State Says ICJ's Fence Ruling Based on Erroneous Data
In its response to an advisory opinion on the West Bank security fence issued by the International Court of Justice last year, the State Prosecution said today that the Hague court's decision had been based on erroneous and outdated information, HA'ARETZ reported. Submitted to the High Court of Justice today, the State Prosecution's response marks the first official reaction to the ICJ's ruling from July 2004.
According to the state prosecution, the judges assumed that the fence would annex 16 percent of the West Bank to Israel, whereas the actual fence route authorized by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz only includes 3.3 percent of the West Bank.
Furthermore, the state argued, Mazuz's approved route did not include three enclaves that would have pushed the fence deep into West Bank territory in the areas of the Ariel, Ma'aleh Adumim, as well as around the Gush Etzion bloc, located south of Jerusalem.
Halutz Becomes New IDF Chief of Staff
Dan Halutz will become the next Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, marking the first time that a former air force commander and pilot takes up the army's most senior position, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. At 56, Halutz is also the oldest ever to be appointed to the post. Halutz will replace Moshe Ya'alon whose term in the position was not extended in a controversial decision made by Minister of Defense Shaul Mofaz last week. Halutz will not only have to contend with the disengagement from Gaza and northern Samaria which will occur just days after he takes up the post in July, but also with the growing Iranian threat.
Halutz has served as deputy IDF chief since June last year after completing a four-year stint as air force commander. He joined the IDF in 1966.
Abbas May Name New Prime Minister Candidate
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas may decide as early as Thursday to entrust the task of forming a new government to a new prime minister, HA'ARETZ reported. Sources close to Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei said today that the latter did not intend to present a new cabinet for parliamentary approval in the coming days. "There is an internal plot in the [Palestinian ruling party] Fatah to hamper any cabinet he will present, and therefore he does not intend to do so," the sources close to Qurei said.
Today, Qurei postponed a Palestinian Legislative Council vote to approve a new cabinet. On Monday, the Palestinian premier failed to obtain support for a previous ministerial line-up because it did not include any Palestinian reformists.
Behind the scenes in Ramallah, names of possible successors to Qurei are being mentioned. Among them are PA Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, and the head of the Legislative Council, Rawhi Fattouh.
Hip-Hop Star Russell Simmons Visits Auschwitz Exhibition in NY
Hip-hop music entrepreneur Russell Simmons visited a photograph exhibit about Auschwitz at the United Nations headquarters in New York on Tuesday, HA'ARETZ reported. Senior Jewish community members said Simmons' visit holds "special significance" for Holocaust commemoration efforts, especially in New York City public schools. Deeply involved in activities against anti-Semitism in recent years, Simmons is considered to be an influential figure in Afro-American and Hispanic communities in the United States.
The hip-hop star and founder of Def Jam Records was accompanied by Orthodox Rabbi Marc Schneier. Along with Simmons, Schneier heads the Foundation for Ethnic Understanding, an organization dedicated to strengthening relations between Jews, Afro-Americans, Hispanics and other ethnic communities.
The "Depth of the Abyss" exhibition presents dozens of photos of the Auschwitz. The photographs were lent by the Yad Vashem Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Authority and the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC as part of the UN's commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the camp's liberation.
Other News in Brief
* Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres is preparing a plan to pass greenhouses and active businesses in Gaza on to the Palestinians to allow them to earn money from their operation after the evacuation, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Peres plans to discuss the plan with the team coordinating the economic aspects of the scheduled withdrawal. General Giora Eiland, chief of operations in the West Bank and Gaza, will head the administrative work that deals with infrastructure, crossings, employment, communications, and the plan to start a port in Gaza.
Economic & Hi-Tech Briefs
* Verint Systems announced today that Orange, a division of France Telecom Group, had selected Verint's ULTRA solution to help enhance the quality of the service it provides to its customers in 10 contact centers across France, GLOBES reported. The Orange Group, based in Paris, is one of the world's largest mobile communications companies, with operations in more than 16 countries.
Verint's ULTRA solution and analytics suite allows organizations to capture every customer interaction and extract the actionable intelligence contained within these transactions - whether from telephone, voice over IP, email, chat or agent assisted co-browsing contacts. Verint, headquartered in Melville, New York, is a subsidiary of Comverse Technology.
[Today's Israel Line was prepared by Victor Chemtob at the Consulate General of Israel in New York.]