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To:            arutz-7@ArutzSheva.org
From:          Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@ArutzSheva.org>
Subject:       Arutz-7 News: Thursday, February 24, 2000

Arutz Sheva News Service
  <http://www.arutzsheva.org>
Thursday, February 24, 2000 / Adar Aleph 18, 5760
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
  1. PM'S OFFICE DENIES SECRET TALKS WITH SYRIA
  2. LEVY STANDS BY STRONG WORDS
  3. ONLY SETTLEMENT BLOCS
  4. RABBIS ASK POPE FOR SHABBAT SENSITIVITY
  5. EGYPT PREPARING LONG-RANGE MISSILES

1. PM'S OFFICE DENIES SECRET TALKS WITH SYRIA
Jerusalem and Damascus are conducting secret negotiations, according to foreign press reports.  The Prime Minister's Office denies that such talks are underway, but Foreign Minister David Levy said, "The diplomatic process with Syria has not died."  Prominent journalist Uri Dan wrote in yesterday's New York Post that President Clinton has secretly orchestrated a peace plan that gives Syria complete control of the Golan Heights, rights to the Sea of Galilee, and $15 billion in economic aid; Israel will receive $15 billion in arms and at least another $15 billion to help in the evacuation and re-location of the 18,000 Jews from the Golan Heights. Nothing has been signed, but Dan quotes sources to the effect that Syrian President Assad and Prime Minister Barak have given their consent, and an agreement could be signed by May.  Still unresolved are issues of demilitarization of the Golan Heights and additional money demands by Syria.  One Israeli Cabinet member, after hearing of the agreement, was quoted as saying, "Maybe Clinton will get that Nobel Peace Prize he wants." 

Uri Heitner of the Golan Residents Committee said that the denial of the Prime Minister's office of the above report was "weak, unconvincing, and does not sound accurate."  He said that if the reports are true, "this is a total and shameful surrender to an anti-Semitic county.  Maybe this is Barak's answer to Syrian anti-Semitism, or to Syrian encouragement of Hizbullah, or to [Syrian Foreign Minister] A-Shara's admission that receiving the Golan from Israel is only 'stage one' in their plan to destroy Israel totally."

The week-long quiet in southern Lebanon ended this morning, when Hizbullah terrorists fired mortar shells and other artillery towards IDF and SLA outposts in the western sector of the security zone.  There were no reports of wounded.

2. LEVY STANDS BY STRONG WORDS
Foreign Minister Levy refuses to retract his strong speech about Lebanon in the Knesset yesterday, where he cried emotionally, "If Kiryat Shmonah burns, Lebanon will also burn...  Blood for blood, child for child!" Levy explained this morning that "the quiet in the north is fake, the danger is close, and the Hizbullah terrorists have horrific weapons, with no one to restrain them."  Ministers Beilin, Sarid, and Oron criticized Levy's harsh words, while MK Uzi Landau (Likud) said that the public criticism should be directed towards what he called "the band of Hizbullah collaborators sitting in the Knesset."  MK Tzvi Hendel (National Union) said that Levy's tone was "too moderate."  Analysts note that the entire debate may be academic in light of the secret talks with Syria.

Prime Minister Barak gave his full support to his Foreign Minister, although he said that he has no doubt that Levy did not mean to imply that Israel would harm Lebanese civilians:  "The opposite is true:  All of Israel's activities, even when we strike strongly at Hizbullah infrastructures in southern Lebanon, are designed to prevent even incidental harm to civilians."

The Iran-On-Line news service reports that "observers in Palestine see no surprise in Levy's statements, because killing Arab civilians has always been a consistent Israeli policy since the creation of the Zionist state more than fifty years ago." Official Syrian radio this afternoon likened Levy to Hitler. 

Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Lieberman was asked by Arutz-7 today to relate to Levy's words.  "I'm pleased to see that sometimes, words can be issued from the heart," he said, but added that the condemnations of Levy's words by his fellow government ministers are worrisome. "Though David Levy's message was very clear, it is also quite obvious that he has no hope
of implementing such a policy with the present government.  As we have seen more than once, there is a significant gap between the declarations and actions of someone in a government position."

News Editor Haggai Segal asked Lieberman how he interprets Levy's apparent "about-face" from his role as a political "dove" in the Netanyahu coalition to that of a "hawk" in the Barak government.  "First of all," Lieberman explained, "David Levy grew up in the Likud, a nationalist movement, and it would be impossible for what he learned there to be completely erased. Secondly, not just David Levy, but any clear-thinking person can see what is now being written in the Egyptian and Syrian press, for instance.  It still escapes me why our government has gotten so upset by Haider's statements, and not those of [Egyptian Foreign Minister] Amr Mussa or [Egyptian President] Mubarak;  it is obvious that they are much more dangerous than Haider, as they are gearing themselves for the destruction of the State of Israel...  When Mubarak issued a public declaration in support of the Hizbullah, we should have immediately recalled our ambassador from Egypt, and we should have frozen all relations with Cairo. Instead, Barak sent Danny Yatom to Cairo to 'explain' his policy in Lebanon..."

3. ONLY SETTLEMENT BLOCS
Galei Tzahal Army Radio reported this morning that Israel has proposed that a permanent-status agreement with the Palestinians be based on the June 4, 1967 borders, with only settlement-blocs to remain in Israeli hands.  The Palestinians reportedly agree, but demand areas within pre-1967 Israel in exchange.  The Prime Minister's Office denied this report as well.

4. RABBIS ASK POPE FOR SHABBAT SENSITIVITY
A delegation of municipal Chief Rabbis and hareidi Knesset Members presented a petition to the Vatican's Israel representative today, in which they ask that the Pope refrain from causing any Sabbath desecration during his visit here next month.  The Pontiff is visiting Egypt today.

The Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Haifa, Rabbi She'ar Yashuv Cohen, told Arutz-7 today about the petition:

"I have just come from a meeting between a delegation of rabbis, including Rabbi Grossman of Migdal HaEmek, Rabbi Shlush of Netanya, and others, in the home of the Jerusalem papal diplomatic mission head, on the Mt. of Olives.  It was a very respectful meeting, and he received us hospitably. Regarding Sabbath, our concern stems from the fact that the Pope's schedule
includes a late Friday afternoon service near Tiberias, and Saturday morning services near Nazareth.  This will lead to hundreds or thousands of Jews being forced to desecrate the Sabbath by having to protect the route along which he will be travelling.  We asked that the Pope change his plans and not travel on the Sabbath - he could, for instance, depart for Nazareth late Friday afternoon, before the Sabbath begins...  The nuncio said that the policy of the present Pope is to be sensitive to the feelings of the Jewish people, as evidenced by his declarations about the Holocaust and erasing the accusations against the Jews.  He said that the Pope will want to do everything that he can, in consultation with the security forces, to avoid forcing so many Jews to desecrate the Sabbath...  It in fact appears that the Friday afternoon service will be called off, and the Sabbath morning services may be pushed off to Saturday night, such that it looks like the security forces of the north will be able to commemorate and preserve the Sabbath at home, with their families [instead of on the streets protecting the Pope]."  He explained that many of them turned to him on this matter, as Chief Rabbi of the northern city of Haifa, and "this is why I am involved."

Rabbi Cohen noted that the atmosphere for the upcoming visit is "different" than that of a previous papal visit in the mid-1960's:  "At that time, Chief Rabbi Nissim refused to greet the Pope in Megiddo [where the Pope entered Israel], saying that if the Pope is visiting Israel, he should trouble himself to come to the Chief Rabbis' offices.  This time, it has already been agreed that the Pope will come to the Chief Rabbis, apparently in Heichal Shlomo [the recently-vacated long-time offices of the Chief Rabbinate in Jerusalem].  This is a radical change in the Vatican's approach to the Jewish religious status in Jerusalem."  The nuncio said that the Chief Rabbis and Minister Chaim Ramon had already raised the Shabbat issue, and Rabbi Cohen noted that United Torah Judaism MK Meir Porush has gathered 2000 signatures on a petition on this matter.

5. EGYPT PREPARING LONG-RANGE MISSILES
Sources in the U.S. and Israel are very concerned with some recent military deals conducted by Egypt - specifically, the transfer by Cairo of U.S. missile technology to North Korea.  So reports Steve Rodan in the latest edition of Janes Defence Weekly.  The technologies in question are allegedly being sent by Egyptian government-owned companies to Pyongyang, where they are then adapted and returned to Egypt as advanced components for Egypt's medium-range ballistic missile program. The same Israeli sources add that although Egypt currently has Scud C missiles with a range of 500 kilometers, Cairo is now developing missiles with a range of nearly twice that.  With chemical and biological warheads, Rodan notes, these missiles would pose a serious threat to Israel.  Speaking with Arutz-7 today, Rodan added that a 1,000 km range would permit such missiles to be fired from deep within Egypt, where its launchers would be virtually inaccessible to Israel Air Force bombers.

According to the Janes article, the Clinton administration has not put a stop to Egypt's technology transfers, "since Israeli and U.S. officials differ over the extent of Egypt's missile program and its threat to the region."  A senior Israeli defense source told Rodan that the U.S. does not see Egypt in the same light as Israel, and is simply unwilling to jeopardize its alliance with Egypt.  Israel has even been specifically ordered by the U.S. administration not to go public with the story, Rodan told Arutz-7. 

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To:            arutz-7@ArutzSheva.org
From:          Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@ArutzSheva.org>
Subject:       Arutz-7 News Brief:  Friday, February 25, 2000

Arutz Sheva News Service
  <http://www.ArutzSheva.org>
Friday, February 25, 2000 / Adar Aleph 19, 5760
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
  1. HIZBULLAH WANTS PARTS OF GALILEE
  2. ARAB UNITY AGAINST ISRAEL

1. HIZBULLAH WANTS PARTS OF GALILEE
Hizbullah will not be satisfied with an IDF withdrawal from the southern Lebanon security zone, says the organization's Secretary-General Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah.  He declared today that when and if Israel signs a peace deal with Lebanon, Hizbullah will demand the "return" of seven Jewish "settlements" in the Galilee "situated on the lands of Palestinian villages."  One resident of
Kibbutz Manara, Rachel Yaakov - the sister of Yitzchak Rabin - called the Hizbullah claim "baseless."   She observed that the lands of Kibbutz Manara, one of the settlements referred to by Nasrallah, were legally purchased in the 1940's from a resident of the Lebanese village of Taibe.  Another town mentioned specifically by Nasrallah was Margaliyot. 

The terrorists fired mortar shells and rockets at IDF outposts in southern Lebanon this morning.  Israeli Air Force jets responded with the shelling of terrorist strongholds in Zebkin. 

2. ARAB UNITY AGAINST ISRAEL
Syria's government-backed Tishrin newspaper continues its Nazi imagery rhetoric, this time with the help of Israeli MKs.  In its ongoing response to Foreign Minister David Levy's Knesset speech, Tishrin writes: "Whatever the cruel and crazy motives that may be behind it, Levy's threat against Lebanon was an unconscionable crime; of all the flood of questions and condemnations that it raises, the fundamental one is this: Isn't it a crime in itself that goes far beyond Nazism?"

The paper also quotes Arab MK Azmi B'shara as "asserting Israel's responsibility for putting obstacles in the way of peace negotiations on the Syrian track."  Speaking to   Sawt al-Arab Radio, B'shara said that any freeze on the negotiations "stems from Israel's refusal to carry out UN Resolution 242 that calls for Israel's withdrawal from Golan to the June 4th, 1967 lines." 

In related news, Tishrin calls for "Arab unity to deter Israeli aggression...  Egyptian Mufti Dr. Farid Wasel [who called for international sanctions against Israel] has asserted the need for providing all forms of support to Lebanon in its confrontation with the brutal Israeli aggression..."  The Arab League will in fact hold its next convention in Lebanon next month, instead of in Cairo, as a sign of solidarity with Lebanon against Israel.  "Israeli aggression in Lebanon will be the main point discussed there," said an Arab League senior official.

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To:            arutz-7@ArutzSheva.org
From:          Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@ArutzSheva.org>
Subject:       Arutz-7 News: Sunday, February 27, 2000

Arutz Sheva News Service
  <www.ArutzSheva.org>
Sunday, February 27, 2000 / Adar Aleph 21, 5760
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TODAY'S HEADLINE:

BARAK REASSURES FOUR MOTHERS

The two-week old protest tent erected by the Four Mothers movement outside the Prime Minister's home has been dismantled.  The Four Mothers, who have been leading a campaign for a withdrawal from Lebanon, had originally pledged to retain the protest tent until the last Israeli soldier had left Lebanon. Following a meeting with Barak on Friday, however, representatives of the group said that they were convinced that Israel will be out of Lebanon by July 7.  They also intimated that they understood from Barak that secret talks with Syria were showing "results."

Chai Orna of the Four Mothers, the force behind the protest tent and who decided on its dismantling, told Arutz-7 today that she wrote a letter to Barak asking him, 'How many soldiers have to die in Lebanon merely so that you can win the [Golan] referendum?'  "It was a very harsh thing to say, I know," Orna said today.  Regarding Friday's meeting with Barak, Orna explained that "he did not try to evade any question, and succeeded in leading me to doubt something that I had been totally sure of until then: He convinced me that he is concerned not only with the losses that we may suffer in the future, but also those of the present.  He made it clear that no matter what, there will be a withdrawal by July 7 - but he said that until then he is doing everything he possibly can to see if the withdrawal can be implemented by agreement with Syria."

Hizbullah threats, such as their recent demand for seven Jewish towns in northern Israel, do not appear to faze the Four Mothers activist.  "This is just an example of their cynical, cruel approach - they claim that we are conquerors, and then they go and warn us against a unilateral withdrawal! They simply want us to remain there as hostages for the Golan!"  Regarding the possibility that Hizbullah will attack northern Israel even after an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, Orna said, "No one of course can know what will be in the future, but I assume that if Hizbullah attacks Israel even after we withdraw, the IDF will know how to respond."

The government held a comprehensive session today on the planned withdrawal from Lebanon, although no decisions were made during the marathon meeting. Ha'aretz reports today that Iran has recently transferred to Lebanon long-range katyusha missiles that can reach as far as Haifa.

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To:            arutz-7@ArutzSheva.org
From:          Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@ArutzSheva.org>
Subject:       Arutz-7 News: Monday, February 28, 2000


Arutz Sheva News Service
  <www.ArutzSheva.org>
Monday, February 28, 2000 / Adar Aleph 22, 5760
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
   1. BARAK POSTURES FOR GOLAN WITHDRAWAL
   2. NETANYAHU, SHAMIR, AND PERES RESPOND
   3. GOLAN CAMPAIGN STARTING UP AGAIN
   4. ONE TEMPLE, ONE ORGANIZATION
   5. POLITICAL BRIEFS

1. BARAK POSTURES FOR GOLAN WITHDRAWAL
Prime Minister Ehud Barak has begun providing "background" on his willingness to cede the entire Golan Heights to the Syrians.  At a nearly eight-hour-long Cabinet meeting yesterday, Barak said that four of his predecessors had agreed to forfeit all of the Golan:  "Both the U.S. and Syria understand that this is our position, and I'm not planning to erase the past."

Ha'aretz reported that Barak told the Cabinet that Shamir, who began the talks with the Syrians at the Madrid Conference in 1991, accepted UN Resolution 242 calling for an Israeli withdrawal "from territories," which the Syrians understood to mean an Israeli withdrawal from the entire Golan.

After Shamir, Rabin gave the Americans a commitment, which they in turn passed on to the Syrians, that Israel would be ready to return the entire Golan if certain demands are met.  Next was Peres, who confirmed Rabin's commitment, and then Netanyahu, who, according to Barak, conducted negotiations based on the June 4th lines, "seeking control two miles east of the line at one point along the border, and along the rest of the line at a significantly lesser distance eastward."

"Clinton's political clock is ticking," Barak said yesterday, "and he needs an agreement by May.  We have to conclude an agreement with Syria by then so that a wave of Islamic extremism does not take over the region." Ministers Peres and Ramon said they doubted that it would be possible to reach an agreement with Syria within the current timetable.  They and Minister Ben-Ami said that progress on the Palestinian track should take precedence over the talks with the Syrians.  The Cabinet discussion will continue next Sunday.

Meanwhile, on the Palestinian track, Dennis Ross is on his way back to the U.S. today - empty-handed.  Following a meeting with Arafat in Gaza this morning, Ross announced that he is flying back to Washington for consultations with U.S. President Clinton.  In response to the Palestinians' refusal to accept the upcoming withdrawal from 6.1% of Yesha as set forth by Israel, the government announced yesterday that it would be willing to offer the Palestinian Authority alternative territories near Hevron and Ramallah.  Israeli sources said, however, that the Palestinians had recently hardened their positions.

2. NETANYAHU, SHAMIR, AND PERES RESPOND
In a surprising move, Shimon Peres registered his protest of Barak's Golan position by saying that the Syrians must not be allowed to share the Kinneret with Israel.  Peres said that in any event the Israeli public would not approve such a deal in a referendum.  Shamir issued a strong denial today that he had ever implied that he would agree to withdraw from the Golan.  Netanyahu, too, denied Barak's claims in an interview with Arutz-7 today.  "There was no agreement between Assad and myself on any border, and this is why the negotiations were halted," he said.  "Assad demanded a withdrawal to the June, 1967 border - he didn't get it."  The former Prime Minister, visiting in Los Angeles today, said that he was prepared to accept a border east of the Kinneret - "but only on top of the Golan Heights, and not below them."  Netanyahu said that if Barak wishes to give in to the Syrian demands, "it is his right to do so - but he doesn't have to offer misinformation about previous leaders' actions.  Let him just say it straight - that he has agreed to Assad's demands."

Netanyahu rebuffed Barak's statements regarding former Prime Minister Shamir, as well. "As someone who was intimately involved in the 1991 Madrid peace conference [Netanyahu gained world-fame there as Israel's spokesman], I know that Mr. Shamir was not prepared to withdraw from the Golan," he said.  The former Director-General of Prime Minister Shamir's office, Yossi Ben-Aharon, agrees.  Speaking with Arutz-7's Ron Meir last night, Ben-Aharon said that the Israeli negotiating team, which he headed, "didn't even mention the word 'withdrawal' in the six months of intensive negotiations with the Syrians...  I refused [to do so] because I said that we first have to get the Syrians to accept Israel's existence...  This went on and on for months."  When asked if he was suggesting that territorial compromise would have been considered if Syria had recognized Israel, Ben-Aharon responded:  "Oh no, we had a number of pre-negotiating demands... they were holding hostage the remnants of the Jewish community. [We insisted] that every Jew who wants to leave Syria must be given the right to do so;  we also demanded that any agreement with the Syrians include a removal of their army from Lebanon, and we rejected UN Resolution 242 regarding the Golan."

3. GOLAN CAMPAIGN STARTING UP AGAIN
The Golan Residents Committee and the Yesha Council are planning to renew the public campaign against a withdrawal from the Golan Heights.  Hundreds of protest vigils will be held at various intersections throughout the country.  The Golan forces are attempting to enlist the support of hareidi rabbis in their efforts.

The VAT Organization (Victims of Arab Terror) has launched a nationwide campaign to demand that the Barak government follow through on Foreign Minister David Levy's pledge to retaliate against Hizbullah "measure for measure."  Stickers calling on the Prime Minister to "Untie [the soldiers'] Hands to Defend our Land" will be distributed at various locations in Jerusalem, and petitions are being prepared.

4. ONE TEMPLE, ONE ORGANIZATION
An umbrella organization has been formed to unify the efforts of various organizations working on behalf of increasing Holy Temple awareness among Jews in Israel and worldwide.  The following groups are represented in the new group:  The Temple Institute, The Movement for Establishing the Temple, Chai Vekayam, El Har HaMor, Zo Artzeinu, and Women for the Holy Temple. The new organization, headed by Prof. Hillel Weiss, is predicated on the importance of Jewish unity; the movement stated that such unity "is the secret both of the destruction and the rebuilding of the Holy Temple."  For more information, send e-mail to <temple@temple.org.il>.

5. POLITICAL BRIEFS

Likud MK Silvan Shalom will submit a bill this Wednesday calling for a special majority in a referendum on the Golan.  The bill stipulates that in order for a withdrawal from the Golan to be approved, over 50% of the electorate would have to vote for it, which in practical terms is equal to about 60% of those voting.  "My bill has definitely put Barak under heavy pressure," Shalom said today.  "Witness his comments yesterday about the four Prime Ministers...  We have the support of 56 MKs, and probably the 5 MKs of United Torah Judaism, plus others who have not finalized with us." Shalom said that he would not submit the bill if a majority for its passage was not guaranteed...

The merger of the Yisrael Beiteinu and the National Union factions into the National Home faction has gained it seats in the following Knesset committees:  Foreign Affairs and Defense, Finance, Interior, and Law. Until now, the small size of each faction separately rendered them ineligible for such seats...

The Knesset Absorption Committee held a session today on Interior Minister Sharansky's decision to allow consular marriages.  Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Seri explained that Sharansky's intention is to avoid public pressure for the legalization of civil marriages, by allowing those who are unable to marry to do so in foreign countries' Israeli consulates.  MK Moshe Gafni of United Torah Judaism, however, claims that this decision itself is a form of legalization of civil marriages, and that such a decision must be legislated by the Knesset - "and we know that they will not succeed in doing so..."

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To:            arutz-7@ArutzSheva.org
From:          Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@ArutzSheva.org>
Subject:       Arutz-7 News: Tuesday, February 29, 2000

Arutz Sheva News Service
   <http://www.ArutzSheva.org>
Tuesday, February 29, 2000 / Adar Aleph 23, 5760
------------------------------------------------

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
   1. GOLAN FATE HANGS IN BALANCE
   2. REDUCED HELP TO YESHA
   3. MORE SIGNS

1. GOLAN FATE HANGS IN BALANCE
Will Israeli-Arabs determine whether the Golan is to remain Israeli? It may depend on the Shas and United Torah Judaism parties.  Likud MK Silvan Shalom has proposed a bill stipulating that a majority of registered voters - or approximately 60% of those who are actually expected to vote - must approve a Golan giveaway in order for it to happen.  The extra 10% margin is designed to offset the Israeli-Arab vote, which is all but certain to favor giving the Golan to Syria, and also to emphasize the cardinal importance of the issue.  MKs of Shas and UTJ have informally agreed to vote for Shalom's bill, but their actual support depends on their respective rabbinical councils' decisions, which are expected tomorrow. Several coalition party members, including the NRP, Yisrael B'Aliyah, Chaim Katz of Am Echad, and Maxime Levy of One Israel, plan to vote in favor, despite heavy pressures by Prime Minister Barak not to do so.

Knesset members of all parties spent the afternoon scurrying around in last-minute maneuverings and dealings on the matter.  Shalom said yesterday that if the bill is not guaranteed a majority, he will not present it for a vote (as it would then not be able to be re-proposed for six months). Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Seri reports that, at present, this looks like the most likely scenario.  Left-wing parliamentarians held an emergency gathering against the bill, calling it anti-democratic; President Ezer Weizman agreed.

Shas leader Eli Yeshai said that the rabbis are leaning towards supporting the bill, and Shas MK Yitzchak Gagula told Arutz-7 today that he personally hopes that this is what will indeed occur.  "The decision will be made at the last second, before the vote," he said.  "We are very aware that our voters support the Golan... but ultimately, it will come down to what our Torah sages say.  They are weighing very heavy factors, and we will know how they tell us to vote only tomorrow."

MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ), speaking with Arutz-7 today, explained that his party is against the entire idea of popular referenda.  "We think that the elected representatives, after learning the material and consulting with their rabbis,  should make the decisions.  If it was up to us, there would never be a referendum at all, on any issue.  But now that there is a referendum on the Golan, our rabbis will decide what to do."  Gafni admitted to fearing that a referendum may one day be called on the issue of inducting yeshiva students into the army, "but this is only a secondary consideration in our position.  We feel in general that holding a referendum is a populistic thing to do...  it is very grave in that the MKs are in a sense running away from their responsibility and allowing the public, which is not sufficiently appraised of the issues, to make critical decisions."

2. REDUCED HELP TO YESHA
Defense Ministry representatives confirmed this morning that out of 190 million shekels promised to the Yesha communities for extra protection and reinforcement, only 80 million will be forthcoming.  In addition, another 100 million shekels for by-pass roads in Yesha have still not arrived. Knesset Audit Committee Chairman Uzi Landau (Likud) questioned Ministry aide Yossi Vardi intensively during today's session, but did not receive solid answers regarding the reduced and delayed sums.  A representative of the Yesha Council at the session said that the Council would be willing to participate in the initial costs of mapping out the planned by-pass roads.

3. MORE SIGNS
Signs of a resumption of talks between Israel and Syria continue to surface.  Journalist Patrick Seale, a close confidante of Syrian President Assad, writes from London today that the talks between Jerusalem and Damascus will resume in March - i.e., any time between tomorrow and one month from now.  The resumption comes, Seale claims, because of Prime Minister Barak's announcement that he is willing to retreat to the June 4, 1967 borders.  A Saudi newspaper carried a similar report yesterday.

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