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Newsletter : 0fax0405.txt
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>Israel Faxx
>JN April 5, 2000, Vol. 8, No. 63
Iran Jews Want Spy Trial Postponed
Israel Faxx Staff Report
Iran's Jewish Society is calling for a delay in the espionage trial of 13 Iranian Jews and has asked that they be freed on bail to attend a Passover seder later this month. In a statement, the society demanded the suspects - whose trial is to begin April 13 in Shiraz, be allowed to meet their families and choose their own lawyers. The suspects, arrested more than one year ago, are accused of spying for the United States and Israel and if convicted, they could be executed.
Levy: Israel Won't Deviate From Lebanese Withdrawal Plan
By Lisa Schlein (VOA-Geneva)
Israel's foreign minister says the United Nations is ready to cooperate with Israel's plan to withdraw its troops from southern Lebanon in July. The Israeli official spoke with news reporters in Geneva after discussing the withdrawal plan with the UN Secretary-General.
Foreign Minister David Levy says Israel will not deviate from its decision to withdraw its military forces from Southern Lebanon in July. He says the decision is in line with Israel's interests and will fulfill a Security Council resolution that calls for Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon.
Levy says he had a good meeting with Secretary-General Kofi Annan. He says the secretary-general agrees with Israel's position. And - speaking through a translator - he says Annan told him the United Nations will cooperate with Israel's need to bring about the withdrawal in a safe and orderly manner.
"Israel is ready and willing to cooperate with the United Nations in order to set up together the mechanism in the field itself that will bring about the implementation of the resolution. Also, together with the efforts and the forces and abilities according to the decision and as it was said, there is no need for any further or any additional added decision or resolution of any kind in order to bring about the implementation of the resolution in all its aspects."
Levy says Israel will do whatever it can to avoid any escalation and deterioration of the situation. The United Nations has a multi-national peacekeeping force which was sent to southern Lebanon under a 1978 Security Council resolution.
Levy says it is up to the United Nations to decide if its peacekeeping force is strong enough to deal with the changed situation, or if it will have to be strengthened. Levy says Israel has the force and the will to defend its citizens and security in case of attack.
Speaking in French, Levy warned if Israel is threatened, it will respond in a way the attackers will greatly regret. He says he finds it strange that Israel should be attacked for its decision to withdraw its troops from Lebanon. He says it is bizarre to be attacked by the very people who opposed Israel's presence in Lebanon.
Levy says Israel would prefer to have the withdrawal take place as part of a negotiated settlement with Syria. He says direct negotiations are the only way to achieve peace. But he says Syria does not want to talk with Israel.
Synagogue Sexton Found Guilty of Sexual Assaults
By IsraelWire
A rabbi serving as a sexton of a Holon synagogue, Rabbi Yisrael Abadi, has been convicted of sexual assaults and sodomizing three students, ages 8-10, while he was to have been providing them with Bible lessons.
It was established that in one case, Abadi forced a student into his car, beat him with a stick and then sodomized him. He tied his victims' hands and feet and sexually assaulted them.
JDO Militant Pleads Guilty to Assault of 12-Year-Old Boy
By IsraelWire
The head of the militant Jewish Defense Organization, Mordechai Levy, has pleaded guilty to charges that he assaulted a 12-year-old boy last July in Liberty, N.Y. Sentencing is scheduled for May 25, and Sullivan County prosecutor Bonnie Mitzner told IsraelWire that Levy could legally change his plea before then. If convicted, Levy could receive up to one year in prison or three years on probation.
The alleged incident took place while the child was taking part in a summer camp run by JDO which was training Jewish children to use guns and martial arts. Mitzner said the assault charge emerged from an alleged incident last July at the Paramount Hotel in the Catskill Mountains. According to the complaint, Levy "kicked the boy in the face and eye, then struck him with his elbow in the middle of his back before kicking him in the testicles."
The victim, a Russian Jewish immigrant living in New York City, was taken to the hospital with contusions and in substantial pain. According to Mitzner, Levy told police "that the boys had caused damage to a hotel room and he decided to teach them a lesson."
The Jewish Defense Organization is an outgrowth of the militant Jewish Defense League established by Rabbi Meir Kahane. While Levy claims that the JDO has as many as 3,000 members, Jewish leaders in New York say that he only has a handful of followers. The Jewish Defense League has condemned Levy as "dangerous and unstable individual."
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