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Newsletter : 9fax1027.txt
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>Israel Faxx
>JN Oct. 27, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 199
Retired Police Officers Arrested in Nimrodi Investigation
By IsraelWire
Police have announced the arrests of two former officers who served in the Serious Crimes Unit in connection with the ongoing investigation into an alleged murder conspiracy involving Ma'ariv owner/editor-in-chief Ofir Nimrodi. The two face allegations of interfering with a police investigation and passing information to Nimrodi to assist him in evading law-enforcement agencies.
Maalot Terrorist Will be Allowed Into Gaza
By Ross Dunn (VOA-Jerusalem)
Israel has cleared the way for the return of the leader of a rebel Palestinian group responsible for a series of deadly attacks in Israel before the start of the peace process. The Israeli government believes Nayef Hawatmeh is ready for peace.
Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced he would allow Hawatmeh to enter the Palestinian self-rule areas in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Barak says he has done so on the advice of Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat, who wants to persuade Hawatmeh to join him at the negotiating table with Israel.
Hawatmeh is the leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the DFLP, which rejected Arafat's decision to sign the 1993 Oslo peace accords. At the time, DFLP and other groups moved their headquarters to Damascus, but in recent months they have begun reconciliation talks with Arafat.
Barak says he has approved the entry because he believes Hawatmeh is ready to make peace. But the decision is painful to the Israeli families who lost their loved ones during one of the biggest attacks by Palestinians.
Guerrilla fighters from the DFLP infiltrated Israel in 1974 and took over a school to demand the release of Palestinian prisoners. In the ensuing shoot-out with Israeli commandos, 24 Israeli school children and one soldier were killed in the northern town of Maalot.
Hawatmeh says he feels pain for the victims, but blames Israel for not negotiating and ordering the raid against the DFLP activists. His organization has undergone a process of rehabilitation following his decision to open a dialogue with Arafat. The United States recently announced it had dropped the DFLP from its list of what it calls -- foreign terrorist organizations.
Hawatmeh also says he may be willing to recognize Israel's right to exist as part of a final peace settlement with the Palestinians.
Suspected Christian Doomsday Cult Members Arrested
By IsraelWire
Christian members of a suspected "doomsday" messianic cult were
arrested Monday by police and issued deportation orders. Police
reported the 21 cult members were residing in Israel illegally and
posed a threat to the public safety.
According to Israel Radio, police fear the group members planed to commit suicide in 2000 as part of an apocalyptic sect. The arrests come as part of the Israel police mass crackdown against suspected "doomsday" cult members, who police believe will attempt mass suicides in the capital at the turn of the century. The raid, which came after midnight Monday, marked the third time this year that suspected cult members were arrested by police.
Police report the latest suspects arrested belong to the Solomon's Temple and Brother David cults, and live near the Mount of Olives in eastern Jerusalem. Police charge the cult members are in Israel illegally and they will be granted 72 hours to appeal the deportation orders.
The group according to police was made up of 20 Americans, one Australian and five children. They were taken in police vehicles to a prison in Ramle. Police spokeswoman Linda Menuhin stated, "Police believe their stay could have brought, under certain circumstances, damage to public safety."
Police say they are on guard for any Christian groups which believe that the perpetration of violent acts would hasten the bringing of the messiah. Officials say that as the millennium draws nearer, Israel will become a magnet for apocalyptic groups. Tourism officials fear that with the planned arrival of millions of Christian tourists in 2000, the zealousness of police may backfire, driving many potential visitors away.
Woman Dies of Cancer Following Repeated Psychiatric Referrals
By IsraelWire
A husband and children whose wife and mother died of cancer have filed suit against doctors in the Jerusalem District Court. The survivors maintain that the woman, a resident of southern Israel, complained of abdominal pains for years and was never checked for any physical ailment, but was referred for a psychiatric evaluation.
After two years of pain, she was finally transferred to Kaplan Hospital in Rehovot where doctors discovered she had advanced colon cancer. The woman died in February 1997 at the age of 50.
The plaintiffs have already obtained an expert medical opinion from Dr. Tamar Peretz, who head the Department of Oncology at Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital, indicating that the woman was never sent for thorough testing and early detection of her illness could possibly have saved her life.
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