Suicide Bombing Planned for Haifa Thwarted
Soldiers thwarted a suicide bombing planned to occur in Haifa this morning when they stopped a suspicious Palestinian taxi at the Tapuah Junction, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Acting on intelligence tips, forces were deployed near Nablus today and set up surprise roadblocks in the area to stop and inspect all vehicles passing through. Troops manning the roadblock spotted a Palestinian taxi vehicle which suddenly changed its direction and tried to leave the area upon seeing the security checkpoint. Two Palestinian occupants of the taxi got out of the vehicle and fled. One of the Palestinians tossed onto the road a bag containing a suicide bomb vest weighing 20 kilograms (44 pounds). The bomb was detonated in a controlled explosion. The two Palestinians - Fatah members - managed to get away. Security officials said today that they had registered a sharp increase in the number of terror threats compared with several weeks ago.
Israel is now facing 57 daily terror attack warning, compared with 30 to 35 last month. Officials noted an increase in the number of threats surrounding Nablus in recent days. Over 20 suicide bomber vests have been captured in the Nablus
area since the start of 2004.
According to HA'ARETZ, Israel Defense Forces troops blew up a Qassam rocket launcher in the Beit Hanun area in the Gaza Strip, today. Earlier, Palestinian gunmen opened fire on an IDF post near Beit Hanun, and another one close to the Jewish town of Neveh Dekalim. No casualties or damage were reported in either
incident. In the southern Strip, troops discovered two weapons-smuggling tunnels during an operation in Rafah early today.
Arafat Agrees to Give Up Authority Over Security Forces
Under mounting pressure, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has agreed to grant his prime minister full authority over security forces, as well as consolidate at least a dozen security branches into three agencies, HA'ARETZ reported. "Arafat expressed his readiness to give (Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei)
full authority to reshuffle his cabinet in the way that he sees fit and give the government full authority over the internal security services," said Imad Fallouji, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had urged Arafat on Wednesday to empower his prime minister and interior minister to carry out essential reforms in the PA, particularly in the security establishment. Arafat since issued a decree, formalizing the pledge to issue such reforms.
Meanwhile, earlier on Wednesday, Palestinians kidnapped and later released a senior official of the local government of the West Bank city of Nablus. The abduction was the latest in a series of abductions amidst growing chaos in the Palestinian territories, which led to a reshuffling of the Palestinian security forces and the attempted resignation of Qurei. Arafat refused to accept Qurei's
resignation, so the prime minister was forced to remain in office.
According to New PA Textbooks, Israel Is Palestine
For the school year of 2003-2004, the Palestinian Authority's Education Ministry printed textbooks that delineate the borders of the West Bank and The Gaza Strip but refer to the whole of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip as "Palestine," THE JERUSALEM POST reported. The results of a study on PA textbooks were published in an Israeli government report. The report also reveals that all cities, villages and towns in Israel are titled with their Arabic names in the textbooks. The West Bank and Gaza Strip are referred to as the PA, a "temporary" territorial solution, whereas the combination of these two territories and
Israel is mentioned as the "permanent Palestine."
The PA history books state that the Palestinian people have rights to the "country" [Israel] as they settled in it before the Jews. Some texts claim that Palestinians have resided in the area since the Stone Age while others express the "injustice in the establishment of the Jewish State" and state that Palestine gained independence in 1948, after the British Mandate ended. Zionists are also defined as "settlers" who emigrate from a strong country to a weaker
country and take control of its land. The PA does not teach pupils about co-existence or peace and the overall policy "appears to be one of de-legitimization of the State of Israel and Zionism."
Israel Disappointed Over EU Attitude on Fence
Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom concluded early this afternoon a meeting in Tel Aviv with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana during which he reiterated Israel's dissatisfaction with the bloc-vote by all 25 EU states in favor of this week's UN General Assembly resolution condemning the West Bank security fence, Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reported. Solana is scheduled to meet on Friday with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, whose office has already indicated Israel's intention of limiting EU involvement in the Middle East peace process.
Solana arrived in Israel on Thursday morning as part of a four-day regional tour that has already included Egypt and Jordan. He will not, however, be visiting the Palestinian Authority. The foreign ministry director-general, Yoav Biran, summoned Wednesday three senior diplomats from the European Union, Britain and the Netherlands. Biran protested against the EU states voting in favor of the United Nations General Assembly resolution against Israel's West Bank security fence.
Other News in Brief
* The Knesset approved on Wednesday the preliminary reading of a bill that will significantly tighten Israel's immigration policies, HA'ARETZ reported. The bill, proposed by Likud MK Moshe Kahlon, was supported by 58 lawmakers from the Likud, National Union and the ultra-Orthodox parties, with 28 MKs from Labor,
Meretz and the Arab parties voting against. Kahlon's bill proposes to strip the interior minister of the authority to confer citizenship rights to individuals who are not eligible for them under the Law of Return.
Economic & Hi-Tech Briefs
* D&B International predicts that despite a slowing down in the growth rate, Israel's economy is improving in 2004, and will continue to do so in 2005, GLOBES reported. D&B forecasts that Israel will have 3.1 percent growth in 2004, up from 1.3 percent in 2003, and 3.6 percent in 2005. The budget deficit will amount to 3.5 percent of GDP in 2004, compared with 5.6 percent in 2003, and is predicted to reach 3.2 percent in 2005. D&B also believes that Israel's labor market will improve both this year and next. It predicts that the unemployment rate will fall from the current 10.9 percent to 10.6 percent by year-end and to 10.4 percent in 2005.
Today's Israel Line was prepared by Victor Chemtob, Tallie Lieberman and Gabriel Sasson at the Consulate General of Israel in New York.