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Newsletter : 0fax0208.txt
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>Israel Faxx
>JN Feb. 8, 2000, Vol. 8, No. 24
Yatom Says Withdrawal Date Still Stands
By IsraelWire
The Prime Minister's National Security Advisor, Danny Yatom, stated Monday that Israel remains committed to a troop withdrawal from the security zone of southern Lebanon no later than July 2000. Yatom added that it would be preferred that the troop withdrawal was the result of a peace agreement but if not, a unilateral withdrawal would take place. Yatom added that Israel sent several messages to Syrian President Hafez al-Assad via the White House over the past days but has not received responses indicating that Damascus was doing it all could to bring an end to Hizbullah attacks in southern Lebanon.
Israel Considers Hizbullah Response
By Meredith Buel (VOA-Jerusalem)
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has convened a special meeting of his security cabinet to consider responses to Hizbullah terrorist attacks in southern Lebanon that have killed four Israeli soldiers in the past week.
Barak called his security cabinet into special session as he faces growing domestic pressure to launch military strikes against Iranian-backed guerrillas in south Lebanon.
Hizbullah killed an Israeli soldier and wounded seven Sunday in a bomb and mortar attack. The assault occurred one week after three Israeli soldiers were killed in a Hizbullah attack.
Israeli television broadcast rare battlefield pictures of the wounded. The bloody scenes caused an outcry among the public and renewed demands to stop the carnage.
Barak is walking a diplomatic tightrope; concerned a strong military retaliation in Lebanon could harm chances of resuming peace talks with Syria. Damascus maintains about 30,000 soldiers in Lebanon and is considered the major power broker in the country.
Sunday Times: Close Dimona Nuclear Facility
By IsraelWire
According to a Sunday Times report, quoting Professor Uzi Eben, a
former senior official in Israel's nuclear program, Eben is calling
for the immediate closure of the facility which poses serious
dangers and is not safe, and may lead to another Chernobyl. Eben is
calling for a start of the process which would, at the very least,
lead to the shutting of the facility.
The Times quotes Israeli scientists calling for the shutting of the
facility which they deem unsafe, to prevent "a second Chernobyl."
Yediot Ahronot reports that experts have pointed out the Dimona
facility began operating in 1960, and the nuclear plant is now
approaching 40 years of operation. Yediot adds that experts report
that facilities as old as Dimona are being shut around the world
due to the dangers they pose to the area residents and environment.
Eben, quoted by Yediot, stated that the operations at the facility have contributed to its "aging process," adding that although it is not comparable with the Chernobyl facility prior to the meltdown, it does pose a significant threat to the area and must be shut to avert a catastrophe.
Government Issues Strong Anti-Haider Statement
By IsraelWire
At the weekly cabinet meeting, the government officially issued a strongly worded statement regarding the inclusion of the extremist right-wing Freedom Party in the Austrian government coalition.
"The government of Israel has an obligation to warn the world of the severe phenomenon of a Western European government incorporating elements of a neo-Nazi nature into its government."
Cabinet Secretary Yitzhak Herzog added, "The historic lesson of the Holocaust teaches us that such occurrences cannot be accepted under any justification and one cannot accept quietly spoken words that mask an ideology of hatred and racism. They must be stopped and uprooted."
Minister of the Interior Natan Sharansky has called upon other nation "to follow Israel's lead," and bar Haider from entering into their country. Sharansky called to "delegitimize" Haider and his views.
Haider said Sunday the new Austrian government in which his party shares power will take appropriate measures to compensate Holocaust victims. In a televised interview, Haider also promised to moderate his tough talk and refrain from meddling in the coalition Cabinet and will not hold a Cabinet post.
A First - Separate But Equal Seating on Some Egged Buses
By IsraelWire
Egged's 350 bus route, serving travelers from Ashdod to Bnei Brak, on Sunday began its new service catering to the ultra-Orthodox community, separate seating for men and women. Women getting onto the bus may do so from the rear door while men must use the front door. The company has also instructed drivers not to play the radio on the bus route.
Egged officials report the line is being run as an experimental service for an unspecified evaluation period and denied criticism that the new regulations would encroach on the rights of secularist passengers who opted to have the option of males and females sitting aside one another.
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