News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Shas party chairman Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Eli Yishai has called on the Olmert government to put security ahead of negotiations with the Palestinian Authority (PA), which he suggested should be suspended following the suicide bombing in Monday morning. Shas is a key part of the coalition and so far has supported Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's concessions to the PA in negotiations.

He also declared that the Sharon government, of which Olmert was Vice Prime Minister, made a "mistake" in giving up the Philadelphi route on the Israeli border with Gaza and Egypt. Terrorists have used it for years to smuggle weapons and explosives in to Gaza and Israel.