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Newsletter : 0fax0418.txt
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>JN April 18, 2000, Vol. 8, No. 71
Iran: Ballistic Missiles to Libya?
By Jane's Defense Weekly
An unconfirmed report from Middle East sources says that at the beginning of January a consignment of equipment for the Libyan ballistic missile industry left Iran on board an Iranian ship. The vessel sailed on a route through the Straits of Gibraltar, avoiding Africa, and arrived in Libya in mid-February. According to the report, an additional consignment is scheduled to leave for Libya in the next few days on an Iranian transport aircraft, accompanied by personnel from the Libyan missile industry who are currently concluding a series of courses related to missile technology in Iran.
Maccabiah Court Trial Concludes
By Ross Dunn (VOA-Tel Aviv)
An Israeli court has found five people guilty of criminal negligence in the deaths of four Australian athletes and injuries to more than 60 others. The five have been held responsible for the collapse of a pedestrian bridge during the opening of the 1997 Maccabiah Jewish Games.
The collapse of the footbridge at the 1997 Maccabiah Games, the Jewish world's equivalent of the Olympics, is regarded as one of the most tragic events in Israel's history.
The bridge fell apart, plunging members of the Australian delegation into the polluted waters of the Yarkon River. Two Australian athletes died shortly after and two others died from the effects of swallowing contaminated water.
Many others suffered severe injuries, including teenage tennis competitor, Sasha Elterman, who has undergone more than 20 brain operations.
The presiding judge, Edna Beckenstein, says the accused are responsible for building a bridge which she says "had no chance of standing." She criticized the engineer for not ensuring the bridge was tested for its strength and she said the sub-contractors neither had the qualifications nor the experience to build it.
Avraham Landstein, a lawyer for the engineer who designed the bridge, says he will appeal the judgment.
Israel Informs U.N. it will Leave Lebanon
By Breck Ardery (VOA-United Nations)
The Israeli government has notified the United Nations that it will withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon by early July. In a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy says his nation will remove all its forces from Lebanon by July 7.
Israeli ambassador to the United Nations Yehuda Lancry says, by withdrawing from Lebanon, Israeli is fulfilling its part of UN Security Council resolutions and expects other nations in the region to do likewise.
The resolutions call for Israeli military withdrawal and restoration of peace and security with the full sovereignty of the Lebanese government. The Israeli ambassador says his government would have preferred that the withdrawal be done with the cooperation of Syria, but that Israel has decided not to wait for an agreement with Syria.
Lancry told reporters that the members of the pro-Israeli South Lebanon Army - the SLA -- will be relocated. "We are going to give to the SLA a humanitarian solution. That is to say an integration of the families in Israeli, there are many of them. And others who choose to live outside Israel are free to do that."
Many observers of the Middle East worry that the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon will create a security vacuum in which guerilla groups will continue to attack Israel. Some Israeli military leaders say that could lead to a confrontation with Syria, if Syria is seen as encouraging the guerilla attacks.
The United Nations has a 4,500-member peacekeeping mission in Lebanon. The impending Israeli withdrawal means that Annan, in consultation with the Security Council, will have to decide whether to increase the size of that force.
43 Million Pre-Passover Cleaning Hours
By IsraelWire
It is estimated that 43 million man and woman hours will be spent nationwide in cleaning preparations for the Passover holiday which begins after sundown Wednesday.
According to the Brandman Research Institute study, 29 million cleaning hours are done by women and 11 million by men. Persons paid to clean do the remaining 3 million at a cost of NIS 64 million.
According to the study by the market research institute, 73 percent of Israeli homes are cleaned in preparation for the holiday with 48 percent of those who responded to the survey explaining they clean more than usual in preparation for Passover. 46 percent began cleaning two weeks before the holiday, 8 percent before the Purim holiday, and 20 percent wait until just before the holiday. 26 percent do not clean at all for the holiday.
In 70 percent of the homes cleaned for the holiday, males and females participate in the task together while in 30 percent, only the women clean. In homes where both men and women clean, the women still undertake the lion's share of the work, putting in 38 hours compared to 20 hours by the men.
The average paid cleaning person prior to the holiday will work for 10 hours in a home, at an average rate of NIS 20 per hour (about $5).
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