Sharon moved to ranch
Ariel Sharon was returned to a Tel Aviv hospital after spending a weekend at his ranch for the first time since he fell into a coma in January 2006. The former Israeli prime minister spent the weekend at the ranch in the Negev desert after being moved there last Friday. Since shortly after suffering a massive stroke when he was prime minister, Sharon has remained in a Tel Aviv hospital. The weekend trial was deemed a success, and he’s expected to be returned to the ranch in coming weekends to test the possibility of moving him home permanently.
Training crash kills two
An Israeli pilot and navigator were killed when their fighter jet crashed during a training flight in southern Israel. The two-seater F-16I fighter jet, nicknamed Soufa, or storm, crashed last Wednesday night near the Ramon Crater. The bodies were found the following afternoon, several hours after the crash, after an extensive search. Human error is suspected in the accident. Four planes took part in the exercise on the Israeli Air Force’s newest plane. Until the exact cause of the crash is found, training on the planes has been halted, the military said. In September 2009, an Israel Air Force F-16A fighter plane crashed during a training flight, killing pilot Assaf Ramon, son of Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon, who died in the crash of the U.S. space shuttle Columbia in 2003.
Israel called ecology leader
Israel is poised to be a leader in developing solar energy and other renewable energy sources, an American leader in the energy field said while visiting the Jewish state. In addition, “There are real opportunities for U.S.-style venture capital investment in Israel,” Michael Eckhart, president of the American Council on Renewable Energy, said during a visit to Israel with a delegation of leading American energy specialists.
“Israel’s world-class expertise in solar power, biofuels and electric vehicles can be a catalyst for a global shift to low carbon and secure energy systems,” said Marilyn Brown, the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize co-recipient, who was on the trip. The delegation was visiting Israel to discuss best practices in the fields of renewable energy and reducing dependence on fossil fuels.
Abbas slams settlements
Mahmoud Abbas told thousands of Palestinians gathered for a Yasser Arafat memorial that the “the Palestinian state will arise when it is cleared of settlements.” The Palestinian Authority president also told the crowd in Ramallah marking the sixth anniversary of his predecessor’s death that he wouldn’t sign a peace deal unless it included the release of all Palestinian prisoners, Ynet reported. Memorial participants were bused to Ramallah from all over the West Bank. In Gaza, Hamas officials broke up an Arafat memorial consisting of two dozen people screening a film about him. Arafat died in 2004 at a French hospital from complications of the flu. Some Palestinians still contend he was poisoned by Israel, though no traces of poison were found in his system after his death.
Egypt nabs terror cell
Egypt arrested a terror cell planning an attack on Israeli tourists in Sinai, the Ma’an Palestinian news agency reported. Some 25 members of the cell were arrested Nov. 11 by Egyptian security forces, according to the agency. Several of those arrested admitted to being part of a terror group. Also Nov. 11, Time magazine reported that Egypt provided information to Israel that allowed the Shin Bet security agency to assassinate Palestinian terrorist Mohammed Namnam in Gaza City last week.
Gates rejects military pressure
U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates pushed back against Israeli demands that the United States amp up the threat of military action against Iran. “We are prepared to do what is necessary, but at this point, we continue to believe that the political-economic approach that we are taking is in fact having an impact in Iran,” Gates told reporters last week in Australia, where he was on an official visit. Gates was reacting to reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had made the demand of U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden, whom he met on the sidelines of the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly last week in New Orleans.
– files from JTA