1. ISRAELI GAZA HOMES BECOME BARGAINING CHIP… A new element has been injected into the issue of whether Israel will destroy homes evacuated in the course of the unilateral pullout from the Gaza Strip or turn them over to the Palestinians. Prime Minister Sharon was quoted by Israeli Army Radio as having told American officials that he is willing to give them to the Palestinians in return for cooperation and coordination of the withdrawal. Sharon had originally said the homes would be destroyed, sparing the evacuees the trauma of seeing Palestinians move into their homes. Later, that policy was reversed and talk of finding an international broker to buy the homes en masse surfaced. Now, the prime minister apparently sees value in the form of a bargaining chip to encourage Palestinian cooperation in the pullout. Some Palestinian leaders, however, have said the Palestinian Authority does not want the Israeli housing and are demanding Israel either demolish the houses and cart away debris or compensate the P.A. for doing it.
2. IRAN FOCUS OF CRAWFORD SUMMIT… Aides to Israeli Prime Minister Sharon are stressing the prominence of Iran in talks at President Bush’s ranch on Monday. Sharon is reported to have strongly urged the President to use his influence with European leaders to move the issue of Iran’s nuclear development to the United Nations Security Council. Israel is concerned that the current negotiations between European nations and Iran will end with a validation of the Iranian nuclear program which Israel sees as meaning the development of nuclear weapons. The Security Council has the ability to set a timetable for halting Iranian uranium enrichment and backing it up with the threat of sanctions. The Israeli contingent provided President Bush with a full intelligence report including satellite photographs over lunch. Iran was also said to have been the primary issue discussed with Vice President Cheney on Tuesday.
3. ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS EGYPT; ASKS FOR POST-PULLOUT HELP… Israeli Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom met in Cairo on Tuesday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Shalom asked for Egypt’s help in preventing a takeover of the Gaza Strip by terrorists following Israel’s planned unilateral pullout in July. Shalom also asked for Mubarak’s assistance in developing relations between Israel and the Arab world. Egypt was the first nation to sign a peace treaty with the Jewish state. Shalom said that a major deal under which Egypt would supply Israel with natural gas is nearing completion. It was announced in 2000, but became bogged down because of the Palestinian violence that erupted in September of that year and affected all aspects of Israel’s relationships with Arab nations, even Egypt and Jordan with whom Israel enjoys good relations.
4. ISRAELI BREAKTHROUGH: GENES INJECTED INTO HEART STIMULATE GROWTH OF NEW BLOOD VESSELS… Genes injected into the heart of a cardiac patient stimulated the growth of new blood vessels in a first-ever operation performed at Tel Aviv’s Rabin Medical Center. The injection of the genes was carried out by use of a cardiac catheter. The identity of the 68-year-old patient was withheld, but hospital officials said the patient was conscious and alert during surgery and that the recovery was so swift that the patient was discharged one day after undergoing the new procedure. A spokesman for the hospital called the procedure “revolutionary” and said it “will lead to a major breakthrough in the field of gene transplantation for the treatment of cardiac patients.”