Tuesday News File - Part 2

[Murray Kahl]

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> * ***
> * * JERUSALEM POST NEWS & FEATURE SERVICE
>**** * JULY 9, 1996
>
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>-------------------TUESDAY NEWS FILE/2 OF 2---
> * LABOR LEADERSHIP MEETS - WITHOUT PERES
> * THE INSIDE STORY OF BIBI'S SOCIAL SECURITY FILE
> * GENE THERAPY USED IN ISRAEL FOR FIRST TIME
> * ISRAELI LAWYERS DON'T KNOW ENGLISH
>-----------------------------------------------
>Peres not invited to parley on Labor leadership
>contest
>
>By MICHAL YUDELMAN
>----------------------------------------------------
>LABOR'S leadership may convene Tuesday to discuss the
>contest for the party's next leader without party
>chairman Shimon Peres, who was not invited.
> The meeting, initiated by MKs Avraham Shohat and
>Haggai Merom, was initially scheduled for Monday night.
>But
>after it was leaked to the press, leading to objections
>by MKs and speculation about a possible putsch against
>Peres, it was put off until Tuesday.
> Shohat supports MK Ehud Barak for Labor leader,
>while Merom is considered in MK Haim Ramon's camp.
> Barak has urged advancing the leadership contest to
>the end of the year, but abandoned the issue after Peres
>suggested holding the primaries in a year. Ramon, on the
>other hand, said he is not sure whether he'll run at all,
>unless the party holds open primaries.
> Shohat and Merom invited the rest of the first 13
>MKs on Labor's list: Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, David Liba'i,
>Uzi Baram, Nissim Zvilli, Efraim Sneh, Yossi Beilin, Ori
>Orr, Dalia Itzik, Shevah Weiss, Barak, and Ramon. Peres,
>who is abroad, was not invited.
> Liba'i objected to holding the meeting "behind
>Peres's back" and said he would not attend, since it
>could be interpreted as an attempt to remove Peres from
>the party leadership.
> (c) Jerusalem Post 1996
>----------------------------------------------------
>No Sullivan in Netanyahu file
>
>By STEVE LEIBOWITZ
>--------------------------------------------------------
>PRIME Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's US Social
>Security file includes no references to individuals other
>than family members, according to information obtained by
>The Jerusalem Post.
> This contradicts stories published in the Tel Aviv
>weekly Ha'ir, which claimed that Netanyahu's file
>includes the names of John Jay Sullivan and John Jay
>Sullivan Jr.
> The Jerusalem Post has also located the Sullivans in
>California. They claim to have never had any connection
>to Netanyahu, and they have different Social Security
>numbers. Indications are that the only time Netanyahu and
>the name Sullivan appear together is on routine credit
>files resulting from clerical error or possible credit
>fraud on the part of one or more of the Sullivans.
> The story began with an article in Ha'ir on June 21,
>asserting that Netanyahu's Social Security file, 020-36-
>4537, is marked "confidential" by the US government.
>Ha'ir also claimed that the names Benjamin Netanyahu,
>Benjamin Neitay, John Jay Sullivan, and John Jay Sullivan
>Jr. all appear in Netanyahu's file and hold the same
>Social Security number. Ha'ir inferred, but provided no
>evidence, that Netanyahu had for some reason created
>false identities.
> Netanyahu's Social Security file has not been marked
>"confidential." "All Social Security files are closed and
>confidential," an American official who routinely deals
>with with Social Security matters explained.
> He added that any attempt to enter such a file
>without proper authorization is considered a federal
>offense. But a federal employee did agree to read the
>Netanyahu file and report his findings to New York
>private detective Steve Rambam. The results: "The name
>Benyamin Natanyahu [spelled as indicated] is the sole
>holder of social Security No. 020-36-4537. There is a
>reference to Netanyahu's second wife Fleur H. Netanyahu
>and apparently a cross reference to his brother and
>sister-in-law Iddo and Daphna Netanyahu. The Sullivans do
>not appear."
> While Netanyahu has always admitted to having used
>the simpler name Benjamin Neitay, in the years he lived
>in the US, that name also does not appear in his Social
>Security file.
> The only document on which the name Sullivan and
>Netanyahu appear together is on credit rating reports
>prepared by the Transunion and TRW credit unions.
> Rambam, who has appeared as an expert witness at
>trials involving credit fraud, explains that "the reports
>in question are either the result of clerical error or
>deception on Sullivan's part. Forty percent of credit
>reports include errors.
> "In April 1996, the Transunion records were accessed
>several times within a short period, presumably by the
>same person," he said. "While the credit reports do not
>in themselves prove anything, there are indications that
>the Sullivan family might have used a bogus Social
>Security number belonging to Netanyahu when applying for
>credit."
> He said the Sullivans appear to have also used other
>Social Security numbers, which may or may not be their
>own. He passed on these numbers to the Post.
> Earlier this month, Ma'ariv contacted Sullivan by
>telephone. He denied any link to Netanyahu and said: "I
>am an American citizen, alive and well, and I have no
>connection to the Israeli prime minister." According to
>the report, Sullivan, fearing credit card fraud, refused
>to disclose his Social Security number.
> Following publication of the Ha'ir story, questions
>were raised in the Knesset alleging that Netanyahu had
>for some reason been using the name Sullivan as an alias
>for unknown activities while living in the US. MK Tamar
>Gozansky (Hadash) even suggested that Netanyahu might
>have used the names as a cover to receive payments as an
>informant for the CIA.
> But John Jay Sullivan and John Jay Sullivan Jr. are
>real people, living in northern California. The senior
>Sullivan lives with his wife Juliana, whose name also
>shows up on the credit union reports. The Sullivans have
>two registered addresses. They rent a home and live at
>204 Lyndhurst Avenue, Belmont, California. They also own
>a home, which they rent out, at 610 Marlin Court, Redwood
>City. John Jay Sullivan Jr. is their son.
>(c) Jerusalem Post 1996
>----------------------------------------------------
>Gene therapy used here for first time
>
>By JUDY SIEGEL
>-----------------------------------------------
>A 50-year-old woman suffering from a brain tumor has
>been administered gene therapy in the first such
>procedure here.
> The woman underwent insertion of the genetic
>material at Tel Hashomer's Sheba Hospital, which is
>participating in international clinical trials. She had
>surgery seven months ago to remove the tumor and
>radiotherapy, but a month ago a second brain tumor was
>discovered. Now doctors are hoping that gene therapy will
>help her.
> The clinical experiment was initially carried out by
>the US National Institutes of Health and coordinated by
>Dr. Zvi Ram, who has since returned to Sheba's
>neurosurgery department.
> The treatment is based on the fact that brain cells
>do not ordinarily divide, but only the cancer cells do.
>There are viruses that attack only cells that divide.
>Thus by using genetic engineering techniques, cells
>carrying the herpes virus are injected into the tumor and
>only infect the cancer cells. The cells are then
>destroyed by an anti-herpes drug.
>(c) Jerusalem Post 1996
>------------------------------------------------
>Local lawyers found lacking in English
>
>By RAINE MARCUS
>---------------------------------------------------
>LOCAL lawyers do not possess a sufficient command of
>English,according a study carried out by Michal Pristock
>of Bar-Ilan University's English department published in
>the Tel Aviv Bar Association's Haglima monthly journal.
> According to the four-year study, one out of three
>practising lawyers reads legal material in English; one
>in 20 writes or reads rulings in English; one in four
>will skim law books in English; and one in five reads
>general English literature.
> Most lawyers who regularly use English are those who
>deal in international law, according to the study.
> Criminal lawyers come "somewhere in the middle."
>Many lawyers, mostly in white-collar crime trials, quote
>from British High Court rulings.
> "Personally, I could represent a client in English,
>although I rarely do," said Moshe Aloni, chairman of the
>Tel Aviv Bar Association, who specializes mainly in
>criminal law.
> "And if I realized that my English was not fluent
>enough, there are translators at hand. When I studied
>law, we learned a lot from English language verdicts. But
>today, although reading legal material in English is
>required, we have our own Supreme Court rulings in
>Hebrew."
> (c) Jerusalem Post 1996
>-END OF PART 2-
>
>
>-------------------------------------
>Heather Chait
>Editor, Foreign Service
>Fax: 972-2-315622
>E-mail: hea...@jpost.co.il
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