News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) The Jerusalem District Court has struck down an eight-year-old Education Ministry decision that prohibited Yisrael Shiran from continuing to teach because he circulated a letter against the "Rabin Peace Legacy." Shiran charged that assassinated Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin was largely responsible for Israel's security problem because he gave the Palestinian Authority (PA) rifles under the Oslo agreements. PA security forces used the weapons to attack Israelis.

--IDF robots, often used to search smuggling tunnels and bomb-laden buildings, are able to serve in the army for several years because of a high-tech repair shop operated by the IDF. The robot "hospital" is located near Ashkelon.

The army operates several dozen robots instead of having to risk the lives of sappers, several of whom have died or suffered serious injuries while trying to neutralize explosives. Only three career officers have the technical know-how to repair the robots.

Three Years Ago Today at IsraelNN
Gidon Meir, a senior Israeli foreign Ministry official, said that Israel has rejected an offer brokered by Egypt for freeing Arab terrorists in exchange for abducted army corporal Gilad Shalit. "In general, Israel's stance is, as the Prime Minister said earlier, that the soldier will only be released unconditionally and there will be no negotiations with a gang of terrorists and criminals who abducted a soldier from Israeli territory."

--Itamar resident Eliyahu Asheri died immediately when he was kidnapped, according to Central Commander Yair Naveh. Popular Resistance Committees terrorists claimed they had kept Asheri alive while considering the possibility of holding him for ransom. Asheri’s kidnapping, hours after the capture of Gilad Shalit, led to the IDF’s Operation Summer Rains in Gaza and Lebanon.

Twenty-eight Years Ago in Israel
The Likud won 48 seats in general elections, enabling Menachem Begin to form a new government.

Seventy-two Years Ago in Israel
Kibbutz Tiryat Tzvi, in the Bet Shean Valley, was established as the first religious kibbutz. Like other kibbutzim, it was based on the stockade-and-watchtower model. This building method reinvigorated Jewish settlement activity in the mid-1930s.