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Newsletter : 9fax0423.txt
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>JN April 23, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 77
Baroness Rothschild Dies
By IsraelWire
Baroness Batsheva Rothschild, of the Rothschild banking family, died Wednesday in her Tel-Aviv home at the age of 84. The former recipient of the Israel Prize was the founder of the Batsheva Dance Company.
Russian Foreign Minister Gets Golan Aerial Tour
By Deborah Tate (VOA-Jerusalem)
In Israel, visiting Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov meets Friday with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to discuss ways to resume the stalled Middle East peace process.
On the eve of his talks, Ivanov met with Foreign Minister Ariel
Sharon and called on Israel and Syria to resume talks where they
broke off in 1996 under the previous Labor government of Shimon
Peres. Syria says Israel had agreed at that time to a full
withdrawal from the Golan Heights, which it captured in the 1967
Middle East war.
But Sharon said he is opposed to any withdrawal from the Golan,
which the Likud government sees as key to Israeli security. He
reiterated his view that peace talks with Syria can resume only
without preconditions.
Earlier, Sharon took Ivanov on an aerial tour of the Golan Heights
and the West Bank -- areas the Sharon says "are necessary for
Israel's existence."
Dutch Issue El Al Crash Report
By Lauren Comiteau (VOA-The Hague)
A Dutch parliamentary committee says there is a direct link between
the crash of an Israeli cargo plane in Amsterdam in 1992 and health
problems in the area since then. The committee also harshly
criticized the way the Dutch government handled the disaster.
The El Al cargo plane slammed into an apartment building in
Amsterdam's Biljmer District in October 1992 killing at least 43
people.
In its 400 page plus report, the committee sharply criticizes the way the Dutch government handled the disaster and its aftermath. It paints an unflattering picture of a bureaucratic government that was its own worse enemy -- out of touch with the public, slow to act, and fueling uneasiness by failing to provide answers.
Almost seven years after the crash, there are still hundreds of
residents in the area and rescue workers who say they are sick.
After years of government denial, the committee said it found
there is a direct link between the health complaints and the
disaster, most probably stemming from toxins released during the
fire. But it is still not clear if the illnesses could be
related to the plane's controversial cargo, which the committee
says is hard to trace because of often inaccurate records.
The report says Dutch government officials did not take health
complaints seriously enough -- leading to more complaints and even
a worsening of symptoms.
The report calls for the Ministry of Health to sponsor an
independent and comprehensive study into all health complaints,
with recommendations for treatment.
Israel will Provide Jordan with Water
By IsraelWire
Jordan and Israel have reached a breakthrough in a water dispute, which erupted last month when Israel proposed cutting water supplies to Jordan. According to a Jordan Times report, an agreement between the two countries has been reached.
Officials in Amman reported that a joint water committee reached an
agreement under which Jordan will obtain its 55 million cubic
meters of water from Israel, as stipulated in agreements signed
between the two countries.
Last month, the Jordan strongly protested an Israeli request to cut
40 per cent of water supplies to Jordan to deal with a regional
drought. Jordan relies mainly on rainwater to meet domestic,
agricultural and industrial needs, and requires every drop of water
to handle its chronic water shortage. Both Israel and Jordan have
taken steps to deal with the drought conditions, and have
implemented emergency measures to reduce the consumption and demand
for water.
Astronaut Trainee Joined Celebrations
By IsraelWire and the Denver Post
Before introducing Israeli Air Force Colonel Ilan Ramon to the congregation of Denver's BMH-BJ Synagogue Saturday, the cantor jokingly threatened to sing "Fly Me to the Moon." Ramon is Israel's first astronaut, now training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston for an upcoming space shuttle mission.
The Allied Jewish Federation of Colorado brought the 44-year-old
F-16 pilot and war veteran to town to help commemorate Israel's Day
of Remembrance and Independence Day events this week.
At the event, Ramon, whose mother and grandmother survived
imprisonment in Auschwitz during World War 2, talked about serving
in the Israeli air force for two decades and his recent selection
and training as a space shuttle payload specialist.
When Ramon flies on the shuttle, most likely in 2001, his primary
mission will be to operate a multi-spectral camera that will look
at Earth and record desert aerosols -- particles of dust whipped up by
desert storms - to try to determine how they affect global
climate change.
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