Netanyahu phones Egypt's Pres. Husni Mubarak, Jordan's King Hussein; asks them to pressure Arafat to take furter actions against Islamists. (WT 8/25)
Arafat meets with a congressional delegation led by Rep. Benjamin Gilman (R-NY), chmn. of the House International Relations Comm. Delegation proposes forming a group of Palestinian Council (PC) mbrs., MKs, congressmen to help build confidence. (MM 8/22; WT 8/23; JP 8/30)
Ha'Aretz publishes poll of 500 Israeli Jews' views of Israeli Arabs: 56.4% say Arab citizens should not be allowed to vote, 51.6% say Israeli Arabs should be transferred to a Palestinian state when it comes into being, 39.8% view Israeli Arabs as a threat to the country. (MM 8/21)
Labor Chmn. Ehud Barak fires more than half the staff at party headquarters, citing an NIS 80 m. debt. (MA 8/29 in WNC 9/2; JP 8/30)
Israel sends Russia a "stronly worded" letter saying that its relations with Russia have been severely strained over Russian military aid to Iran for development of long-range missiles. (NYT 8/25)
Iraqi, Syrian industrial delegations meet in Latakia to discuss port capabilities, storage capacities. (SANA 8/21 in WNC 8/25) (see 8/19)
In Jazzin, a Lebanese civilian is killed by a roadside bomb. Hizballah, Israel blame eachother. (AFP, RL 8/21 in WNC 8/22)