FROM OUR ARCHIVES

50 YEARS AGO

On July 29, 1965, The Jerusalem Post reported that the Foreign Ministry spokesman stated in Jerusalem that no decision had as yet been taken on whether the Israeli Embassy in West Germany would be in Bonn, Cologne or elsewhere. The spokesman was commenting on a statement made by Shlomo Arazi, Treasury official in charge of government property, who reportedly said that the embassy would be in Bonn and will cost about DM 500,000 or about IL 376,000. Arazi was further quoted as saying that he would sell the premises in Cologne now occupied by the Reparations Mission.

In Cairo, Egyptian prime minister Gamal Abdul Nasser claimed that Egypt must increase its defense budget annually, because “Israel will not hesitate to repeat its 1956 [Sinai] campaign if it finds encouragement from imperialism.” Amin Sidky, Egyptian deputy premier for industry, said Egypt would soon be able to build its own warships and its own fleet of merchant vessels.

King Hussein of Jordan gave autographs to a group of Israelis, members of the Karon and Histadrut dance troupe, and danced with them in a Paris nightclub two nights earlier.

Col. Subhi al-Jabi, “Chief of Staff” of the “Palestine Liberation Army,” arrived in Beirut from Kuwait on his way to Cairo.

In London, the Foreign Office officially confirmed the appointment of Michael Hadow, the head of the Foreign Office News department since 1962, as ambassador to Israel.

25 YEARS AGO

On July 29, 1990, The Jerusalem Post reported that a 17-year-old Canadian girl, Marnie Kimmelman, from Willowdale, Ontario, died late the previous night at Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital, after a home-made pipe bomb, hidden in a beach bag, exploded on a crowded city beach. The other 15 bomb victims were only slightly wounded.

A Palestinian accused of attempting to kidnap two Jewish youths in Jerusalem at midnight was remanded in custody.

Police minister Ronni Milo announced plans to add 250 policemen to the Jerusalem police force after the capital suffered one of its worst car-torchings. Eleven cars were torched within two days.

Housing minister Ariel Sharon presented his controversial housing plan to the cabinet. The five-year plan, already criticized by the Finance Ministry, had an estimated $13.5 billion price tag. It included proposals for the government to purchase 50,000 mobile homes and 40,000 prefabricated homes over the next two years. In addition, the proposal called for the government to build 45,000 apartments that year, and 60,000 units each year for the following four years.

All hospitals were set to work according to a Shabbat schedule, due to a warning strike of the country’s 15,000 nurses.

10 YEARS AGO

On July 29, 2005, The Jerusalem Post reported that the IDF was building a triple fence around Gaza. A senior IDF officer believed that fighting with the Palestinians would continue after the pullout, and therefore it needed the “flexibility” that the complex defensive apparatus would provide. The aim was to slow attackers and push back the rocket launchers. Leaving Gaza “creates gaps in our defensive posture,” continued the officer, “so we are bridging those gaps through technology.”

Hamas leaders organized a mass wedding of 450 couples in the sports stadium at Nablus.