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By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Israel still studying BBC report The Foreign Ministry had no comment Thursday on an independent inquiry into BBC coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that found the organization was not biased against Israel in its reporting. Gideon Meir, deputy director-general for media and public affairs, said the ministry was studying the report. The ministry has often locked horns with the BBC over what it perceived to be slanted coverage. In an appearance before the panel in January, Meir said that Israel's "primary concern about coverage of our region is that it is, in fact, giving disproportionate voice to one particular narrative. This is a narrative in which Israel is predominantly perceived in terms of power, and the Palestinians in terms of victimhood and suffering." Unofficially, governmental sources in Jerusalem said they were not surprised by the report and that it reflected a "deeply engrained, pro-Arab bias" inside Britain. • Herb Keinon Sakhnin residents withdraw petition Sakhnin residents withdrew a petition to the High Court of Justice against the opening of a new Employment Service office in the Terodion Industrial Center after Justice Dorit Beinisch made it clear she would reject it. The petitioners, represented by Sawsan Zaher of the Adalah human rights organization, had asked the court to cancel the decision because the new location forced Sakhnin residents to take a bus and walk 600 meters from the bus stop on the main road. Beinisch rejected their claim that the government decision to move the office proved there was an overall discriminatory policy to remove government offices from Arab towns and cities. • Dan Izenberg Artillery shell found on J'lem street An old artillery shell was found Thursday on a Jerusalem street, police said. The projectile, which was discovered by a passerby in the Sanhedria neighborhood, was removed by police sappers and destroyed. • Etgar Lefkovits Beit Shemesh bank raid suspect held Police arrested a 25-year-old man Thursday afternoon for allegedly robbing a Beit Shemesh bank earlier in the day. The robber entered a Bank Hapoalim branch in the morning and handed a teller a note reading, "Give me the money or I will shoot you," according to Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby. The teller handed over NIS 16,000, and the man fled. Police located the suspect based on a description provided by bank employees. Officers arrested him as he was changing his clothes at his home, police said. The money, however, has not been found. • Etgar Lefkovits Shrink detained for sexual assaults A 60-year-old Jerusalem psychologist employed by the local branch of the State Employment Service office was under arrest Thursday for allegedly sexually assaulting at least two of his women clients, police said. The suspect, who denies the allegations against him, was to be brought to a Jerusalem court late Thursday for a remand hearing. The suspect was apprehended after two women filed a complaint with police that he sexually assaulted them "under the table" during meetings, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said. • Etgar Lefkovits