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March 21 - 25, 2005
- TRANSFER OF WEST BANK TOWNS TO PA
- PA Assumes Security Control Over Tul Karm
- Transfer of Qalqilyah Delayed Until PA Takes Action Against Terrorists
- SECURITY
- Jordanian King Abdullah: Syria, Hezbollah Promote Terror against Israel
- Israeli Arab Was Involved in Planning Stage Nightclub Attack in Tel Aviv
- DIPLOMACY
- Bush to Reiterate Commitment to Staged Peace Process
- Arab Leaders Ignore Daring Jordanian Peace Plan
- Arab League Concludes Summit by Re-launching 2002 Saudi Mideast Peace Initiative
- Russian President Putin to Visit Israel in April
- Israel and Chad to Renew Diplomatic Relations after 33 Years
- HOME
- Cabinet Approves Additional Health Funds
- Hadassah Supporters Dedicate $50m ER in Jerusalem
- Knesset Law Committee Passes Referendum Bill
- Knesset Passes Law Honoring Zionist Forefather Jabotinsky
- Thousands Celebrate Purim
- CULTURE
- 20 Israeli Documentary Films Showcased in New York
TRANSFER OF WEST BANK TOWNS TO PA PA Assumes Security Control Over Tul Karm
Tuesday, March 22, 2005Israel handed over security responsibility for the West Bank town of Tul Karm to the Palestinian Authority on Monday night, HA'ARETZ reported. Last week, the Palestinian Authority assumed security control in Jericho. Talks on the handover of a third West Bank city, presumably Qalqilyah, are expected to begin in the coming days.
Israel Defense Forces and Palestinian commanders formalized the Tul Karm handover this morning, ceremonially unlocking a gate that had blocked traffic between the town and other locations in the West Bank. The gate is to be removed at a later point.
Under the terms of the agreement reached between Israel and the PA, the IDF will avoid entering the town.
Meanwhile, the head of the research division of Israel Defense Forces intelligence, Brigadier General Yossi Kuperwasser, told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee today that the PA security forces were now foiling just as many terror attacks as Israel was. Full article
Transfer of Qalqilyah Delayed Until PA Takes Action Against Terrorists
Friday, March 25, 2005Israel is delaying the transfer of security responsibility over Qalqilyah to the Palestinian Authority because the latter is not upholding its commitments to fight terror in the two towns it was already handed over, Jericho and Tul Karm, HA'ARETZ reported. Israeli defense officials indicated the PA had yet to take action against wanted individuals in these two transferred towns.
Israel has compiled a list of 17 members of terror organizations that it wants to see arrested in Jericho. Its list for Tul Karm includes a few dozen names.
Under the handover agreement brokered with Israel, the PA agreed to collect the wanted men's weapons, monitor their activities and prevent them from leaving the towns. Senior members of the defense establishment charged that although 10 days had passed since the handover of Jericho, the PA had not lifted a finger with regard to the wanted men. Nothing had been done in Tul Karm either, the defense officials noted. Full article
SECURITY Jordanian King Abdullah: Syria, Hezbollah Promote Terror against Israel
Wednesday, March 23, 2005Jordan's King Abdullah warned Tuesday that Syria and Hezbollah were encouraging Palestinian terror factions to carry out attacks against Israel, HA'ARETZ reported. The Jordanian monarch made the comment in a meeting in Washington with representatives of leading Jewish organizations where he also explained that by staging attacks against Israel, the two were trying to divert attention from the situation in Lebanon and Syria. Abdullah also said Iran, Syria and Hezbollah were the greatest threats to stability in the Middle East.
Attending the meeting were representatives of U.S. Jewish groups, including the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, B'nai B'rith, American Jewish Congress, the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, Americans for Peace Now and the Jewish Council on Public Affairs. Full article
Israeli Arab Was Involved in Planning Stage Nightclub Attack in Tel Aviv
Thursday, March 24, 2005Details released today by Israel's security services revealed that Ashraf Kasi, a 26-year-old Israeli Arab, was actively involved in the suicide bombing attack at the Stage nightclub in Tel Aviv on February 25 in which 5 Israelis were killed, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Kasi, who is from Bakka al Gharbiya, transported the suicide bomber who blew himself up, and he was instrumental in finding the location where the attack took place, officials announced today. He was in touch with senior Islamic Jihad official Nidal Abu Sa'ada of Ilar, based north of Tulkarm, who was one of the key planners of the attack.
The suicide bomber, Abdullah Badran, 21, was a resident of a West Bank town near Tulkarm. Dressed as a "clubber," he waited to reach the front of the line to get inside the premises to detonate a nail-packed explosive device. Full article
DIPLOMACY Bush to Reiterate Commitment to Staged Peace Process
Monday, March 21, 2005Senior Israeli officials predicted Sunday that U.S. President George W. Bush would reiterate his commitment to the staged Israeli-Palestinian peace process laid out in the road map peace plan during his planned April meeting with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, HA'ARETZ reported. The officials also believe Bush will express support for Sharon's opposition to any "shortcuts" that involve leaping over the interim stages and proceeding straight to final-status negotiations.
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas, in contrast, wants to skip the second stage of the road map, which calls for establishing a Palestinian state with temporary borders, and go straight to final-status talks.
Sharon and Bush will also discuss details of a U.S. aid package for the disengagement, which is expected to include money for removing Israel Defense Forces bases from Gaza, developing the Negev and the Galilee, and building modern border crossings between Israel and the PA.
Two American officials will visit Israel and the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday to set the groundwork for next month's Washington visits by Sharon and Abbas. Full article
Arab Leaders Ignore Daring Jordanian Peace Plan
Tuesday, March 22, 2005Arab leaders meeting in Algiers today did not call for a normalization of ties with Israel before territorial issues are settled, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Ahead of the Arab league summit, the leaders had rejected a Jordanian proposal calling for normalizing ties with Israel before it returns Gaza and the West Bank to the Palestinians.
Dismissing the possibility of a dramatic change in the Arabs' peace strategy, League Secretary-General Amr Moussa, an Egyptian diplomat, said today that Israel expected "the Arabs will make concessions and even normalize without anything real in return."
Meanwhile, Arab League leaders are largely avoiding the issues of Lebanon and democratic reform.
Full article
Arab League Concludes Summit by Re-launching 2002 Saudi Mideast Peace Initiative
Wednesday, March 23, 2005Arab leaders re-launched today a 2002 Saudi peace initiative offering Israel normal relations in return for the withdrawal to the 1967 borders, HA'ARETZ reported. A communiqué read out at the final session of the Arab League summit in Algiers by the organization's secretary general, Amr Moussa, said peace was the Arabs' "strategic option" to settle the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The communiqué also spelt out the traditional Arab conditions for a comprehensive peace, including "the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital" and "a just solution to the problem of Palestinian refugees based on UN General Assembly resolution 194 of 1948."
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said the reference to peace as a strategic option was positive, but he regretted the summit had not proposed dialogue. "From our first reading, it would appear that not much is new," Regev said. "We are disappointed that nothing was done to put substance behind that statement [on strategic option]." Full article
Russian President Putin to Visit Israel in April
Wednesday, March 23, 2005Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to pay a historic visit to Israel in April, the first by a Russian president in office, YNET reported. The announcement of the visit comes in the wake of tensions between Israel and Russia over news that Moscow had sold advanced anti-aircraft missiles to Syria.
Putin has been invited by Israeli leaders numerous times, and finally accepted President Moshe Katsav's invitation earlier this year. During the visit, the Russian president will meet Katzav, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Vice Premier Shimon Peres and Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom.
The Russian president is scheduled arrive on April 27 and will spend two days in Israel. He is expected to tour the country and meet with Russian immigrants.
This is Putin's third visit to Israel, but his first as a Russian leader. He visited Israel in 1996 and 1997 in the early days of his political career. Full article
Israel and Chad to Renew Diplomatic Relations after 33 Years
Friday, March 25, 2005Israel and Chad, a Muslim country in the Sahara region of Africa, are working to renew their diplomatic relations cut some 33 years ago, HA'ARETZ reported. Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom was to meet with Chad's President Idriss Deby on Tuesday, but the latter cancelled at the last minute and decided to reschedule the meeting in several weeks. Chad also proposed sending a delegation to Israel.
Israeli businessman David Kimche, former director general of the Foreign Ministry and once deputy director of the Mossad, mediated the contact between Israel and Chad. Kimche now works as a representative of the Scandinavian Milcom cellular company that is seeking to operate in Chad.
Full article
HOME Cabinet Approves Additional Health Funds
Monday, March 21, 2005The cabinet unanimously approved today Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's suggestion for a supplement of NIS 150 million to the health basket, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Speaking to reporters at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting, Sharon said, "After I heard the position of the health minister and the finance minister, I have decided to recommend that the government approve an additional NIS 150 million to the already approved supplement of NIS 200 million to the health basket." According to the prime minister, "It is the largest ever sum of money added to the health basket." Full article
Hadassah Supporters Dedicate $50m ER in Jerusalem
Tuesday, March 22, 2005The largest fund-raisers' mission in the 93-year history of Hadassah Women's Zionist Organization of America is in Israel to celebrate the official opening of the new $50 million emergency department at Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem's Ein Kerem, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. The Hadassah Medical Organization - composed of the medical centers in Ein Kerem and on Mount Scopus - has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize this year by senior government officials and academics in four countries.
"We have built bridges of peace among all the people who enter our institution," said June Walker, national president of Hadassah, at a reception at Beit Hanassi on Sunday. The 700-member mission, representing the largest Jewish organization in the world, will be in Israel for a week and tour the hospitals and other sites around the country. Full article
Knesset Law Committee Passes Referendum Bill
Wednesday, March 23, 2005The Knesset Law Committee voted today in favor of presenting to the Knesset plenum a bill allowing the holding of a national referendum on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's disengagement plan, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Should the Knesset pass the bill, it would lay the groundwork for the specific legislation on a national referendum on whether to approve the Knesset decision to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria.
The bill is due to be presented to the plenum in first reading on Monday. According to the draft, if the government decides to relinquish territory where Israeli law applies or where Israel exerts its control, it will have to receive Knesset approval. If the Knesset approves the government's decision, it may decide, by passing a law, that all or part of the decision in question be put to a vote in a national referendum. Full article
Knesset Passes Law Honoring Zionist Forefather Jabotinsky
Thursday, March 24, 2005The Knesset approved the Zeev Jabotinsky Law Wednesday with an aim "to endow future generations with Jabotinsky's vision and legacy, to commemorate his memory and to educate future generations with Zionist goals and visions," YNET reported. Knesset member and law initiator Ronnie Bar-On (Likud) said the law had been created because Jabotinsky was considered one of the great forefathers of Zionism who had dedicated his life to establishing a Jewish State in Israel.
Jabotinsky was a Zionist philosopher, author and journalist, who founded and lead the Revisionist movement.
"He left an impression on Zionism and on the country's identity in the same spirit as the country's visionary Binyamin Zeev Herzl," Bar-On said. "Jabotinsky's vision laid down the foundations for a liberal and modern country based on democratic values and concern for fellow-man and minorities."
Zeev Jabotinsky Day will be celebrated on an annual basis with educational activities in schools, the IDF and public institutions. A public council will also be established to plan and recommend to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ways to execute the law. Full article
Thousands Celebrate Purim
Friday, March 25, 2005Thousands of people hit the streets of towns all over Israel today to celebrate the Purim holiday, YNET reported. According to estimates, about 200,000 people took advantage of the perfect weather to participate in the traditional "Adloyada" parade in Holon, and an additional 50,000 showed up for festivities on Dizengoff Street in downtown Tel Aviv. The Holon parade featured approximately 5000 participants, including music, acrobats, gymnasts and dancers.
Minister of Interior Ophir Pines officiated at the ceremonies conducted this year under the banner "Israeli children's stories". Representatives of Japan and Estonia also participated in the 13th Adloyada in the city. All events took place under heavy police presence, and no incident was reported. Full article
CULTURE 20 Israeli Documentary Films Showcased in New York
Tuesday, March 22, 2005A series of Israeli documentaries will be screened at the Pioneer Theatre in New York's East Village starting late March, in honor of the New Israel Foundation for Cinema and Television, YNET reported. The event, titled Homeland Insecurity, is scheduled to run from March 31 through April 12, and will showcase 20 Israeli documentary films produced with the foundation's support.
The event will also host panels with film directors and producers, including Michal Boganim, Anat Halachmi, Ada Ushpiz, Suha Araaf and Dan Geva.
David Fisher, who heads the foundation, said the invitation from one of New York's alternative movie theatres stems from the success of Israeli documentary film. "We believe the documentaries do not bend before anyone and they dare to repeatedly question the limits of the genre," he said.
Full article
