1.1.4. HAARETZ 1. En route to approving the budget. COST OF PASSING THE 2004 BUDGET: NIS 1.33 BILLION. 2. ANOTHER INCIDENT NEAR FENCE: 30 DEMONSTRATORS WOUNDED, INCLUDING SWEDISH MP. 3. ISRAELI PRISONER DIES IN EGYPT. Yosef Tahan, who had been convicted in Egypt trafficking, dies after 18 years imprisonment. HATZOFEH 1. Precise intelligence information about three terrorists en route to attack in Tel Aviv paralyzed city center. FOLLOWING CHASE IN CITY CENTER, THREE APPREHENDED IN THEIR CAR. Upon being apprehended, they were handed over to ISA in order to clarify whether they were en route to attack citys civil New Year festivities. One detainee is Israeli Arab from north. Intelligence warning noted that Israeli Arab would try to bring two Palestinians to crowded site and perpetrate major attack. From investigation, it seems that three were only car thieves. Special TA alert cancelled but heightened alert continues both in Israel and around world.
2. SHARONS CONFIDANTS: NO TRUTH TO REPORT OF CONSTRUCTION OF NEW COMMUNITIES ON GOLAN HEIGHTS. But Syria found Yediot Ahronot report enough to claim that Israel was foiling possibility of peace. 3. Coalition factions agree with Finance Minister on budget. ESTIMATE: COST OF UNDERSTANDINGS: NIS 1.3 BILLION. Netanyahu: We made concessions in urgent cases – all costs will be financed from reserves, we didnt deviate from budget by even one shekel. (
). [Knesset] Finance Committee begins discussion of draft budget and Arrangements Law. MAARIV 1. After two years of contracting: Economy rescued from recession. YEAR OF GROWTH. Central Bureau of Statistics: GNP grew by 1.2%. Economists: Difficult period over. 2. HATEFUL COMPOSITIONS BY KACH YOUTH. Send Sharon to the dungeon, written during Chanukah competition. First prize: Kahanes complete works. YEDIOT AHRONOT 1. First time in three years: 1.2% growth. NET WAGES INCREASE. In wake of early tax reforms: Increment of tens-to-hundreds of shekels to workers salaries as of January. (
). 2. BLUE SUBARU THAT PARALYZED TA. Helicopters summoned, vans patrolled streets and thousands were stuck in traffic jams – due to attack warning. Three Palestinians, apparently not terrorists, arrested in end. 3. FATHER BANS DAUGHTER FROM SERVING AT NETZARIM: SHE SHOULD SIT IN PRISON. Maj. (res.) Moshe Ofek: She has no training. Im afraid, shes afraid. 4. HYATT HOTEL CHAIN LEAVING ISRAEL after 16 years of activity. ______________________________ SUMMARY OF EDITORIALS FROM THE HEBREW PRESS Yediot Ahronot refers to IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalons recent comment that, withdrawing from Netzarim under fire would encourage terrorism, and add that, His assessment is based on the assumption that a withdrawal would be seen by the enemy as a sign that his aggression is paying off. The editors aver that Lt.-Gen. Yaalon meant that, We cannot withdraw from this fortress in the heart of the Gaza Strip, and conclude that he was, in effect, saying that, We cannot withdraw from any site, even if the withdrawal will lead to a more rational allocation of our limited resources. The paper asks, Does the Chief-of-Staff – who is bitterly complaining over the cuts in the military budget – believe that Netzarim contributes to our defense? Hatzofeh asserts that, There is no doubt that [Syrian president Bashar] Assad has no intention of making a peace treaty with Israel, and says that, The plan for expanding settlement on the Golan Heights is necessary because there is no logic in retreating from the Heights when the man who is supposed to make peace with us is a dictator and his country lacks even one centimeter of democracy. Yediot Ahronot, in its second editorial, finds it odd that secular Israeli Jews who are determined to celebrate the civil new year call January 1 as, Sylvesters Day, after a 4th century CE Pope.
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