Revised West Bank Fence Route to Be Unveiled
The security establishment was to present today a revised route of the counter-terrorist fence, which would bring a 40-kilometer stretch northwest of Jerusalem closer to the pre-1967 war Green Line border, HA'ARETZ reported. The new route, revising a plan which was disqualified last month by Israel's High Court, was to be shown to a steering committee headed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's outgoing bureau chief Dov Weisglass. The legal experts will assess whether the new route matches standards set by the High Court.
The new route runs more closely to the 1967 Green Line borders, and it rings around houses on the outskirts of the Har Adar and Mevasseret Zion neighborhoods.
Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz approved the fence's revised route. Mofaz stated that the new route "accords with principles of proportionality which were defined by the High Court of Justice, and it solves problems connected to living conditions of Palestinians."
Powell Does Not Trust Arafat's Words, Expects Concrete Actions
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell expressed skepticism on Tuesday while on a trip to Egypt about Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's statements regarding an agreement he had reached with Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Following the alleged agreement between the two men, Qurei withdrew his resignation, which he had submitted last month. Powell claimed that regardless of any agreement the two men had made, the security system remained "in the hands of Arafat."
"Arafat is the master of the ambiguous statement or the statement with the yo-yo string on it. It gets pulled back," Powell said. "We're looking for action. When we see that (Qurei) has real authority over the security forces and is taking action to make them more effective and efficient, make them more competent and is taking action against terrorism, then we'll be convinced."
While in Egypt, Powell and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt discussed Israel's proposed pullout plan, and what could be done to ensure order in the volatile Gaza Strip after the Israeli withdrawal. Powell told reporters he would discuss Palestinian prospects for establishing feasible political and security institutions to manage the Gaza Strip after the Israeli pullout.
Holy Land Foundation Indicted for Money Laundering to Hamas
A trial against the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, one of the world's largest Muslim charities, began on Tuesday in Dallas, Texas, MA'ARIV reported. The United States accuses the organization of transferring the majority of funds it collected to the terrorist group Hamas, in order to finance several dozen suicide bombings in Israel. Officially, the foundation was established to assist orphans and families whose relatives had been killed or jailed for fighting against Israel.
According to U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, the organization illegally transferred about $12.4 million to Hamas between 1995 and December 2001, when its assets were frozen. "The defendants effectively rewarded past, and encouraged future, suicide bombings and terrorist activities on behalf of Hamas," he said. Ashcroft added that the U.S. government had begun work on the case against the organization earlier, but that because the money had been transferred through many countries, the complex indictment took a long time to prepare. Hamas is included in the U.S. Department of State's list of terrorist organizations.
Police Arrest Egyptian Arms Smugglers near Eilat
Israel Defense Forces soldiers uncovered this afternoon the entrance to a tunnel just north of Netzarim that Palestinians intended to use to carry out an attack in the central Gaza Strip Jewish town, HA'ARETZ reported. The tunnel - six meters deep - would have been 450-meters long if completed. Its opening was found near an abandoned, four-story Palestinian building north of Netzarim. During the operation, Palestinians fired anti-tank rockets at the troops, injuring no one.
In other news, two Egyptians caught smuggling weapons near Eilat have been arrested.
The suspects led officers to a weapons cache near Be'er Ora, north of Eilat, where 24 Kalashnikov assault rifles were hidden. Since the beginning of the year, 174 Kalashnikovs have been confiscated along the Egyptian-Israeli border.
Meanwhile, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired two Qassam rockets that landed this morning in open fields in the western Negev, Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reported. No one was injured and no damage was reported.
Other News in Brief
* The work of a Knesset committee working on an agreement regarding civil marriage in Israel ended today with the resignation of two of the committee's members and a rift within the Shinui Party, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Likud MK Roni Bar-On resigned as head of the committee this morning, accusing Lapid of sabotaging the panel's work toward reaching a consensus on the issue by prematurely presenting an incomplete draft of the legislation to the government on Sunday. National Religious Party MK Nissan Slomiansky also announced his resignation from the committee, saying that Lapid had "blatantly interfered" by presenting proposals that had not been agreed upon in the committee.
* The government will be willing to pay advances within two months to settlers who leave their homes in the Gaza Strip or the four West Bank settlements covered in the disengagement plan, Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reported. The decision was made Tuesday night during a meeting between members of the justice ministry and Yosef Tamir, an attorney representing 80 families from Samaria and 15 families from Nissanit in the Gaza Strip.
* The president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvilli arrived in Israel on Tuesday night on a three-day official visit, Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reported. Saakashvilli will meet with Minister of Foreign Affairs Silvan Shalom this afternoon and with President Moshe Katzav tonight. Saakashvilli is also due to meet Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the chief of the Mossad, the heads of the country's military industries as well as members of the Georgian Jewish community here.
Economic & Hi-Tech Briefs
* Teva Pharmaceuticals has received FDA approval for Sotalol Hydrochloride, a beta-blocker used to treat cardiac arrhythmia, THEMARKER.COM reported. In other Teva news, Teva announced last week that it received final approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell a generic drug to treat asthma. The product is indicated for treatment of bronchial asthma and for reversible bronchospasm, which may occur with bronchitis and emphysema.
* Alvarion, Gilat Satellite Networks, TTI Team Telecom and Telrad Networks are joining researchers from the Technion, Ben Gurion University and the Industrial Mathematics Institute, to create low-cost communications systems for remote areas with no infrastructure, THEMARKER.COM reported. The consortium is operating under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and Trade's Magnet Program and its vision is for millions of villages worldwide to obtain telephony networks based on Israeli satellite technology.
[Today's Israel Line was prepared by Victor Chemtob, Arielle Bernstein and Gabriel Sasson at the Consulate General of Israel in New York.]