As fears of possible biological and chemical warfare continue to grow in America, Israel began dealing with its own scare of anthrax attacks. Tel Aviv's police sapper unit was called on Sunday to handle 10 suspicious-looking envelopes, some of which were mailed from abroad, from unknown senders. After inspecting the envelopes for possible explosives, six were forwarded to Nes Ziona's Biological Institute for further testing. Initial results have so far proven negative, but the complete test results will only be available in six days time.

Israel's Postal Authority stated it was maintaining its usual caution when dealing with suspicious mail. Director-General Dan Nadiv said the authority was "working in full cooperation with police and relevant security authorities."

Transportation Minister Ephraim Sneh (Labor) said in a radio interview yesterday that citizens receiving mail containing unidentified substances should immediately contact police. Israelis followed the minister's recommendations and alerted police to investigate a number of suspicious envelopes received in the mail.

Police received their first call about packages containing strange white powders Sunday morning from a security officer at a Tel Aviv bank. Upon inspection, it turned out that the envelope only contained plant fertilizer.

Soon afterwards, another call was received from a high school administrator. He told police that a white powder had been sprinkled throughout the school's hallways. It soon became apparent that the white powder came from a damaged fire extinguisher in the building.

Another call to police came from a branch of Bank Mizrahi in Tel Aviv. This was followed by a call from a high-tech company, which had received a suspicious envelope from an unknown source in Ireland. Similar calls came from a building supervisor in Tel Aviv, from offices of Boeing in Tel Aviv, from Tel Aviv University and from private citizens.

This morning suspicions were raised at the West Bank settlements of Alfei Menashe, Peduel and Beit El. The post office at Peduel reportedly received a padded envelope bearing a postmark from Germany with no return address. Border Police sappers first determined that the envelope was free of explosives before further investigation discounted the anthrax threat. It was unclear as to the nature of the white powder inside the envelope.

The Ministry of Health cautioned doctors around the country to quickly send any patient suspected of possible anthrax poisoning to a hospital emergency room.

In the coastal town of Ashdod a 20-year old man was hospitalized Sunday night on suspicion of anthrax poisoning, after opening a package from abroad. But after an overnight stay in the hospital, he was diagnosed as suffering from an allergic reaction to an as yet unknown chemical compound.

Officials continue to check country's antibiotics supply
Israel does possess a supply of the necessary antibiotics to counter an anthrax attack, claims a representative of the Ministry of Health. Ministry official Dr. Yehuda Baruch told Maariv that drugs stored in emergency warehouses were manufactured in 1998 and can be used until the end of 2003. Baruch claimed that the entire Israeli population could even be vaccinated against an anthrax attack. But he added such an undertaking is unlikely, since vaccinating the population poses a greater risk to the public than the likelihood of becoming ill from an anthrax attack.

However, a report in Ha'aretz claims that Israel's antibiotic stocks are perilously low, following a drug theft from the warehouses last June. The article claims that supplies have not been re-stocked due to budgetary constraints, which if true, could be potentially disastrous in the face of an emergency. MK Ophir Pines-Paz first raised these charges last week, blaming infighting between the Health and Finance Ministries for not replacing the stolen drugs.

Health Minister Nissim Dahan (Shas) yesterday confirmed the theft of the antibiotics, but reassured reporters by saying, "There are enough drugs in stock to handle the first weeks [of an emergency]. During that time we will be able to stock up on additional supplies," he said.

© 2001 Koret Communications Ltd. All rights reserved. Terms of Use.