 |
 |
|
|
||
Newsletter : 0fax0217.txt
Directory | Previous file | Next file
>PD
>Israel Faxx
>JN Feb. 17, 2000, Vol. 8, No. 30
Pays NIS 1,000 Traffic Fine in Small Coins
By IsraelWire
Shai Bohovza, 30, from Ashdod paid a NIS 1,000 traffic fine (about $250) in 12,000 5-and 10-agorot coins. Workers in the postal bank needed four hours to count the coins. Bohovza's use of small coins was to protest the fact that the fine was for a traffic violation in a car that he sold, but the new owner has not transferred ownership. He stated that he explained to the police that the car's new owner has avoided transferring ownership for several months, and that the violation was made by the new owner; but the police were unable to help him.
Barak Assumes More Military Power
By Meredith Buel (VOA-Jerusalem)
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak is taking on new powers to respond to terrorist attacks against Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon. The new powers were granted to Barak by Israel's Security Cabinet - the cabinet officers who deal with defense and national security issues.
The security cabinet decided to give Barak, Foreign Minister David Levy, and former general and Deputy Prime Minister Yitzhak Mordechai the power to order immediate retaliation for deadly Hizbullah attacks in southern Lebanon. In the past, major military actions have required approval from the security cabinet and have involved lengthy deliberations.
The move follows a rare public appeal by Israel Army Chief of Staff, Shaul Mofaz, to let the military respond when gunmen fire from within villages and other populated areas. Seven Israeli soldiers have been killed in Lebanon since the beginning of this year.
Last week, Israeli warplanes destroyed three power stations in the worst warfare in Lebanon in eight months. Hizbullah is fighting a war of attrition against Israel inside a buffer zone in south Lebanon. Israel says it needs the zone to protect against attacks on communities near the border.
Israel Protests Vatican-PA Agreement
By Meredith Buel (VOA-Jerusalem)
Israel's Foreign Ministry has summoned an envoy of the pope to protest a new agreement between the Vatican and the Palestine Liberation Organization. The ministry summoned Papal envoy Pietro Sambi for what it described as an "urgent" meeting to object to a new agreement between the PLO and the Vatican.
The agreement was signed Tuesday before a meeting in Rome between Pope John Paul and Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat. Without mentioning Israel by name, the accord says - unilateral decisions and actions altering the specific character and status of Jerusalem are morally and legally unacceptable.
Israeli officials are expressing what they call - great displeasure - with the agreement, saying Israel flatly rejects the references to Jerusalem. The Vatican envoy said after his meeting at the Foreign Ministry that the agreement with the Palestinians does not refer to political disputes over Jerusalem.
The controversy comes about one-month before the pope is due to visit the Holy Land on a millennial pilgrimage to religious sites.
Knesset Hears German President -- in German
By Meredith Buel (VOA-Jerusalem)
German President Johannes Rau, in an address to the Israeli Parliament, has asked for forgiveness for the Nazi-era Holocaust. Rau, in the first German-language speech ever made in Israel's parliament, asked forgiveness for the Nazi Holocaust saying he bowed his head in humility before the 6 million Jews who were killed.
"I ask forgiveness for my generation, for my children and my children's children, whom I would like to see in the future have good relations with Israel."
Rau pledged to battle anti-Semitism in Europe. Germany's president also laid a wreath at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem, and saw an exhibit of pictures made by children in Nazi death camps.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said the Israeli-German friendship could serve as an example for leaders of the Middle East seeking to overcome decades of hostility and emotional differences.
Tel Aviv Beggars Earn NIS 500-700 Daily
By IsraelWire
According to Dr Benny Avrahami, director of the authority for the war on drugs and alcohol and the unit for homeless in the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municipality, the beggars that stand on intersections of Tel Aviv and beg for handouts, collect between NIS 500-700 each per day (about $125-$175).
According to the municipality, a special project was started a month ago to deal with the phenomenon of street beggars. There are an estimated 250 beggars on TA streets, most of them addicted to alcohol and drugs. The project's goal is to get the addicts into detoxification programs.
The project operates a vehicle that goes twice a week through the city with a team of social workers that tries to convince the beggars to go for rehabilitation. Those who are willing are sent to detoxification and rehabilitation centers. When they finish their course of rehab, the municipality is supposed to rent them housing and to help them find employment.
Avrahami stated that the goal is to return the spark of humanity to the beggars, who are on society's fringes. To date, 16 beggars have begun rehabilitation programs, but 10 of them have continued begging.
| Home My Account Search Contact Us |
by Electronic World Communications, Inc.)
