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THIS WEEK IN ISRAEL
For two years, 120 Mossad undercover agents in the US closely tracked the activities of the terrorists that carried out the September 11 attack. Shortly before September 11, they passed a warning alert about the terror cell to the CIA. The American authorities, however, disregarded the information - and expelled dozens of Israeli agents, including several who were monitoring the terrorists and had issued warnings to the US. This information was disclosed by the German newspaper die Weld based on secret documents, primarily of the French secret service. According to the German daily, American authorities reacted harshly because of the size of the Israeli "network" which, in addition to tracking terrorists, also showed interest in military and industrial matters. Both the US and Israel decided not to publicize this chapter. According to the report, the Israelis had warned the Americans about the planned attacks months earlier, even supplying the names of the suspects - including several of the hijackers - but, as noted the CIA ignored the information.
Three Israeli Arabs from Ramle and Lod have been arrested on suspicion of planning a series of terror attacks in Israel, in the service of the Hamas. The three were directed by Mohammed Def, the Hamas military commander in the Gaza Strip, whom Israel recently attempted to assassinate. Two of the suspects are members of the Islamic Movement in Israel. The General Security Service reported that at the time of their arrest, the cell was planning a number of operations in Israel: the abduction of a soldier from a hitch-hiking post, gathering information in order to place explosives at bus stops, and gathering information about a senior Air Force officer that Hamas was planning to murder. Kahneman is fifth Israeli to win prize, previous winners Sh. Y. Agnon, Menachem Begin, Yitzchak Rabin, and Shimon Peres
 Prof. Daniel Kahneman, winner of Nobel Prize in Economics Another venerable colleague yesterday joined the exclusive Israeli group of Nobel Prize winners: Prof. Daniel Kahneman, who won the Nobel Prize in economics. Kahneman is the fifth Israeli to win the prize. Previous winners were author Sh. Y. Agnon (Nobel Prize in literature in 1966) and three former prime ministers - Menachem Begin (1978), Yitzchak Rabin and Shimon Peres, who won the Nobel Prize for peace. Prof. Kahneman will share the prize with Prof. Vernon Smith of George Mason University in the United States. Kahneman, 68, was a lecturer in psychology the Hebrew University in Jerusalem for many years. In the past nine years he has been a lecturer in psychology and public affairs at Princeton University, but continues to serve on many academic bodies at the Hebrew University. The Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences noted that it was honoring Prof. Kahneman because "he integrated insights from psychology into economics especially concerning human judgement and decision-making under uncertainty primarily in what pertains to judgments processes and decision making in conditions of uncertainty."
Seventeen students at the Gymnasia Herzliya in Tel Aviv began a pre-med course, sponsored in cooperation with the city's Ichilov Hospital. During the year, senior doctors on the hospital staff will lecture at the school on topics such as the heart and the circulatory system, immunology, and rheumatology. and the students will tour the various hospital departments. At the end of grade 12, participants will write a paper on medicine; the mark will be included in the grades of the matriculation exams. And at the comprehensive school in Omer, students in the preparatory course for pilots will study airplane structure, basic concepts in aeronautics, principles of aerodynamics, etc. The Air Force is currently reviewing the program. The idea was the brainchild of the school's principal, Hezi Sagiv, a reserve combat pilot, and the head of the Omer Local Council, Pini Badash, who holds a civil aviation license.
First time in Israel and second time anywhere: doctors succeed in isolating embryo for life-saving bone marrow transplant For the first time in Israel and the second time anywhere in the world, doctors have succeeded in isolating an embryo in order to perform a life-saving bone marrow transplant. An Israeli couple's oldest son suffers from a serious genetic disease. The parents had a baby girl for the express purpose of donating bone marrow to save her brother's life. The baby, who was conceived through in-vitro fertilization, was chosen out of several empryos, after Sheba Medical Center physicians ascertained that her tissues were identical to those of her sick brother, and that she herself was free of the genetic disease. The blood taken from the from the infant's umbilical cord, immediately after her birth was transplanted into her brother, saving his life. The boy was born with Fanconi Anemia (FA), a genetic disease that causes bone marrow failure and increases the likelihood of leukemia. A bone marrow transplant offers the only chance of saving his life. When no suitable donor was found, the doctors suggested that the parents have another child so that the infant could donate bone marrow. However, since the chance of producing a child with identical tissues is only one out of four, the parents were advised to undergo in-vitro fertilization - which would make it possible to ascertain that the tissues are identical to those of the sick child.
A forum of 50 European opera critics chose Israeli tenor Gabi Sadeh as "Singer of the Year" in the classical music category. Sadeh won the title thanks to his appearances in leading roles in two operas: Verdi's Don Carlos at the opera house in Hamburg and Die Gezeichneter (those marked by the seal) by Jewish composer Franz Shreker (who was killed by the Nazis) at the Stutgard opera. Sadeh, who studied in Israel, developed an impressive international career. He lives with his family in Israel, but most of the time works on productions abroad. He also sings in the Israeli opera and has recently appeared in the operas Andrea Chenier and Alpha Omega.
A conference on the Jews of the Caucasus opened this week in Jerusalem at the Israel Museum and at the Ben Zvi Institute. The gathering, which ends tonight, focuses on the history and heritage of the Jews of the Caucasus as well as their absorption in Israel. A special exhibit at the Israel Museum, "The Mountain Jews: the Way of Life and Customs of the Jews of the Caucasus" is taking place at the same time as the conference.
A Gift to Israel, a gesture by three top American musicians, who are appearing free of charge throughout Israel, began this week and will continue until October 19. The festival was initiated by the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, in response to the fact that American artists don't perform in Israel because of the security situation. The artists include singer and conductor Peter Himmelman, who wrote the music for various TV series and is under contract to Sony, klezmer musician Andy Statman who played with Izhak Perlman, and classical guitarist Steve Hancoff, who specializes in jazz. Israeli artists Ariel Zilber, Shlomi Shabbat, Matti Kaspi, Shlomo Gronich, Ehud Banai, and Ofer Portugali will also perform at each concert. Entrance to all the performances is free.
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