Prime Minister Sharon has instructed the police not to close any main roads during the Israeli-Arab Earth Day protests this Friday. The police, however, fear that the expected violence and attacks on Jewish targets will force them [the police] to bolster their forces, and that violent clashes with the Arabs are likely to result. A senior Northern Region police commander said, \"If rioters from Um el-Fahm go out to the main highway [connecting Afula and Tiberias with Hadera and Tel Aviv], we will have a serious problem… It could lead to a real war.\"
The Prime Minister, Public Security Minister Uzi Landau, Police Commissioner Shlomo Aharonishki, and Northern District Police Chief Alik Ron will meet tomorrow to plan the police preparations for Earth Day. Ron will attempt to explain that in order to contain the riots and protect Jewish travelers on the route, thousands of policemen will be required. He hopes to convince Sharon to change the instructions.
Previous Arab riots last October left 13 Arabs dead in clashes with the police. A court petition by Israeli-Arab mayors to prevent Ron, who has taken a tough position against Israeli-Arab instigators, from commanding the northern police on Earth Day, was rejected by the Supreme Court this morning.
For the first time since the Holon bus attack, in which an Arab bus driver from Gaza mowed his bus into a crowded bus stop and killed eight Israelis almost six weeks ago, workers from Gaza have been allowed to enter pre-1967 Israel. Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer gave the order to allow hundreds of Arabs to enter for the purpose of helping to pick the citrus harvest. Half the year\'s crop remains unpicked because of the lack of workers, as opposed to 85% at this time in normal years. The workers must be over 40 years of age, married with a family, and with previous work experience in Israel. This, despite the fact that similar criteria did not prevent the Holon terrorist - married with five children and a five-year veteran of the Egged Bus Company - from deciding to murder Jews. The situation will be reviewed again six weeks from now.
The Prime Minister, Public Security Minister Uzi Landau, Police Commissioner Shlomo Aharonishki, and Northern District Police Chief Alik Ron will meet tomorrow to plan the police preparations for Earth Day. Ron will attempt to explain that in order to contain the riots and protect Jewish travelers on the route, thousands of policemen will be required. He hopes to convince Sharon to change the instructions.
Previous Arab riots last October left 13 Arabs dead in clashes with the police. A court petition by Israeli-Arab mayors to prevent Ron, who has taken a tough position against Israeli-Arab instigators, from commanding the northern police on Earth Day, was rejected by the Supreme Court this morning.
For the first time since the Holon bus attack, in which an Arab bus driver from Gaza mowed his bus into a crowded bus stop and killed eight Israelis almost six weeks ago, workers from Gaza have been allowed to enter pre-1967 Israel. Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer gave the order to allow hundreds of Arabs to enter for the purpose of helping to pick the citrus harvest. Half the year\'s crop remains unpicked because of the lack of workers, as opposed to 85% at this time in normal years. The workers must be over 40 years of age, married with a family, and with previous work experience in Israel. This, despite the fact that similar criteria did not prevent the Holon terrorist - married with five children and a five-year veteran of the Egged Bus Company - from deciding to murder Jews. The situation will be reviewed again six weeks from now.