ECONOMIC BRIEFS
CLINTON ADDRESSES PEACE PROCESS; ROSS TO VISIT ISRAEL
United States President Bill Clinton spoke as a guest and
keynote speaker of the Israel Policy Forum at New York City's
Waldorf Astoria Hotel on Sunday and presented an overview of the
guidelines offered to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser
Arafat and Prime Minster Ehud Barak as a basis for further peace
negotiations, THE JERUSALEM POST reported.
Clinton said his guidelines consist of five basic points, the
first being the establishment of a "viable, geographically
contiguous" sovereign Palestinian state that accommodates Israel's security requirements.
The second is a solution to the Palestinian refugee problem
that would include payment from an international fund, with the
United States leading the fundraising effort. Clinton said "you
cannot expect Israel to acknowledge an unlimited right of return
to present day Israel." The guidelines also addressed security
arrangements, including an international security presence in the
Jordan Valley, a non-militarized Palestine and a phased Israeli
withdrawal from essential security areas.
Jerusalem should be an "open and undivided city, with assured
freedom of access and worship for all and should be the capital
of both Israel and Palestine," said Clinton. Finally, Clinton
called on both sides to declare an official end to the conflict.
"I think America will always be there for Israel's security,
but I think Israel's long term security rests in a just and
lasting peace," Clinton said.
Meanwhile, US Middle East Peace Envoy Dennis Ross is slated to
arrive in the region on Wednesday to meet with Barak and Arafat
in effort to obtain an agreement on a Declaration of Principles.
CAIRO SECURITY MEETING ENDS WITHOUT AGREEMENT
A meeting between the head Israeli, Palestinian, United States
and Egyptian security services held on Sunday in Cairo ended with
no agreement on any of the points of contention, Israel Radio,
KOL YISRAEL reported.
IDF Planning Branch head, Maj.-Gen. Shlomo Yanai and Israel
Security Agency director Avi Dichter represented Israel at the
meeting. Amin al-Hindi, head of Palestinian Authority General
Intelligence Service, Muhamad Dahlan, head of the Palestinian
Preventive Security Service in the Gaza Strip and Jibril Rajoub,
head of the Palestinian Preventive Security Service in the West
Bank, represented the PA. United States Central Intelligence
Agency Director George Tenet and his Egyptian counterpart,
General Omar Saliman, were also present.
According to HA'ARETZ, Israel demanded that the Palestinians
drastically reduce violent attacks against civilians and Israel
Defense Forces personnel. The Palestinians demanded that as a
precondition to reducing the violence, Israel stop targeting
Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders, end the closure on
Palestinian areas, reopen the Dahaniya International airport in
the Gaza Strip and withdraw all forces from the West Bank and
Gaza Strip. Dahlan said that the PA would consider acceding to
Israel's security requests, including the resumption of
Israeli-Palestinian security coordination, only after Israel had
fulfilled all of the PA's demands.
Meanwhile, the Palestinians from El Aide refugee camp near
Bethlehem fired at the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo
today. One building sustained damage but no injuries were
reported. Additionally, Palestinians threw a molotov cocktail at
vehicles on a highway overpass near Jerusalem's northern French
Hill neighborhood on Sunday. The explosion did not cause any
damage or injuries.
In other incidents, Palestinians open fire today at the IDF
Bezeq base near Jenin, at the IDF outpost in Rachel's Tomb, north
of Bethlehem, and at IDF vehicles south of the Erez crossing and
in Gush Katif, in the Gaza strip. No casualties were reported. In
addition, IDF trackers found and dismantled a number of bombs
near Nahal Oz, on the border between Gaza Strip and Israel on
Sunday.
THOUSANDS RALLY FOR UNITY OF JERUSALEM
Over one hundred thousand people turned out today in a massive
rally for the unity of Jerusalem outside the walls of the Old
City, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Prior to the rally, thousands
of youths formed a human chain around the walls of the Old City
and lit torches while swearing loyalty to the capital.
"The legacy of the Temple Mount must be given over to
generations to come," former Supreme Court Judge Moshe Landau
said. Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert and Chairman of the Conference
of Presidents of Major Jewish Organization Ron Lauder were among
those who also addressed the crowd.
ISRAELI REPORTER FORBIDDEN ON TEMPLE MOUNT
Israel Defense Forces Correspondent Tzvi Yeheskeli, was told by
Wakf (Moslem Religious Trust) guards that he could not cover a
press conference held in the Temple Mount compound today by
Jerusalem Mufti Ikrema Sabri because he was Jewish, THE JERUSALEM
POST reported. The Mufti was to respond to claims that Jewish
extremists might attempt to damage the two mosques on the Temple
Mount.
TAX CREDIT FOR FOREIGN WORKERS
The Knesset Finance Committee approved an income tax credit of
2.25 points for foreign workers, including those in agriculture
and construction, who earn up to NIS 10,000 (approximately
$2,500) per month, HA'ARETZ reported. The credit is for the years
2000-2002.
The committee also approved a regulation to allow foreign
residents defined as foreign experts to claim their housing
expenses as a tax deduction. The definition further states that a
foreign expert is someone with an income of over NIS
10,000(approximately $2,500) per month. According to the
regulations approved, guest lecturers and foreign experts will be
entitled to deduct up to NIS 250 (approximately $62) for every
day spent in Israel for meals as well as for the cost of hotel
accommodations or rent paid. The benefit enabling a foreign
expert to deduct living expenses will apply to the first 12
months of his or her stay in Israel and after that time, the
expert will be entitled to 2.25 points in tax credit, similar to
that of other foreign workers.
* * *
Colin Powell, who will serve as U.S. Secretary of State under
President elect George W. Bush, is scheduled to visit the Middle
East in February, HA'ARETZ reported. The State Department has
started preliminary preparations for Powell's visit, which will
take place after the prime ministerial elections on February 6.
ECONOMIC BRIEFS