At least 20 people were wounded by a bomb explosion in the Israeli
city of Hadera. No one was seriously hurt, and one person suffered moderate
injuries. Police said a pipe bomb had been planted by Palestinian terrorists
inside a trash can near the market in the town's business district. There was
no
immediate claim of responsibility, and police were investigating whether
Monday's attack was linked to another pipe bomb attack several months ago in
the coastal city of Netanya.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak downplayed a Syrian threat not to
attend the next round of peace talks, slated to resume Wednesday. "We highly
respect President (Hafez) Assad, and if he needs some time before the
negotiations are to be resumed, we respect it and we will wait. We will be
there
when they will be there," Barak said Monday. Syrian officials issued the
threat
over the weekend, citing a lack of progress in the previous round of talks.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak decided to delay a withdrawal from
an additional 6.1 percent of the West Bank. He called for a postponement of
Thursday's scheduled redeployment until some issues are cleared up in
negotiations with the Palestinians. The two sides reportedly disagree over
Palestinian demands to assume control over land outside Jerusalem. Palestinian
officials reacted angrily to the postponement, but their Israeli counterparts
maintain they have the right, under the latest interim peace accord, to delay
the
pullback by three weeks.
A PLO official said his group is preparing to declare statehood as early
as next month. Salim Zanoun, chairman of the PLO's Central Council, said
Sunday the group will convene Feb. 2 to discuss the idea. Palestinian
officials
have said they reserve the right to declare statehood if they suspect Israel
of
dragging its feet in the ongoing peace talks.
Nearly all the Republican presidential candidates said during a debate
in Iowa on Saturday that they support the idea of posting the 10 Commandments
in public schools. Backing the idea, front-runner Gov. George W. Bush said,
"No matter what a person's religion is, there's some inherent values in those
great commandments." Conservative activist Gary Bauer pledged that if he
wins, they would be posted not only in schools, but also in the Oval Office.
Arizona Sen. John McCain sidestepped the issue, speaking instead about how
the Senate begins its proceedings every day with a prayer.
David Klein was sworn in as governor of the Bank of Israel after his
appointment was narrowly approved by the Cabinet. To secure the approval,
Prime Minister Ehud Barak lobbied government ministers from his own One
Israel bloc, who initially opposed Klein because they believed his
anti-inflationary policies would keep interest rates high. At Monday's
swearing-
in ceremony at the president's residence in Jerusalem, Klein said the
government had achieved its objective of bringing inflation under control, and
now must work at maintaining the low levels.
Israeli President Ezer Weizman is expected to be questioned by police
regarding an estimated $450,000 in cash gifts he accepted from a French
millionaire friend. The state attorney's office and attorney general asked
police
to examine the issue after concluding it lacked sufficient information to
determine the legality of the gifts. Weizman, who has denied doing anything
illegal, welcomed the decision, saying he hoped it would help bring out the
truth.
Austrian police arrested a suspected member of the Abu Nidal
Palestinian terrorist group. A police official said last Friday that the
suspect is
named Nimer Halime, but declined to disclose her age, nationality or the
circumstances of the arrest. The Abu Nidal group carried out a series of
attacks
in European capitals during the 1970s and 1980s. The group, which is an
opponent of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction, is
blamed for killing or wounding some 900 people in at least 20 countries.
Convicted Nazi collaborator Maurice Papon returned to prison
Saturday after undergoing surgery days earlier to implant a heart pacemaker.
Papon, 89, who has a history of cardiac problems, is serving a 10-year
sentence
for his role in the arrest and deportation of Jews from France during World
War
II. Papon's lawyer argued against his return to prison during his
convalescence,
saying it would endanger his life. Papon has requested a presidential pardon
on
medical grounds.
California established a task force to expand its trade and expertise
throughout the Middle East. Israel last week signed a memorandum supporting
the creation of the task force. California officials expect that Jordan,
Egypt and
other Arab nations will soon follow Israel's lead. While Israel and California
have signed numerous trade agreements, the latest aims to achieve broad-based
regional cooperation in the Middle East.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak said an Israeli-Syrian peace treaty
cannot be reached until he and Syrian President Hafez Assad meet together with
President Clinton. In an interview with the Israeli daily Ma'ariv, Barak said
negotiators can do much of the groundwork but "there are some issues we
cannot decide on without" a high-level meeting. Barak also warned the Syrians
that they should not keep Lebanon out of the negotiations.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Foreign Minister David Levy
plan to meet with Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat in Washington
on Thursday, a day after the planned resumption of talks with Syria. Arafat
will
be in Washington for a meeting with President Clinton. Israel and the
Palestinians are trying to reach a framework for a peace deal by Feb. 15.
An American Jewish group plans to be in Washington on Feb. 8 to
lobby Congress against supporting a peace deal between Syria and Israel.
Americans For a Safe Israel said it will urge legislators not to give
"billions of
dollars of American taxpayer money for the Golan giveaway." The group also
said it would ask lawmakers to oppose the stationing of U.S. troops on the
Golan Heights.
The director of the Mid-Atlantic Council of the Union of American
Hebrew Congregations, who was seriously injured in an accident last year, has
filed a $75 million lawsuit against the District of Columbia. The lawsuit
alleges
that city officials failed to respond to complaints of a broken water main
and icy
conditions, which caused Rabbi Lynne Landsberg to crash. Landsberg, who
suffered permanent brain damage, will never be able to return to her job, her
attorney told the Washington Post.
Estrongo Nachama, the Berlin Jewish community's chief cantor for
more than 50 years, died Jan. 13 of heart failure. Nachama, 81, a Greek-born
Jew and Auschwitz survivor, settled in Berlin after World War II. He was freed
by Soviet troops at a Nazi camp near Berlin as World War II ended in 1945 and
was taken in by a Christian family.
An Egyptian film producer said he received government permission to
set up a private group to promote friendship with Israel, Reuters reported.
Nabil
Foda, founder of the Egyptian-Israeli Friendship Association, told the wire
service that the group would start its activities this month and seek to gain
new
members beyond its 30 founders, who include businessmen, judges, lawyers and
doctors. "The Arab media focus on negative things and create hatred in public
opinion against Jews and Israel," Foda said.
A Jerusalem District Court judge threw out an appeal arguing against
the continued detention of Daniel Weiz, who is wanted in Canada in connection
with the November beating death of a 15-year-old boy in Toronto. Weiz, 19,
was born in Israel, but moved with his family to Canada in 1993. He was
arrested when he returned to Israel to report for army duty.
Fifty percent of Israelis either support or are leaning toward supporting
a peace agreement with Syria in a national referendum, according to a Gallup
poll published in the Israeli daily Ma'ariv. Nearly 40 percent said they would
not support such a deal. A number of other polls have indicated that a
majority
of Israelis would not back the agreement.
Israeli troops carried out "preventive arrests" in the West Bank after
they received information that Islamic Jihad was planning attacks, the army
said.
In its brief statement, which did not say how many people were arrested, the
army said the arrests were made in areas around the towns of Jenin, Hebron and
Ramallah.
The president of the American Bar Association told his Jordanian
counterpart that forbidding members from contact with Israelis "clearly
violates
international human-rights norms." William Paul wrote the letter to Saleh
Armouti after the Anti-Defamation League informed the ABA that Israelis
arrested in Jordan were denied legal representation because of the
prohibition.
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