HHMI Newsgroup Archives

To:            arutz-7@ArutzSheva.org
From:          Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@ArutzSheva.org>
Subject:       Arutz-7 News Brief:  Friday, December 31, 1999


Arutz Sheva News Service
  <http://www.arutzsheva.org>
Friday, December 31, 1999 / Tevet 22, 5760
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
  1. BELEAGUERED PRESIDENT: I WON'T RESIGN
  2. WEIZMAN TO TERROR VICTIMS' FAMILIES: "YOURS IS A NARROW VIEW"
  3. KIRYAT SHEMONA FOR THE GOLAN 
  4. ARUTZ-7 POLICE RAID BOOMERANGS

1. BELEAGUERED PRESIDENT: I WON'T RESIGN
Just a day after threatening to resign if Israelis vote against a withdrawal from the Golan Heights, President Ezer Weizman insists this morning that he will not resign in response to last night's revelation of alleged financial impropriety on his part. At a surprise press conference held last night, investigative journalist Yoav Yitzchak told of some $500,000 in gifts received by Weizman from French businessman Edward Sarousi. According to Yitzchak, the money was transferred to then-Knesset Member and Government Minister Weizman over a period of several years from the late 1980's to the early 1990's. Weizman's office announced that there was nothing illegal either with the receipt of the monies or with Weizman's failure to report the gifts to the Knesset and tax authorities. Yitzchak harshly criticized Weizman for his feverish attempts to convince seniors in the Israeli media not to go public with the story.

Speaking with Arutz-7's Tzvi Barish today, Yitzchak explained that Sarousi's motivation at the time was to secure Weizman a senior position in the Israeli political elite.  After 1991, Yitzchak noted, Sarousi transferred a significant portion of money to Weizman's private accounts.

2. WEIZMAN TO TERROR VICTIMS' FAMILIES: "YOURS IS A NARROW VIEW"
President Weizman was preoccupied with yet another event yesterday: a tension-filled visit by the Terror Victims Association (TVA) and its chairman, Meir Indor.  On the agenda was Weizman's role in this week's pardon and release of thirty-three Arab terrorists.  One terror victim confronted Weizman while holding her baby son who was born after her husband's stabbing in the Old City of Jerusalem.  She asked the president, "What can I tell him when he asks why the government of Israel released his father's murderer?"   Weizman answered, "Send him
to me - I'll explain it to him."  Naftali Dahan, whose brother was murdered in a terror attack said: "Freeing terrorists is first of all an affront to the families of those murdered, second of all an offense to the forces of law which worked for their arrest and conviction, and ultimately a blow to the moral basis of Israeli democracy and the rule of law."

President Weizman said he would bring the concerns to the Prime Minister. Although Weizman described the meeting as "very difficult and painful for him," he added: "The families are taking a narrow view and can only see their own pain and the possible dangers to Israel, while I see it as the springboard of a growing trust between Israel and the Palestinians."  TVA Chairman Indor was astounded with the remark: "If you think that the pain of people who lost their families is a narrow view, let's talk about the facts: Many  terrorists set free by Israel later struck again!  Former Mossad Chief General Meir Amit said that the freeing of killers of collaborators is a disaster for Israel's security forces.  Today the terrorists who kill Jews know that they will only sit in jail for a few years, and this has led to the increase in terrorism since the Oslo agreements." 

Indor noted, on Arutz Sheva today, that other senior members of the security establishment have voiced views similar to those of General Amit. "During our Supreme Court petition this week, a senior army officer - accompanying the State representatives against our petition - said to me: 'Even though I was brought here to advise the other side, if groups such as yours would not submit appeals to court, the list of terrorists to be released would be larger.  The longer these murderers sit in jail, the greater the benefit to the Jewish people.'"

3. KIRYAT SHEMONA FOR THE GOLAN 
The northern border town of Kiryat Shemona held a rally in support of Golan residents last night.  Mayor Chaim Barbivai told the protestors that a Golan giveaway would not only be a serious blow to northern residents, but that it would be "a national catastrophe."  Arutz-7 correspondent Avner Lotan reports that Prime Minister Ehud Barak's office exerted heavy pressures on Mayor Barbivai to cancel the rally, but he refused.  This Sunday, the Kiryat Shemona town council will deliberate on a formal declaration of support for the struggle against a Golan withdrawal.  Two members of the 15-seat council have announced that they will vote against the declaration.

Prime Minister Ehud Barak will meet Saturday evening with Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.  Barak intends to update the rabbi on talks with Syria prior to the second round of meetings between Barak and Syria's A-Shara this Monday.

4. ARUTZ-7 POLICE RAID BOOMERANGS
Close to two million shekels have already been pledged during Arutz-7's two-day telethon.  Thousands of the station's listeners and internet users have phoned, faxed and e-mailed pledges to help overcome the costs of the damage caused by this week's police raid.  Leading Israeli media personalities - even from the extreme left - have questioned the justification of the police behavior.  Ha'aretz reporter Daniel Ben Simon is quoted by the paper saying that the State must provide the opportunity for any group that wishes to broadcast its views to do so - all the more so, he said, for a station that reflects the views of hundreds of thousands of Israelis.  In an article published in today's Makor Rishon newspaper, left-wing Voice of Israel broadcaster Shelley Yechemovitch remarks that the raid is baffling in light of last May's 40-30 Knesset vote granting Arutz-7 and other stations a formal license.  According to Yechemovitch, "there is great substance" to MK Rabbi Yitzchak Levy's (NRP) claim of a connection between the raid and Arutz-7's firm opposition to a Golan giveaway.

A spokesman from the "We Are on the Map" association (a grassroots organization providing free tours to thousands of busloads of Israeli citizens to the Golan, Judea, and Samaria) confirmed that the police raid on Arutz-7 is being viewed by a broad and angered public as an attempt to squash opposition to a Golan withdrawal.  According to the group, Wednesday's planned rally against a Golan giveaway "will be the largest in Israeli history, uniting the political right, center, and veteran left, as well as religious, hareidim and secular."  Slogans for the demonstration include: "100% of Israeli Arabs will vote to expel 100% of the Golan's Jews in the referendum,"  and "Next referendum: Judea & Samaria, then Jerusalem, then Jaffa & Haifa."

ARUTZ SHEVA EMAIL/TELETHON INFORMATION
Email Your Name, City, Country, Phone numbers (work & home), and amount of pledge, and our operators will contact you. Mail to Jonathan Boofty <mailto:jonathan@ArutzSheva.org>

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To:            arutz-7@ArutzSheva.org
From:          Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@ArutzSheva.org>
Subject:       Arutz-7 News: Sunday, January 2, 2000

Arutz Sheva News Service
 <www.ArutzSheva.org>
Sunday, January 2, 2000 / Tevet 24, 5760
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
  1. BARAK OFF TO SHEPHERDSTOWN
  2. CALLS FOR WEIZMAN TO RESIGN
  3. MORE PRO-GOLAN RALLIES

1. BARAK OFF TO SHEPHERDSTOWN
Prime Minister Barak, his wife Nava, and a high-level delegation departed this afternoon for the second round of talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk A-Shara in Shepherdstown, Virginia.  The delegation includes Foreign Minister David Levy, Tourism Minister and former IDF Chief of Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shachak, and Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein.  Barak canceled the Cabinet meeting planned for earlier this afternoon, at which he was to have presented to the ministers his position in the talks.  The Likud says that this is part of Barak's "failure of leadership...  This is an attempt to hide even from his own ministers the true picture of the negotiations with Syria."  Barak met instead with the National Council for the Golan, a body comprised of anti-withdrawal public figures from across the public spectrum.  Barak said afterwards that he has no illusions "regarding the reality in which we live in the Middle East, and the
true guarantee for the State of Israel's continued existence is not signed agreements, but defense, strategic and economic power supported by the global power of the United States and the internal strength of Israeli society."  He concluded that he would only sign an agreement that "strengthens Israel's security and brings a safer future for our children."

The talks with the Syrians are expected to last anywhere between 7 and 12 days.  Barak said again today that he did not promise the entire Golan to the Syrians, but added that an agreement with Syria would require "very painful concessions."  The Barak camp claims that it has a letter from Netanyahu promising to withdraw from "the Syrian territory captured in 1967."  Netanyahu claims that his consent to give away Golan territory did not include a several-mile wide strip east of the Kinneret.

Regarding the fact that Mrs. Barak is accompanying her husband, self-proclaimed left-wing radio personality Shelly Yechimovitch admitted today: "It appears that for the same things that earned Sarah Netanyahu harsh criticism in the press, Nava Barak is now treated with kid gloves and very forgivingly."

2. CALLS FOR WEIZMAN TO RESIGN
The Movement for Quality in Government has asked the State Prosecution to begin an investigation of President Ezer Weizman, and a private citizen has filed a police complaint on the same matter.  Arutz-7's Kobi Finkler reports that the complaints concern the documented accusations by journalist Yoav Yitzchak that Weizman received close to half a million dollars in personal gifts from French millionaire Eduard Sarousi.  Weizman says that he violated no law. 

Yitzchak claimed again today that Weizman received some of the money even after he was elected to his current position.  Arutz-7's Ariel Kahane asked Yitzchak today why he called a personal press conference instead of publishing his findings in one of the two newspapers for which he writes, Ma'ariv or Globes.  Yitzchak said that he would not answer - leaving open the possibility that the explanation is related to Yitzchak's charges that Weizman acted to have the story silenced.  Yitzchak added that the press "is trying to whitewash the revelations
...I am sure that when I publicize the full report in the coming days, they will change their tune."

The Weizman scandal was the subject of an op-ed by journalist Dan Margalit in the Hebrew edition of today's Ha'aretz:  "Wealthy people do not simply dispense their money indiscriminately," writes Margalit.  "Sarousi doesn't have business interests in Israel?  Then maybe he has such interests in Egypt, where Weizman is a welcome guest among the top economic and government echelons?  A Knesset Member, Minister, and President cannot receive money without giving something in exchange; there is always a price." 

Margalit also sharply rebuffs claims by Weizman confidantes "that the money was used for his son Sha'ul, who suffered a head injury in the 1970 War of Attrition.  Papers in the hands of Yoav Yitzchak contain clear proof that the money was channeled to himself and his daughter, with not one cent directed to his handicapped son.  Moreover, he even continued to receive and use the monies a long time after Sha'ul was killed in a car accident." Speaking today on Voice of Israel Radio, Margalit added, "it is clear that Weizman must resign.  I can tell you that within 24 hours, new information will be revealed showing that Sarousi in fact took interest in initiating business activities in Israel."

The gifts scandal is not the only reason for the President to resign, according to Margalit.  Admitting to Voice of Israel that he agrees with Weizman's position regarding the Golan, Margalit laments Weizman's open campaigning on behalf of a Golan withdrawal:  "Weizman has turned into a burden for the 'Peace Camp.'  A President such as this, who after a Golan withdrawal will not have the moral authority to work towards the healing of the rift with settlers forced to build their new homes [elsewhere], and who sets such a grave public example for anyone serving in a public capacity, will destroy not only the office of President, but much more..."

3. MORE PRO-GOLAN RALLIES
Demonstrations against the plan to abandon the Golan continue apace. A group of close to 100 people stood outside Shas leader Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef's home last night, where Prime Minister Barak was visiting, demanding that Barak not give up the Golan to Syria.  The demonstrators called on Rabbi Yosef not to believe Ehud Barak's claims that he was headed for "tough negotiations" with the Syrians.  Other similar rallies were held at major intersections last night and today.  A group that gathered outside of Prime Minister Barak's residence in Kokhav Ya'ir today did not have the opportunity to voice its Golan views to the Prime Minister, who left his home through a back entrance in order to avoid them.

Mr. Gadi Eshel told Arutz-7 today about one of the other pro-Golan events that he is helping to organize:  "A broad-based group of citizens, including members of northern kibbutzim, have set up a protest tent along a highway in the Jezre'el Valley to protest the uprooting of Jewish communities in the Golan.  We have compiled a list of sixteen reasons - relating to security, water, ecology, and the harm to the Zionist ideal - that justify the preservation of the Golan settlement enterprise." Pro-Golan organizations are making major efforts to ensure the success of a giant rally planned for this Wednesday night in Tel Aviv.  Signs are being posted all over highways, handbills are being distributed, and literature is being mass-mailed.  Reports continue to be received, however, about the removal of pro-Golan signs by police and other officials. 

The Golan Residents Committee has informed the Prime Minister that it will launch a Supreme Court petition against Barak's plan to cede the Golan to Syria.  According to the petition, composed by the committee's legal advisors, it is forbidden for the government to take any action leading to the ceding of sovereign Israeli land, without the previous support of 61 MKs plus a majority vote in favor of such in a national referendum.

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To:            arutz-7@ArutzSheva.org
From:          Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@ArutzSheva.org>
Subject:       Arutz-7 News: Monday, January 3, 2000

Arutz Sheva News Service
 <www.ArutzSheva.org>
Monday, January 3, 2000 / Tevet 25, 5760
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
  1. INVESTIGATION OF WEIZMAN BEGINS
  2. WAQF WORKS CONTINUE
  3. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN MA'ALOT?

1. INVESTIGATION OF WEIZMAN BEGINS
The State Prosecution has decided to look into the accusations that President Weizman received nearly half-a-million dollars in gifts from millionaire Eduard Sarousi.  The President's office has submitted to the State Attorney the President's documentation relating to the gifts. Reporter Yoav Yitzchak, who broke the story last Thursday, said today that Weizman is not speaking the truth when he said the money was for his late son, and that he used the money even after his son died.  Weizman has hired Atty. Yaakov Weinrot to represent him in this scandal.

Two newspapers have called on President Weizman to resign.  Ha'aretz wrote that even if the money was only a gift, "the public expects its representatives to make do with their monthly salaries and not be tempted to accept gifts, which could affect the recipient's judgment...  Weizman must step down now, not later, because he lacks the uprightness required of a public figure, and even now does not understand what he did wrong." HaTzofeh comments that Weizman must resign both for his public posture regarding the Golan - specifically, his threat to quit if the referendum on the Golan is rejected - and because of the Sarousi-gift scandal. 

2. WAQF WORKS CONTINUE
The illegal excavations and construction works by the Moslem Waqf under the Temple Mount continue.  The size of the work site is now 25 by 50 meters, and five ancient arches have been exposed.  Ha'aretz reports that Prime Minister Barak has approved the opening of two of these arches, which will become a main entrance to the mosque, and not, as the Waqf had earlier requested, an emergency exit.  Despite Public Security Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami's promise, no Israeli representatives - from the police or Antiquities Authority - are supervising the diggings, which have already resulted in tons of dirt and lost ancient artifacts being thrown out in city dumps.  The Supreme Court has not yet ruled on a petition submitted on the matter
by the Temple Mount Faithful.

3. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION IN MA'ALOT?
Inspectors of the northern township of Ma'alot have begun a campaign to take down pro-Golan posters.  As of a week ago, the private apartment balconies in two Ma'alot neighborhoods were covered with signs in favor of the Golan.  Yesterday, those who displayed the posters received phone calls in which they were told that their actions were illegal - unless they receive municipal approval for the signs.  Despite the fact that they were given 24 hours in which to remove the signs, many of them were forcefully removed by city inspectors within five minutes after the calls were made. Other residents attempted, unsuccessfully, to receive permission from the municipality for the banners.

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From:          Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@ArutzSheva.org>
Subject:       Arutz-7 News: Tuesday, January 4, 2000

Arutz Sheva News Service
  <http://www.arutzsheva.org>
Tuesday, January 4, 2000 / Tevet 26, 5760
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
  1. NEXT WITHDRAWAL FROM YESHA TO BEGIN TOMORROW
  2. YITZCHAK: PRESIDENT WILL RESIGN
  3. SYRIAN INTRANSIGENCE IN SHEPHERDSTOWN
  4. RABBIS FORBID CEDING GOLAN

1. NEXT WITHDRAWAL FROM YESHA TO BEGIN TOMORROW
An agreement has been reached between the Israelis and the Palestinians on the next two stages of the Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria.  The first pullback, from 5% of Yesha, has been delayed almost two months, but will take place within two days.  The agreement had been held up by a demand by Yasser Arafat for "improved" territories - despite the fact that the Oslo agreements grant the PA no say in which territories it is to receive. 

Arutz-7's Haggai Huberman reports that some six army bases will be evacuated in the withdrawal that will begin tomorrow.  In addition, Israel will leave from some 2.2% of Yesha in the Judean Desert, and a further 0.8% in other areas.  Another area of 2% in the Bir Zeit region will come under total Palestinian control.  Huberman reports that this is exactly as originally planned two months ago, "but we don't know yet what promises have been made for the next withdrawal, from an additional 6.1% of Yesha, which will be carried out, as scheduled, on Jan. 20." 

The precise maps of the upcoming withdrawal - which have not yet been publicized - will be signed tonight.

2. YITZCHAK: PRESIDENT WILL RESIGN
Journalist Yoav Yitzchak released his latest and largest in a series of Presidential bombshells late this morning, declaring that President Ezer Weizman plans to resign within a "very short time."  Yitzchak announced last week that he has proof that Weizman received nearly half-a-million dollars in personal gifts from French millionaire Edouard Sarousi.  Copies of the deposit slips were shown on Channel Two television last night. Yitzchak said today, "As you know, Weizman is not a well man.  He will enter the hospital in a few days, and will announce his resignation - for health reasons - from there."  The journalist said that Presidential office staffers had pressured him to cease his campaign against the President, and allow him to resign with honor.  The President's Office denied what it called the "malicious rumors" about Weizman's ill health and his intention to resign.

Yitzchak also said that Weizman had wished to resign a few days ago, but Prime Minister Barak convinced him to hold off.  Other revelations by journalist Yitzchak:  Sarousi transferred $6.3 million to the political party "Yachad" - founded by Weizman and former MK Aharon Abuhatzeira in the 80's - and that several hundred thousand dollars of this sum found their way into Weizman's personal accounts.  In the 80's, according to Yitzchak, Sarousi looked into purchasing a major Israeli clothing factory, acquiring the Davar newspaper, and starting a new English-language paper in Israel. Yitzchak further said that Sarousi gave the money to Weizman in measured portions over a period of time, in order to guarantee Weizman's loyalty him. 

Yitzchak added the news last night that Sarousi also gave about $6,000 to the man who now serves as Weizman's top aide, Aryeh Shumer.  Shumer's response: "How am I supposed to remember what happened over ten years ago?"  He said that he would check, however.

Justice Minister Yossi Beilin, speaking with Israel Radio yesterday, related to the allegations against Weizman:  "It is hard to find a person more honest and frank than the President... and I suggest we wait... before jumping to conclusions."

3. SYRIAN INTRANSIGENCE IN SHEPHERDSTOWN
Hard times for the Israeli delegation in Shepherdstown.  Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk A-Shara did not agree to shake Prime Minister Barak's hand last night, refused to dine with him, and brought about the cancellation of a Clinton-Barak-Shara meeting.  The Syrians insist that the withdrawal issue be dealt with before any of the other issues, while Israel's position is that all the matters of contention be discussed simultaneously by different negotiating groups - in accordance with the agreements reached in Washington last month.  The Golan Residents Committee responded to the Shepherdstown developments by noting that this kind of behavior typifies the kind of peace Israel can expect from Damascus. 

Reports differ as to how much money Prime Minister Barak is asking from the U.S. towards a Golan withdrawal and related costs. The Prime Minister's Office says that Barak is asking only for $17 billion, while other reports claim that the number is closer to $25 billion. The money is needed to pay for the redeployment of IDF forces and bases, new weapons, and compensation for the Golan's 18,000 residents.

4. RABBIS FORBID CEDING GOLAN
Led by former Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Avraham Shapira, representatives of a group of 1,200 rabbis of the organization called Ichud HaRabbanim - the Union of Rabbis for the People of Israel and the Land of Israel - published a halakhic [Jewish legal] ruling, forbidding the transfer of the Golan Heights to the Syrians and the uprooting of Jews from their homes in the Land of Israel.  Attached to the ruling is a call for Jews to act "with self-sacrifice" - but within the law - to prevent the destruction of Golan communities.  In addition to Rabbi Shapira, the signatories include Rabbis Dov Lior, Zalman Baruch Melamed, Tzefaniah Drori, Nachum Rabinowitz, Chaim Druckman, Eliezer Waldman, Meyer Fendel, Sholom Gold, Shabtai Zelikovitz, and others.  A meeting of the organization's leaders took place at Rabbi Shapira's home in Jerusalem this morning.

The ruling reads as follows:
a. The Golan is part of the Land of Israel that was granted to the Tribes of Israel by the A-lmighty, as recorded in our holy Torah.  The Golan was settled by Jews in the 1st and 2nd Temple periods, as our Sages tell us (and as confirmed by Josephus).  According to Jewish Law, it is forbidden to uproot Jewish settlements in Eretz Yisrael.

[b. The abandonment of the Golan involves a mortal danger for the entire country.  Withdrawing from the Golan will not bring peace, but the opposite.]

[c. It is unethical to remove Jews from their homes that they have built with self-sacrifice and at the behest of the state.]

d. Tens of thousands of Jews will stand against those who uproot us from our land and who wheel and deal with our security.  Every Jew must take part in the legal public activities and act with self-sacrifice to prevent the destruction of the Golan communities.

e. We call upon the government of Israel not to tear away this precious part of our Land, and not to cause a split in the nation.

f. We call for a national convention of rabbis to strengthen the Golan. "Let us strengthen and let us be strong on behalf of our nation and the cities of our G-d."

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