Subscribe to Print Edition | Thu., June 26, 2008 Sivan 23, 5768 | | Israel Time: 17:25 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Car Rental Books Peres Conference Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

French President Nicolas Sarkozy being led onto his airplane at Ben Gurion Airport. (AP) Last update - 08:10 25/06/2008 Border cop dies from self-inflicted shot at Sarkozy farewell By Haaretz Service Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu  A border policeman shot himself dead on Tuesday 200 meters from where French President Nicolas Sarkozy was getting ready to board a plane ending his trip to Israel. Bodyguards that heard the shot over the music being played by a band feared it may have been an assassination attempt, and rushed Sarkozy into the plane alongside his wife Carla Bruni, who ran up the stairs ahead of her husband. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres, who came to bid farewell to the French president, were hurried into their bullet-proof vehicles until the origin of the gunshot could be determined. Advertisement Shin Bet security service officials immediately ran toward where they had heard the shot, and found the border policeman, who was positioned on top of a building, lying on the ground below. A Magen David Adom team could not resuscitate him and he was declared dead. Officials soon ruled out the option that he accidentally shot himself before the fall, or that his gun misfired upon impact with the ground, and concluded that he apparently committed suicide using his M-16 rifle, causing him to fall off the building. An autopsy of the body confirmed their conclusion. Border Police officials said the man, a member of the Druze community, had served as a border policeman for eight years since he was discharged from mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces. His family asked media not to publish his name. The man had arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport together with other border policeman to guard the perimeter of the event. An investigation personally headed by the police commissioner is being carried out, and the findings are expected to be drawn up in the next few days. Netanyahu to Sarkozy: Jerusalem will never be divided Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu said earlier Tuesday during a meeting with visiting Sarkozy that Jerusalem would never be divided in a future peace agreement with the Palestinians. "Jerusalem is the historic capital of the Jewish people. Jerusalem will not be divided, and only Israeli control in the city will guarantee freedom of worship for all religions," Netanyahu, the chairman of the right-wing Likud party, said. Netanyahu's comments came after the French president told the Knesset on Monday that the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of both Israel and a Palestinian state was a condition for peace. The Palestinians, he said, "have the right to a viable state of their own." He added that such a state would "ensure Israel's security." Sarkozy also met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem on Tuesday, at the end of a three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. Sarkozy is slated to get a look at a new electric car, a French-Israeli project, in an event to be hosted by President Shimon Peres. His first presidential visit to Israel, accompanied by his wife Carla Bruni and eager photojournalists, has been marked by mutual warmth and expressions of a renaissance in Franco-Israeli relations. Much of the visit has been carried live on Israeli television, in particular a tour of the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. Sarkozy also told the Knesset that Israel must end its settlement activity in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and said that there would be "no peace without a solution to the problem of the Palestinian refugees," a key sticking point in negotiations between the two sides. The French leader also urged Israel to "encourage legislation that would entice settlers to leave the West Bank." He also spoke strongly against the Iranian nuclear threat. "A nuclear Iran is intolerable," Sarkozy told the lawmakers. "Anyone trying to destroy Israel will find France blocking the way." The electric powered vehicle that will be presented to Sarkozy on Tuesday is at the center of a joint venture between automotive giant Renault-Nissan, which is building the car, and Project Better Place of Israel, which came up with the business model and is supposed to operate a recharging grid to be built across Israel beginning in 2009. Related articles: Sarkozy to Knesset: A nuclear Iran is intolerable Sarkozy: There won't be Middle East peace without Syria talks France cooling to Syria, Sarkozy will tell Olmert in Jerusalem visit Editorial / Parisian option French education panel advises against Sarkozy's Holocaust studies program Bookmark to del.icio.us   Bridging the gap A flashy addition to Jerusalem's entrance merges the old and the new. Two years later Captive soldiers' families lash out during ceremony marking Shalit's kidnapping.   1.   "Oh to be a fly on the wall" - Sarkozy / Bibi..! 13:13  |  Stephen. 24/06/08   2.   Israel at the forefront of advancement (again) 13:23  |  Baruch Gold 24/06/08   3.   Sarcozy knew he had to meet Bibi last! 14:16  |  redmike 24/06/08   4.   President Sarkozy-Netanyahu-Abbas 14:33  |  Ricardo Kolbe 24/06/08   5.   # 2 baruch 14:39  |  Axel 24/06/08   6.   Between the years 1948 and 1967 eastern Jerusalem, together with 14:44  |  Amihai 24/06/08   7.   "Anyone trying to destroy Israel will find France blocking the wa 14:46  |  David 24/06/08   8.   nut is dreaming 15:10  |  sam i am 24/06/08   9.   Jerusalem, the breaking point 15:11  |  amihai 24/06/08   10.   le president and the treaties france has solemny signed 15:18  |  victor hardman 24/06/08   11.   # 3 redmike 15:24  |  Axel 24/06/08   12.   President Bush to Benyamin Nuttyyahoo 15:24  |  Chris Linthwaite 24/06/08   13.   Bibi 15:29  |  Scott G 24/06/08   14.   well duh it already is 15:39  |  SJ 24/06/08   15.   #7 when was their ever a place called 16:02  |  solomom 24/06/08   16.   Sarko knows not a singkle french gonna died for it 16:23  |  Manolo ME expert 24/06/08   17.   bad things can turn in worst 16:26  |  Manolo ME expert 24/06/08   18.   Would Pres. Sarkozy divide Paris ?... 16:36  |  Jean Van Daem 24/06/08   19.   There will NEVER be peace...there will be blood forever 16:56  |  That is a victory 24/06/08   20.   SJ #14 16:58  |  SJRepellent 24/06/08   21.   Baruch Gold - Israel invented the cell phone? You are kidding... 17:01  |  American 24/06/08   22.   Thats one way to say goodbye I suppose 17:11  |  Chris Linthwaite 24/06/08   23.   Say a prayer for the soul of the apparently anguished Soldier 17:17  |  Jane 24/06/08   24.   How many bodies is Jerusalem Worth? 17:28  |  Donald 24/06/08   25.   not every neighborhood 17:29  |  andrew 24/06/08   26.   American # 21 17:35  |  Avrum 24/06/08   27.   #21 American- make no mistake 17:37  |  Mark 24/06/08   28.   It is becoming frightening to hear national leaders accepting the 17:40  |  divide of Jerusalem 24/06/08   29.   Manoululu is one Spaniard gonna die for Arabs? 17:44  |  Genuine Tosefta 24/06/08   30.   #21 American 17:46  |  Mike 24/06/08   31.   Manolo not ME expert: France is not frightened of your threats 17:46  |  Realist 24/06/08   32.   Manoululu are you the "xpert" on Western Sahara 17:48  |  Genuine Tosefta 24/06/08   33.   Jersalem was never a Muslim holy city 17:56  |  Pamela 24/06/08   34.   # 4 richard Kolbe...gee, and all this time I thought 17:58  |  Lynn 24/06/08   35.   #15 solomon...and never the capitol 18:02  |  Lynn 24/06/08   36.   #6, Amihai- Pals have been demanding an independant state 18:09  |  A Bethlehemite 24/06/08   37.   Chris Linthwaite 18:10  |  Pamela 24/06/08   38.   "American" - you`re continuing the kidding, right? 18:12  |  ZISD 24/06/08   39.   Amihai of Rohovot regarding Jerusalem 18:14  |  Ruti 24/06/08   40.   Elections or referendum will offer Israelis clear choice 18:14  |  Sam 24/06/08   41.   Sarkosy should visit Israel more often 18:14  |  Raden 24/06/08   42.   Without Jerusalem returning to Muslims, there can be no peace 18:16  |  Turk 24/06/08   43.   Two women soldiers who witnessed the shooting fainted 18:22  |  Only men in the army 24/06/08   44.   WELCOME TO ISRAEL! : Light unto all nations! 18:24  |  :) 24/06/08   45.   A. Bethlehemite - The Johnny Come Lately Argument 18:26  |  ZISD 24/06/08   46.   "Solomom" - Spreading Mistruths about Nomenclature 18:27  |  ZISD 24/06/08   47.   # 30 mike 18:28  |  Axel 24/06/08   48.   Sarkozy`s right!Jerusalem as shared capital of 2 states,israel 18:28  |  lakshmi 24/06/08   49.   #38 ZISD 18:36  |  Another American 24/06/08   50.   # 38 zisd 18:39  |  Axel 24/06/08   51.   #37 Pamela of Essex 18:46  |  Chris Linthwaite 24/06/08   52.   Avrum - before that...Ancient Israelites... 18:48  |  American 24/06/08   53.   Mike 18:49  |  American 24/06/08   54.   SUICIDE? WHY WOULD HE CHOOSE THE CEREMONY? AN APPARENT LIE 18:50  |  JACKAL 24/06/08   55.   NOT A HAPPY ENDING, BABY 18:51  |  indrajaya 24/06/08   56.   On the contribution to humanity 18:54  |  carlo 24/06/08   57.   ZISD - Now we are kidding 18:54  |  American 24/06/08   58.   #33 Pamela 18:55  |  Ali 24/06/08   59.   Degenerate thread developing here 18:57  |  Dror 24/06/08   60.   American - Did You Pass 12th Grade Mate? 18:59  |  Cleva Treva 24/06/08   61.   Superpower Iran to Sarkozy: Jerusalem will be divided 18:59  |  Aounist 24/06/08   62.   Would anyone suggest that Vatican City be ceded to Protetsants 19:01  |  r 24/06/08   63.   Jerusalem belongs to the Jews 19:13  |  GZLives 24/06/08   64.   divide of Jerusalem - you are CRAZY! 19:14  |  Dr. Freud 24/06/08   65.   #3 Redmike 19:21  |  ballistic 24/06/08   66.   #21 to so called "American" 19:23  |  elan 24/06/08   67.   NO Self-inflcted shot but an Assassination attempt 19:24  |  Dagma 24/06/08   68.   Pamela - Islam is not 1600 years old 19:24  |  Lourdes 24/06/08   69.