MIDDLE EAST

ISRAELI SOLDIER FROM NEW JERSEY IS FIRST TO REFUSE GAZA ORDER

JERUSALEM – A New Jersey-born Israeli soldier who became the first to refuse to take part in Israel’s evacuation of the Gaza Strip was motivated by his love for the land “given to the Jews by God,” his father said yesterday.

Corporal Avi Bieber, 19, was pulled away Sunday after he shouted support of settlers who were interfering with an army operation to destroy abandoned buildings in the Gaza Strip.

While many soldiers have said they will disobey orders to remove settlers from Gaza, Corporal Bieber was the first to act. The family said it received calls of support from around the world.

“When we moved here because we are Jews, we didn’t expect he would have to do this,” his father, Ralph Bieber, said.

Israeli authorities are concerned many other soldiers may follow Corporal Bieber’s lead and refuse to carry out the evacuation of 8,500 Jewish settlers. Such a refusal could hamper the withdrawal, with thousands of settlers gearing up to interfere. Prime Minister Sharon explains that keeping a few thousand settlers in 21 locations in Gaza amid more than 1 million hostile Palestinian Arabs is untenable, and the pullout will strengthen Israel’s main settlement blocs in the West Bank. Opponents reject giving up any of biblical Israel and fear one pullback will lead to others. On Sunday, the army demolished buildings near a Gaza settlement to prevent extremist opponents from taking them over as a base of operations. As army bulldozers began their work, dozens of settlers blocked them with their bodies, prompting soldiers to forcibly remove them.

“He said ‘I can’t do this anymore, take me out of here,'” Ralph Bieber told the Associated Press after his son was told by the army not to speak to reporters. “He couldn’t bear seeing his commander beat up Jews that he had been defending for six months.”

The Bieber family moved in 1996 to Tekoah, a West Bank settlement, from America out of a commitment to the land “given to the Jews by God,” Ralph Bieber said.

Avi Bieber, a native of Passaic, N.J., is being held at a military base but has not been imprisoned, the older Mr. Bieber said. It is unclear whether the soldier will face a court martial.

– Associated Press

NORTH AMERICA

BUSH URGES EUROPE TO STOP ‘NUCLEAR IRAN’

WASHINGTON – President Bush urged Europe yesterday to send an unequivocal and united message to Iran’s hard-line new leader that development of nuclear weapons is out of the question. His comments, made during a joint appearance with Gerhard Schroeder at the White House, came as Mr. Bush sought to put aside his bitter disagreement with the German chancellor over the Iraq war – in public at least.

The election of the ultra-conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sent jitters through the West as it braces itself for confrontation and tricky diplomacy over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Mr. Schroeder earlier said that Tehran could not be barred from the peaceful use of nuclear energy “even though some might not like that,” an aside thought to be aimed at Mr. Bush.

Washington believes that allowing Tehran to run its own nuclear-power program would inevitably lead to possession of nuclear weapons. The Bush administration is also skeptical about the likely success of a French, British, and German diplomatic initiative toward Iran. While Washington has indicated that it does not back Germany’s quest for a permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council, Mr. Bush said: “We oppose no country’s bid.”

Mr. Bush even went so far as to praise Mr. Schroeder for his support in reconstructing Iraq, an endorsement that will baffle many in Washington, where the German leader is reviled for exploiting anti-Americanism to secure re-election in 2002. Asked if he wished Mr. Schroeder luck in his expected autumn campaign for re-election, Mr. Bush said: “The chancellor is a seasoned political campaigner. If there’s elections, I’m confident he knows what he’s going to do out there. As we say in Texas, this won’t be his first rodeo.”

– The Daily Telegraph