1. JERUSALEM TERROR ATTACK THWARTED… A terror attack in Jerusalem was thwarted when Israeli security forces arrested three members of Yassir Arafat’s Tanzim terrorist faction. During interrogation, officials were told of the plan to smuggle one of the trio to an Arab village north of Jerusalem from where the would-be bomber would work his way into the heart of the capital. The suspects identified the man who was transporting the explosives as Abed Raba. Police intercepted him in a taxi at a roadblock and recovered a knapsack filled with at least 22 pounds of explosives, which sappers detonated in a controlled explosion. Raba said he was paid 500 shekels ($110) to deliver the bomb-bag. A spokesman for the Israeli army claimed that the Tanzim have become a strike force for the Lebanon-based Hizbullah terrorist organization.
2. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OVERWHELMINGLY APPROVES PRO-ISRAEL RESOLUTION… A bi-partisan resolution of support for Israel was overwhelmingly passed in the House of Representatives on Wednesday. The resolution, which was sponsored by Republican Tom DeLay of Texas, the Majority Leader, and Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the Democrat’s House Whip, endorsed Israel’s planned unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and went on to suggest that Israel will retain some post-1967 land in a final settlement. It also reiterated President George W. Bush’s belief that Arab refugees from the 1948 war should look to a new Palestinian state rather than to Israel for their future homes. It also encouraged the Palestinians to fight terror. 407 out of 435 congressmen voted “aye.” The resolution, which will now be introduced in the Senate, is not binding and does not represent official administration policy.
3. ISRAELI ARMY ENTERS NABLUS IN FORCE; THREE PALESTINIANS KILLED IN TWO INCIDENTS IN GAZA… Israeli troops backed by tanks and armored vehicles entered the Palestinian city of Nablus and its Balata refugee camp overnight, on a mission aimed at Yassir Arafat’s Tanzim terrorist faction, according to Israel Army Radio. The army claims that the Tanzim are responsible for at least 80 per cent of planned terror attacks emanating from Palestinian areas in post-1967 territory. A suicide explosive belt was discovered and safely detonated during the raid. In the Gaza Strip, three Palestinians were killed in two separate incidents. Two, dressed in bulletproof vests and carrying automatic weapons and grenades, were shot as they approached the Israeli community of Dugit. A third refused to stop digging in the sand and move away from near a Jewish community. He was killed after ignoring warning shots fired in the air.
4. CLINTON SAYS BIBI DID; BIBI SAYS HE DIDN’T; INTEL CHIEF SAYS HE DID… A war of words has broken out over former U.S. president Bill Clinton’s assertion that former Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu agreed to vacate the entire Golan Heights in a peace deal with Syria during his term in office. Netanyahu, who eyes a return to the top spot, vehemently denied Clinton’s description of events. But Uri Saguy, who served as head of Israeli military intelligence under Netanyahu successor Ehud Barak and who coordinated the negotiations with Syria, confirmed the Clinton version. Saguy told the Hebrew daily Haaretz that, “Anyone with eyes in his head, not to mention the Syrians, could have understood that all of the Israeli leaders were willing to leave all of the Golan Heights if satisfied in the realms of security, water, normalization, and also regarding a settlement in Lebanon.” Specifically regarding Netanyahu, Saguy pointed to communications carried to then Syrian President Hafez Al-Asad on behalf of the prime minister by Netanyahu pal and American business mogul Ron Lauder. Saguy said about them, “By reading these documents, I learned that if I were a Syrian, I would understand from the proposal brought by Lauder that if Israel can be satisfied regarding all of the abovementioned points, it would be willing to withdraw to the June 4, 1967, lines.”
5. EGYPTIAN INTEL CHIEF INSISTS ‘ARAFAT WILL ACT THIS TIME’… Egyptian intelligence chief ‘Umar Suleiman insisted to Israeli Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom that Yassir Arafat will reform Palestinian security services and appoint an interior minister within two months. Suleiman reportedly told Shalom that, “This time Arafat is going to act.” During meetings between Suleiman and Arafat, the Egyptian presented what has been dubbed, ‘The Egyptian Road Map.’ The plan includes resolving issues between Palestinian factions – both internally and with Israel; the removal of Israeli communities from Gaza and other post-1967 areas, ending in a return to Israeli-Palestinian negotiations by November 2004. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon appeared concerned with what might be viewed as a control-shift from Israel to Egypt. He said that, “We will decide how they [Egypt] participate. We will not bow to Egypt’s dictates.”