In Short
July 17, 2008 Olmert Dissatisfied With Arad Report
JERUSALEM (JTA) --
Ehud Olmert rejected a Hezbollah report on longtime missing Israeli airman Ron Arad, calling it "absolutely unsatisfactory."
Israel's Cabinet, however, on Monday ratified a planned prisoner exchange with Hezbollah.
The swap required that Hezbollah file a report on what the Lebanese terrorist group describes as its failed efforts to locate Arad, an air-force navigator who disappeared after
he bailed out over Lebanon
in 1986.
The Cabinet -- by a vote of 22-3 -- ratified the final deal to bring home the bodies of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, soldiers held by the Iranian-backed Hezbollah since the summer of 2006.
Report: IAF Practicing in Iraqi Air Space
NEW YORK (JTA) -- Israel is apparently using Iraqi air space and U.S. bases in Iraq
to prepare for a strike against Iran, according to an Iraqi news report.
The report, cited by Iranian media, quoted sources in the Iraqi defense ministry.
The sources reportedly
said that using U.S. bases in Iraq would enable Israeli air-force planes to reach Iranian targets within minutes.
Peres to Accompany Israeli Olympians
JERUSALEM (JTA) --
Shimon Peres will officially represent the State of Israel
at the opening of the Beijing Olympics.
President Peres will fly with Israel's Olympic delegation to the Aug. 8 launch of the Games in the Chinese capital.
According to Israel Radio, authorities in Beijing arranged hotel accommodation for Peres within the Olympics compound -- an unusual move designed to allow him to walk to the ceremonies, which take place over Shabbat.
More than 40 athletes will compete for Israel in the 2008 Games, the Jewish state's largest-ever Olympic delegation.
