FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 2001

*PALESTINIANS LAUNCH MORE MORTARS
*U.S. LEGISLATORS URGE BUSH TO REEXAMINE RELATIONS WITH PA
*MISSING SOLDIERS REMEMBERED AT ISAIAH WALL VIGIL
*TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS HELP DISCOVER TWO PLANETS
*ECONOMIC BRIEFS

PALESTINIANS LAUNCH MORE MORTARS
  Palestinian gunmen launched dozens of mortar shell attacks at Israeli
communities in and around the Gaza Strip on Thursday night, KOL YISRAEL,
reported. Shells hit areas near Netiv Ha'asara and Kibbutz Nahal Oz, located
within Israel's pre-1967 borders. No injuries were reported.
  In response, the Israel Defense Forces fired on a Palestinian Authority
police installation and training ground from which the shells were launched.
Helicopter gunships also attacked PA military installations around the Gaza
Strip. Palestinian gunmen and IDF troops exchanged fire this morning near
the community of Netzarim.
  Minister of Public Security Uzi Landau said in a radio interview that the
IDF should hit Palestinian targets that initiate attacks "every day, hour
after hour," and that "the price we will exact from the PA will become
intolerable to them." Landau added that PA officials responsible for attacks
on Israel are "not immune" to retaliation and that Israel should declare PA
Chairman Yasser Arafat a war criminal, "as one who specializes in attacking
babies and shelling villages."
  Islamic Jihad leader Iyad Hardan was killed on Thursday when a device
exploded as he spoke on a public phone just outside the Palestinian jail
where he was being "held" by PA, allowed to leave at his will. Hardan topped
the Israeli's wanted list in the West Bank. He was involved in the killing
of an Israeli police officer in Kfar Biddya in 1996, and dispatched the two
suicide bombers who wounded 27 Israelis in Jerusalem market in 1998. The
Israeli Security Agency also suspects that he planted the car bomb in
Netanya last November, which killed two civilians and injured dozens.
According to intelligence, Hardan set up a terrorist cell in the Gaza Strip
with terrorists from various organizations. The group is believed to have
already prepared explosives and was ready to carry out attacks inside
Israel. HA'ARETZ reported that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said his
Government would wage a constant struggle against terrorism.  Meanwhile,
according to THE JERUSALEM POST, a convoy of Palestinians on their way back
to the Gaza Strip from a security coordination meeting in Tel Aviv opened
fire on IDF soldiers. The soldiers returned fire and three Palestinian
security officials sustained light injuries.
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U.S. LEGISLATORS URGE BUSH TO REEXAMINE RELATIONS WITH PA
Eighty-seven U.S. Senators and 186 U.S. congressmen signed letters on
Thursday calling on President George W. Bush to reevaluate relations with
the PLO and the Palestinian Authority, THE JERUSALEM POST reported. The
letters were based on Palestinian's decision "to embark on a deliberate
campaign of violence against Israelis."
"Given the drastic changes that have taken place in recent months in
Palestinian behavior, we believe it is time for the United States to
reassess our relations with the Palestinians," the letters read. The letter
goes on to say that the administration should "examine whether those
Palestinians involved in attacks against Israelis should be barred from
coming to the United States, whether those Palestinian groups
involved in violence should be designated as foreign terrorist
organizations...whether the PLO office inWashington should be allowed to
remain open, and whether U.S. aid to the Palestinians is in fact meeting its
goals and should continue."
  The signatories urged Bush to downgrade relations with the PA if PA
Chairman Yasser Arafat does not issue a call to end the violence.
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MISSING SOLDIERS REMEMBERED AT ISAIAH WALL VIGIL
  Israeli officials and American Jews gathered in front of the United
Nations on Thursday for a Passover vigil held for eight captured Israelis,
among them seven MIAs, THE  JERUSALEM POST reported. The vigil featured a
model Seder table with eight empty places for the missing soldiers, and was
sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.
  The missing soldiers recognized were Zachary Baumel, Tzvi Feldman and
Yehuda Katz, missing since 1982; Ron Arad, captured in 1986; and Adi Avitan,
Benny Avraham, and Omar Suad, captured by Hizbullah last October while
patrolling the Lebanon border, and Israeli businessman Elhanan Tennenbaum,
kidnapped by Hizbullah in October.
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TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS HELP DISCOVER TWO PLANETS
  An international team that included chairman of Tel Aviv University
Astronomy Department Prof. Zvi Mazeh and two doctoral students discovered
two distant planets outside of earth's solar system, THE JERUSALEM POST
reported. The planets revolve around two distant stars called HD178911 and
HD80606, and they are about 200 light-years from Earth.

Two Israeli wines, Tishbi from Zichron Ya'akov and Binyamina Vineyards won
awards at the Vineti Exhibition in Verona, Italy. The exhibition hosted over
3,300 wine manufacturers from 21 countries.
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