Anti-Olmert protests grow
jerusalem (jta) | Dozens of Israeli reservists marched in Jerusalem demanding the Israeli prime minister’s resignation because of his management of the war.
The reservists said Monday, Aug. 21 they wanted to see Ehud Olmert, his defense minister, Amir Peretz, and the Israeli army’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, resign.
The march was one of a growing number of actions in recent days by citizens and reservists upset with the administration’s handling of the war. Olmert received a critical welcome in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, with some city council members calling for a state commission of inquiry.
ADL slams Amnesty report
(jta) | Abraham Foxman, national director of the American Defamation League, vehemently denounced the Amnesty International report that claims Israel committed war crimes by intentionally destroying Lebanese civilian infrastructure. Foxman called the report “bigoted, biased and borderline anti-Semitic.” He said that Amnesty International should examine Hezbollah’s deliberate targeting of Israeli homes, hospitals and other institutions.
The report, released Wednesday, Aug. 23, said the pattern and depth of Israeli attacks, high number of civilian casualties, scope of the destruction and statements by Israeli officials pointed to a deliberate military strategy, rather than just collateral damage.
The report also said “the widespread destruction of apartments, houses, electricity and water services, roads, bridges, factories and ports,” taken with statements by Israeli officials, “suggests a policy of punishing both the Lebanese government and the civilian population in an effort to get them to turn against Hezbollah.”
Reforestation efforts launched
tel aviv (jta) | A tree was planted this week outside Kiryat Shmona, symbolizing reforestation efforts after the war with Hezbollah.
The tree launches a Jewish National Fund effort to repair the ecological impact of the war, which is believed to have damaged more than 20 percent of the forests in northern Israel.
Israel releases other Nasrallah
jerusalem (ap) | Hassan Nasrallah was briefly in Israel’s hands, along with three members of his family and a neighbor. Unfortunately, he was the local greengrocer — not the head of Lebanon’s Hezbollah guerrilla group, in what appears to be a case of mistaken identity.
Israel had snatched Nasrallah and three family members on Aug. 1 in a commando raid in the Hezbollah stronghold of Baalbek in northeastern Lebanon, apparently believing he was related to Sheik Hassan Nasrallah and could be used to pressure the guerrilla leader, said Leah Tzemel, the Israeli attorney who obtained their release.
By Monday afternoon, the Nasrallahs and their neighbor were driven to the Israel-Lebanon border and returned home, she said. n
Katsav questioned in harassment case
jerusalem (jps) | Israeli President Moshe Katsav was questioned by Israeli police for seven hours Wednesday, Aug. 23, and is expected to be questioned again as part of authorities’ broad investigation into sexual harassment allegations raised by two women who worked in his office.
On Monday night, Aug, 21, police investigators conducted a search of Katsav’s home and offices. The police confiscated documents and computers during their search, and were analyzing what they found, Israel Radio reported. They were reportedly looking for electronic correspondence between the president and the women he allegedly harassed.
A spokesperson for the president’s office said he is cooperating with police and is willing to let them see whatever they want in order to “expose the truth.”
Minister resigns to face trial
jerusalem (jta) | Israel’s justice minister has resigned in the wake of sexual-harassment charges. Haim Ramon announced his resignation Sunday, Aug. 20.
Israel’s attorney general said he plans to indict Ramon on charges that he forcibly kissed an 18-year-old soldier at an office party July 12, the day the war started between Israel and Hezbollah.
“I am sure that I will succeed in court,” Ramon said. “A kiss of two, three seconds, based on the version of the complainant, cannot be turned into a criminal act.”
Woman to run for president
jerusalem (jps) | Knesset member Colette Avital (Labor) is planning to run for president of Israel.
“The idea of a female president is important in view of the advancement of women in Israel. Women can contribute a great deal to Israeli democracy. Therefore, as soon as the presidential running begins, I intend to submit my candidacy,” she said.
Avital, Israel’s former consul general in New York, arose as a possible candidate for the presidency in the wake of the sexual harassment scandal surrounding President Moshe Katsav.