1. ISRAEL AGREES WITH P.A.: IT WILL REMAIN OCCUPYING POWER IN GAZA… An internal government memo prepared for Israel’s National Security Council comes to the same conclusion as that of the Palestinian Authority: the unilateral pullout from the Gaza Strip will not end Israel’s role as occupying power in Gaza. Experts for the Justice, Foreign and Defense ministries concluded that because Israel intends to maintain control over the crossings into Gaza, its coastline and airspace, international law will continue to hold the Jewish state responsible for the territory. This is the same conclusion announced several weeks ago by the Palestinian Authority.
2. SECOND FOREIGN MEDICAL TEAM IN TO TREAT ARAFAT’S ‘COLD’… A team of five doctors from Tunisia has been given permission by Israel to visit Yassir Arafat in his Ramallah compound where the P.A. boss is said to be suffering from a cold or flu. Last week, doctors from Egypt visited Arafat in the Muqata’a compound. Although a Tunisian spokesman emphasized that Arafat’s health is “good” and that the examinations are “precautionary” in nature, sources described as associates of Arafat told Israel’s Channel 1 television that Arafat’s health is in decline. His health has been the subject of speculation for some time.
3. GAZA PULLOUT FUNDS SPLIT FROM BUDGET… Fearing serious economic repercussions if the budget fails on its first reading in the Knesset [note: legislation must pass three readings in Israel’s parliament], Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has decided to split the money that his plan for a unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip will cost from the main budget. The move comes at the urging of Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Both men believe that the presence of withdrawal funds in the main budget will cause members of Sharon’s own Likud party to vote “no,” virtually assuring defeat in the first reading. The funding will be requested in the legislation dealing with compensation of Israelis who will be evacuated from their homes in Gaza and from several other post-1967 communities. The issue underscores the contentious nature of the Gaza pullout plan.
4. SHARON COUNTS MAJORITY OF 68 TO PASS PULLOUT PLAN… Aides to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon are confident that the Gaza pullout plan will pass in the Knesset (Parliament) on Monday. This in spite of a disappointing ruling from a former chief rabbi who is the spiritual mentor of the Shas party. ‘Ovadiah Yosef told his followers during his Saturday night sermon that, “”This plan is totally unacceptable. We must not vote for it!” Sharon had hoped to amass a supermajority that he could say indicates overwhelming support for his proposal and forestall talk of a national referendum. Sharon remains livid with those parliamentarians from his own Likud party who will not support him on the issue. He continues to threaten to fire any minister who fails to vote “yes.” Among the 18 Likud members of Knesset who will vote against are the Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin and Sharon’s faction chairman Gidon Sa’ar.
5. BODY OF SUSPECTED ISRAEL COLLABORATOR FOUND NEAR GAZA DUMPSTER… The Hamas terrorist organization said it killed Hasan Musallah, whose bullet-ridden body was found near a Gaza City dumpster on Saturday. According to Hamas, Musallah provided Israel with information it used to kill Adnan Al-Ghoul, a founder of Hamas, weapons and bomb-making engineer in an airstrike. Al-Ghoul was known as the ‘father of the Qassam rocket,’ the weapon that has caused endless grief to Israel’s military and the hunt for which triggered ‘Operation Days of Repentance.’ Hamas said that they had interrogated Musallah before they killed him, and in the interrogation Musallah revealed “information and details about the way he assisted the Zionist enemy in carrying out the crimes of assassination.”
6. ISRAEL WILL ALLOW STEPPED-UP EGYPTIAN MILITARY PRESENCE ON BORDER… Israel will allow Egypt’s military presence on its common border along the Gaza Strip to be strengthened. An Israeli source was quoted by the French news agency AFP as saying that, “Israel has agreed in principle on a reinforcement of Egyptian units along the Gaza Strip on the condition that the peace agreement between the two countries be left unchanged.” Egypt wants to deploy an additional 750 border guards, ostensibly to prevent the smuggling of arms and terrorists into Palestinian areas. A network of tunnels used for that purpose, connecting Egypt to Gaza, has plagued Israel for years. Military analysts believe that unless the smuggling is stopped, attacks on Israeli targets will cause Israel’s army to return to Gaza after the unilateral Israeli pullout that is pending.
7. PRESBYTERIAN LEADERS IN U.S. RENOUNCE THEIR ORGANIZATION’S MEETING WITH HIZBULLAH… Top leaders of the Presbyterian Church (USA) said in a letter to Jewish leaders that the meeting held by the church’s Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy (ACSWP) and Hizbullah representatives in Lebanon was “misguided at best” and termed the statements made by the delegation after the meeting as “reprehensible.” ACSWP member Ronald Stone praised what he called Hizbullah’s “expression of good will towards the American people” after the October 17th meeting. He then told reporters that, “As an elder of our church, I’d like to say that according to my recent experience, relations and conversations with Islamic leaders are a lot easier than dealings and dialogue with Jewish leaders.” Presbyterian Church (USA) had recently decided to begin procedures to divest companies whose products Israel uses in fighting the Palestinians from its $8 billion portfolio. A subsequent meeting between church and Jewish leaders ended in futility. But after the meeting with the Hizbullah, which according to the United States government is a terrorist organization, the church’s two top officials sent a letter to those Jewish leaders with whom they met and disclaimed Stone’s remarks.
8. U.N. AWARENESS DAY POLL FINDING: ISRAEL, EGYPT IN TOP THREE OF NEGATIVE OPNIONS… In a U.N. Awareness Day poll commissioned to determine how individual countries view the United Nations, Israel emerged the nation with the greatest disdain of the world body. It was joined by Austria and Egypt in the top three. Sixty-one countries were polled. 48% of Israelis view the U.N. negatively, while only 29% had positive feelings. 39% of Austrians and 29% of Egyptians also held negative feelings.
9. SYRIA TO RESETTLE QUNEITRA ON GOLAN BORDER WITH ISRAEL… The Syrian government has taken the first steps to resettle the city of Quneitra, adjacent to Israel on the Golan Heights. Quneitra was home to 37,000 residents before the 1967 War (Six Day War). In that war, Israel conquered the city and held it until 1974 when it was returned to Syria as part of an armistice agreement. But the city was left a ghost town. Most of its inhabitants had moved to a parallel city, called “New Quneitra.” A former Syrian parliamentarian, Madhat ‘Salih, told the New York Times that, “It is a goodwill gesture, as we are talking about rehabilitating the city while other lands are still under occupation.” He said it proves that Syria has no intention of recapturing the Golan Heights by force.