Vehicle used in attack

An Arab assailant plowed a vehicle into a crowd of Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem before being shot dead. Two soldiers were moderately injured and more than a dozen others suffered slight injuries on the night of Sept. 22. The driver was killed by a soldier at the scene. The soldiers, who were on a tour of the Old City, were struck at a crowded intersection near the Jaffa Gate by an Arab from eastern Jerusalem driving a black BMW, according to reports. Police said that Kasem Mugrabi, 19, may have staged the attack out of disappointment over a rejected marriage proposal. It was the third time in recent months that an Arab from eastern Jerusalem has used a vehicle to perpetrate an attack. Defence Minister Ehud Barak urged the government to find ways to be able to legally and quickly raze the homes of terrorists as a deterrent to future potential attacks.

Bush nixed attack: report

U.S. President George W. President Bush reportedly vetoed Israel’s plans to bomb Iran’s nuclear weapons sites. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert asked Bush’s approval when the president was in Israel in May, commemorating its 60th anniversary, the Guardian reported Sept. 25. Bush turned down the request, the report said, fearing Iranian attacks on U.S. interests in the region and beyond. Bush also was not convinced Israel would be able to stop the suspected nuclear weapons program.  The Guardian quoted sources close to a European leader who was briefed by Olmert on the meeting with Bush.

Pipe bomb wounds Israeli Prize winner

A professor who won the Israel Prize was wounded by a pipe bomb at his Jerusalem home. Police said they believe far right-wing activists carried out the attack against Ze’ev Sternhell, a political science professor at Hebrew University known for his hostility toward Jewish communities in the West Bank. Sternhell, who returned to Israel last Wednesday from an extended period overseas, had been receiving threatening phone calls recently, his wife said. The bombing sent him to the hospital with minor leg wounds.  A special task force will investigate. A security detail has been assigned to the head of Peace Now in Israel, Yaniv Oppenheimer, after pamphlets were found near Sternhell’s home offering a reward for the murder of anyone connected to Peace Now.

Bomb scare on flight

Fighter planes from three countries escorted a Paris passenger flight to Tel Aviv suspected of carrying a bomb.  Israeli officials later said there was no bomb on the El Al Boeing 767. The plane and passengers landed safely at Tel Aviv’s Ben-Gurion Airport last Wednesday evening, and the aircraft was searched after passengers were evacuated. Officials ultimately concluded there was no bomb. Reports said a threat linked to Al Qaeda was passed on to authorities after the flight took off from Paris. During intervals of its trajectory, which included Greek territory, the plane was escorted by fighter jets from Greece, Israel and France.

Lebanon talks possible

Israel could be holding peace talks with Lebanon within a year, Israel’s U.S. envoy told JTA. Pointing out that Israel’s talks with the Palestinians are continuing despite the political upheaval in Jerusalem, Sallai Meridor, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, said the Lebanon track could be in place within a year. “I don’t think it would be a sin to hope for peace with Lebanon,” he said. “Hopefully we will be able in the next year, rather than having two focuses [the Palestinians and the Syrians], we will be able to have another one with Lebanon.” The ambassador noted the irony of recent progress on the Israel-Palestinian and Israel-Syria tracks while Iran edges closer to obtaining a nuclear bomb.