Briefs

Krayzelburg Swims to Gold

A Jewish immigrant to the United States from the Soviet Union won a gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke at the Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

Lenny Krayzelburg of Studio City, a former lifeguard at the West Valley Jewish Community Center, set an Olympic record of 53.72 seconds in winning the race Monday.

“It’s better than anything I’ve ever done in my life,” said Krayzelburg, who emigrated from Odessa in what is now Ukraine in 1988.

Israel Suspends Peace Talks

Israel called for an indefinite suspension of the peace talks with the Palestinians. A senior Israeli official who insisted on anonymity was quoted as saying that Prime Minister Ehud Barak had “decided on a temporary suspension because of a hardening in the Palestinian positions.”

Report: 1 in 3 Israeli Kids Fat

One in three Israeli children is overweight, according to a report by the nation’s Clalit health fund. The problem was attributed to poor nutrition and not enough exercise.

Report: Clinton Used Secret Plan

President Clinton used a “secret plan” drawn up in 1995 between top Israeli and Palestinian officials as a basis for his negotiations at Camp David, according to Newsweek magazine.

The magazine published what it calls the complete text of the plan agreed to by Yossi Beilin, then a top aide to Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, and Abu Mazen, Yasser Arafat’s deputy.Rabin was assassinated before he had a chance to read the plan, which is available at www.msnbc.com/news/ 461335.asp.

Meanwhile, Arafat told President Clinton at the July summit that he feared assassination if he dropped his demand that the Palestinians control all of eastern Jerusalem, according to a seven-part series of articles published in the Palestinian Authority’s official newspaper.

The New York Times reported that the articles, written by an Arafat confidant who attended the summit, also claim that the Palestinians believed that U.S. officials were biased in favor of Israel.

Anthem Proposal Creates Furor

Israeli nationalists are criticizing a proposal by a retired Supreme Court justice that Israel should designate a “national song” to encourage Israeli Arabs to celebrate the country’s Independence Day.Miriam Ben-Porat made her comments Sept. 14 in Jerusalem during a convocation ceremony of Reform rabbis.

Status of Women an ‘Outrage’

Jewish women around the world should help Israeli women gain equality, said a female Israeli Cabinet minister.

The status of women in Israel is “really an outrage,” Absorption Minister Yuli Tamir told a conference of female donors to the United Jewish Communities in Tel Aviv last week.

WJC: Swiss Guard Deserves Money

A former security guard who prevented one of Switzerland’s biggest banks from shredding Holocaust-era documents should receive an award from the $1.25 billion settlement being paid by Swiss banks, according to the World Jewish Congress. “We certainly support an award to Christoph Meili from the bank settlement in recognition of his courageous and selfless act,” the WJC said.

Meili embarrassed the Union Bank of Switzerland in January 1997 when he rescued the documents from the shredder and turned them over to a local Jewish organization in Switzerland. Meili, who is now living in the United States, said at the time that he took the action weeks after seeing Steven Spielberg’s movie “Schindler’s List.”

All briefs courtesy of Jewish Telegraphic Agency.