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THIS WEEK IN ISRAEL
Following President Bush's speech, Israel is gearing up in various ways for an Iraqi attack:
Early yesterday morning, the body of David Buhbut, 67, who was brutally murdered in the Arab village of Azzariyeh near Jerusalem, was discovered. He had been kidnapped from the town’s main street, where he had gone to buy building materials. At 2:45 PM Yossi Ajami, 36, a contractor working on a bypass road in the Jerusalem area, was shot to death in an ambush by a Palestinian terrorist. The Fatah, headed by Arafat, claimed responsibility for the murder. At 4:40 PM a police car was called to the Umm al-Fahm junction to investigate a suspicious figure waiting at a bus stop on the road to Afula. When First Sergeant Moshe Hizkiyahu approached him, the terrorist blew himself up, killing the policeman - whose death saved the lives of many people. The recent spate of attacks follows the collective sigh of relief that resulted from the let-up in terror between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Security personnel believe that the recent attacks result were the consequence of the decision to ease the closure in the territories. The situation in the Palestinian Authority, they believe, is like a pressure cooker; raising the lid without first opening the security valves is liable to inflict tremendous damage.
Despite opposition by large segments of Israel's population, pianist Daniel Barenboim gave a "private" performance in Ramallah last week. During the visit, which was defined as "private," Barenboim performed before hundreds of Palestinians who are studying at a conservatory in the city and their parents, and listened to the students play. The visit aroused great excitement among members of the audience, many of whom stood in line after the performance to get the artist's autograph.
A doctor employed at a hospital in Jenin is one of three defendants on trial in Israel for planning a suicide bombing attack at the Sheba Hospital in Tel Hashomer as well as a massive truck bomb containing hundreds of kilograms of explosives intended to blow up a skyscraper in the center of the country. The doctor was transporting the two terrorists to Tel Hashomer, but when they realized that the IDF was on the alert, they switched the site of the attack to a crowded location in Netanya or Hadera. The three, together with the "engineer" who prepared them for the attack, were later arrested. The management of the Jenin hospital denounced the doctor, Dr. Amjad Mustafa, and declared that the plan was carried out without its knowledge and was contrary to its policies. "We decry suicide attacks against innocent people, and especially against those who work in medical institutions" said the press release.
Israel is helping the municipality of Prague, following the heavy damage suffered in the recent flooding. The Antiquities Authority sent hundreds of books to the library of the Archaeological Institute in Prague, after the entire contents of its library, comprising thousands of books, was damaged by the flooding. The books are all the publications on archaeology research in Israel, including archaeological survey maps, published by the Antiquities Authority since it was a division of the British Mandatory government. The Antiquities Authority announced that copies of all the archaeological journals that appear in Israel will soon be sent to Prague as well.
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