Courtesy of ISN ISRAEL NEWS
Reported from Jerusalem…
Israeli security forces arrested eight wanted Palestinians early Friday morning in PA areas. At the same time, some restrictions on movement that have been in effect since the start of the Jewish holidays have been eased. The Palestinian Authority has said that it has made eight arrests in the aftermath of the bombing of an American convoy on Wednesday, but Israel calls the arrests “imaginary” and says it was done only to placate the U.S.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is ready to conclude a prisoner swap with the Lebanon-based Hizbullah terrorist organization notwithstanding mounting concern in Israel. Thousands of Israelis gathered in Tel Aviv last night to commemorate the 17th anniversary of the capture of Ron Arad and protest Sharon’s willingness to abandon the missing airman in the impending deal. The return of Arad has been a cause-célèbre within Israel for a generation and many find it inconceivable that the Hizbullah agreement will go forth without including Arad’s release. Education Minister Limor Livnat, fearing that Sharon will place a fait accompli before the cabinet, is demanding that Sharon release details of the prisoner swap.
The Malaysian foreign minister has sort-of apologized for remarks by his prime minister, who told an Islamic conference that “Jews rule the world by proxy. The get others to fight and die for them.” Sayed Hamed said that “Islam never advocated being anti- anyone,” but added that, “The only problem with the Jews is when Israel was created.”
Stung by Switzerland’s support and assistance for opposition politicians who drafted and initialed an alternative peace deal with Palestinian representatives, the Sharon government will, nevertheless, let the incident pass without diplomatic protest. Although members of the government have bitterly attacked those who participated in the agreement, the newspaper Haaretz reported that an official said that since the government has called it irrelevant, to protest would indicate the opposite.