Reported from Jerusalem
1. ISRAEL: ARAFAT HIDING BEHIND HUMAN SHIELD … Israeli security sources charged on Wednesday that Yassir Arafat is surrounded by a human shield that includes women and children in order to prevent an attempt by Israeli forces to capture or kill him. A virtual non-stop procession of supporters has come to visit Arafat in his Muqata’a compound since Israel made public its controversial declaration stating that Arafat was an “obstacle” and that the “obstacle” would be removed. Visitors have included Israeli politicians, members of Knesset (Parliament) and peace activists. In an attempt to shift the focus to Israel, Arafat told Israeli television interviewers that a truce is possible. He referred to earlier statements by his loyalists indicating that even Hamas and Islamic Jihad would participate if Israel ends its targeted assassinations and closures of Palestinian areas. Israel continues to reject the idea of a cease-fire, demanding instead that the Palestinian Authority dismantle terrorist organizations. Nevertheless, an official of the Israeli Foreign Ministry left the door open to a truce if it’s someone other than Arafat calling the shots for the Palestinians. Foreign Ministry Spokesman Jonathan Peled said that a cease-fire is a possibility “after we have found a Palestinian partner who begins to fight terror.”
2. SHARON CONCERNED ABOUT PENALTIES FOR BUILDING FENCE… Clearly concerned about the possibility of the United States docking Israel for money spent on building its controversial security fence, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is dispatching two emissaries to Washington to plead Israel’s case. The announcement comes one day after the Bush Administration confirmed that it will be making deductions from the $9 billion loan guarantee package it recently authorized for Israel as a penalty for continued construction in post-1967 areas. The Administration also said it had not reached a decision on whether to penalize Israel for building the fence, but that it remains a possibility. The United States agrees with the Palestinian position that the fence creates de facto unilateral borders and will cause hardships to Palestinians. President Bush has given Secretary of State Colin Powell authority to decide the conditions governing the penalties.
3. PRISONER-SWAP DEAL BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HIZBULLAH BELIEVED NEAR… Israeli security sources have confirmed the accuracy of comments made on Wednesday by Sheikh Sayyid Hasan Na’srallah, leader of the Hizbullah terrorist organization in Lebanon. Based on those remarks, it appears that a deal is near completion in which Israeli businessman Elhanan Tennenbaum would be released after nearly three years of captivity, along with the bodies of three Israeli soldiers kidnapped in September 2000. Based upon Na’srallah’s statement and other available information, it appears that Israel has capitulated on most of its demands. Israel is expected to include Palestinian, Jordanian and Syrian prisoners in the release, along with the two main prizes for Hizbullah, Sheikh Obeid and Mustafa Dirani, both of whom have been held by Israel for many years. It is also believed that Israel has reneged on its vow to include Ron Arad, an airman missing since 1986, in any prisoner exchange. Omitting Arad, whose release has long been a cause-célèbre in Israel, will be a significant blow to the national psyche.
4. FACING NATIONAL LABOR STRIKE, NETANYAHU VOWS BUDGET REVISIONS… Facing a nationwide general strike and outrage by Israelis in all sectors, Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told Israel Radio that he would try to find alternatives to the across-the-board reductions included in his controversial budget. Netanyahu said he would look for specific cuts to make instead, in an attempt to ease the expected effect of the deep cuts announced for welfare services. An additional five percent cut had been announced the day before. On Wednesday, the massive Histadrut labor federation formally announced a work dispute, setting the stage for job actions. The first salvo is expected to be a strike at government offices beginning next week. The postal service and Ben Gurion International Airport – the country’s primary gateway – will become targets of that strike at some point. However, because the Jewish holy days begin next week, the actions might be delayed until their conclusion.
5. CARTER SAYS BUSH TOO BUSY TO SETTLE MIDDLE EAST… Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter says that George W. Bush is too busy to do what needs to be done in order to settle the Israel/Palestinian conflict. Carter, speaking at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, 25 years after the signing of the Camp David Accords, said that there are “so many foreign policy problems on his desk,” that it would be “impossible to go in immersion at Camp David with Israelis and Palestinians for 13 days to work out an agreement.”
6. AMERICAN-ISRAELI COUPLE SUING THE U.S. TO RECOGNIZE JERUSALEM AS ISRAEL… Ari and Naomi Zivotofsky, an American couple living in Israel, are suing the U.S. State Department for failing to abide by the Israeli Capital Recognition Act. The legislation was intended in part to correct what many Israelis and Americans felt was both inaccurate and unfair. An American child born in Israel would have his city of birth listed as being located in Israel unless the child was born in Jerusalem. In that case, no country would be listed. The Act, which became law in 2002, ordered the State Department to list the place of birth as “Jerusalem, Israel.”