Israelbriefs
compiled by Adam Avigan and Michal Bornstein

One of the the basic principles that our school enthuses is Ahavat Israel, the extricable bond between all Jews. It is the goal of this section to advance Ahavat Israel, through educating students about Israeli current events it attempts to strengthen students’ commitment to the Jewish State.

Political Coalition Formed
The Knesset approved a coalition between Likud, Labor, and United Torah Judaism, by a narrow margin of 58-56 with six abstentions, Jan. 10. Support from five Yahad MKs and two Arab MKs gave Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon a slight majority for his government canceling out 13 votes of “no confidence” by the Likud “rebels.”

Under the terms of the government, Labor will receive eight ministries—Interior, Housing, Construction, Infrastructure, Tourism, Communication and two ministries without portfolio. United Torah Judaism will receive the chairmanship of the Knesset Finance Committee.

In response to demands from Labor, Likud agreed to lower pension allowance cutbacks, which stood at 4 percent, to 1.5 percent, add 500 beds to state-run medical centers and transfer NIS100 million shekels to the medical drug basket. Likud also promised not to increase university tuitions.

Shas announced Dec. 16 that it would not join the coalition due to opposition to a unilateral disengagement as opposed to a bilateral disengagement from Gaza. Sharon promised to leave a portfolio for Shas open in case the political landscape changed, allowing for the coordination of disengagement with a Palestinian counterpart and Shas’ entrance into the coalition. Talks with Shas will resume after Sharon’s meeting with Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Israel not to attend English conference
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced that Israel would not attend a London conference on Palestinian economic, political and security reform tentatively scheduled for February 2005, although he did recognize its importance.

Initially, Israelis feared that the conference was a premature substitute for the International Peace Conference called for under the second phase of the US sponsored “Roadmap.” Under the Roadmap, the Conference will lead to the creation of an independent Palestinian State and establish provisional borders. Israelis feared that a peace conference would undermine the first phase of the Roadmap, which calls for an end to Palestinian terror as a prerequisite to the beginning of peace negotiations.

During a visit to Israel, English Prime Minster Tony Blair addressed Israeli skepticism of the conference and stressed that it will focus on Palestinian internal reform and not broader peace negations. He also stated that the end to terrorism must be a prerequisite to peace talks.

Although Sharon supports the conference, he decided not to send Israeli delegates because he feared that an Israeli presence will automatically shift the focus of the conference from internal Palestinian matters to peace negotiations. Blair supported Sharon’s decision not to attend.

Mahmoud Abbas, former Palestinian Prime Minister and recently elected Palestinian Chairman, openly supported the conference as the first step towards peace negotiations. Current Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia rejected the idea that the Palestinian Authority needs reform and favors a broader peace conference which would discuss final status issues such as possession over Jerusalem and the rights of Palestinian refugees.

Call for disobedience by Yesha council
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz ordered an investigation on Dec. 20 to determine whether leaflets distributed by Pinchas Wallerstein which call for mass disobedience against the disengagement plan constitute incitement. Mazuz reached his decision after discussions with State Attorney Eran Shendar and other official in the Justice Ministry.

Wallerstein is the Binyamin Regional Council chief of Yesha, an organization composed of community councils from Judea, Samaria and Gaza. The general Yesha council decided to back Wallerstein’s call.

The leaflets promote civil, non-violent disobedience, even at the risk of being jailed. However, Wallerstein maintains that his call for disobedience does not extend to members of military or security services, who must follow orders despite personal political beliefs. Avner Shimoni, chief of Yesha’s Gaza council, stated that military disobedience is legitimate.

Mubarak visits Kuwait
On an official Dec. 8 trip to Kuwait, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak encouraged Kuwait’s ruler, Prince Jabber al Sabbah, to begin peace negotiations with Israel. Kuwait holds the chairman’s position of the Council of Gulf States which includes Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Oman, which soon will convene to discuss its policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Mubarak asked Kuwait to present a resolution to the council which stipulates peace to Israel in return for an acceleration in the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians and the start of Israeli talks with Syria.

Mahmoud Abbas also visited Kuwait in order to repair relation between the PLO and the Kuwaiti government. The visit follows a 14-year Kuwaiti boycott of Palestinians.

Kahn Yunis incursion
IDF forces raided the town of Khan Yunis for the second time in just five days on Dec. 22, resulting in 4 Palestinian deaths. The raids came after a week of increased mortar and Quasam rocket attacks on Israeli settlements which left one dead and 17 injured.

The first raid lasted two days, beginning on the morning of Dec. 17, and ending the following night, with the explicit goal of decreasing Palestinian rocket and mortar launching capabilities. 11 Palestinians were killed during the operation, at least seven of them militants and 50 were injured including seven children. According to UN aid workers, 39 houses were destroyed during the operation, leaving roughly 200 people homeless.

During the operation, militants launched three Quasam rockets, one of which hit a car in the western Negev town of Sederot, but did not cause any injuries. Militants launched a volley of three Quasam rockets on Dec. 19, one of which hit a busy intersection in Sederot, injuring three Israelis and prompting the Dec. 22 raid of Khan Yunis.

5 Bedouin recon men killed in tunnel attack
A booby-trapped tunnel under an army outpost near the southern Gaza town of Rafah detonated on Dec. 12, killing five Israelis from the Bedouin reconnaissance battalion and wounding six others. Hamas and Fatah claimed joint responsibility for the attack.

In response to the attack, Israeli helicopters fired six missiles at targets in Gaza, including a metal foundry that the army says was used to manufacture munitions. The following day, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz approved operational incursions to help combat terrorism in the growing tunnel system between Egypt and Gaza.

The Arab Israeli Monitoring Committee published a statement on Dec. 18 discouraging Arab youth, including Druze and Bedouin, from serving in the IDF. A conference will be held on the issue in the next few months. As it currently stands, military service is compulsory for Druze and voluntary for Israeli Arabs.

Industrial agreement by Israel, Egypt and US
Egypt, the US and Israel signed an agreement that establishes Qualified Industrial Zones in Egypt on Dec. 14. The agreement stipulates that manufacturers in designated areas will receive duty-free access to US markets as long as 11.7 percent of material used is made in Israel and 35 percent of their value is made within the designated zones.

This agreement could have dramatic effects on Egypt’s bustling textile industry and could increase exports to the US, its chief trade partner, by 10 percent. Although Israel and the United States have signed several such agreements with Jordan, this agreement is the first of its kind with Egypt and is an historic step forward for Israeli-Egyptian economic partnership.

Druze Azzam Azzam released from Egypt
On Dec. 5, Egypt released Azzam Azzam, an Israeli, Druze businessman from its custody in return for the release of six Egyptian students in Israeli prisons. Egypt jailed Azzam eight years ago under charges of espionage. The swap concluded a year of negotiations and is representative of efforts aimed at improving relations between Cairo and Jerusalem.

Thousands of Israelis celebrated Azzam’s return to his home village of Maghar in the Galilee, culminating in an emotional meeting between Azzam and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

In response, Sharon released 159 Palestinian prisoners as a gesture of good will towards Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Prisoners still in the process of investigation, indictment and those responsible for the deaths of Israelis were not included in the prisoners released on Dec. 27.

Israeli Teachers Speak to Seniors
Three Israeli teachers spoke to a group of 40 seniors about the psychological effects that the violence between Palestinians and Israelis has had on their Israeli students at the Upper School on Nov. 12.

Zehava Kaufman, Yael Barkol and Barbara Ori work at Ami Asaf, a magnet school located in Bet Berl near the West Bank, which experiences the effects of the Intifada daily and which was the target of a bomb that was discovered after Passover break last year.

Kaufman, a psychology teacher, said that she could not remember the last time that she started class without first addressing some current event.

“Every day, in Israel, something happens,” she said.

The teachers came to the United States in order to shoot an advertisement for the Israel Project, an organization whose purpose is to better Israel’s public image. The ad appeared on CNN, ABC, FOX, NBC, CBS, MSNBC and Comedy Central.

The Washington Post and other local media outlets covered the meeting.

Suicide bombing victim speaks to drisha group
Neta Zaken, an Israeli suicide bomb victim, spoke to the Drisha minyanim as part of a program sponsored by Operation Embrace on Nov. 29.

15 pieces of shrapnel pierced Zaken in her stomach, legs, hands and face after a suicide bomber detonated in Jerusalem’s Café Hillel on Sept. 9, 2003, killing 7 and injuring 45. Since then, Zaken has undergone numerous reconstructive surgeries.

The toughest aspect of her condition, she said, has been the inability to complete her mandatory service in the army. Zaken, stressed that despite terrorism, students should travel to Israel without fear.

Operation Embrace is organization which distributes money to victims of terrorist attacks in Israel. It was founded in 2001 by Anne Clemons, Jocelyn Krifcher, Avivah Litan and Aviva Tessler.

The organization has collected over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars, visited approximately 100 victims, and sponsored ten missions.

Operation Embrace held a fund-raiser the week of Dec. 29 in which it brought several Israeli victims, including Zaken, to the United States in order to share their experiences with Americans.

8-year sentence for Jewish terrorist
A Jerusalem Magistrate court sentenced Shahar Dvir-Zeliger to eight years in prison for being a member of the Bat Ayin cell of the “New Jewish Underground,” a terrorist group that conspired to attack Arab civilians with weapons stolen from IDF bases throughout the West Bank.

In exchange for a reduced sentence, Zeliger led police to massive weapon caches belonging to the group hidden in caves outside his hometown of Adi Ad. The caches included guns, anti-tank rockets and large supplies of ammunition. Forensic tests showed that weapons from the cache had been used to kill Palestinians. Zeliger also identified members of his cell, resulting in the arrest of eight other members.

The Bat Ayin cell is responsible for several attacks on innocent Palestinian targets, including a 2003 car ambush in which three Palestinians died.

This case marks the first time in recent memory that Israeli Courts have officially recognized the problem of Jewish terrorist groups aiming to kill innocent Arab civilians, Zeliger’s prosecutor Dan Eldad said. During the last three years there have been at least two Jewish terrorist groups operating in the territories which have conducted shooting attacks and unsuccessfully attempted to bomb Palestinian schools and other public places.

IDF inquiry discovers operational flaws
An IDF inquiry into the death of a wanted militant from Islamic Jihad, Mahmoud Abdel al-Rahman Hammad, found operational, not ethical flaws in the conduct of the naval commando unit, Shayetet 13.

Maj. Gen. Moshe Kaplinski ordered the army investigation after allegations by the Israeli human rights group B’tselem that on Dec. 3, members of Shayetet 13 forced two Palestinian civilians at gunpoint to retrieve a weapon from Hamad, who lay injured forty meters away and killed him even though he was completely neutralized. The investigation attempted to answer two questions: whether the soldiers violated an Israeli Supreme Court ruling, “The Friendly Neighbor Policy,” which forbids soldiers from endangering innocent Palestinian lives and whether they killed Hammad in cold blood.

The investigation concluded that the soldiers shot at Hammad when he moved because they believed that he had a second concealed weapon. Kaplinski ordered the cessation of Naval Commando Units operating in the territories during the investigation. Before resuming operation on Dec. 9, all units reviewed operational guidelines relating to opening fire, in addition to the court order against the endangerment of innocent Palestinian lives by using them as human shields.