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THIS WEEK IN ISRAEL The series of terror attacks, combined with the economic situation and lack of tourists, have dealt a severe blow to businesses in the center of Jerusalem. Few shoppers are now found in the once crowded central shopping area. Some store owners have placed reinforced glass in their shop windows to prevent them from shattering. "The terror attacks are part of our routine, we live with terror", said one of them. Due to the severe water crisis, Water Commissioner Shimon Tal plans to issue tenders for desalination projects in Israel, to the tune of $1.2 billion. The plans will be presented over the next few days at a convention dealing with desalination systems, organized in conjunction with the U.S. government's desalination authorities. Those chairing the conference, Prof. David Hasson and Rafi Hasson of the Technion, said that Israel has joined the countries that view desalination technology as a key tool in solving the problem of water shortages. Russia's espionage services have recently increased their activities in Israel. Experts in the defense establishment are concerned about the various indications of Russian espionage efforts to collect information about events in Israel. The defense establishment believes that Russian intelligence agents are among the hundreds of thousands of olim to Israel from the FSU over the past decade, and that their operators now wish to make contact with them. Representatives of the families of the three most recent MIAs, Benny Avraham, Adi Avitan and Omer Suaid, who last month were declared by the IDF as slain soldiers whose place of burial is unknown, will leave for Oslo after Shabbat to meet with UN Secretary General Koffi Anan. The delegation also includes members of the family of Israeli businessman Liet. Colonel (Res.) Elhanan Tenenboim, abducted a year ago in Europe. The families will try to recruit Anan to assist in their struggle to bring home the bodies of the soldiers, and to reveal further details as to Tenenboim's whereabouts. The families will also meet with humanitarian organizations in Denmark. One of the IDF's largest telecommunications projects is now underway. The IDF will shortly issue tenders for establishing a giant, advanced data network for its combat forces. The budget for the 5-year project is estimated at hundreds of millions of shekels. The project is designed to connect the IDF"s combat units, dispersed in the field in times of emergency, using an advanced data network connecting all command centers for combat forces. The IDF will also allow American companies to compete for the project. China is filing a suit for a billion dollars םכ compensation from Israel, for cancellation of the "Falcon" intelligence aircraft sale, because of American pressure. Details of this claim were revealed during talks held in Beijing with an Israeli delegation, led by Director-General of the Ministry of Defense Gen. (Res.) Amos Yaron. The head of the armaments division in the Chinese army said at the meeting with Yaron that the Government of China insists on implementing the "Falcon" deal, as determined in the signed contract. MK David Magen, who chairs the Knesset Security and Foreign Affairs Committee, said this week that Israel should not give in to American pressure on this issue, and that Israel is entitled to trade independently on the international market.
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