 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||
|
Two Israeli soldiers, Cpl. Hanit Arami z"l, 19, and St.-Sgt. Avi Ben-Haroush z"l, 20, both from Zichron Yakkov, were killed on Monday, a few hours before the opening of the Maccabiah games, when a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up near the entrance to the Binyamina railway station. Another soldier was seriously wounded, and at least eight civilians were wounded - two of them seriously, in the attack. The suicide bomber, a member of the Islamic Jihad, tried to enter the train station, but because of security precaution taken there, he ran toward the bus station across the street, where he blew himself up. The Palestinians escalated the scale of their attacks the next day, attacking the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem, for the first time with mortar shells. Miraculously, no one was injured. These two events signified deterioration of the situation, which reached new heights this week, despite the meeting between Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and PA Chairman Yaser Arafat in Cairo, hosted by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Recent events, featuring a new series of attempted terrorist attacks, some of which were exposed by security forces and others causing injuries, increased tension among Israeli public, as well as pressure on the government to put an end to its policy of restraint. The Shabak (General Security Services) warns of bands of Jews taking action against Palestinians. Former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu called for passing a law nullifying the Oslo Peace Accords. Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak said: "Arafat deceived us for years." Following the severe escalation of Palestinian violence, the IDF positioned forces nearer to PA territories. However, the Prime Minister held them back, abiding to appeals by U.S. President George W. Bush, in order to avoid criticism of Israel by the leaders of the large industrialized nations when they meet at the G-8 summit in Genoa this weekend. Members of the U.S. Senate are preparing for legislation effectively ending aid to the Palestinians. Due to excavations conducted by the Wakf on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the bill's sponsor, U.S. Congressman Eric Cantor (Rep.) of Virginia warned the Palestinians that damage to the remains of the Temple would be considered even worse than the destruction of Buddha statues by the Taliban in Afghanistan. |
