News in Brief

Abbas calls off informal contacts with Israel, scuttling meeting on Arab Spring's impact

The Palestine-Israel Journal of Politics, Economics and Culture announced yesterday that it has been forced to postpone a conference on the Arab Spring's impact on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict that was scheduled to take place today. The announcement comes after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction decided to halt all informal meetings with Israelis. Senior Fatah official Hatem Abdel Kader said over the weekend that the organization's leadership has decided to nix any such meetings over fears that Israel would exploit them to shift blame for the deadlocked peace process onto the Palestinians. (Haaretz Staff )

	Moshe Ya’alon
	Photo by: Tomer Appelbaum

Arab human rights group denounces 'Nazi' comments of Egyptian general

An Arab rights group denounced yesterday a statement from a senior member of the Egyptian armed forces that "You are concerned over some street kid who deserves to be thrown into Hitler's incinerators." The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information condemned General Abdel-Moniem Kato's "irresponsible" remarks about protesters to the al-Shorouk newspaper and that he should be publicly and openly penalized. Kato is an official in the morale affairs department of the army. (DPA )

Germany: Israel must refrain from new construction in West Bank settlements

A spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel said yesterday Germany was urging Israel to refrain from new construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Georg Streiter said Israel's recent announcement that it would seek contractors to build some 1,000 apartments in both areas conveys "a devastating message with regard to the current efforts to resume peace negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians." He said Germany "urgently calls on the Israeli government to refrain from inviting bids for the apartments." (AP )

Gaza leader Haniyeh planning to go abroad for first time since Hamas takeover

Gaza's prime minister is planning his first official trip outside the territory since Hamas overran it in June 2007, an aide said yesterday. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh's political adviser, Yusef Rizka, said the Gaza leader will soon travel to Turkey, Bahrain, Qatar and Tunisia, though no date has been set. All four countries invited Haniyeh to visit, Rizka added. One reason Haniyeh has not left Gaza since 2007 was tension with neighboring Egypt. But since longtime President Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February, Egypt's new rulers have warmed up to Hamas. (AP)

Hit-and-run victims' bill heads to Knesset

A bill that would allow for the involvement of victims in legal proceedings against hit-and-run drivers was passed yesterday for its second and third parliamentary readings by the Knesset Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. The bill gives victims the right to object to a plea bargain and to be briefed on progress in the case. Nurit Grossman, the founder of traffic accident victim advocacy organization Anashim Be'adom, told the committee, "We go with the families to court, and whenever the judge accepts a plea bargain we all feel as if our loved one was killed or injured all over again." (Jonathan Lis)

Suspected mobster gunned down in Holon

A man whom police say was an associate of crime boss Assi Abutbul was shot and killed in Holon yesterday. According to the initial police report, the 39-year-old Netanya resident was walking down the sidewalk near Wolfson Medical Center when a motorcyclist opened fire on him at close range and then fled. The Tel Aviv District Police said they believed the hit was planned and are certain it is connected to other murders in the district in recent months. The victim's name has not been released, but police said it has recently come up in conjunction with the fight against organized crime. (Yaniv Kubovich)

Knesset approves equal benefits for reservists' widows

The Knesset passed a law in final reading yesterday that grants widows of reservists killed before 1999 the same monetary benefits as widows of reservists killed after 1999. The law grants these 1,800 women a one-time payment of NIS 100,000 in two installments. One of the bill's sponsors, MK Danny Danon (Likud), said the discrimination arose because the law once granted widows of pilots a NIS 340,000 life insurance payment that widows of other reservists didn't get. In 1999, the law was amended to cover all reservists' widows from then onward, but not those widowed beforehand. (Jonathan Lis )

Jazz pianist McCoy Tyner returns to Israel after 16 years

Celebrated jazz pianist McCoy Tyner, 73, is to appear in Israel in March, 16 years after his last concert here. His trio will give one performance on March 10 at the Petah Tikva Cultural Center. Tyner began his career as a member of the John Coltrane Quartet, with which he made 27 albums. After Coltrane's death in 1967, he launched a solo career and made more than 70 albums. His first album on the Blue Note label, with Ron Carter on double bass, saxophonist Joe Henderson and drummer Alvin Ray Jones, is now considered a classic. (Uri Zer Aviv)