News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Noam Shalit's letter to his son Gilad was passed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Syrian President Bashar Assad, to be forwarded to the Hamas terrorists who kidnapped the IDF soldier on June 25, 2006.

--Archaeologists have discovered a wall dating from the period of the Second Temple and which was at the southern end of ancient Jerusalem. The wall was built by the Hasmonean kings and was destroyed during the Great Revolt. The remains of a city wall from the Byzantine period (324-640 CE), which was built on top of it, were uncovered in an extensive excavation that is currently underway on Mount Zion. 

--A U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a decision to revoke the U.S. citizenship of an 87-year-old Michigan resident, John Kalyon, accused of shooting Jews as a member of a Nazi police unit during World War II.

--Police arrested a maintenance worker at the Jewish Center of Kew Gardens Hills in Queens, New York and an alleged accomplice in connection with the disappearance of eight Torah scrolls from the synagogue in August. The two have been charged with criminal possession of stolen property. Police have recovered the Torahs, which are valued at around $500,000.

--Lenny Ben-David, who served as Israel's number two diplomat in the United States seven years ago, stated that former Prime Minister Ehud Barak could have brought about the freedom of Jonathan Pollard between November 2000 and January 2001 when Bill Clinton was U.S. President. Pollard is serving a life sentence in an American prison for handing over classified documents to Israel.

Two Years Ago at IsraelNN
The concept of cutting water and power supplies to Gaza in response to Kassam rocket attacks aimed at the western Negev has found favor in the eyes of Vice Premier Chaim Ramon. "On principle, we need to fix a price for every attack from Gaza against the Gaza belt communities," Ramon said. "We cannot continue to supply water, fuel and electricity when they are trying to kill our children.”

Three Years Ago at IsraelNN
Iran has announced final plans to hold a conference on the Holocaust, which Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad denies. His Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi stated that participants will include those who will prove the Holocaust existed as well as those who claim the contrary. "I have visited the Nazi camps in Eastern Europe. I think it is exaggerated," he told reporters.

--The Housing Ministry Monday published competitive bids for building 348 new housing units in Ma'aleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem, and 342 units in Beitar Illit, near Efrat in Gush Etzion, south of the capital.