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Newsletter : 2fax0617.txt
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Am Yisrael Chai
By Israel Faxx News Services
The Xinhua News Agency, quoting the Washington Post. reported that
the small Israeli navy, recently
equipped three diesel submarines with cruise-missiles capable of
carrying nuclear heads. It was reported that the missiles have a
range of 800 miles and were tested last year in the Indian Ocean
under U.S. supervision. The article quotes a British official as
saying that the new missiles give Israel nuclear capability by sea,
in addition to that by air and by surface-to-surface missile.
Washington Post: Israel Gains Nuclear-Capable Submarines
By Xinhua News Agency
Israel has acquired three diesel submarines armed with newly-designed cruise missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads, the Washington Post reported Saturday.
The U.S. Navy monitored Israeli testing of a new cruise missile from a submarine two years ago off Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean, former Pentagon officials told the Post.
One former senior American official said U.S. analysts have studied the nuclear capability of the cruise missile, but "it is above top secret knowing whether the sub-launched cruise missiles are nuclear- armed."
A spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington confirmed that his country had recently acquired three submarines from Germany but would not comment on whether they were being outfitted with nuclear weapons. "There has been no change in Israel's long-standing position not to introduce nuclear weapons in the Middle East," the spokesman said.
The possible move to arm submarines with nuclear weapons suggests that the Israeli government might be increasingly concerned about efforts by Iraq and Iran to develop more accurate long-range missiles capable of knocking out Israel's existing nuclear arsenal.
Israel Builds Protective Fence Around West Bank
By VOA News
A red and green fence marks the place where a 75-mile barrier will be erected by Israelis near the northern West Bank city of Jenin Israel's construction of a barrier around the West Bank has drawn fire not only from Palestinian officials but from some Israelis as well.
Israel on Sunday began building the barrier along part of its border with the Palestinian territories in the West Bank to stop militants from attacking Israel. The first phase of construction calls for building a series of electronic fences, ditches and walls stretching 66 miles to block access to Israel from the West Bank towns of Jenin, Tulkarm and Qalqilya, which Israel considers a den of militant activity.
This is an area from which Palestinians have launched numerous terrorist attacks against Israel's northern coastal cities, including suicide bombings. Officials have estimated the cost at $620,000 a kilometer. They say the barricade eventually could stretch to 180 miles along the "green line" between Israel and the West Bank. Palestinians say the fence will only aggravate tensions.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused Israel of seeking
to divide the territory into cantons to start an apartheid system
worse than the one that existed in South Africa. Hard-line Israelis
fear the barrier will jeopardize Jewish settlers living in enclaves
in the West Bank. They also say the fence will become generally
recognized as a border between Israel and a future Palestinian
state.
Meanwhile, Israeli troops on Sunday wounded one of three Palestinians who attempted to get around an Israeli roadblock near Jewish settlements in the Jordan valley. The wounded man escaped. The two other Palestinians were captured.
Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded four others patrolling outside the Dugit Jewish settlement in northern Gaza Saturday. Israeli troops killed at least one of an unknown number of gunmen. The al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the militant Palestinian group Hamas, has claimed responsibility.
The chairman of the National Religious Party, Effi Eitam, said the new fence would be interpreted internationally as defining the nation's political boundaries. His faction believes Israel should never give up the West Bank, which it seized during the 1967 Middle East war.
But Israeli Cabinet Minister Matan Vilnai, a member of the left-leaning Labor Party, says the fence is vital for the country's security. "The first thing is the security of our people, the people of Israel, and the purpose of this fence is to defend the people," he said.
The electronically-monitored fence is expected to take a year to build. It will compromise different barriers, according to the varying terrain, including fences, trenches and concrete walls, with special sensors.
Israeli Gamblers 'Bet on Suicide Attacks'
By BBC World News
A series of attacks has left Israelis traumatized A new and questionable diversion is being offered to Israeli gamblers as a result of the spate of Palestinian suicide bombings - betting on where the next one will be, Israeli newspapers have reported.
Police have confirmed they are investigating reports of a betting ring based in the southern town of Kiryat Malachi. Although prohibited under Israeli law, gambling thrives in illegal hideouts and aboard cruise ships picking up passengers from Israeli ports. There are even plans for an airborne casino.
Bookies taking wagers on Palestinian attacks give the best odds to places largely untouched by the violence, newspapers report. The longest are for an attack on the Red Sea resort of Eilat at 17-1, while Jerusalem - a frequent target - has the shortest odds at 3-2.
The minimum stake is $2 and for the purposes of the bet, only
Palestinian attacks on Israeli targets count - not the other way
round. "We are checking into it to see if there is a violation of
the gambling laws," police spokesman Gil Kleiman was quoted as
saying. "We're not getting into the moral aspect."
