 |
 |
|
|
||
Newsletter : 1fax0716.txt
Directory | Previous file | Next file
>PD
>Israel Faxx
>JN July 16, 2001, Vol. 9, No. 119
Egypt Threatens Israel
By IsraelNationalNews.com
A senior aide to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Osama el-Baz, announced over the weekend that if Israel makes the "major mistake" and attacks Syria, Syrian would not stand alone.
Egypt announced it would come to Syria's side against Israel. El-Baz added that Israel better think twice before launching attacks against any Arab nations, especially Syria "that fulfills an important role in the peace process."
Israeli Agents Abduct Islamic Militant
By Ross Dunn (VOA-Jerusalem)
Palestinian officials said Israeli agents disguised as fruit and vegetable vendors kidnapped a senior Islamic activist near his home in the West Bank town of Bethlehem.
The officials said Mahmoud Hamdan of the Islamic Jihad movement was seized early Sunday when the agents suddenly jumped from a produce truck and forced him into a waiting car.
Israeli officials suspect Hamdan of being involved in the murders of both Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers, as well as the planting of bombs and the killing of alleged Palestinian collaborators.
Also Sunday, witnesses said another Arab militant was arrested in the village of Burqa, near the West Bank city of Nablus. Israeli authorities have defended the abductions, saying the government has the right to protect itself from terrorist attacks.
The latest arrests come as Israeli security forces remain on high alert for a new wave of Palestinian terrorist attacks. Israeli officials said the attacks are planned by Islamic Jihad, the militant groups Hamas, the Islamic Resistance movement and members of the Fatah faction of the PLO.
Peres Meets with Arafat in Cairo
By Sonja Pace (VOA-Cairo)
Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres met with Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat in Cairo as part of stepped-up diplomatic efforts to end almost 10-months of Israeli-Palestinian violence.
Peres said he repeated Israel's position that it would not negotiate under fire, but he said he was returning home with a sense of hope.
Peres met earlier with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and told reporters afterwards he had assured Mubarak that, contrary to media reports, Israel has no plans for an assault on the Palestinians or on Arafat. Peres said Israel wants an end to the current situation, which he described as - sick and poisoned. He said Egypt agrees.
Is Violence Keeping Away Immigrants to Israel?
By Art Chimes (VOA-Jerusalem)
Israel is a nation of immigrants, from Europe, North and South America, Ethiopia and, for the past decade or so, from the former Soviet Union.
More than 900,000 immigrants have come to Israel from Russia, Ukraine, and other former-Soviet republics since the collapse of the USSR. There are Russian groceries and restaurants, a couple of political parties focused on their needs, even Russian-language TV shows like the news program, Kaleidoscope.
In Israel, immigration is not seen as a social problem, the way it is in some other countries. Immigration, in a very real sense, represents the very reason for the country's existence: the gathering together of the Jewish people.
In the first years after Israel was established in 1948, hundreds of thousands came, mostly fleeing postwar Europe. Immigration has ebbed and flowed since then, but in 53 years 2.8 million Jews have moved to Israel.
To help persuade them, the Law of Return guarantees Jews automatic Israeli citizenship, and there is a package of benefits ranging from tax concessions to social program.
Tourism is way down this year, and one might expect that the past nine months of violent conflict between Israelis and Palestinians would also dissuade immigrants. But the Jewish Agency, which promotes immigration to Israel, says only about five percent of prospective immigrants are choosing to delay their migration because of the security situation.
According to Jewish Agency spokesman Michael Yankelowitz, would-be immigrants are aware of the issue. "What we have heard from our emissaries all over the world is that this is one of the questions that are being asked, how safe will it be for me to come to Israel at this time?" he asks. "The people who have decided to immigrate will immigrate; they're just a bit worried, is this the right time to make the move?"
According to official statistics, thousands are deciding this is a good time to come. Immigration from the former Soviet Union for 2001, representing the bulk of new arrivals, is expected to be between 40,000 and 45,000, comparable to 1998 numbers.
Sergio DellaPergola, who studies immigration as head of the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, said poor conditions at home get people thinking about immigration.
If the driving force behind immigration to Israel remains anti-Semitism, economic decline, and political instability in countries where prospective immigrants live, then even the kind of violence seen here since late last year may have only a relatively minor impact on those seeking a new home in the Jewish state.
| Home My Account Search Contact Us |
by Electronic World Communications, Inc.)
