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Newsletter : 9fax0301.txt
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>Israel Faxx
>JN March 1, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 41
Four Israelis Killed in Southern Lebanon
By David Gollust (VOA-Jerusalem)
A terrorist attack on an Israeli army convoy in southern Lebanon
has killed four Israelis, including a general. The roadside
bombing is one the most costly single attacks for Israel in its
more than decade-long conflict with pro-Iranian Hizbullah
terrorists in Lebanon.
Reports from Lebanon say the general killed in the bomb blast was
Israel's liaison officer with the south Lebanon army -- the
Israeli-backed militia that helps patrol the security zone Israel
carved out of southern Lebanon in 1985.
Israel responded with an air strike and artillery bombardment of
Hizbullah positions in the area. In Amman, where he met with
Jordan's King Abdullah, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
called the situation in Lebanon acute and intolerable: "Israel
cannot tolerate these kinds of repeated attacks on its territory,
on its citizens and its soldiers. And Israel will know what to do
in response."
Hizbullah claimed responsibility for the bombing and vowed to
continue fighting until Israel leaves the buffer strip.
Sheinbein Indictment Expected Monday
By Israelwire
According to a Channel 2 television report, Samuel Sheinbein is to
be indicted Monday for the alleged murder of an American teenager.
Sheinbein will be indicted and placed on trial in Israel after the
High Court of Justice last week ruled that the U.S. extradition
request may not be honored due to an Israeli law barring the
extradition of Israeli citizens to stand trial abroad.
Realizing the outrage that was caused by the decision, Israeli
lawmakers and other senior leaders were quick to explain the
decision was not politically motivated in any way, and was a ruling
of the nation's highest court based solely on Israeli law without
any foreign influences.
Senior government officials explained that the high court is an
autonomous body, which functions totally independent of the
government and the political system.
According to the report, the indictment is expected Monday, but at
the latest, it will be handed up Tuesday. Israel has already
promised the United States that Sheinbein will be charged and tried
in Israel and if found guilty, he will serve his prison term as
well. Israeli officials repeatedly stressed that the decision not
to comply with the extradition request is in no way a message that
the suspect will not be placed on trial.
Sheinbein is alleged to have killed and dismembered a Maryland
teenager, Alfred Tello Jr., in Montgomery County, in September
1977, then fleeing to Israel to escape prosecution.
Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz said that the American people
do not understand the ruling. "After all, we provide fair trials
for Jews and for everybody else. And secondly, they don't
understand why Sheinbein is a citizen even though he's never really
lived or had any connections with the State of Israel."
Purim Brings Palestinian Border Closure
By David Gollust (VOA-Jerusalem)
Palestinians are condemning Israel's four-day closure of the West
Bank and Gaza as a violation of international law. Israel imposed
the closure (early Sunday) in response to what it said were
warnings of terrorist attacks during this week's observance of
Purim.
Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Arens says the closure is a
necessary response to specific warnings of terror attacks. But
both the Palestinian Authority and human rights activists are
condemning the move as collective punishment.
Hamdi Shaqqura of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza
said the most serious terror attacks in recent years have come
while closures were in place. Given that many Gaza residents are
able to slip into Israel and work without permits, he says it is
hard to see how a closure would stop a terrorist:
"To find these ordinary citizens finding their own ways into
Israel, it is hard for us to believe that a militant or somebody
who is committed to commit a suicide [attack] will be deterred by
the closure."
About 50,000 Palestinians with jobs in Israel are affected by the
closure.
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