting caught by the Gestapo, was posthumously honored at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum on Thursday, Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reported. Minister of Public Security Gideon Ezra attended the ceremony during which Palatucci was named a Righteous Among the Nations. Also present at the ceremony were the Italian Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu and Italy's ambassador to Israel, Sando de Bernardin.
Palatucci served as a commissioner for foreigners in the northern Italian town of Fiume - now part of Croatia - and worked to prevent implementation of Mussolini's racial laws. He foiled German plans to deport Jews in 1939 by issuing them permits to remain in Italy, and providing them with food, shelter and money.
Giovanni Palatucci was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to Dachau where he died a month before his 36th birthday.
