Israel Briefs

Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat suffers heart attack

(JTA) — Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator in peace talks with Israel, suffered a heart attack.

Erekat, 57, was taken to a Ramallah hospital early Tuesday morning, where he underwent a heart catheterization, according to the Associated Press.

He will remain hospitalized for three days.

Knesset bill would give tax breaks for settlement donations

JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Knesset committee advanced a bill that would provide tax breaks for donations to “encourage settlement.”

The bill, which was approved Monday for its second and third Knesset plenum readings, allows a tax break of up to 35 percent for both the establishment of new settlements and the expansion of existing ones.

Its sponsors — Likud Party lawmakers Ze’ev Elkin and Zion Pinyan — say the bill includes non-Jewish settlement, according to the Israeli business daily Globes.

Elkin said the bill could assist Jewish development in the Negev and the Galilee, as well as Bedouin villages.

Israel’s Supreme Court rejects request to delay Ulpana razing

JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Supreme Court rejected the Israeli government’s request to delay the razing of the Ulpana neighborhood in the West Bank settlement of Beit El.

In upholding its ruling of last September, the panel of judges on Monday ordered that the neighborhood of several apartment buildings be razed by July 1.

The court also ordered the government to pay the legal expenses of the Palestinian owners of the property, as well as damages of about $4,000.

The Yesh Din organization, which represents the Palestinian landowners in the case, praised the court for its verdict and hoped the ruling would be implemented without further delay.

“The Court delivered its verdict, and now the character and the values upon which Israeli society is founded are put to the test,” Yesh Din legal adviser Michael Sfard said in a statement.

In September, the high court ruled that the five apartment buildings found to be built on private Palestinian land be razed by May 1. The state told the court that it would obey the ruling.