PM Sharon: John Paul II Was a Friend of the Jewish People
Pope John Paul II was "a man of peace, a friend of the Jewish people," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said at the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting Sunday, as he offered the country's condolences on the pope's death to the Catholic community both in Israel and abroad, HA'ARETZ reported. "The world lost yesterday one the most important leaders of our times, whose contribution to bringing people together, uniting nations, and to understanding and tolerance will accompany us for many years," Sharon said.
President Moshe Katsav offered a similar tribute, saying: "The pope bravely put an end to historic injustice by officially rejecting prejudices and accusations against Jews."
Over the course of his papacy, John Paul II revolutionized the Vatican's relationship with both Israel and the Jewish people.
Latrun Museum Attack Foiled
The Israel Security Agency foiled a plan to stage a terror attack at the Armored Corps Museum at the Latrun Junction, near the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem Highway, last February, YNET reported. According to security reports released today, cell from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine planned to dispatch two suicide bombers and a car bomb to the busy tourist site.
The mastermind of the plot, Yousef George Daoud, 27, was arrested in February. Two additional cell members - Nadel Mahmed Yousef Abu Alma and Fahmi Basil Avodi - were detained in January.
The trio admitted to planning the attack, and revealed that they had picked the site because one of the terrorists was familiar with the area.
Meanwhile, a Hamas member from Jerusalem's Old City was arrested in March, in another case released for publication Monday. Ashraf Daya admitted he had been recruited by Hamas in Gaza and that he intended to stage a terror attack in Israel.
In other news, Israel Defense F soldiers arrested two 15-year-old Palestinian boys in possession of pipe bombs at a checkpoint south of the West Bank town of Nablus today.
Qassam's Range Increased
Palestinians are performing testing of the Qassam rocket off the coast of the Gaza Strip with the aim of improving the range and accuracy of the rocket, an IDF Operations Branch official told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Monday, HA'ARETZ reported. According to Gadi Shamni, head of the IDF operations department and former division commander of the Gaza Strip, the missiles' range has been increased to 9 km. The previous range was allegedly 7 km. He said testing was also being carried out within the strip.
IDF Central Command was preparing for the possibility of rocket attacks, Shamni added, voicing suspicion that the rockets could become operative in the West Bank. Until now, the airborne attacks have only been launched from the Gaza Strip.
Colombian-Israeli Cocaine Ring Busted
Eight people are under arrest for allegedly taking part in an international drug ring suspected of importing cocaine from Colombia to Israel, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Police announced today that the eight - seven Israelis and one Colombian - had been apprehended over the past week in a joint Israeli-Colombian police sting operation.
The covert police investigation in the case, codenamed "Broad Horizons", began three months ago in the wake of intelligence information that Israeli and Colombian drug dealers were smuggling cocaine into Israel, police said.
Other News in Brief
* Israel's ambassador to Ethiopia, Doron Grossman, 49, died of his wounds Sunday morning at Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem, in Jerusalem, HA'ARETZ reported. Grossman shot himself in Addis Ababa last Tuesday, apparently after learning that he was suffering from an advanced stage of terminal cancer. A Foreign Ministry announcement read: "Our friend Doron's academic education was extensive, and he won much esteem and made numerous achievements during the course of his diplomatic service, making this a severe loss for the Israeli foreign service."
* United Nations envoy discussed a U.N. demand for the disarmament of Hezbollah with Syrian-backed Lebanese President Emile Lahoud today without reaching an agreement, YNET reported.
Syria promised the envoy, Terje Roed-Larsen, that it would end its military and intelligence presence in Lebanon by April 30 in line with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1559.
The U.S. and French-sponsored measure, adopted in September, calls for the disarming of all militias in Lebanon, as well as the departure of all foreign forces. The deadline means all Syrian forces are expected to leave Lebanon before parliamentary polls due in May.
Economic & High-Tech Briefs
* The Zim shipping company is considering a $350 million bond offering, HA'ARETZ reported. Its parent company, the Israel Corporation, is negotiating with several investment banks that might lead the offering. Zim plans to use the proceeds to buy ships and for other investments. The Israel Corporation's owners, Sammy and Idan Ofer, want to take advantage of the worldwide shipping boom, which has lifted Zim's revenues and profits in 2004, to expand the company's business.
* CDI Systems of Jerusalem, a developer of online publishing solutions, has announced the launch of what it says is the world's largest online Jewish library, GLOBES reported. The library, called Otzar Ha-Hochma (Treasury of Wisdom), is based on CDI's NetIS online publishing platform. Otzar Ha-Hochma contains over 16,000 Jewish books, and roughly four million pages. The titles include thousands of extremely rare books that have not been published for hundreds of years and are now accessible to everyone. Licensing options range from annual full-privilege subscriptions to limited usage privileges, such as the right to view content only, without the ability to print, save, or select for copy and paste. Universities, libraries, colleges, and yeshivot can purchase site licenses, while individual scholars around the world can also purchase portions from this vast database using flexible price models.
[Today's Israel Line was prepared by Victor Chemtob at the Consulate General of Israel in New York.]