Israel warned Syria: report
Israel reportedly warned Syria last week that it will step up attacks against Hezbollah and Hamas. Defence Minister Ehud Barak, on a recent visit to Ankara, asked his Turkish hosts to urge Syria to scale back ties with Hezbollah, the London-based Al-Hayat reported. The newspaper said Barak made clear that Israel had the Lebanese guerrilla group in its sights and also planned to widen military operations in Hamas-ruled Gaza. Barak’s trip to Turkey coincided with the assassination in Damascus of Imad Mughniyah, Hezbollah’s terror chief. Barak declined comment on the killing. He confirmed speaking of Hezbollah and Hamas with his hosts, but didn’t elaborate on what was said.
Lawyer defrauded survivors
An Israeli lawyer got jail time for defrauding Holocaust survivors of $240 million (US). Tel Aviv District Court sentenced Yisrael Perry to 12 years in jail and another 51/2 years suspended sentence. He also was fined $6 million. Perry was found guilty of defrauding dozens of survivors that he represented in filing postwar government insurance claims in Germany. Perry has denied wrongdoing and plans to appeal.
No Israel reference in game
Monopoly, the iconic game of capitalism, has been drawn into the dispute over Jerusalem. The game’s maker, Hasbro Inc., issued an apology recently after an employee, responding to complaints from pro-Palestinian groups, eliminated the word Israel after the name of the capital in an online contest to select names for a new edition of the game, Monopoly Here and Now: The World Edition. The company also pulled all country names from other cities on the site when even more people complained because Jerusalem was listed as the only city without a country. The Pawtucket, Rhode Island-based Hasbro is asking people to vote at the Monopoly website on which cities will be included in the new edition. Until two weeks ago, every city on the site listed a country, including Jerusalem, Israel.
