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Friday October 1, 1999

Mideast Report

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak has reaffirmed his campaign pledge to withdraw all Israeli troops from southern Lebanon by the middle of next year.

"I don't advise anyone to test us when we draw back" to the international border, Barak said last week after meeting with French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin in Paris.

The Israeli prime minister's comments came one day after Israeli jets raided suspected Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, killing one Lebanese soldier and wounding five others.

The attack brought swift condemnation from Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, who described it as a "barbaric" violation of international law.

New building project begins in the Golan

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israel began building a neighborhood of 52 houses in the Golan Heights last week.

The construction, which comes amid efforts to restart Israeli-Syrian talks, is likely to anger Damascus, which is seeking the return of all of the Golan as part of a peace deal with Israel.

Israel downsizing 2000 tourism figures

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israel has reduced its estimate of the number of tourists expected to visit the Jewish state and the Palestinian self-rule areas during the turn of the millennium.

Basing its estimates on hotel booking and flight reservations, Israel's Tourism Ministry revised an earlier estimate from 4 million to 3.1 million.

Israeli hotels now expect to be booked to 75 percent capacity during the Christmas and Easter seasons, twice last year's rate.

84-year-old admits to cocaine smuggling

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- An 84-year-old Israeli woman admitted to attempting to smuggle cocaine into the country.

As a result of her plea bargain last month, Tova Kirshnovitz was sentenced to six months of community service and a fine of $1,200.

Kirshnovitz said she regretted having agreed to help her son instead of trying to convince him not to get involved in such activities.

High court delays refugees' petition

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israel's Supreme Court recently agreed to postpone by another eight months a hearing on a petition filed by the descendants and former residents of two Arab villages who were evacuated during the 1948 War of Independence.

Last month's delay drew an outcry in the courtroom from supporters of the petitioners, who filed an appeal three years ago for permission to return to the villages of Ikrit and Baram.

Education chief plans to open Arab college

JERUSALEM (JPS) -- Israeli Education Minister Yossi Sarid has announced his intention to accept recommendations to establish an Arab college.

Speaking last month at a seminar organized by the Arab politics program at the Tel Aviv University, Sarid said the ministry has plans to adopt an affirmative action policy for the Arab sector.

Israel might drop claims against Arabs

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israel is willing to drop claims for billions of dollars in lost Jewish assets in Arab countries in return for the Palestinians dropping their property claims against Israel, according to the Jerusalem Report magazine.

However, Prime Minister Ehud Barak's office told Israel Radio last month that the idea of a waiver had not yet become an official government stance. Palestinian officials reject any link between Jewish property lost in Arab countries and their own demands for compensation.

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