The son of Dr. Aribert Heim, a notorious Nazi doctor dubbed Dr. Death, wants his father declared legally dead so he can take control of his money and donate a portion of it to Holocaust education. However, Nazi hunter Efraim Zuroff claims that witnesses have attested to seeing Aribert Heim alive recently in South America.
--The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), using technology developed by a NASA scientist, is documenting the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest Hebrew record of the Bible ever found, and will establish an Internet databank accessible by the public.
--Nearly 200 terrorists whom the government freed signed a document before leaving Ofer Prison, promising not to return to attacking Israelis. Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas will greet them in a welcoming celebration, in addition to later Arab festive homecomings in Hevron and Shechem.
--The Cabinet approved the proposed 2009 budget on a 13-12 vote after a marathon session, which ended with Kadima ministers winning their demands and Labor and Shas voting against the budget.
--Mosab Hasan Yousef, the 30-year-old son of a co-founder of Hamas, has converted to Christianity and fled his home city of Ramallah for the safer environs of California. He charged that Hamas exposed his family to persecution, the London Daily Telegraph reported. Yousef said that speaking out about Muslims and “evil” will help bring about peace and create conditions to allow his return to Ramallah. “Hamas, they are using civilians’ lives, they are using children, they are using the suffering of people every day to achieve their goals. And this is what I hate,” he told the Telegraph.
Two Years Ago Today at IsraelNN
The head of the “Bnei Hakfar” movement, Rajed Labirah of Um El-Faham threatened to carry out terror attacks against Israeli Jews. Labireh is an Israeli citizen, and Umm El-Faham is within the 1948 borders of the country.
Labireh said that Israeli Arabs were very frustrated over a number of issues relating to Israeli control over Judea and Samaria and especially Jerusalem. “The Israeli establishment always takes the wrong course,” he said in an interview with a local Arabic-language publication. “We are doing them a great favor by restricting our activities to political protests at this time. But they should not err: We have sacrificed martyrs in the past, and we will do so again in the future.”