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Newsletter : 9fax0204.txt
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>PD
>Israel Faxx
>JN Feb. 4, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 24
Foreign Ministry Launches Website at http://www.mfa.gov.il:
Israel Faxx Staff Report
The site is designed specifically for audiences abroad and provides
extensive information about Israel in all areas. While the major
language of the site is English, some of the information is also
available in Arabic, Spanish, French, Portuguese and German.
The new site, maintained by the ministry's Information Division in
Jerusalem, includes an advanced search engine, including full text
search of some 10,000 pages, as well as numerous photos and images,
video and audio clips.
Netanyahu and Sharon Will Visit Crown Prince Abdullah
By David Gollust (VOA-Jerusalem)
Israeli officials say Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Foreign
Minister Ariel Sharon will go to Amman Sunday to meet Jordan's
newly-designated Crown Prince Abdullah. Israel has been concerned
about stability in Jordan because of King Hussein's illness.
The initiative for the visit came from the Israeli side, and
officials say the prime minister and Sharon intend to assure Prince
Abdullah that Israel wants to maintain good relations with Jordan.
Israel considers Jordan's King Hussein its best friend in the
Middle East, and Israeli officials have monitored his latest
health crisis with concern. The king is again hospitalized in the
United States for cancer treatment after a brief stay in Amman last
month -- during which he removed his brother Prince Hassan as heir
to the throne in favor of his 37-year-old son, Abdullah.
Israel had cultivated close ties with Prince Hassan and is anxious
to do the same with Prince Abdullah, a former army general but a
newcomer to politics.
Sharon told reporters peace with Jordan and stability in the
kingdom are cornerstones of Israeli policy: "Of course, Israel
doesn't involve itself in internal issues in Jordan. But we are
very much interested that stability will be there. And I can say
we are very satisfied there is stability there from every aspect --
political, security, and economic. And that shows Crown Prince
Abdullah is controlling the situation."
Sharon's comments notwithstanding, some Israeli officials have
expressed concern about possible unrest in Jordan in the event of
the king's early death and that Syria might try to exploit any
problems. Israel signed a formal peace treaty with Jordan in 1994.
But relations have been strained in recent months because of the
breakdown of implementation of Israel's Wye River accord with the
Palestinians -- which King Hussein helped negotiate.
Amulets Barred from Elections
By IsraelWire
The elections committee has ruled that amulets, used primarily by
the Sephardic Chareidi Shas Party, are illegal during the election
campaign. The committee ruled that even though the bill to ban
their use in the elections did not pass the Knesset, they have made
the decision that amulets are not permissible during the election
campaign.
During past local and national elections, the Shas Party has
distributed amulets with Kabilistic writings from the leading
kabalist, Rabbi Yitzchak Kaduri, inscribed on them.
Responding to the efforts by left-wing and secular political
activists to bar the amulets, Shas members and supporters stated
the level of hypocrisy here is unprecedented. They explained that
on one hand, the left does nothing but ridicule the "old fashioned"
ways of the Orthodox and their "frivolous" customs, but on the
other hand, they are fighting to the death to ban the amulets.
Supreme Court Justice Eliyahu Mazza, who heads the election
committee, insists the use of the amulets is illegal and a
violation carries a maximum fine of five years imprisonment.
An Israeli Cinderella Story
By IsraelWire
From age four, the victim was forced to clean the home and all the
dishes of her family. Once old enough to attend school, she was
regularly beaten by her mother, who used a belt, anytime she had an
error in her assignments.
Upon hearing of the horrific story of the child, who was the target
of her family's abuse for an unspecified number of years, Haifa
District Court Judge Shoshana Satmar sent the girl's 29-year-old
mother to jail for two months, and ordered her to perform community
service for two months.
According to statements by social workers, the child was beaten
with a strap on a regular basis and was forced to do chores in the
home for 2-3 hours daily, including dishwashing, vacuuming, laundry
or whatever her mother decided. She would not be permitted to eat
when returning home from school, but only after she completed her
chores.
The victim was never permitted to go and play with friends, and no
one was permitted to visit her at home. The girl, now 12-years-old,
has been living in a boarding school for over one-year.
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