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Friday April 18, 2008

Shorts: Mideast

Did Israel offer a truce on Gaza?

Israel presented Palestinian leaders with terms for a truce in Gaza, an Arab newspaper reported April 14.

The proposal for a cease-fire only in the Gaza Strip was delivered to Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders by Egypt, Palestinian sources told the London-based daily newspaper al Hayat. Under the terms of the six-month truce, Israel would be flexible about border crossings, while the Palestinians would halt attacks from Gaza into southern Israel.

In the past, Palestinian leaders have insisted that a cease-fire extend to the West Bank as well.

The newspapers sources said Hamas was receptive to the proposal, but that Islamic Jihad and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ associates, as well as other factions, were opposed. — jta

Israeli Arabs favor Obama

Israeli Arabs favor Illinois Sen. Barack Obama over New York Sen. Hillary Clinton as the Democratic candidate for president by a margin of 37 percent to 26 percent, according to a poll of 532 Israeli Arabs taken April 2 to 6.

Thirty-seven percent of the Israeli Arabs surveyed did not express an opinion.

The results contrasted with the opinions of Jewish Israelis, who prefer Clinton to Obama, 61 percent to 12 percent.

Both polls were taken by Keevoon Research, Strategy and Communications, and have about a 4.5 percent margin of error. — jpost.com

More Palestinian workers approved

About 5,000 more West Bank Palestinians will be granted work permits to enter Israel.

The Israeli Cabinet approved the request April 13 by Defense Minister Ehud Barak to allow the additional permits to help alleviate a shortage of workers and satisfy a proposal he made to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The additional 5,000 workers, many of whom already work illegally in the Jewish state, will bring the number of Palestinians working legally in Israel to approximately 20,000. — jta

Report: Shin Bet exploits families

Israel’s Shin Bet security agency uses relatives of terror suspects to induce confessions, an Israeli group claimed.

The Public Committee Against Torture presented its findings April 13.

The group said the Shin Bet exploits family members of Palestinian detainees by making unjustified arrests of suspects’ family members, or makes the suspects believe it has family members in custody, in order to apply illegal psychological pressure to force them to confess.

The Shin Bet denied the charges. — jta

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