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Newsletter : 0fax0505.txt
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>Israel Faxx
>JN May 5, 2000, Vol. 8, No. 82
Ancient Torah Scroll Rescued by Israeli Security Agents
Israel Faxx Staff Report
An ancient Torah scroll with a rich history, has been rescued from Baghdad and brought to Israel by Israeli agents according to Israel Radio. The scroll was hidden in the tires of a vehicle and smuggled out of Iraq. Chief Ashkenazic Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau commented that the scroll is being kept in the Tiferet Yisrael Synagogue in Afula and was written on the finest deer parchment, another unique quality of the scroll.
Damage in Kiryat Shmona from Katyushas Reported Heavy
By IsraelWire
The number of casualties from the evening's Katyusha rocket attacks in Kiryat Shmona has risen to 19 according to emergency medical service officials. Some of the injured were hit with shrapnel while others were being treated for hysteria. IDF OC Northern Commander Major-General Gabi Ashkenazi was quoted as saying he believed the attacks have not yet ended.
The 122mm rockets fell on the northern city between 6-and 6:30 p.m. (Israel time), causing heavy damage to homes as well as businesses, public and private structures. The rockets also hit an unspecified number of cars.
Emergency responders, including military, civil defense, police and medical personnel deployed throughout the city. Firefighters responded to many calls for assistance to extinguish blazes which resulted from direct hits by the rockets. Many of the injured were treated in frontline emergency stations while others were transported to a hospital in Safed.
The air force has taken to the skies and IDF artillery units have launched an offensive against Hizbullah which has claimed responsibility for the evening attacks.
Residents in all northern area communities remain in bomb shelters as the IDF General Command convened to weigh options for a response. Most senior military analysts believe that even with the many dovish cabinet ministers, Prime Minister Ehud Barak will not be able to refrain from a serious military response in light of the many citizens that have been injured and the heavy damages to Kiryat Shmona.
Hizbullah has claimed responsibility for the Katyusha attacks, which it said was in retaliation for the continued Israeli aggression and the death of an elderly woman and her child on Thursday morning. Israel reports the two were killed by a shell fired by the Israel-allied Southern Lebanese Army.
Chief Yamit Evacuator: No More Evacuations
By Arutz-7 News Service
Inhabitants of Gush Katif Thursday commemorated the 18th anniversary of the Sinai evacuation of Yamit and nearby settlements. Former Gen. Chaim Erez, who was in charge of the Southern Command at the time, was responsible for the evacuation. He was asked by Arutz-7's Haggai Segal, "Why did the IDF destroy Yamit? Couldn't it have left it and its homes standing?"
"There were military considerations as well as political matters between Israel and Egypt. In addition, there may have been considerations of the uncertainty of who would live there afterwards."
Segal: "How many soldiers took part in the evacuation?" Erez: "In the last days, in Yamit, it was a small number of thousands - I would guess it was between 2,000 and 3,000."
Segal: "Were there soldiers who didn't want to take part, or who actually refused the orders to do so?" Erez: "There were many mixed emotions, not only about the withdrawal itself, but even more about the idea of having to evacuate families and children from their homes in which they grew up. This was even harder than the withdrawal issue.... The most emotional and hard cases were the passive resistance of families, where we had to start taking out their belongings from their homes... and then start removing the people..."
Regarding possible future evacuations of Jews from their homes in the Golan or Judea and Samaria, Erez said, "It should be forbidden. There must be no evacuation of people from their homes. We need peace, but a way must be found to leave the people in their homes."
(Editors Note: Cincinnatian Chaim Feifal, Adath Israel's former cantor, and his wife Sara, headed a group of Americans -- including your editor -- whose goal was to found the potential city of 250,000 on the Sinai coast, just north of El Arish and south of the Gaza Strip.)
Arabs Set Sights on West Jerusalem
By Arutz-7 News Service
A new PLO database program has been developed to help residents of Arab refugee camps identify their pre-1948 homes within Israel. This should help the public realize the extent of the Palestinian demands, says Israel Resource journalist David Bedein, who broke the news of a new Palestinian "right of return" program. "If this becomes known to the Israeli public, a national crisis of confidence in the peace process would ensue." he said.
The PLO has released a multi-colored 40-page "Palestinian Refugee" brochure, in which is delineated the organization's demands for the "right of return" for Arabs who, before 1948, lived in what is now the State of Israel.
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