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Abbas Lands New Powers
Ramallah/JTA — The outgoing
Palestinian Authority Parliament gave
Mahmoud Abbas new powers. In its
final session, lawmakers gave the P.A.
president power to appoint a constitu-
tional court that would arbitrate dis-
putes between him and a Hamas-led
government. The new powers could
give Abbas the ability to cancel any
law passed by the new Hamas govern-
ment. Lawmakers from Hamas, which
recently won Palestinian elections,
could overturn the legislation with a
two-thirds majority.
Hamas Isolation Planned
Washington/JTA — Israel and the
United States reportedly are consider-
ing how to destabilize a Hamas-led
Palestinian government. Citing offi-
cials in Jerusalem and Washington, the
New York Times reported Tuesday that
the allies were discussing how to trig-
ger new elections in the Palestinian
Authority if llamas, the winner of last
month's vote, refuses to recognize
Israel or foreswear terrorism.
Among options cited are cutting off
funds to the Palestinian Authority and
isolating it diplomatically, potentially
forcing Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas to call new elections
that could result in Hamas' ouster.
Mushir al-Masri, a Hamas
spokesman and incoming legislator,
said attempts to bring down a future
Hamas government were hypocritical,
Ha'aretz reported.
Omri Sharon Sentenced
Jerusaletn/JTA — The son of Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon was sentenced
to nine months in prison for cam-
paign-funding violations in his
father's 1999 race for Likud Party
leadership.
Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court on
Tuesday sentenced Omri Sharon to
another nine months of suspended
imprisonment and. fined him some
$65,000. Becaue of the condition of the
prime minister, who has been in a coma
since a Jan. 4 stroke, the start of Omri
Sharon's prison term was postponed by
six months to Aug. 31, Ha'aretz reported.
His attorney said Omri Sharon would
appeal the sentence.
Birthright Growth
New York/JTA — Birthright Israel has
received many more applications for its
upcoming trips than it has spaces
available. Some 14,000 young Jews
applied for 8,000 spots in the program's
spring/summer 2006 trips in just the
first 12 hours of registration Feb. 8.
The organization provides free trips
to Israel for Jews aged 18 to 26. In the
six years since its founding, Birthright
has brought 98,000 people from 45
countries to Israel; the upcoming trip
will include the program's 100,000th
participant.
Taglit is the Hebrew name for the
program.
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Conscript Service Cut
Jerusalem/JTA — Israel is gradually
reducing the duration of mandatory
military service. Under a plan
unveiled this week by the Defense
Ministry, male soldiers drafted last
.summer will spend 28 months in uni-
form, rather than three years. Further
reductions will bring the final service
term for men down to two years by
2010.
Soldiers who need extra training
time for specialized posts will receive
professional salaries. More limited
cuts are expected for female con-
scripts, who generally serve a maxi-
mum of 24 months in the military.
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Cartoon Controversy
sydneyilTA — An Australian cartoon-
ist said two of his old works dealing
with the Holocaust were entered into
an Iranian newspaper contest without
his permission.
Michael Leunig, whose Holocaust
cartoons were rejected for publication
in Australia in 2002, said Tuesday he
had discovered they were submitted to
Iran's Hamshahri newspaper. "This is a
fraud and a hoax emanating, we
believe, from Australia," Leunig said in
a radio interview.
He said that Hamshahri had with-
drawn the submissions at his request.
According to press reports, one of
Leunig's cartoons showed a poor man,
marked with the Star of David, enter-
ing Auschwitz with its slogan "Work
Brings Freedom." The second showed
a similar scene, except that.the man is
bearing a rifle, the slogan is "War
Brings Peace" and the caption reads
"Israel 2002."
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Dog Day For Aliyah?
Jerusalem/JTA — A new proposal aims
to make it easier for families with dogs
to immigrate to Israel. Under the pro-
posal submitted by the Agriculture .
Ministry, dogs classified as dangerous
must meet a number of conditions to
be allowed to accompany their owners,
the Jerusalem Post reported. The list of
"dangerous" dogs includes pit bulls
and Rottweilers, among others.
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February 16 2006 11