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Newsletter : 0fax0225.txt
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>Israel Faxx
>JN Feb. 25, 2000, Vol. 8, No. 36
Funeral Service for Ofra Chaza
By IsraelWire
Singing star Ofra Chaza was buried Wednesday afternoon at the Yarkon Cemetery in Tel Aviv. Chaza, 41, died Wednesday evening of what is being described by medical officials as systemic failure resulting from the flu. She was hospitalized for 13 days in an intensive care unit prior to succumbing to the illness.
Israeli Minister Stirs Outrage
Israel Faxx Staff Report
Drawing outrage from his own colleagues, Israel's foreign minister described an avenging Lebanon policy Wednesday, saying all acts of violence would be repaid in kind: "Blood for blood, soul for soul, child for child." Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ehud Barak gave his strongest suggestion yet that Israel would withdraw from south Lebanon by this summer with or without agreement from Syria, the main power in Lebanon.
Foreign Minister David Levy told Parliament the knowledge that Israel would meet any attacks in kind has prevented the militant Islamic Hizbullah terrorist army from expanding a recent escalation of violence beyond engaging Israeli troops. "This is a warning signal...and this warning prevents disaster," he said, red-faced and wagging his finger at Arab legislators who expressed outrage at his inclusion of children as legitimate targets.
Barak's Honeymoon is Over
Analysis by Meredith Buel (VOA-Jerusalem)
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was elected last May largely on promises that he would reinvigorate the Middle East peace process and bring stable relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors. After nine months in office, however, Barak is facing a steady deterioration of his efforts to make peace with the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon, as well as a decline in relations with Arab governments in the region.
When Barak won a landslide victory in last year's election for Prime Minister, he promised to implement peace agreements with the Palestinians, bring new harmony to relations between Israel and Arab countries in the Middle East, and pull Israeli soldiers out of south Lebanon.
In his first seven months in office, Barak signed a revised peace accord with Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat, released hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from jail and transferred more of the occupied territories to Palestinian control. Last December, with much fanfare and optimism, Barak renewed peace talks with Syria.
But now, two months into the year that the Israeli prime minister hoped would be an historic one for peace agreements in the Middle East, Barak is facing escalating obstacles.
Peace talks with the Palestinians are deadlocked, negotiations with Syria are indefinitely suspended, seven Israeli soldiers have been killed in south Lebanon recently, and Arab countries have condemned Israeli air strikes on Lebanon. Barak's political party is also embroiled in a fund-raising scandal analysts say could tarnish his image. Despite such problems, Barak says be is determined to forge ahead.
"We are in a phase of difficulties. We should not lose our eye contact with the objective. We should not lose our nerves. We should not change or transform our basic positions, which intend to defend the basic national security and other interests of Israel. We should work determinedly to break the deadlock and move once again toward the moment of truth that is still awaiting us during this year of 2000."
The Israelis and Palestinians failed to meet a deadline earlier this month for a framework peace accord and continue to face a self-imposed target of next September for a permanent peace treaty.
Barak now says such dates are not "sacred" and that such problems in the peace process are not a surprise.
Egypt Preparing Long-Range Missiles
By Arutz-7
Sources in the U.S. and Israel are very concerned with some recent military deals conducted by Egypt - specifically, the transfer by Cairo of U.S. missile technology to North Korea. So reports Steve Rodan in the latest edition of Janes Defence Weekly.
The technologies in question are allegedly being sent by Egyptian government-owned companies to Pyongyang, where they are then adapted and returned to Egypt as advanced components for Egypt's medium-range ballistic missile program. The same Israeli sources add that although Egypt currently has Scud C missiles with a range of 300 miles, Cairo is now developing missiles with a range of nearly twice that.
With chemical and biological warheads, Rodan notes, these missiles would pose a serious threat to Israel. Speaking with Arutz-7, Rodan added that a 600 mile range would permit such missiles to be fired from deep within Egypt, where its launchers would be virtually inaccessible to Israel Air Force bombers.
According to the Janes article, the Clinton administration has not put a stop to Egypt's technology transfers, "since Israeli and U.S. officials differ over the extent of Egypt's missile program and its threat to the region." A senior Israeli defense source told Rodan that the U.S. does not see Egypt in the same light as Israel, and is simply unwilling to jeopardize its alliance with Egypt. Israel has even been specifically ordered by the U.S. administration not to go public with the story, Rodan told Arutz-7.
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