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Newsletter : 0fax0426.txt
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>JN April 26, 2000, Vol. 8, No. 75
Rabbanit Broida Dies One day After Husband's Funeral
By IsraelWire
One day following the burial of her husband, Rabbi Simcha Zisel Broida, 88, the dean of the Hebron Yeshiva, his wife, Rabbanit Miriam Zisel Broida, 80, died Monday. Students of the Hebron Yeshiva commented, "They never parted, not in life or death." The Broidas were married for more than 60 years.
Hitler's Skull Displayed in Moscow
By Peter Heinlein (VOA-Moscow)
An exhibition marking the 55th anniversary of the end of World War 2 opens Wednesday in Moscow, featuring what officials say is a fragment of Adolph Hitler's skull. The display is devoted mostly to the last days of the Third Reich.
The exhibition at Russia's State Archives features more than 150 Nazi-era artifacts kept by the Soviet KGB secret police when World War 2 ended. Among them are the personal papers of Hitler and other senior officials, as well as the minutes of interrogations of several Nazi leaders, and the original act of surrender signed by the Germans in 1945.
But the item attracting the most interest is an eight by 11 centimeter section of bone with a hole in it said to be part of Hitler's skull. State Archive Director Vladimir Kozlov says he is sure of the skull's authenticity.
He says, "We have materials from forensic and criminal examinations on Hitler's suicide, and signed protocols from interrogations with those present with him in the bunker."
Historians say Hitler's remains were found shortly after he committed suicide, but that Soviet dictator Josef Stalin kept the discovery secret for years.
Last year, prominent Russian war historian Lev Bezymensky said the piece of skull was preserved because Stalin had ordered them shipped to Moscow years earlier for positive identification, and kept in the KGB archives.
The exhibition is already drawing criticism, both in Russia and abroad. One expert who investigated Hitler's death was quoted as calling the decision to display the skull fragment "sordid." Others suggested it might inspire the neo-fascist groups that have sprung up in Russia in recent years.
Israel Maintains Nuclear "Ambiguity"
By Ross Dunn (VOA-Jerusalem)
Israel says it will continue to maintain a stance of "deliberate ambiguity" over claims that it has a secret arsenal of nuclear weapons. Israel's Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh says Israel will continue its policy of refusing to confirm or deny the existence of nuclear weapons. He was reacting to criticism of Israel from Egyptian representatives at a New York review conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The agreement has been ratified by 187 countries. Four -- Israel, Pakistan, India, and Cuba -- have not. Egypt wants Israel to sign the agreement and join talks aimed at ensuring the Middle East becomes a nuclear free zone.
An expert on strategic relations in the Middle East at Tel Aviv's Bar-Ilan University, Gerald Steinberg, said he believes Israel's policy of ambiguity has been successful.
"Israel is a very small state, with a long history of threats to its national survival and security. And over the last four decades, a policy based on an ambiguous deterrent option has been developed, and Israelis see that as having been very successful, not only preventing and in some cases ending attacks but also in bringing the Arab states to the peace process."
Israel is believed to have about 200 nuclear warheads, but says it will not be the first to introduce them into the Middle East. Steinberg says that if Israel signed the treaty, it would have to destroy any nuclear weapons it may possess.
"The terms of the Non-Proliferation treaty are such that all signatories are required to first of all stop, under international inspection, any kind of activities that are related to the development of nuclear weapons and also to destroy to any materials or weapons that are already developed and have been manufactured. So Israel would be giving up all its capabilities."
The treaty specifies that only five nations with nuclear weapons -- Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States -- are allowed to maintain a nuclear capability. Other countries that continue to develop nuclear weapons would be considered to be in violation of the treaty.
Deputy Defense Minister Sneh says he believes the United States, Israel's closet ally, will help resist international pressure to clarify its position. Israeli historian Avner Cohen -- author of a 1998 book "Israel and the Bomb" -- says the two countries worked out an agreement over the issue in 1970. He says the United States pledged to help limit international pressure against Israel as long as Israel did not declare itself a nuclear power and did not carry out nuclear weapons tests.
Steinberg says he believes these "understandings" are still valid and that is why Israeli officials remain confident of United States government support.
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