Thursday April 5th, 2001

* ISRAEL, PA TRY TO RENEW SECURITY COORDINATION
* 5 IDF SOLDIERS, 8 CIVILIANS DIE IN ACCIDENTS
* SHARON: JEWS MUST BE ALLOWED TO VISIT TEMPLE MOUNT
* TOURISM INDUSTRY; EARNINGS SUFFER DUE TO PALESTINIAN VIOLENCE
ECONOMIC BRIEFS

ISRAEL, PA TRY TO RENEW SECURITY COORDINATION
   Senior Israel security officials met Wednesday with their Palestinian
counterparts to discuss restoring security coordination between the sides,
HA'ARETZ reported.  Representing Israel were Israel Defense Forces CO
Central Command Maj.-Gen. Yitzhak Eitan, CO Southern Command Maj.-Gen. Doron
Almog, Head of the Planning Branch Maj.-Gen. Giora Eiland, and Director of
the Israeli Security Service Avi Dichter.
Israel pressed the Palestinians to resume anti-terrorism efforts and
re-arrest Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists released from Palestinian
jails.
  According to YEDIOTH AHARONOT ON-LINE, U.S. National Security Advisor
Condoleeza Rice told Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa during Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak's visit to Washington this week that Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat was responsible for the violence in the
region. "It is impossible to conduct negotiations when Arafat is conducting
violence," Rice said. She also criticized Egypt for its failure to pressure
Arafat to end the Palestinian violence.
  Meanwhile, Minister of Defense Benjamin Ben-Eliezer today allowed 3,500
additional Palestinian workers to enter Israel. Israel also reopened Rafia
and Alenbi passages.
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5 IDF SOLDIERS, 8 CIVILIANS DIE IN ACCIDENTS
  Five Israel Defense Forces soldiers were killed and one was seriously
injured on Wednesday morning, when their armored personnel carrier flipped
over near Hebron, HA'ARETZ reported. The soldiers were on their way to
safeguard Minister of Defense Binyamin Ben-Eliezer. The five killed were
Staff Sgt. Idan Brodie, 20, from Rishon Lezion; Sgt. Ido Karni, 20, from
Kibbutz Amir; Sgt. Ya'acov Bardugo, 19, from Hadera; Corp. Borosh Alisaf,
18, from Ra'anana, and Corp. Ido Klein, 19, from Yahud. A sixth soldier
sustained severe head injuries and was evacuated to Hadassa Hospital in Ein
Kerem. His condition remains critical.
  Witnesses to the accident claim that the driver appeared to have lost
control of the vehicle and flipped over three times before it landed on its
side. The soldiers were flung out of the vehicle. Four died on the spot and
two were flown to a nearby hospital, where one later died. CO Central
Command Maj.-Gen. Yitzhak Eitan appointed Brig-Gen. Gershon Yitzhak to
investigate the accident.
  In an unrelated accident, a family of five, a father, mother, and three
daughters - were killed Tuesday night near Dundee, Scotland, when a large
truck hit their car as they tried to enter a highway from a side road,
MA'ARIV reported. Ehud Dror, 47, his wife Ada, 45, Maya, 21, and 12-year-old
twins Ya'ara and Reut were on a weeklong trip to Scotland. Ehud, Ada and
Maya, who recently finished her military service, were killed instantly. The
twins were flown to a nearby hospital. Ya'ara died on the operating table
and Reut is in a coma on life-support systems. The family's lone survivor,
Nir, 18, stayed home in Israel.
  Also, three members of one family from Ofakim were killed in a car
accident in the Negev on Wednesday night after the father, who was driving
lost control of his commercial vehicle and crashed into a tree, Israel Radio
KOL YISRAEL reported. Both parents and their 19-year-old daughter were
killed, and three more children were injured, one severely.
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SHARON: JEWS MUST BE ALLOWED TO VISIT TEMPLE MOUNT
  Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said today that Jews should be allowed to
enter the Temple Mount compound in Jerusalem's Old City, ISRAEL RADIO KOL
YISRAEL reported. Sharon called on the Police to find ways of enabling Jews
to carry out the biblical command of ascending to the Temple Mount on the
three pilgrimage festivals of Passover, Shavu'ot and Succot.
  The Prime Minister's Office said that Sharon promised to adhere to the
principle of allowing pilgrims of all religions to visit the compound.
Currently, Jews are the only ones prohibited by the Moslem Wakf (Islamic
trust) to visit the site since the outbreak of the Palestinian violence last
September.
  This followed the Supreme Court's decision to turn down this morning by
the Temple Mount Faithful group, citing police fears that the act would
likely spark riots by Muslims throughout Israel and Palestinian
Authority-controlled areas of the West Bank and Gaza.
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TOURISM INDUSTRY; EARNINGS SUFFER DUE TO PALESTINIAN VIOLENCE
  Israeli tourism suffered a decrease of 44 percent in the number of
incoming tourists in the last six months compared with the same period the
year before, GLOBES reported. The decrease caused a NIS 3 billion
(approximately $7.5 million) loss in earnings and lay-offs for 40,000 hotel,
guest services and restaurant-related field employees.
  Minister of Tourism Rehavam Zeevi set up a team of experts to re-evaluate
the tourism industry in view of the crisis, examine mechanisms for
government aid and delineate future requirements.

The condition of 10 -month-old Ariel Yered, who was critically wounded in a
Palestinian mortar attack on Atzmona on Tuesday afternoon improved slightly,
THE JERUSALEM POST reported. Doctor's say that in a few days they will be
able to assess the damage incurred by shrapnel wounds to his head and back.
The infant's condition remains critical.
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