Former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has responded to a request by Minister of Tourism Rehavam Ze'evi to assist in bringing members of Jewish communities in the US to visit Israel, in view of the crisis in the tourism sector. According to Ze'evi, Netanyahu is well received in many US communities and may therefore assist in realizing this objective.
And on the same subject: President Moshe Katsav said this week that he cannot understand or justify Jewish organizations who cancel their trips to Israel due to the security situation. The President called on world Jewry to utilize the summer vacation in order to visit Israel.
The traditional survey conduced by the Israel Air Force magazine found that of those who completed the last pilots' training course, 13% were from the settlements and live over the Green Line. This is the highest percentage of any pilot course to date.
On the subject of the settlements: This year 1500 families will join the settlements in the Territories - 3% of the overall number of families in the settlements. 0.6% have left the settlements since the start of the Intifada. Natural increase in the settlements is more than 3% a year.
The Mossad this week launched a public campaign to recruit new employees. The campaign is being conducted in the press and Internet, and is designed to hire recruiting officers to handle agents. This is the second time that the Mossad has been forced to use publicity to recruit workers - the first time was one year ago. Those in charge of recruitment were satisfied with the results of the advertising campaign which attracted thousands of quality applicants.
At the recommendation of the Dutch security cabinet, the Dutch government has decided to purchase the Gil anti-tank missile, manufactured by RAFAEL for its land forces. The deal is worth a quarter of a billion dollars. Implementation is contingent on approval by the Dutch parliament, which will vote on the proposal next week. Israel's defense establishment views the Dutch government's decision as a chance to turn the "Gil" into a standard anti-tank missile used by all NATO armies. Sales potential to NATO is estimated at $2 billion.
In his book "Morocco under the rule of King Hassan", British author Stephen Hughes reveals that Israel paid Morocco $250 for every Jew who made aliyah between 1948-1963. Hughes quotes Israeli sources stating that 262,000 Moroccan Jews came to the Promised Land from Morocco. The sources further stated that former Moroccan minister of education participated in negotiations with persons in the Mossad "in order to allow the emigration to continue secretly".
Leonid Minin, a 54-year old Ukrainian-born Israeli citizen, was arrested in Italy on suspicion of gun-running for the revolutionary forces in Sierra Leone, and for other organizations in Liberia. The UN has imposed sanctions against the sale of weapons on both these countries, due to the raging civil wars. No further information was available about Minin from the Foreign Ministry.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is investigating suspicion against an Israeli consul in Ethiopia, Eliezer Yitzhaki, for allegedly being bribed to issue entry visas to Israel. As a result of the investigation, Yitzhaki has been recalled to Israel where he awaits the outcome of the investigation. Yitzhaki has denied the charges and claims that allegations were made as part of a personal vendetta against him.
