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Newsletter : 0fax0111.txt
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>JN Jan. 11, 2000, Vol. 8, No. 7
JNF May Swap Syrian Land Holdings for Golan
By IsraelWire
A senior legal official of the Jewish National Fund says that in light of the current political situation between Israel and Syria, the JNF is discussing "trading" about 13,250 acres that it owns near Damascus for lands in the Golan. Officials realize that a deal would have to be reached soon, prior to the signing of a peace accord with Syria that would include Israeli land concessions and border demarcations.
Syrians, Israelis Leave West Virginia for Home
By Nick Simeone, Shepherdstown, W. Va. & David Gollust, White House
Israeli and Syrian leaders are returning home from a week of peace talks in the United States with no agreement on a land for peace deal but promising to resume discussions later in the month. U.S. officials mediating this first round say informal contacts between both sides will continue.
U-S officials did not expect this round to produce a peace agreement but the session did serve to put some new ideas on the table which will be taken up when Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk Al-Shara reconvene Jan. 19.
For the first time since Israeli-Syrian talks broke off four years ago, all issues concerning an agreement in which Israel would return the Golan Heights to Syria in exchange for normal relations were discussed. These include complex topics such as future borders, security concerns and access to water resources. In no area was there news of a breakthrough, only what State Dept. spokesman James Rubin calls intensive talks that led to a warming trend between both sides.
During the interim period, the Israeli and Syrian leaders are expected to continue reviewing a document prepared by American mediators outlining points where both sides agree and disagree, a document U.S. officials say could form the core of a peace agreement down the road. The future site for the next round of Israeli-Syrian talks has not yet been decided.
President Clinton says he is not disappointed by the inconclusive outcome of the Middle East peace talks in Shepherdstown and says the two sides can eventually reach peace if they can summon the political will to do so.
Clinton says he never expected the Shepherdstown talks to produce a "concluding" agreement between Israel and Syria, but says he believes the mediated discussions broke new ground and made it apparent that the issues dividing the two sides are "quite manageable."
Clinton said he was neither surprised nor disappointed by the outcome of the meetings between Barak and Al-Shara: "These people really talked about the substance of their differences for the first time. They were very open. They were very candid, they covered all the issues. And I think they broke a lot of ground. But it's tough. I told you it was tough in the beginning. I still think we can get there. But they're going to have to come back here determined to do so, and I believe they will."
Clinton said the issues are not overly complicated and the parties can reach peace if they want it bad enough and are, in his words, willing to take a chance on a totally different future.
Sunday Times: Mossad Obtained Assad Urine Sample
By IsraelWire
According to the Sunday Times of London, the Mossad Intelligence Agency has acquired a urine sample from Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and a diagnosis revealed that the Syrian leader was "living on borrowed time."
According to the report, the sample was obtained last year while Assad joined many international leaders at the funeral service for King Hussein of Jordan.
The Times report indicated that the urine sample was processed in a laboratory in Tel HaShomer Hospital in Tel Aviv where it was confirmed that the Syrian leader has cancer of his urinary tract and enabled physicians to obtain an accurate reading on the Syrian ruler's diabetes mellitus.
The report added that the urine sample could also tell Israel what drugs were present in the president's system, thereby hinting at what diseases or medical ailments are being treatment. The Times concluded that al-Assad was "living on borrowed time."
According to the Times report, a special lab was constructed in Jordan and plumbing pipes from a bathroom urinal led to a collection jar, enabling Mossad agents to obtain a sample of al-Assad's urine.
Lottery Winner Loses It All in Stock Market, Commits Suicide
By IsraelWire
A 38-year-old Tel Aviv resident who took his lottery winnings and increased them sevenfold, eventually lost it all on the stock market and then despondent, took his own life. The lifeless body of the man was found hanged last Wednesday in Tel Aviv.
About ten years ago, the man won NIS 250,000 in the lottery. He eventually amassed NIS 8 million and he invested it all in the stock market about three years ago. He lost it all in a bad investment. He since tried returning to the workforce, opening a vegetable store and other methods of making a suitable livelihood, but to no avail.
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