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Newsletter : 1fax0322.txt
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>Israel Faxx
>JN March 22, 2001, Vol. 9, No. 52
Israel Insists on Security as Condition for Talks
By Breck Ardery (VOA-United Nations)
Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he is "flexible" on the resumption of negotiations with the Palestinians but will not compromise Israel's security. The Israeli leader held talks with the United Nations secretary-general on Wednesday.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan met privately with Sharon for more than an hour, discussing aspects of the situation in the Middle East. Sharon was not available to reporters either before or after the meeting. However, United Nations spokesman Fred Eckhard did give a brief account of the topics covered.
"The prime minister briefed the secretary-general on his recent visit to Washington. He outlined his government's policy concerning the Palestinians, discussed regional stability, including local and regional threats of terror, and talked of the prospects of resuming peace talks," said Eckhard.
"On the subject of talks, the prime minister emphasized that he would remain flexible but said he would not compromise on the subject of the security of Israeli citizens."
Eckhard said the secretary-general urged Sharon to ease economic restrictions on the Palestinians, as a way of reducing violence in the occupied territories.
The Israeli prime minister reiterated his government's opposition to a proposed international observer force in the West Bank and Gaza. The United Nations Security Council is reportedly ready to consider the idea again, within the next several days. A similar effort to establish an observer force failed by one vote when it was brought to the Council last December.
U.N. Report Calls for End to Palestinian Territory Closures
By VOA News
Investigators from the U.N. Human Rights Commission say Israel has used excessive and disproportionate force in dealing with the Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In their report, released in Geneva Wednesday, the three member inquiry team called for the end of closures to Palestinian territory and said Israel needs to take greater care not to inflict injuries to civilians not directly involved in attacks.
Commission investigators are also calling for international monitors to be placed in the two territories in order to watch for human rights violations on all sides.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rejected that suggestion in his meeting with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan in New York Wednesday.
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Melchior, speaking to Human Rights Commission members in Geneva, criticized the United Nations for considering what he called "extremist resolutions" against Israel.
Car-Bomb Thwarted In Me'ah She'arim
By Arutz-7 News
The alertness of a Jerusalem citizen apparently averted a serious tragedy in the heart of the Me'ah She'arim neighborhood. Upon noticing an illegally parked car close to Shabbat Square, he alerted police, whose check of the license plate ascertained that the car was stolen.
Other officials who arrived on the scene saw a cellular phone inside the car with "strange wires" protruding from it, and immediately began treating the car as a suspected car bomb. The police distanced passersby and evacuated nearby apartments, while bomb squad personnel began "working" on the car.
With traffic blocked up for blocks all around, and under the pressure of the unknown, they managed, on their second attempt, to open the trunk with a controlled explosion. Inside they found a large explosive device, which they safely dismantled. Jerusalem Police Commissioner Mickey Levy acknowledged that the busy street had been saved from a major tragedy.
Pollard Again Feels Abandoned
By Arutz-7 News
There are conflicting media hints as to the manner in which Ariel Sharon raised the issue of Jonathan Pollard in his talks with President Bush Tuesday.
IMRA reports that an Israel Radio report indicated that Sharon asked Bush to release Pollard, while The Jerusalem Post reported only that "Sharon said he did raise the issue of convicted spy for Israel Jonathan Pollard" together with that of the missing and abducted Israelis in Lebanon.
Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA noted that by lumping Pollard in with the MIA's, Sharon signaled to the Americans that Israel does not expect an immediate resolution of the Pollard case." No word of any response from Bush has been reported.
Pollard recently likened himself to a soldier bleeding to death in full view of the nation, and appealed to Sharon to make the case for his release.
Pollard's wife, Esther, told IMRA, "Prime Minister Sharon is in a unique position. He has all the factors in place that no other prime minister of Israel ever had to secure Jonathan's immediate release - moral, legal, humanitarian, and an actual commitment made at Wye between the two nations - yet he failed to make a serious request... My husband is an Israeli agent in peril who has given the last 16 years of his life for Israel. Instead of bringing Jonathan home, the Prime Minister left Washington with a dinner menu [as a souvenir]."
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