News and Media - Israeli Consulate, SF - Week in Review - January 26

SECURITY

Large Terror Attack Thwarted in Tel Aviv
Monday, January 26, 2004

Security forces succeeded in thwarting a large suicide bomb attack in the heart of Tel-Aviv last week, MA'ARIV reported. The terrorist, Ahmed Ashkar, 18 from the Askar refugee camp near Nablus, was arrested last Wednesday. During the course of his interrogation he admitted that he had intended to carry out a suicide bomb attack and that he had been drafted for that purpose by the head of the Fatah Tanzim in Nablus, Hashem Abu Hamdan from the Balata refugee camp.
Ashkar said that on Tuesday he and other activists drove toward Tel-Aviv, and that while in the Bidia area close to the security fence, they noticed an Israel Defense Forces patrol. For fear of getting caught, they decided to throw the explosive device out into a field before heading back to the refugee camp. The explosive device was discovered on Sunday, planted in a home computer screen near the village of Isawia, close to the Jewish community of Elkana.
According to reports released today by the security establishment, security forces are responding to about 50 terror alerts.

At Least 10 Killed, 50 Wounded in Jerusalem Suicide Bombing
Thursday, January 29, 2004

Ten people were killed and at least 50 wounded in a suicide bombing on a bus packed with passengers in central Jerusalem, shortly before 9 A.M. today, HA'ARETZ reported. The blast took place on Egged bus No. 19, on the corners of Arlozorov and Gaza streets, very close to the official residence of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who was not in the building at the time. The site of the explosion is also close to the Moment Cafe, where 13 people were killed in a March 2002 suicide bombing.
Magen David Adom said that 10 people were in serious condition, 15 had moderate wounds and the rest sustained light injuries. All of the wounded were taken to hospitals in the Jerusalem area.
"It was like a pastoral scene - the sun was shining and it was serene outside - but the bus was a nightmare. Bodies were sitting in their chairs, burnt, motionless," witness Drora Resnick said.
Arafat's Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades claimed responsibility for the attack with Palestinian sources naming the bomber as Ali Yusuf Jaara, a 24-year-old policeman from Bethlehem.
The previous suicide bombing in the capital took place on September 9, 2003, when seven people were killed and dozens wounded in suicide bombing at the popular Cafe Hillel on Emek Refaim Street.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's advisor Rannan Gissin said that the terror attack showed why Israel was building a security barrier. "The whole world needs to sit back and let us do what we need to do to defend ourselves", he said.
Following news of today's terror attack in Jerusalem, Sharon and Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom cancelled a trilateral meeting with European Union and Palestinian officials that was due to address measures to ease the Palestinians' situation.
Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz was set to convene a meeting of security officials in Tel Aviv this afternoon to discuss Israel's military response to the bus bombing.
A video clip of the bombing is available online. Be aware that the images from the following movie are of a graphic nature: low bandwidth/ broadband / download

Prisoner Swap Completed as Scheduled
Thursday, January 29, 2004

The exchange of prisoners between Israel and Hezbollah enfolded as scheduled today, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. The exchange of prisoners at Israeli checkpoints has been completed, after 3 Israeli soldiers abducted by Hezbollah were identified in Cologne, Germany by Israeli security and forensic officials. Planes from Israel and Lebanon arrived in Cologne this morning carrying Elhanan Tannenbaum, the bodies of Omer Sawayid, Benny Avraham and Adi Avitan from Beirut, and 29 non-Palestinian prisoners from Israel, including Mustafa Dirani and Sheikh Abed el Karim Obeid.
All of these handovers, swaps, and drop-offs, were monitored by officials belonging to the office of German mediator Ernst Uhrlau. Tannenbaum was immediately taken by security officials for investigations and medical examination before being flown to Israel.
In Israel, 60 bodies of Lebanese combatants crossed the border in 8 trucks into Lebanon from Rosh Hanikra.
From 6 this morning, nearly 400 Palestinian prisoners were taken by buses to military bases near the roadblocks where they waited till authorities received the go-ahead from Germany to release them after the identification process of the soldiers' bodies had been finalized.
"We are releasing another 400 Palestinians with a very heavy heart, because we know that these 400 will return very quickly to the cycle of violence," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Jonathan Peled said.
Meanwhile, in a surprising interview on Al Manar, Hizbullah's main TV channel, aired just hours before he was slated to fly to Germany for the prisoner exchange, Tannenbaum claimed that he had ventured to Lebanon, "in order to gather information on Ron Arad." Government sources in Jerusalem assessed that the tape was no more than a tool of psychological warfare. The truth will come out only after we interrogate him, the sources said.

3 Kidnapped Soldiers - Avitan, Avraham and Sawayid - Declared Deceased
Thursday, January 29, 2004

The three soldiers kidnapped by the Hezbollah from Mount Dov three years ago are deceased, the JERUSALEM POST reported. Israel Defense Forces generals relayed this news to the families of the dead soldiers today. The bodies of St.-Sgt. Adi Avitan, St.-Sgt. Omar Sawayid, and St.-Sgt. Benny Avraham are being flown from Germany to Israel for burial today.
Adi Avitan's father, Yaakov Avitan, told Army Radio:" We never gave up. Not even when the army pronounced our sons dead. And the army helped us along the whole way. I can only commend the IDF, which was an anchor in our lives and helped us achieve anything we needed." Benny's father, Haim Avraham, said that he intended to sue Hezbollah, its leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, and the Red Cross organization for their part in the death of his son. "The next step is the legal one," he told Army Radio. "The UN is also responsible for their kidnap. There is a price for this, and we are going to claim it," he said. The army will conduct a ceremony for the falled soldiers at 9pm today.

Israel Remembers the Victim of Jerusalem's Bus Bombing
Friday, January 30, 2004

Four of the ten victims from Thursday's suicide attack in Jerusalem were buried today, HA'ARETZ reported. All were residents of the capital. Their names are: Rose Bona, 39; Avraham (Albert) Balhasan, 28; Chana Anya Bunder, 38, and Baruch Hundiashvilli, 38. Three of the victims were buried in Jerusalem on Thursday. Their names are: Yechezkel Goldberg, 41, from Betar Ilit, and Jerusalemites Dana Itah, 24, and Eli Zfira, 48. No times have been announced yet for the funerals of Anat Darom, 23; Natalia Gamril, 53, and Octavian Floresco Viorel, 41; all from Jerusalem.
Twenty-five people hurt in the bombing are still in four Jerusalem hospitals; eleven of them remain in serious condition.
Eli Zfira took the bus every morning before 7 A.M. from his home in Jerusalem's Gonen quarter to the experimental school in the center of the city, where he worked as a maintenance man. On Thurdsay morning he took his wife Iris for a medical checkup. When she heard of the bus bombing, Iris was sure her husband was on it. A few hours later she identified his body.
Yechezkel Goldberg, who immigrated to Israel from Canada eight years ago, was taking the number 19 bus to his job as a social worker in downtown Jerusalem. He worked primarily with troubled youth, both in Jerusalem and in his hometown of Betar Ilit. Goldberg was laid to rest in Jerusalem's Har Hamenuhot cemetery. He is survived by his wife and seven children, aged 1 to 16.
Chana Anya Bunder was to celebrate her 38th birthday, which took place two days ago, with family and friends today. Bunder's funeral took place at Jerusalem's Givat Shaul cemetery this morning. Bunder took the bus every day from her home in Rehavia to the Public Works Department, where she worked for the past six and a half years. She is survived by her two children, Shimon, 15, and Nehama, 14, and by her parents and a sister.
Natalia Gamril was on her way to her job taking care of an elderly woman when the bomb ended her life. She came to Israel from St. Petersburg in 1993, with her only daughter Svetlana, who now works as a teacher. The mother and daughter lived together in Kiryat Yovel. Her only other relative is her twin sister, who was due to arrive late Thursday night on a flight from Russia for the funeral, which has not yet been scheduled.
Octavian Viorel immigrated to Israel three years ago from Romania with his wife, Sandra, and their daughter, now aged 5. He worked in the meat department of the Co-Op supermarket in Mevasseret Zion. On Thursday, as always, he took their daughter to kindergarten. Then he boarded the number 19 bus en route to the family's bank on Agron Street. "Octavian was a super person, a good man and a good husband," said his wife.
Dana Itah, 24, rode either Bus 19 or 31 from her apartment in the Katamonim quarter to work at the Medal Company near Gaza Road every morning. On Thursday, Bus 19 came first. Itah was one station away from her destination when the bomb went off. Dana had dreamed of raising a family with her husband, Eilon, whom she married a year and a half ago. Her relatives described her as gentle, patient and calm.
Rose Bona, 39, took Bus 19 every day to work at the Clalit health maintenance organization's blood laboratory. She was born in Jeruslem and lived there all her life. Bona left home and boarded the bus a few minutes after 8:30 A.M. Her last conversation was with her younger sister, Joya, who called her on her cellphone before she caught the bus. Bona will be buried today at the Givat Shaul cemetery, at 10:30 A.M.
Each morning, Baruch Hundiashvilli took his children to the nursery school near his Kiryat Yovel apartment, on his way to the nearby bus station. When his wife, Ester, heard of the bombing on the radio, she knew something bad had happened. She called his office, then went out to look for him on Gaza Road. "I kept hoping, to the end," she said. "There never was, and never will be a husband, father and son like Baruch." Hundiashvilli immigrated from Georgia at the age of 6 and was a chef in Jerusalem's Great Synagogue.
Avraham Balhasan immigrated to Israel from France three years ago and was studying at a yeshiva in Jerusalem. After moving here, he met his wife, Esther, who had immigrated three years earlier. Four months ago, Balhasan's mother, Sylvia, also immigrated from France. On Thursday, their apartment was filled with friends and neighbors - many of them also recent immigrants from France - who had come to comfort the bereaved wife and mother. The Jewish Agency will be flying other relatives still living in France to Israel for the funeral.

DIPLOMACY

Australia: Security Fence Is Israel's Means to Contain Terror
Tuesday, January 27, 2004

Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, who arrived in Israel for a visit two days ago, backed Israel's decision to build the security fence explaining it was a necessary measure to protect Israeli citizens from unabated Palestinian terrorism, MA'ARIV reported. The Australian minister blasted the Palestinian Authority and Yasser Arafat for not doing more to stop terror, saying," the PA has to do more to stop terrorists from crossing into Israel to blow up buses and restaurants".
Palestinian inactions justify the building the fence, Downer said. "The Israelis have the right to defend themselves and the fence is a means. The government has no alternative."Downer will not meet Arafat during his visit.
Downer declared that Australia would support Israel in the matter of the fence at the court in Hague. "We plan to submit a deposition to the court where we will say that in our opinion the matter of the fence is not a matter that should be discussed by the international court," he said. "It is a political ploy by the Palestinians that is stopping the process and the international court should not interfere in a political issue".
"Australia has good relations with Israel, we like Israel, and we always wish Israel well in the difficult environment it is in," Downer said.

U.S. Supports Israel at The Hague
Wednesday, January 28, 2004

The United States will inform the International Court of Justice at The Hague that it opposes the hearings on the legality of Israel's security fence, a U.S. administration official said Tuesday, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. The U.S. advisory opinion will be submitted before this Friday's deadline. This follows Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer's announcement, made in Israel on Monday, that his country would similarly support Israel at The Hague.
The Bush administration, fearing next month's forum could next month simply serve as an Israel-bashing event, is asking other countries to submit similar letters to the ICJ. Like Israel, the United States fears the dangerous precedent that could be set by this case, which politicizes the court. The court begins deliberations on February 23.
The United States has described the UN General Assembly's request for a hearing at the ICJ as "ill-advised" and has said the court proceedings would "undermine rather than encourage direct negotiations between the parties to resolve those differences."

UK Objects to International Court Hearing on Security Fence
Friday, January 30, 2004

The British government has lodged an official objection in the International Court of Justice to the hearing set for February 23 regarding the legality of the terror-prevention fence, HA'ARETZ reported. The British objection states that the hearing would "only serve to politicize the court in a way for which it was not designed." The British Foreign Office said Thursday: "Our concerns relate to the role of the court, not the legality of the route of the fence."
Israel today has formally challenged the International Court of Justice's right to rule on the legality of the West Bank security fence. "We believe that the court should not and cannot deal with this political issue, which has to be dealt with by direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians," a Foreign Ministry official said after Israel filed its affidavit.

ECONOMY & HI-TECH

Foreign Investment in Israel Surges
Tuesday, January 27, 2004

Foreign investment in Israel surged 36 percent to $4.87 billion in 2003, compared with $3.308 billion in 2002, GLOBES reported. Direct investment totaled $3.56 billion in 2003, compared with the $1.6 billion in 2002. Investment in negotiable securities rose 2.8-fold to $2.25 billion. Foreign investment in the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE) rose over 730 percent to $354 million in 2003 from $48 million in 2002.

Israeli Satellite to Explore the Moon
Wednesday, January 28, 2004

Israel and India will cooperate in launching a satellite to orbit the moon, thus joining the exclusive club of space powers exploring the moon, MA'ARIV reported. Minister of Science Modi Zandberg said that India had initiated the project last December. "India is planning to launch its first satellite ever to the moon, in 2008," Zandberg explained. "It proposed that we participate in the project, and that we be partners in launching [the satellite] and in exploring the moon."
When Zandberg told Prime Minister Ariel Sharon about the proposal, the latter reacted with enthusiasm. "The Prime Minister gave me his go-ahead, and asked that I present him with detailed plans", Zandberg said. He added that the Finance Ministry had also expressed its willingness to allocate funds to the project. In addition, the Science Ministry has turned to the space industry in Israel and to academic research institutions with a request for research ideas.

SOCIETY

Mazuz Becomes New Attorney General
Monday, January 26, 2004

The cabinet approved on Sunday the appointment of Menachem Mazuz as Israel's new attorney general, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Mazuz, who graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's Law Faculty with honors, started his career of public service in law in 1979. Before his appointment as deputy attorney general a decade ago, he served as legal adviser to peace negotiations with the Palestinian Authority and Jordan between 1991-1995.
Twenty ministers voted in favor of appointing Mazuz, who was Lapid's recommended choice, with only Tourism Minister Benny Elon abstaining. As expected, both Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Minister of Industry, Trade, and Labor Ehud Olmert - who both face possible indictments in the "Greek Island Affair" - did not participate in the vote, due to possible conflict of interests.
Mazuz has given no indication as to which way he would lean in either of two high profile political scandals involving the Sharon family. "I am aware of the fact that I have perhaps not spoken on the issue which is of most interest to the public, but I suppose that it is clear to everybody that I cannot talk about this subject until I have studied it," Mazuz said.
"I can only say that after a review of the file is complete, a decision will be made on the matter without unnecessary delay, but with all the required caution."

First Female Combat Pilot to Instruct Air Force Academy
Tuesday, January 27, 2004

The first female combat pilot in the history of the Israeli Air Force will soon become the first female flight instructor in the Air Force flight academy, MA'ARIV reported. Roni, 23-years-old, became a fighter pilot two and a half years ago and will officially be certified as a full-fledged flight instructor in a few months.
Training the next generation of air force pilots in the flight academy is a job reserved for Israel's most outstanding pilots. One military official said, "the role of instructor is reserved for the very best pilots, and Roni certainly meets the standards. She is truly an outstanding pilot who has already successfully pushed many limits, and there is no doubt she will succeed in the next job."
In the meantime, Roni will continue flying as a combat pilot.
Roni personally received her flying wings from Air Force commander Maj.-Gen. Dan Halutz and Shaul Mofaz. Roni was assigned to an F-16 squadron at an Air Force base in the north and over the past two years has participated in numerous attacks and operations.
Roni is the granddaughter of Yitzhak (Antek) Zuckerman and his wife Zvia Lobatkin, who were among the leaders of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.

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