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Newsletter : 8fax0916.txt
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>Israel Faxx
>JN Sept. 16, Vol. 6, No. 166
Netanyahu: Arrow to be Ready by Mid-1999
By Arutz-7 News Service
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that the Arrow II
anti-missile missile will be operative as soon as the middle of
next year. He said that it is not only a means of defense against
enemy missiles, but also a deterrent against those who would launch
such attacks against Israel. Prof. Yuval Ne'eman said the Arrow
will be able to do what the Patriot missile was supposed to do
during the 1991 Gulf War.
Polish Plans for Jewish Museum Gaining Momentum
By IsraelWire
Warsaw authorities and Jewish leaders said they were stepping up
efforts to build a museum of the history of many centuries of
Jewish life in Poland. A competition for the museum's design will
be announced in coming months and archaeological work has already
begun at a site in central Warsaw in the heart of the former Jewish
district destroyed by Nazi German invaders.
City officials said they hoped the 13,000 square meter site,
currently a park, would reveal the remains of a former garrison and
prison building which served during World War 2 as a Judenrat, or
local Jewish government office.
The museum will focus on the rich culture and varied life of Polish
Jews, who numbered 3.3 million before Nazi extermination campaigns
decimated the community.
A post-war pogrom in 1946 and an anti-Semitic campaign in 1968
induced most of the survivors to flee Poland and the community is
now thought to number between 5,000 and 10,000. "You can't show the
history of Poland, what happened over a millennium, without showing
the existence of the Jewish society in Poland," said Andrzej
Zakrzewski, a former senior adviser to ex-President Lech Walesa,
and backer of the museum proposal.
Jews came to Poland in the Middle Ages after they were expelled
from other European countries and contributed to Polish life,
culture and science for nearly 1,000 years. "Jews came to a country
tolerant compared to others in Western Europe at that time,"
Zakrzewski said.
No cost has been given for building the museum but earlier
estimates put the bill at more than $60 million. Some of the
funding would have to come from foreign benefactors.
IDF Bans Soldiers from Working as Military Escorts
By IsraelWire
Shortly after reaching an agreement with striking teachers who were
ensured that students will be taken out for scheduled field trips,
the IDF has thrown a wrench in the works.
The IDF announced it will no longer permit soldiers on leave to
hire themselves out as security/medical escorts for school trips,
a practice that has afforded the schools the necessary security
required for a trip and additional income for soldiers. The soldier
would accompany a class on a trip, equipped with an IDF-issued
automatic weapon, and in many cases, medical equipment, if a
soldier is trained as a medic.
The law requires that persons with weapons accompany all classes on
trips outside the school. The use of soldiers provided a low-cost
well-equipped and trained escort.
In addition, the army is limiting the number of automatic weapons
to be used by private security firms, which will also reduce the
numbers of persons who will be able to provide the necessary
protection for school trips. In addition, the Ministry of Education
has issued a memo barring the use of Uzi sub-machineguns, as a
weapon used by school security escorts, which will further limit
the number of eligible persons to provide the necessary service.
The Ministry of Education stated the Uzi has proven to pose certain
safety hazards and it was decided to bar it from service in this
case. Security agencies report that at least 80 percent of the
security personnel hired for school trips are off-duty soldiers and
without them, they will not be able to meet the manpower
requirements.
The director-general of the Israel Nature Reserve Society has
called upon OC IDF Manpower Brach to reverse the order. The IDF
spokesman explained the new order was issued due to complications
of who or what party is responsible in the event a soldier is
compelled to use his weapon.
Israeli Navy to Admit Women into Officer's Course
By IsraelWire
The Israeli navy has decided for the first time to permit female
soldiers to enlist in the Naval Cadets Course, following one
woman's petition to the High Court of Justice.
The initial tests for prospective female officers began with two
out of the four soldiers advancing to the second stage of testing.
One of those soldiers was Hilla Shachar, the woman who petitioned
the court to allow women into the navy. The course will accept 10
female cadets who will have to pass the same program as male
soldiers.
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