Briefs

No Breakthrough Reported

No breakthroughs were reported during Monday night’s meeting between Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat at the Israeli premier’s home in central Israel. President Clinton telephoned during the meeting to urge the two leaders to advance the stalemated talks. Barak has said he still wants a comprehensive settlement but is reportedly willing to postpone discussion of control over the Old City of Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.The United States decided for now not to present proposals aimed at breaking the stalemated talks, according to the Israeli daily Ha’aretz. U.S. officials reached the decision after identifying “disparities on almost every subject” now being discussed by the two sides. Meanwhile, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators traveled to Washington, where they were to hold separate meetings with U.S. officials in an effort to reach a peace accord. The delegations, led by Israel’s acting foreign minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami, and Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, will go to a secluded location in the Washington area, the State Department said.

Hi-Tech Border Protection

A joint U.S.-Israel laser weapon has successfully shot down successive salvos of Katyusha rockets for the first time in tests at the White Sands Missile Range in the New Mexico desert.

The new weapon, known as Nautilus in Israel and Tactical High Energy Laser (THEL) in the United States, is being developed to defend Israel’s border areas, particularly in the north, against short-range rocket attacks.

In tests conducted Aug. 28 and Sept. 22, “THEL did twice what no other air defense system has ever been designed to do: detect, track and destroy multiple Katyushas in a single engagement,” TRW, the prime contractor for the project, announced in Los Angeles.

On the Israeli side, Maj.-Gen. Yitzhak Ben-Yisrael, in charge of weapon systems development at the Israel Ministry of Defense, said that “these tests have demonstrated the unique capability of high energy laser weapons for tough defense missions. It is now time to move forward to grasp this remarkable opportunity.”The THEL system includes a laser, a pointer-tracker, a fire-control radar, and a command center.So far, development of the system has cost more than $200 million, of which Israel has funded about one-third. -Tom Tugend, Contributing Editor

Syrian Missiles Concern Israel

Syria is keeping open the option of attacking Israel, Ephraim Sneh, Israel’s deputy defense minister, told Israel Radio on Monday. Sneh was reacting to reports that Syrian missiles are now capable of reaching almost any target in Israel.

Police Probe School Rampage

Police in the central Russian town of Ryazan are investigating a youth rampage through a Jewish school. The town’s Jewish leaders said that 15 youths, armed with chains, broke furniture, smashed windows and destroyed children’s drawings Sept. 17.

Religious FreedomBill Signed

President Clinton signed a bill designed to ensure protections for religious groups and secure religious liberties for prisoners.

The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act will prevent local zoning boards from attempting to keep out religious institutions.

Scholar Dies at 83

An author who won international recognition for his research on early Christianity’s relationship to Judaism has died in Jerusalem. David Flusser died Sept. 15, his 83rd birthday. Flusser taught in the comparative religions department of Hebrew University.

Vatican Calls OffInterfaith Day

The Vatican called off plans to have a day celebrating interfaith dialogue after the chief rabbi of Rome reportedly refused to attend.

Elio Toaff and his deputy refused to take part in the Oct. 3 event because of a recent Vatican document that said other religions are not equal to Roman Catholicism and because of the recent beatification of the controversial 19th-century Pope Pius IX.