News Brief

Germany and Israel agree on the danger of a nuclear Iran, but not on the response. At a news conference Tuesday in Berlin following their official meetings, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert made their different approaches clear: In pressuring the Islamic regime, Merkel looks to sanctions and diplomacy, while Olmert says all options are open. Uranium enrichment must cease, Merkel said, but the threat of sanctions must be coupled with offers of cooperation. United Nations sanctions are not meant to “punish the Iranian people,” she said. Olmert, who is visiting Germany for three days, said that while “it is very important to use diplomatic means,” when all else fails, other reactions are possible. Tuesday’s meeting is one of a series of events planned marking Israel’s 60th anniversary this year. In March, the countries will hold their first-ever joint Cabinet meeting, in Jerusalem.

During the news conference, Merkel and Olmert emphasized their commitment to building youth exchange between the two countries. Germany is Israel’s biggest supporter outside the United States in terms of economic and defense ties.

The extradition case of an accused Nazi war criminal living in Australia again has been delayed.

Charles (Karoly) Zentai appeared Tuesday in the Perth Magistrate Court , where his case has been stalled because Zentai has argued that a magistrate’s court does not have the jurisdiction to determine his extradition to Hungary.

The case, which began in July 2005, has been adjourned until Aug. 12 while the High Court considers Zentai’s appeal of a Federal Court ruling that rejected his claim on the magistrate court.

Zentai is wanted in Budapest by government authorities who accuse him of murdering Peter Balazs, an 18-year-old Jew, in Budapest in 1944 for not wearing the mandatory yellow Star of David.

Zentai, now 85, denies the charges. His lawyers have previously cited his ill health in an apparent bid to avoid extradition.

Australia has never extradited an alleged Nazi war criminal. In 2001, another alleged Nazi war criminal, Konrads Kalejs, died at the age of 88 while appealing an extradition order to his native Latvia.

Zentai was uncovered by the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Operation Last Chance, a last-gasp initiative to flush out Nazi war criminals. It prompted Balazs’ brother to come forward with the details of the alleged murder.