Israel Line 6/12/00
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Monday, June 12, 2000
*BARAK CONVEYS MESSAGE TO SYRIA
*IDF EXPECTS SMOOTH TRANSITION IN SYRIA
*ISRAEL, PA TALKS TO RESUME IN WASHINGTON
*COALITION CRISIS CLOSE TO END
*ECONOMIC BRIEFS
BARAK CONVEYS MESSAGE TO SYRIA
Following the death of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and the appointment
of his son Bashar as his successor, Prime Minister Ehud Barak sent a message
to Syria on Sunday saying that Israel holds out its hand for peace and has
no intention of using the transition period in Damascus to escalate matters
in the region, YEDIOT AHARONOT reported.
According to HA'ARETZ, Barak conveyed his message through telephone
conversations with U.S. President Bill Clinton, Jordan's King Abdullah, and
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Barak also asked the three leaders to seek
reassurances from Syria that it would not use the period between Assad's
death and the consolidation of power by his son Bashar to raise regional
tension. YEDIOT AHARONOT reported that Barak's message also communicated the
Israeli expectation that Syria reign in the Hizbullah and keep peace in
southern Lebanon.
Rabbi Abraham Hamara, formerly the rabbi of the Jewish community in Syria,
estimated on Sunday that the situation of Jews in Syria would improve under
the rule of Bashar Assad. He added that the Jewish community's relationship
with Assad had had its "ups and downs, but was steadily improving."
IDF EXPECTS SMOOTH TRANSITION IN SYRIA
During Sunday's Cabinet meeting, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff
Lt.-Gen. Shaul Mofaz and Head of IDF Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Malka noted
that the transition of power in Syria has been proceeding smoothly, and is
expected to continue that way, HA'ARETZ reported.
Senior IDF officers say that they have stepped up intelligence
surveillance of Syria and Lebanon to be prepared for any escalation of
conflict. OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen Gabi Ashkenazi said on Sunday that
there were no signs of any unusual military activity in Syria.
ISRAEL, PA TALKS TO RESUME IN WASHINGTON
Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams, headed respectively by Minister
of Internal Security Shlomo Ben Ami and Palestinian Authority official
Abu-Ala will resume talks tonight in Washington, DC on the framework
agreement on permanent status, IDF RADIO reported. The talks are slated to
end on Thursday, and will determine whether a three-way summit will be
convened between Prime Minister Ehud Barak, U.S. President Bill Clinton and
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.
According to Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, senior political and defense
officials in Jerusalem have said that the Palestinians are not interested in
concluding a framework agreement on permanent status. Rather they are trying
to push for the implementation of a third Israel Defense Forces redeployment
in the West Bank.
COALITION CRISIS CLOSE TO END
One Israel and Shas made progress in negotiations on Sunday night toward
an agreement that would end the coalition crisis that resulted in the
passage of an early elections bill in a preliminary vote in the Knesset on
Wednesday, HA'ARETZ reported.
According to the agreement being forged, Shas will receive an additional
NIS 25 million (approximately $6.25 million) for its education network. A
possibility of turning the education network into a separate body with its
own accountants and a large degree of autonomy from the Ministry of
Education is also being discussed.
Key issues remain unresolved and the biggest stumbling block is that any
agreement between the politicians will have to meet the approval of both
Shas leadership and officials at the Education and Finance Ministries.
ECONOMIC BRIEFS
* Friendly Robotics (formerly Friendly Machines) announced on Sunday night
that it intends to raise $20 million to expand marketing channels and
develop new products within three months, GLOBES reported. Friendly recently
signed an estimated $100 million agreement with U.S. company Toro for the
distribution of its automatic lawn mower.
* Israeli start-up Exent Technologies has completed a $20.5 million
financing round at a company value of $100 million, GLOBES reported.
Investors included America Online, U.S. venture capital fund General
Atlantic Partners and SingTel, a Singapore telecommunications company. The
round was led by US venture capital fund New Enterprise Associateswas marked
its first investment in an Israeli company.
Today's Israel Line was prepared by Aylon Slater at the Consulate General of
Israel in New York.
Israel Line is a daily summary of major news items taken directly from the
Israeli media.
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