A tale of two mothers

Ultra-Orthodox leaders outraged at ruling that creates Israel's first two-mother family

GLOBE AND MAIL, Tuesday, May 30, 2000

MATTHEW KALMAN
Special to The Globe and Mail

Jerusalem -- In a controversial decision hailed by lesbians and gays and denounced in religious circles, Israel's Supreme Court has recognized the right of a lesbian spouse to be registered as the parent of her partner's biological child.

The court ruled yesterday that two lesbian partners can both be legally registered as the mothers of the same child, creating the country's first two-mother family and drawing outrage from ultra-Orthodox Jewish leaders.

One ultra-Orthodox lawmaker accused the judges of imposing the norms of the Biblical city of Sodom.

The court ordered government officials to register Nicole and Ruti Barnea-Kadish, a lesbian couple living in Tel Aviv, as the legal parents of Ruti's four-year-old son, Matan -- which means gift in Hebrew.

"It is no longer possible to say that I am not his mother," a joyful Nicole said after the ruling, adding that there are dozens of lesbian and homosexual couples in Israel in the same situation.

"Matan is the only one with the security of having two parents by law," she said.

Lawyers for the state had argued that a child cannot have two mothers, but the court ruled 2-1 in favour of the couple.

"Biologically it is impossible, but legally there is no obstacle to having two mothers," the couple's lawyer, Hadas Tagari, said.

Religious parliamentarians attacked the ruling and said they would bring in legislation to strengthen traditional family values eroded by the decision.

"The message that arises from the ruling is the destruction of the family," said Rabbi Haim Druckman, a National Religious Party member of the Knesset.

Rabbi Abraham Ravitz, a legislator from the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, submitted a motion in parliament, expressing outrage over the court ruling.

"I know of a state which had laws like this," he said. "It was called Sodom. The judges are intelligent but they are cut off from their Jewish roots and from the true feelings of society."

The ruling was the second challenge to the orthodox religious establishment in less than a week. Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that Jewish Reform women be allowed to conduct services at the Western Wall in Jerusalem using prayer shawls and reading from a Torah scroll.

The two women were represented by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, which successfully argued that Israel had no choice but to recognize the California adoption. The judges ruled that the laws governing adoption in Israel are analogous to those governing marriage.

Under Israeli law, only marriages conducted by a religious authority are considered legal. It is technically impossible for a Jewish Israeli to marry a non-Jew in Israel -- but if the couple is married elsewhere, and forms a union legally recognized by that country, the marriage is recognized in Israel.

Many "mixed" couples get married in nearby Cyprus, or file for long-distance marriages by mail.

Six years ago, the two women celebrated a conservative Jewish religious "marriage" ceremony in California. Eighteen months later, with help from an anonymous sperm donor, Ruti gave birth to Matan. Taking advantage of a California law that allows the partner of a single parent, regardless of sex, to adopt the other partner's children, Nicole became Matan's second mother.

But when the couple, who hold joint American and Israeli citizenship, tried to register their son at the local Israeli consulate they were told that a child could not have two parents of the same sex in Israel. The women returned to Israel three years ago determined to fight the decision.

"He knows that he has two mothers," Nicole said of their son. "He calls us Mommy and Ima. I'm Mommy, because I speak to him in English and Ruti is Ima [Hebrew for mother] because she speaks to him in Hebrew."

Ilan Shainfeld, an Israeli poet and gay activist, hailed the court's decision. "They have moved the lesbian community in Israel one step forward," he said. "It has been this way throughout our entire history. Achievements of individual men and women who create legal precedents that enable us all to live better."

Investors cash in on Israel's Silicon Wadi

21 May 2000

High-tech start-ups are booming as former army commandos and computer 'geeks' adapt their skills to civilian use. Report by Matthew Kalman.
THEY call it Silicon Wadi.
It is Israel's booming high-technology sector.
For years American investors led the way in providing capital for Israel's burgeoning high-tech venture-capital scene but now British fund managers are getting in on the act.
That much is clear from the fact that Wellcome Trust is among several household names taking part in a $200m ( #135m) seed fund focused on early-stage Israeli internet and communications companies.
Horsley Bridge is the lead investor in Israel Seed IV. Its manager, Israel Seed Partners, says it is the country's largest fund devoted to providing high-tech seed capital.
Half the fund was raised in Britain from investors such as the London offices of Axa, Deutsche Bank and UBS Capital. American investors include IBM, America Online and the founders of Yahoo, eBay and Netscape.
Israel Seed's previous successes include Tradeum, a business-to-business net trading platform recently purchased by VerticalNet for $475m ( #340m).
Tradeum's co-founder is Zvi Schreiber, son of the British furniture millionaire David Schreiber. His brother, Daniel, runs Alchemedia, another Israel Seed company, which has patented a system that prevents the copying of pictures displayed on the web.
Both companies were founded less than two years ago, but once Alchemedia has floated, Zvi and Daniel will probably have amassed the same kind of fortune as their father took a lifetime to acquire.
Several more of Israel Seed's portfolio companies plan to go public in the next 18 months with a hoped-for return to early investors of more than 1,000%. They include DealTime, an online comparison-shopping site that has just begun operations in Britain.
Sandra Robertson, Wellcome's head of private equity, says Israel provides better opportunities for investors than anywhere in Europe. She says: "We find Israel particularly attractive because of the developments that have come out of there.
It really did mirror for us what has happened in Silicon Valley. I believe it's a hothouse of technological development."
Robertson argues that the venture-capital sector is more developed in Israel than in either Britain or continental Europe. "We have not invested very much money in Europe at all until this year in true venture capital," she says.
Graham Clempson, Deutsche Bank's co-head of European investment banking and head of European private equity, says Israel Seed Partners' previous fund is showing returns of more than 400%.
"We have more investments in Israel in the technology funds than we do in any of the European countries. In many respects it has stolen a march in terms of the kind of relationships between venture capitalists and entrepreneurs," says Clempson.
Israel Seed IV represents the latest wave in a rising tide of foreign investment in Israel's high-tech sector triggered by the start of the Israeli Palestinian peace process in 1993. Since then, hundreds of highly trained graduates of the Israeli army have founded dozens of start-ups based on the transformation of military know-how to civilian use. Instead of beating their swords into ploughshares, the young Israeli entrepreneurs have turned them into share options, attracting strong interest from the new net economy and delivering high returns for investors. Many have gone public on Wall Street.
There have been some spectacular deals in recent years. In 1998 America Online paid $287m for Mirabilis, the creator of ICQ software, which enables users to communicate with one another through the net. In 1999, Intel acquired DSP Communications for $1.6billion.
Last year venture-capital funds invested more than $1billion in more than 200 Israeli companies, up from $600m the previous year. In the first quarter of this year alone, more than $590m poured into Israel's venture-capital market.
"The Israeli army produces a rare mix of geeks and commandos," says Neil Cohen of Israel Seed Partners. "The geeks come from the army computer-training programmes and have the technical skill. The commandos go straight from elite units into marketing and management. It's an unbeatable combination."
London-born Cohen says the fund has targeted Britain and Europe to raise money, unlike many other Israeli companies, which usually go to America. One of Israel Seed's first investments was to put $700,000 into FoxCom Wireless, which makes communications hardware for domestic high-speed video and data. The firm, which began with three people in a workshop, is now worth at least $3.5m and may be worth far more when it floats.
Sasha van de Water, managing director of the European Fund of Funds for Axa, says such high-tech successes are very attractive to investors.
"You can say that past performance is not necessarily indicative of future performance, but they've done it," says Van de Water. "Those kinds of stories tend to spread like wildfire among the entrepreneurial community."
Van de Water says Axa had invested $25m in three Israeli funds managed by two companies: "We have not committed that much capital to a country-specific venture-capital fund anywhere else in Europe."
Israel Seed Partners' strategy of concentrating on early-stage investment is now being followed by other local venture capitalists. Polaris, a Tel Aviv fund headed by Chemi Peres, son of the former prime minister Shimon Peres, is about to announce the largest-ever Israeli fund of $500m. It says it will also focus on seed capital, providing more funding as businesses grow.
"In the past 18 months most venture-capital funds have realised that to have a good return on investment they have to start early," says Ella Jacoby, high tech analyst for Globes, the Israeli financial daily.
"Israel Seed has a very good name but has yet to prove itself because the seed fund that was established a few years ago hasn't completed any really significant exits yet and that's the way to prove your investments and your reputation."
But such considerations leave Wellcome unruffled. "Venture capital is a long term game," says Robertson. "We don't expect a two-year turnround. What's happening at the moment is unusual. When we go into these funds, we regard it as a five-year investment cycle followed by a five-year harvesting cycle. If it happens sooner, it's great."

Camels may hold key to preventing famine caused by drought

Veterinary expert says animal's milk could alleviate hunger in the world's deserts

MATTHEW KALMAN
Special to the Globe and Mail
Tuesday, May 9, 2000

Negev Desert, Israel -- An Israeli veterinary expert is planning a camel farm in a joint venture with Jordan that he believes will prove that the animal can solve hunger problems in areas of the world plagued by drought.

Prof. Reuven Yagil of Ben-Gurion University Medical School in Beersheba has been working with camels for 30 years; travelling to places such as Kazakhstan, Kenya and China to help local farmers increase the milk yield of their camels.

"Camels are considered very primitive, but they thrive in areas where children are dying of hunger," he said. "I wanted to see if the camel could provide anything for humans in these areas."

In a small experimental farm on the border between Jordan and Israel in the Negev desert, Prof. Yagil is breeding a herd of 40 camels for their milk. He has increased their production from the standard one litre to 15 litres a day, and says they could provide even more if he had the staff to milk them more often.

One camel he calls Naim is 14 years old and will give milk until she is 25, much longer than a cow. Her yield has not been reduced by living in a corral instead of grazing across the desert plains.

Her calf suckles to get the milk going, and within 90 seconds Prof. Yagil and his wife have milked just under five litres of fresh milk. Drunk soon afterward, still warm and unpasteurized, it is similar to cow's milk, a little stronger in taste and thinner in texture.

"In these [arid] areas, the cows are not there, they die," said Prof. Yagil, adding that cows also need high-quality feed.

"We're feeding the camels the stuff they throw away from the farms. We feed them salt bushes, cacti leaves or peanut hay, so you cannot compare. Even if the camel is giving only 15 litres, the camel is much more economical."

The milk keeps up to nine days in a refrigerator. Unlike cow's milk, it does not separate when frozen and can keep for up to two years. Camel's milk cannot be made into cheese because it lacks the necessary fats, but it can be used for other purposes.

This summer, the Tel Aviv ice cream festival will feature Prof. Yagil's DromeDairy ice cream in strawberry, cherry and peanut butter flavours.

Camel's milk also has curative properties and is used in Arab society as defence against infection. Many children of wealthy families in the Gulf States are sent to live with Bedouin for a month every year so they can drink camel milk and strengthen their natural immune systems.

Prof. Yagil, a native of South Africa who now lives on a kibbutz in the Negev, is a professor of medicine and a former veterinarian for the Israeli Army Camel Corps. He claims to be the world's top expert on camels; his interest was sparked through a friendship with a Bedouin tribesman.

Discussions are well advanced to set up a joint Israeli-Jordanian camel farm in Moshav Tsofar, an Israeli farm in the Negev desert that has an enclave of land across the border with Jordan.

Prof. Yagil's work has sparked interest as far away as China. Prof. Shin Cui, head of Beijing University's veterinary department and the person responsible for developing the neglected areas of northwest China, visited Prof. Yagil's farm recently to see his methods firsthand.

"Prof. Yagil came to the Gobi Desert where we have hundreds of thousands of camels and spoke to local farmers about his ideas," said Prof. Cui. "We hope to implement some of his methods back in China."

In northern Kenya, where Prof. Yagil has been training camel farmers on the edge of the African desert, they are planning to set up farms that could produce up to a million litres of milk each day.

Israel will hand over Nazi memoirs - War criminal Eichmann's notes at issue

USA TODAY
February 28, 2000

Matthew Kalman

JERUSALEM -- Israel, acting on a request from lawyers in a British libel case involving claims that the Holocaust never happened, agreed Sunday to hand over contents of unpublished memoirs by convicted Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann during his trial in 1962.

Lawyers for Penguin Books and Deborah Lipstadt, a scholar in modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University, sought the journals of thoughts, jottings and philosophical essays.

Right-wing British historian David Irving is suing Lipstadt and Penguin Books. Irving contends that a book by Lipstadt, published in 1995, caused irreparable harm to his reputation by calling him "a dangerous spokesman for Holocaust denial."

The book examines claims that the Nazi campaign to exterminate Jews never took place.

Irving denies that millions of Jews were systematically slain by the Nazis.

He claims that Hitler didn't know about the genocide until the final stages of World War II.

Richard Rampton, defense counsel for Lipstadt, asked Israeli Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein last week to send a copy of the notes to London for use in the trial, as proof that the Holocaust did in fact occur.

The journals have been locked away in state archives since Eichmann was convicted of crimes against humanity and executed in Israel in 1962.

Eichmann was snatched by an Israeli spy squad from his hideout in Argentina in 1960.

Scholars who have read the notes say they contain attempts by Eichmann to justify his role in the Nazi extermination policy in which as many as 6 million Jews and 4 million others were murdered, many in designated death camps.

In the notes, Eichmann repeats the blunt admission he made at his trial that the mass murder of Europe's Jews took place under the Nazis. However, he denied playing a major role.

In fact, historians say, Eichmann was the key Nazi official in charge of organizing the forced emigration of Jews from Germany, Austria and the Czech protectorate before the exterminations began.

Eichmann was put in charge of the mass transportation of Jews from western, central and southeastern Europe to the extermination camps after the mass murders began in 1941.

The Israeli authorities have refrained from publishing the notes because of questions about copyright. Eichmann's sons have demanded that the notes be returned to the family.

Yehuda Bauer of the Hebrew University, Israel's leading Holocaust scholar, was one of the experts called in to advise Rubinstein.

"The copyright issue has not yet been settled, but if there is a demand from the court in London, it has to be considered," he said. "Apart from the fact that he fully admits the murder of the Jews in all its details, which might be useful, there's nothing new in it. There is no historical significance to the notes, but they may be of significance in a trial at which somebody tries to show that there was no Holocaust. This is one of the major actors talking quite freely about the destruction of the Jews."

The Israeli Justice Department said Prime Minister Ehud Barak "agrees with the decision, which is in line with his policy of fighting Holocaust denial."

Cheated out of a fortune

The Guardian, Wednesday 9 February 2000

Jörg Haider, the far-right giant of Austrian politics, is the proud owner of a £10m country estate. But a Jewish professor is claiming the land was swindled from his family by the Nazis. Matthew Kalman reports

When Giorgio Roifer first set his eyes on the beautiful forest of Barental near Klagenfurt in the southern Austrian Tyrol, he thought he had found the perfect estate to expand his burgeoning timber business. The Russian-born Jewish entrepreneur, who had become a naturalised Italian, lived with his wife and three children in Pisa. They had servants, horses and two cars. He had timber and sawmill interests all over Italy and southern Austria, and when he acquired the 3,700-acre Barental estate at the age of 37, it seemed the ideal addition to his growing empire.

But his wife and children were destined never to see Barental. Less than a year after Roifer bought the estate in 1937, Hitler became the ruler of Austria under the Anschluss. When Roifer visited Barental in 1938, he found a sign on the door of the Moser Hotel where he used to stay in Klagenfurt. It said: "Dogs and Jews are not welcome."

The Nazis embarked on a ruthless policy of Aryanisation - forcing Jews to sell their property and leave the country. Roifer died that year, and soon after the land was sold to a man called Josef Webhofer, who left it to his son Wilhelm.

Today, it belongs to Jörg Haider, leader of the far-right Austrian Freedom party, who received it as a gift in 1986 from Webhofer, his great-uncle. Worth about £10m, the hunting, fishing, shooting and wood-logging estate is the basis of the vast fortune that has made Haider one of the wealthiest men in Austria. The original sale was, however, illegal. If Haider's family had not deceived Roifer's widow years after the war, the estate would still belong to her family.

Roifer's son, Alexander, who many believe is the rightful heir to Barental, lives today in a modest apartment in a middle-class Jerusalem suburb called French Hill, far removed from the grandeur of Pisa or the beauty of Barental. White-haired, bespectacled, a professor of Bible studies at the nearby Hebrew university, he seems bemused by the sudden interest in his family history and is reluctant to talk about Haider.

He tells the story of the estate in measured tones, despite the disturbing memories it stirs. Roifer says his mother, who died in 1995, was forced to sell the estate for a fraction of its real value, and never discovered that she had been tricked into giving it up until it was too late. "I am certainly not happy about what happened, but I do not wake up every morning angry about it," he says. "A man builds his life and fortunately I have found other things to keep me busy and interested. Of course I am sorry that the Roifer forest is now the Haider forest.

"The property was sold in October 1940 under duress. In the course of the sale an illegal act was committed, but the authorities in Karenten induced the sale in order to Aryanise the land. If you ask me, do we have a legal claim, the answer is no. If you ask if I think what has happened was morally right, I think it stinks.

"The acquisition was made in several stages and was completed in 1937. On August 26 1938 my father died of cancer."

Roifer was 38. His young widow, Matilde, and children Noemi, 10, Josef, 8 and Alexander, 6, fled to Palestine to escape the Nazis.

"In October 1939, we left Italy for Israel. My father, who was a Zionist, told my mother on his deathbed to take the family to Israel. It was almost impossible to get visas, but my mother wrote a letter which eventually got to [Israeli statesman] David Ben-Gurion, who made sure we got a visa.

"My uncle in Italy decided to sell the forest. There was all sorts of virulent anti-semitic propaganda in the press. He was under a great deal of psychological and physical duress. If we had been Austrian citizens and therefore citizens of the expanded German Reich, it would have been very simple. They would have said, 'Here are 10 Reichmarks, the forest is now ours.' But we were Italians and the Italian government would not allow that to happen."

Instead of the estate being confiscated, the family were able to sell it, but the price of 300,000 Reichsmarks - about £750,000 at today's prices - was only about one-tenth of the actual value of the property.

"The buyer was Josef Webhofer from Brunich in Southern Tyrol," says Roifer. "Hitler and Mussolini had signed an agreement about the region where he lived, a German-speaking area of Italy. The Germans living in Tyrol could either stay in Italy and become Italians, changing their names and losing the autonomy they enjoyed, or they could emigrate to the Third Reich. Josef Webhofer bought this land in order to have some stake inside the Third Reich and move there."

Matilde had not wanted to sell the estate and didn't even know of the sale until her brother-in-law wrote to her at the end of the war. Worse was to come. When the money finally reached Italy, it was frozen until after the war, by which time inflation had reduced its value to almost nothing.

In 1953, Roifer's mother went back to Austria to try to get a fairer sum from Webhofer. To their surprise, he agreed to pay another $100,000. "When she received that money, my mother signed a paper foregoing all future claims," says Roifer. "The indemnity was given under restrictive conditions. We were not permitted access to the documentation in the land registry office in Klagenfurt."

It was only years later that the family discovered why Webhofer had insisted on that condition and why he had been so willing to pay the extra cash. In 1989 papers were discovered at the land registry office in Klagenfurt which amazed the Roifers.

"The document said that the power of attorney granted by my mother, Matilde Roifer Galichi, to her brother-in-law, Dr Naphtoli Emdin, was not valid. But because it was desirable to Aryanise the land, the local officials decided to approve the sale anyway. In other words, there was no sale. Until 1953 the forest was legally ours. That is why Webhofer agreed to pay, because he knew that if this became known, the deal would be void."

PHOTOS SOLOWEY

Israel, Syria aim for peace

CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
January 3, 2000

MATTHEW KALMAN

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, leaving for today's opening of talks with Syria in West Virginia, said Sunday that he is prepared to pay "a heavy price" for peace with Syria but warned that he wouldn't pay "any price."

The talks between Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al- Sharaa will be held in Shepherdstown, W.Va. President Clinton will open the talks in the state's oldest town, about 75 miles from Washington.

Barak said the talks would be difficult and complex but that he was determined to reach an agreement that would strengthen Israel.

He said Sunday that he felt the "burden of responsibility" to achieve an agreement within the year. "We don't …

Archaeologist Draws Fire for Doubting Biblical Accounts

Salt Lake City Tribune,
6 Nov 1999

By Matthew Kalman
USA Today

JERUSALEM -- An Israeli archaeologist is drawing fire for claiming that the biblical history of the Jewish people is probably fiction.

In an article last week in Ha'aretz newspaper, Ze'ev Herzog, a professor at Tel Aviv University argued that the Exodus of the Hebrews from Egypt probably never happened, the Ten Commandments were not given on Mount Sinai, and Joshua never conquered the land of Israel. Herzog said that if there was a King David, he probably was no more than a tribal chieftain. The same holds for King Solomon, Herzog said.

"The many Egyptian documents known to us do not make any reference to the sojourn of the Children of Israel in Egypt or the events of the Exodus," Herzog said. "Generations of scholars tried to locate Mount Sinai and the stations of the tribes of Israel in the desert. Despite all this diligent research, not one site was identified that could correspond to the biblical picture."

Herzog said there is no evidence that Joshua led the children of Israel into the Holy Land or brought down the walls of Jericho.

"Repeated excavations by various expeditions... have only yielded disappointments," he said. "During the period when the conquest would have taken place, there were no cities there, and of course no walls to bring down."

To many people in Israel, such claims smack of blasphemy, even though many scientists agree with Herzog.

"What did they expect to find? The bones from Pharaoh's dreams?" scoffs Rabbi Nachum Rabinovitch, head of Maale Adumim Yeshiva and a former principal of Jews' College in London. "The fact of the matter is that details are very scant in the text. Frequently, we don't even really understand what it says. To say that archaeology can prove or disprove anything is ridiculous."

Not just religious leaders are angered. Many secular Israelis see the modern Jewish state as a revival of the biblical Hebrew kingdoms. To them, challenging the Bible means challenging the legitimacy of the modern Jewish claim to the land of Israel.

"I adhere to the view that the Bible is our basic starting point," said Tommy Lapid, leader of the avowedly secularist Shinui Party. "No other people in the world has a book like the Hebrew Bible, so why is Professor Herzog feeding us this nonsense?"

Herzog also has drawn fire from scholars. Adam Zertal, an archaeologist at the University of Haifa, has dedicated his life to mapping the biblical episodes in Samaria, including the entry of Joshua into the Holy Land.

"We found almost certain proof that the story of the entry into Israel is very believable," said Zertal, who has spent eight years excavating a site on Mount Ebol, where the Bible states Joshua set up his first altar to God. "The relevant materials are in the field. We only have to find them."

"Archaeology does not have the power to disprove the written record," said Avraham Malamat, a Jewish history expert at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. "If you ask a good archaeologist, he will say that he cannot find out the entire truth."

Herzog is surprised at the criticism. "I don't think it is right to guess at motives, based on the results of scientific inquiry," he said.

"Archaeology has always been used in this society and used to point in one direction," he said. "Now I'm suggesting that perhaps it should be used to point in another direction."

Palestinian and European archaeologists accuse their Israeli colleagues of politicizing archaeology to bolster Jewish claims.

Palestinian archaeologist Hamdan Taha has been excavating Tel Es-Sultan, the ancient site of Jericho. "There is no proof of any wall from the assumed time of Joshua's invasion," Taha said. "Nothing has been uncovered here in the last 100 years of excavation. ... Archaeology must be viewed as a scientific enterprise and no more as an ideological means to prove or disprove modern political claims."

Many contemporary biblical archaeologists support most of Herzog's views.

It is a different story, however, for the Israeli public, which idolizes biblical heroes such as King David.

While conceding that the Bible probably glorified David and Solomon, Avraham Biran, head of archaeology at Jerusalem's Hebrew Union College, said an inscription he discovered at Tel Dan in northern Israel proves their prominence at the time. The Aramaic inscription, attributed to a king of Damascus, refers to a "House of David" and is believed to date from the ninth century B.C. -- 100 years after David.

"If an Aramaean king from the middle of the 9th century knew about the existence of David, why should an archaeologist say that he doesn't?"

Israeli dig finds traces of lost city of Abraham

Matthew Kalman,
The Sunday Times
July 4, 1999

ARCHEOLOGISTS believe they have found the heart of the ancient city of Hebron, where Abraham, the Hebrew patriarch, lived 3,700 years ago.

On the site of an Israeli settlement, in territory claimed by both Arabs and Jews, excavations have uncovered a 9ft-thick city wall and fortified tower that have been dated to the middle bronze period, circa 1700BC.

Scholars say this is about the time when, according to the biblical story, Abraham - who was ordered by God to sacrifice his son Isaac as a test of faith - came to the city.

Between the tower and the city wall, researchers have unearthed two stone-walled rooms that they believe also date back to the period of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whose 12 sons became the founders of the 12 tribes of ancient Israel. Artefacts found in the rooms include silver jewellery, bronze axeheads, two scarabs and the handle of a dagger.

"You usually find such things in tombs because people were buried with their belongings, but to find them here on the floor gives us a more precise date," said Emanuel Eisenberg, in charge of the work. Royal seals from the period of the kings of Israel several hundred years later were found in another layer, clearly identifying the location as biblical Hebron. "This is the ancient city of Hebron - no doubt about it," said Eisenberg.

The archeological site is on the edge of Tel Rumeida, a mound across which scholars believe the city once stretched eight acres. By digging down through the tel, archeologists have been able to sift nearly 4,000 years of history.

Modern Hebron, however, has an uncertain future. Seven Israeli families have lived in temporary housing on Tel Rumeida since 1984. The enclave is one of three islands of Israeli settlement left in Hebron after Israel handed over control of most of the city, with its population of 120,000, to the Palestinians in 1996.

The archeological work was licensed two weeks before the Israeli general election in May as a "rescue excavation" to research the site before permanent homes are built there for the settlers. The Palestinians want all of Hebron to be handed over. They believe the city's 550 Israelis should leave.

Dr Hamdan Taha, director-general of the Palestinian ministry for archeology, said the excavation had been politically motivated. "We think the site should be protected as an archeological site without any ideological attempt to threaten and endanger a cultural heritage that represents the ancient history of Hebron," he said.

Officials at the Israeli antiquities authority privately agree. "If such a significant site were inside Israel proper, the law would prohibit anything being built on it," a senior Israeli archeologist said.

Persuading the settlers to go, however, will be difficult. David Wilder, spokesman for the Jewish community of Hebron, said the excavation proved their right to live there.

"We always knew this was the site of the ancient city; now these excavations have found positive proof of Jewish presence from the time of the patriarchs," said Wilder. "In terms of Jewish roots and heritage, what more do you need?"

Arafat, Barak in accord on Jerusalem - Pact relies on concessions

By Matthew Kalman, USA TODAY

MAY 23, 1999

JERUSALEM - Israeli prime minister-elect Ehud Barak and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have reached an outline of an historic agreement on the future of Jerusalem, senior Israeli and Palestinian officials told USA TODAY Sunday.

If a final text can be adopted by legislatures on both sides, it would remove one of the thorniest impediments to a final peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.

Arafat has declared his intention to establish a state with Jerusalem as its capital. Barak has vowed never to re-divide the city. The compromise means that each side could claim it has achieved its aim.

Under terms of the agreement, Arafat is prepared to give up his claim to large parts of Arab East Jerusalem in exchange for control of the 150,000 Palestinians living in the city, as well as several religious sites, the officials said.

Israel's new Labor government also would not oppose Arafat's intention to declare a Palestinian state by the end of this year with its capital in Abu Dis, a village two miles east of the Old City, the officials said. The area was handed over to the Palestinians in 1996.

Abu Dis lies just outside the municipal boundary of Jerusalem as defined by Israel since it captured the eastern half of the city from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War.

But the Palestinians can also claim that Abu Dis is within the city of Jerusalem because it falls within administrative boundaries recognized by the Ottoman Empire from 1516 to 1917. Israel would agree not to challenge that interpretation.

But the deal is far from done. Barak still needs to form a coalition government that would present the plan to a new Israeli parliament, or Knesset. Only then, will the Knesset begin debating the plan.

Talks will begin Monday on forming a form a coalition from among the record 15 political parties who won seats in the Knesset.

The question of Jerusalem, with its holy sites sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims, has always been the most problematic issue in any potential peace agreement. Both the Palestinians and Israelis have vowed to have Jerusalem as their capital.

Senior Palestinian officials said the outline of the agreement means that they are closer than ever to fulfilling Arafat's goal to pray at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

The new Palestinian parliament building under construction now in Abu Dis includes an office for Arafat with a view to the Old City and the al Aqsa mosque.

Senior Israeli and Palestinian officials confirmed that the two sides had agreed in principle that no land in East Jerusalem would be handed over to the Palestinians.

"Jerusalem shall remain the eternal and undivided capital of Israel," Barak said. "On this question there is no room for doubt, nor any political haggling. Jerusalem was, is, and will remain the united capital of our nation."

The White House Sunday refused comment on the report.

Under the plan, Israeli and Palestinian officials said that the Palestinian flag will be allowed to fly over several of Jerusalem's holy sites, which will effectively have the same legal status as foreign embassies.

It would also establish a safe passage corridor from Abu Dis through East Jerusalem so that Palestinians from the West Bank of the Jordan River can travel to the Old City of Jerusalem without having to pass through Israeli security checkpoints.

Palestinian and Labor party leaders worked out the agreement in secret meetings held in European capitals.

In marked shift, Hamas leader talks of a cease-fire

USA TODAY
May 17, 1999

By Matthew Kalman

(ABSTRACT)

In an interview, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, the spiritual leader of the terrorist Islamic resistance movement Hamas, called last week for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and for the first time suggested he might recognize Israel's right to exist. But he threatened to continue terrorist activity if there's no movement.

In a major departure from all previous statements of Hamas policy, Yassin said Thursday that the conflict could be ended if Israel withdrew from Gaza and the West Bank of the Jordan River. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Six-Day War. Yassin offered an immediate end to Hamas attacks on Israeli targets following such a withdrawal and said relations with Israel should be left to future generations to decide.

"We have to be realistic," he said. "We are talking about a homeland that was stolen a long time ago in 1948 and again in 1967.

"My generation today is telling the Israelis let´s solve this problem now on the basis of the 1967 borders. Let's end this conflict by declaring a temporary cease-fire. Let's leave the bigger issue for future generations to decide."

Until now, Yassin has vowed to continue the armed struggle until a Palestinian state was established in all of Palestine, effectively wiping the Jewish state off the map. Only last week, he told the Al-Ahram weekly in Cairo, Egypt, that the notion of Israel living in peace next to an independent Palestine was "a false idea."

Deadly Arab enemy offers hope of peace

LONDON EVENING STANDARD
May 17, 1999

Matthew Kalman

AS Israelis prepare to vote today in an election that may decide the fate of the Middle East peace process, a sworn enemy of the Jewish state has made an overture toward peace.

Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, spiritual leader of the terrorist Islamic resistance movement Hamas, has called for an end to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict and for the first time suggested he might recognise Israel's right to exist. But he threatened to continue terrorist activity if there is no movement.

In a radical departure from all previous statements of Hamas policy, Yassin said the conflict could end if Israel withdrew from the West Bank and Gaza. Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Six- Day War. In …

CONTROVERSY OVER SIGNING

Najwan won't make a stand

LONDON EVENING STANDARD
May 10, 1999

NAJWAN GRAYEB, Tottenham's £1million new signing, has been the subject of considerable controversy in Israel, Matthew Kalman reports from Jerusalem.

A Muslim arab from Nazareth, Grayeb, who joined Tottenham from Hapoel Haifa last week, is one of the few non-Jews to have represented Israel.

And if that was not enough to make him controversial, defender Grayeb admitted last month to a reporter that he did not know the words to the Israeli national anthem, that Israeli Independence Day was just for Jews and that he did not stand and observe the two minutes' silence on Israel's Memorial Day (on which the nation commemorates its fallen soldiers) unless he was in …

Jordan rejects Israeli plan for less water, cites '94 peace treaty

USA TODAY, Mar 15, 1999

Matthew Kalman

AMMAN -- Jordanian-Israeli relations were in crisis Sunday night after Israel said it would have to cut the amount of water supplied to Jordan this year because of a severe drought in the region.

Ben Meir says the Yarmouk, which flows into the Sea of Galilee, Israel's main reservoir, was at its lowest level since 1908. Water supplies for agricultural use inside Israel already have been cut by 25%, and further reductions will be announced in the coming days.

But Jordanian officials who met Ben Meir in Jerusalem Sunday rejected the proposal. Increased water supplies are one of the few concrete benefits Jordan has seen from its 1994 peace treaty with Israel.

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Arab pop star: Foes barking up wrong tree

USA TODAY, Mar 15, 1999

Matthew Kalman

JERUSALEM -- A Lebanese pop star is struggling to save her life and career after Muslim fundamentalists decreed she should be put to death for reportedly naming her pet dog after the prophet Mohammed (Jamal).

Najwa Karam, 32, a Christian from the town of Zahlée in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, is one of the most popular singers in the Arab world. Her CDs, tapes and videos sell by the million and Arabic satellite TV has made hers a household name.

In Jordan, a leader of the country's Islamic Party called for the singer to be killed. Sheikh Abdel Munem Abu Zanet, a former member of the Jordanian parliament and a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, says she has defamed Islam and, if the story is true, she should be put to death.

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Pope is expected to visit the Holy Land next spring

Pope is expected to visit the Holy Land next spring

USA TODAY, Mar 12, 1999

Matthew Kalman

BETHLEHEM, West Bank -- Excitement is building among Israeli and Palestinian leaders that Pope John Paul II will visit the Holy Land next year.

The Vatican has not issued a formal announcement, but both Israel and the Palestinian Authority have issued invitations to the pope to visit Nazareth, Bethlehem and Jerusalem. Officials said his visit would be seen as the highlight of the millennium celebrations.

"The pope is very eager to come; it is his dream," Bethlehem Mayor Hanna Nasser said. "The Vatican is studying the ways and means (of) how to make this visit possible. The Holy See himself is very, very interested in coming."

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Arab beauty is crowned Miss Israel

LONDON EVENING STANDARD
March 10, 1999

Matthew Kalman

A 21-YEAR-OLD legal secretary from Haifa was crowned last night as Miss Israel - the first Arab to hold the title.

Rana Raslan said she was "extremely proud" to take over the title from Linor Abergil, who went on to become Miss World …

Britain 'ignoring Bethlehem appeal'

LONDON EVENING STANDARD
March 9, 1999

Matthew Kalman

BRITAIN stands accused today of ignoring a massive international fundraising drive to renovate Bethlehem in time for the millennium.

Christian countries have contributed millions towards making the town fit to receive an expected four million visitors and pilgrims, plus heads of state, for the 2,000th anniversary of Christ's birth.

But Britain, despite promises, is said to have given only moral support. The Mayor of Bethlehem spoke today of his sadness and frustration at Britain's failure to contribute a penny to the celebrations. Mayor Hanna Nasser said he was doubly baffled by British tardiness, because Tony Blair has accepted an invitation to join the international …

Israeli court urged to rethink ruling on teen

USA TODAY, Mar 2, 1999

Matthew Kalman

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli Ministry of Justice has asked the Israeli Supreme Court to reconsider its decision not to extradite an American Jewish teen-ager accused of a grisly murder in Maryland in 1997.

In a 3-2 decision last week, a panel of judges ruled that Samuel Sheinbein, 18, could not be extradited to stand trial in the United States because he is an Israeli citizen.

Irit Kohn, director of the international department of the Israeli Ministry of Justice, said that Sheinbein would be held without bail for 10 days while the Supreme Court considered the request for a new hearing.

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Israel strikes after general slain

USA TODAY, Mar 1, 1999

Matthew Kalman

Israel launched fierce air, land and sea attacks on suspected guerrilla hideouts in southern Lebanon late Sunday hours after two bombs in the region killed an Israeli brigadier general and three others.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the retaliatory raids against Hezbollah after the Muslim militia group claimed responsibility for the attack, one of the most serious against Israelis in southern Lebanon in years.

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