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Tuesday January 7, 1997

Mideast Report

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- A 15-year-old Arab crashed a car into a bakery in Jerusalem's crowded Machane Yehuda outdoor market this week, killing one person and injuring six others.

Police said an initial inquiry showed that Tuesday's incident was a traffic accident. But they did not rule out other possibilities, including a terror attack.

According to witnesses, the youth, a resident of the Kalandia refugee camp north of Jerusalem, drove the car out of an alley and rammed full speed into the shop on Jaffa Road.

The Arab, who did not have a license, worked at one of the vegetable stalls in the market and was driving his employer's car. The youth said the brakes on the car failed.

The crash victims were evacuated to Jerusalem hospitals, where one of them, 72-year-old Yosef Cohen of Beersheba, an apparent beggar, later died of his injuries.

Israeli defense chief is target of threats

JERUSALEM (JPS) -- Aides to Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai downplayed the reportedly beefed-up security around him in the wake of threats by right-wing extremists.

"I'm not saying the [Shin Bet domestic intelligence service] has put any more bodyguards on him or anything, but they have increased the awareness around him and taken steps to improve his protection," said one source.

Aides added that there have not been any concrete threats on Mordechai such as letters or telephone calls.

On Shin Bet orders,Mordechai has donned a bullet-proof vest that looks like a windbreaker.

More clashes erupt in south Lebanon

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- One Israeli soldier was killed and eight wounded in two separate incidents in its southern Lebanon security zone Wednesday, Reuters reported.

Five soldiers were wounded and one killed when Hezbollah militants ambushed their squad in the central sector of the zone, while a mine exploded earlier in the strip's eastern area, wounding three. In the first clash, it was unclear if the Hezbollah guerrillas were killed or wounded.

Hezbollah attacked Israeli and Israeli-allied bases in the security zone on Tuesday, after a weekend marked by three days of clashes, Reuters said.

Israeli jets fired at suspected Hezbollah bases. In earlier fighting, three Israeli soldiers were reported to be lightly hurt.

Israel unscathed by Katyusha attack

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Regional tensions escalated this week after a Katyusha rocket was fired from Lebanon into northern Israel.

An Israeli army spokesman confirmed Wednesday's attack, adding that it had caused no injuries or property damage.

It was the second rocket attack on northern Israel since last April, when a U.S.-brokered cease-fire prohibited Israel and Iranian-supported Hezbollah gunmen from launching attacks on or from civilian locations.

An earlier rocket attack in mid-December prompted Israel to file a complaint with the five-nation group monitoring the cease-fire.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for this week's rocket assault.

Beilin launches bid for Labor leadership

JERUSALEM (JPS) -- Knesset member Yossi Beilin kicked off his campaign for the Labor Party leadership Monday with a scathing attack on his rival, former army chief of staff Ehud Barak.

Beilin lashed out at fellow Labor Knesset member Barak for his suggestion that further Israeli army redeployment in the West Bank be postponed.

"The choice is not between a chief of staff and a Ph.D., or between a macho and a nerd," Beilin said, referring to the term often used to describe him.

"It's a choice between two different ways, between the one who started the Oslo process and one who suggests prolonging the interim agreement and who wouldn't support the agreement Yitzhak Rabin presented to the government in September 1995."

Barak responded, saying, "I don't think I'm a macho and it is clear to anyone who knows Beilin that he is no nerd."

Israeli salary gap widest in the West

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- The gap in salary between men and women in Israel is reportedly the largest in the Western world.

The gap was reported in a Knesset subcommittee studying the status of women in the Jewish state, according to the Hebrew daily Ma'ariv.

The subcommittee is urging the government to enforce two laws previously passed by the Knesset to address the gaps.

One law calls for equal pay for men and women. The other law requires more women to be appointed to civil servant positions.

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