HHMI Newsgroup Archives

To:            arutz-7@ArutzSheva.org
From:          Arutz-7 <neteditor@ArutzSheva.org>
Subject:       Arutz-7 News: Thursday, March 23, 2000

Arutz Sheva News Service
  <http://www.arutzsheva.org>
Thursday, March 23, 2000 / Adar Bet 16, 5760
------------------------------------------------

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
  1. COALITION CONTENTIONS
  2. BEN-AHARON: PESSIMISM ON THE SYRIAN FRONT
  3. THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE
  4. BEILIN AND THE STOCKHOLM SYNDROME

1.  COALITION CONTENTIONS
The Prime Minister's Office continues to be concerned that a decision
by Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein to order a police investigation
against Shas leader Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef may cause a far-reaching
coalition crisis. If Rabbi Yosef is questioned regarding his recent
remarks against Education Minister Yossi Sarid, Syrian President Assad
is likely to become skeptical of the stability of the Barak government
- as Shas has threatened to quit the coalition if its leader is
questioned.  In such a case, Assad may not resume the negotiations
with Israel, nor meet with U.S. President Clinton next week.  Meretz,
for its part, may quit the coalition if Rabbi Yosef is not
investigated, as Minister Sarid vaguely threatened today. 

The meeting between Clinton and Assad is scheduled for this Sunday in
Geneva, and Syrian sources say that only a full withdrawal from the
Golan will enable a resumption of the Syrian-Israeli talks.  Prime
Minister Barak met with coalition-party heads today, and told them
that he stands before "fateful diplomatic decisions." 

Knesset Members of the Meretz and Shas parties discussed with Arutz-7
today aspects of the coalition crisis.  New Meretz MK and Peace Now
head Mossi Raz said, "We will decide whether to remain in the
coalition or not based on what we feel will advance our cause.  Peace
is definitely our priority, but that doesn't mean that we will give in
on other issues, such as the proper operations of government and
ensuring that the Shas educational network is properly run..."  He
does not have great confidence in Shas' support for the "peace
process:"  "I never had any illusions that a future agreement with
Syria would be supported by Shas - they may abstain, but they didn't
support Oslo, and they voted against Oslo II." 

Shas MK Nissim Dahan, interviewed next on Arutz-7, warned against a
possible interrogation of Rabbi Yosef:  "Before they investigate our
teacher, they had better investigate Yossi Sarid for his statements in
favor of sending commando units against the hareidim, which is
incitement of the first order.  If they want to interrogate Rabbi
Yosef, they had first better think how to get past the 500,000 people
who will stand as a shield in front of his house."  Regarding Shas'
support of an agreement with Syria, Dahan said, "If the agreement that
Barak brings us provides security to all of Israel's residents - and I
mean every one of Israel's residents, without exception - then as we
have said a million times, we'll support it, and if not, then not.
The only issue is security."

2. BEN-AHARON: PESSIMISM ON THE SYRIAN FRONT
The Golan Residents Committee plans a large demonstration across from
the American embassy in Tel Aviv on Sunday, simultaneous with the
Clinton-Assad meeting in Geneva.  The Yesha Council will participate
in the rally, and buses will be chartered from various Yesha
communities.  Yossi Ben-Aharon, who served as Director-General of
former Prime Minister Shamir's office, spoke to Arutz-7 today about
the Clinton-Assad meeting: 

"It's clear that this meeting signals a resumption of talks between
Israel and Syria.  Clinton has already held two unsuccessful talks
with Assad over the years, and with the end of his term nearing, he
cannot allow a third meeting of this sort to explode in his face.
Similarly,  I don't think that Assad would have agreed to go to Geneva
unless he has already received what he wanted.  The whole scenario
just proves that Assad's stubbornness has paid off for him.  He
already has a promise by Ehud Barak that Israel will withdraw to the
June 1967 borders with only minor changes that will leave us with a
few dozen meters of shoreline on the eastern Kinneret.  The fact that
he won't be literally on the Kinneret is not so important.  The
Syrians will sit on the Kinneret's water sources, except for the
Yarmuk, and will basically do as they wish..."

Arutz-7's Haggai Segal protested:  "Clinton is not all-powerful.
Congress may not approve the billions of dollars in aid needed to
actualize the deal."  Ben-Aharon responded:

"He's almost all-powerful.  Clinton will invest enormous resources in
shaping public opinion on this matter, and he will say that he has put
American prestige on the line, as well as that of the Presidency, in
brokering this deal.  Congress will be hard-pressed to withstand these
claims.  Clinton will say that this treaty between Israel, Syria, and
Lebanon will, once and for all, bring an end to the state of war
between Israel and her neighbors and the end of the Arab-Israeli
conflict. Of course, this is far from the truth, but who in the U.S.
will pay attention to that detail?  With the three leaders standing on
the White House lawn, together with other world leaders, in a fancy
staged event, how will Congress be able to turn it down?  Not only
will we lose the Golan and all of its benefits, but I'm sure Assad
will insist already this Sunday that his poorly-equipped army needs to
be revamped - just like Egypt's was... This means that Israel will now
be surrounded on both the south and north by large armies equipped
with the finest of American military know-how. Against this backdrop,
the Prime Minister of Israel will stand before his public and tell it
that this is 'peace!'  Only a fool will believe this!"

3. THE SOUNDS OF SILENCE
The two Chief Rabbis received the Pope in their offices in Heichal
Shlomo in Jerusalem this morning, for a 15-minute meeting.  The Rabbis
asked him to expressly apologize for the role played by the Church,
and its silence, during the Holocaust, while visiting the Yad Vashem
Holocaust Museum later in the day.  The Pope left from there to meet
with President Weizman, and then visited Yad Vashem - where he did not
take the opportunity to apologize expressly for the Church's silence
during the Holocaust. 

Ironically, the Pope began his remarks at Yad Vashem with a reference
to "silence," but from another angle:  "In this place of memories, the
mind and heart and soul feel an extreme need for silence. Silence in
which to remember. Silence in which to try to make some sense of the
memories which come flooding back. Silence because there are no words
strong enough to deplore the terrible tragedy of the Shoah."  He said
that the Church is "deeply saddened by the hatred, acts of persecution
and displays of anti-Semitism directed against the Jews by Christians
at any time and in any place...  I fervently pray that our sorrow for
the tragedy which the Jewish people suffered in the 20th century will
lead to a new relationship between Christians and Jews.  Let us build
a new future in which there will be no more anti-Jewish feeling among
Christians or anti-Christian feeling among Jews..."

Prime Minister Barak welcomed the Pope to Yad Vashem, and said,

"...When the darkness of Nazism descended and my people were led from
all over Christian Europe to the crematoria and the gas chambers, it
seemed that...  in the words of the prophet Joel, 'The sun and the
moon darkened and the stars withdrew their luster.'  And the silence
was not only from the heavens.  During that time, here in the Land of
Israel, the poet Natan Alterman wrote these searing, tormented words:
'As the children cried underneath the gallows / the wrath of the world
we did not hear...'"

Later in the afternoon, an inter-religious meeting is scheduled with
the participation of Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, Pope John
Paul II, and Sheikh Tatzir Tamimi, head of the Palestinian Authority's
Sharia courts.  The meeting will be held at Notre Dame in Jerusalem. 

Rabbi Lau told Arutz-7's Kobi Sela of one of the positive outcomes of
his meeting today with the Pope:  "Because there are many problems of
homes and families torn apart between Judaism and Christianity by
missionaries and the like, we asked that the apostolic nuncio Sambi,
head of the Jerusalem papal diplomatic mission, be authorized to be in
daily contact with us on these matters.  The Pope in fact gave him
this authorization in our presence, and we hope to be in regular
contact with him to address these important issues."

During the course of the visit at Heichal Shlomo, the police arrested
four Jews outside the building who were protesting against the visit.
A Jerusalem Magistrates Court Judge ruled later that there was no
legal basis for arresting the citizens, and ordered them immediately
freed them from custody.  One of those arrested is preparing a legal
suit against the police for wrongful arrest.

4. BEILIN AND THE STOCKHOLM SYNDROME
BBC News reports that Justice Minister Yossi Beilin, speaking in
Geneva to one of Israel's biggest critics - the UN Human Rights
Commission - "admitted that Israel's occupation of Arab territory had
gone sour" and "expressed regret at his country's record on human
rights."  According to the BBC account, Beilin said, "We tried to
convince ourselves that our occupation was a benevolent one, but we
know from history that occupation is occupation is occupation."
Beilin "acknowledged that Israel had rejected criticism too often, and
that its foreign ministry had become a department of defense,  more
eager to defend Israel's view of the world than reaching out to
others." 

**********************************************************************

To:            arutz-7@ArutzSheva.org
From:          Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@ArutzSheva.org>
Subject:       Arutz-7 News: Sunday, March 26, 2000

Arutz Sheva News Service
 <www.ArutzSheva.org>
Sunday, March 26, 2000 / Adar Bet 19, 5760
------------------------------------------------

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
  1. POPE 'S VISIT ENDS
  2. THE MOUNT AND THE WALL
  3. PRESIDENTIAL MEETING

1. POPE 'S VISIT ENDS
Pope John Paul II concluded his visit to Israel today, after visiting
the Temple Mount, the Western Wall, and Christian holy sites in
Jerusalem this morning.  A PLO flag in the form of thousands of small
balloons was unfurled over the Temple Mount while the Pope was meeting
with Waqf officials there; the police took no action.  The Pope then
traveled by car to the Wall, via Lions' and Dung Gates, where he was
greeted by Minister of Diaspora Affairs Rabbi Michael Melchior. 

Excerpts from Rabbi Melchior's speech:

"Thrice daily, for thousands of years, Jews have prayed toward this
place... from every corner of the globe.  We have never stopped
praying. We have never stopped yearning: 'May our eyes behold God's
merciful return to Zion.'  In the torturous dungeons of the
Inquisition, while awaiting the hangman's noose, when cramped in
cattle cars bound for Auschwitz, Treblinka or Maidanek, and in the
heat of battle defending our State, Jews have longed for and prayed
toward this holy place...  We welcome your coming here as the
realization of a commitment of the Catholic Church to end the era of
hatred,  humiliation, and persecution of the Jewish people...  No
longer may we pervert the sublime values of religion, to justify war.
No longer may we call God's name, as we strike down those created in
His image...  Today begins a new era, in which we all lift our eyes to
the heavens and commit ourselves to search every ancient path and to
pave bold, new highways that will bring peace to all religions and to
all believers - Jews, Christians, and Moslems alike...  Today we
commit ourselves to end the manipulation of the sanctity of Jerusalem
for political gain. Jerusalem must reject hatred, struggle, and
bloodshed, and be again the 'City of Peace' and a source of holiness."
 

Rabbi Melchior then read aloud Psalms 122, which includes the verse,
"The built-up city of Jerusalem, as a city that has been united."
This was to the consternation of Minister Chaim Ramon, who had asked
that a more "politically-neutral" psalm be read.  The Pope then
recited aloud a few verses from Psalms, and then tens of millions of
television viewers watched as he approached the Wall itself, prayed
for a minute or so, and then inserted his prayer sheet between the
stones of the Wall.  Journalists later reported that the prayer asked
forgiveness from G-d for crimes "against the sons of Abraham."  While
still in the Western Wall plaza, he was greeted by tefillin-donning
Jews, Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, and others.

The police again today arrested several demonstrators who protested
against the Pope's visit, despite the court ruling on Thursday that
such arrests are baseless.  Jerusalem Mufti Ikrema Sabri, who met with
the Pope today, said yesterday, "Israel has exaggerated the story of
the Holocaust.  Six million [Jews killed]?  It was a lot less...  It's
not my fault that Hitler hated Jews.  The Jews are hated all over the
world."  MK Rabbi Benny Elon (National Union) decried the lack of
response by Prime Minister Barak to such remarks.

2. THE MOUNT AND THE WALL
Dr. Shmuel Berkovitz, an expert on Jerusalem's holy sites, reflected
today on the significance of the Pope's visit to the Temple Mount and
Western Wall:  "Strangely, the television images clearly conveyed the
current political reality, namely, that the Temple Mount is in
Palestinian hands, and the Western Wall plaza is in Israeli hands -
the Palestinians are perched atop the Mount, with Israel below at the
wall.  I think that our government has enabled the portrayal of a
rather painful reality here... With all due respect to the Western
Wall, it is clearly less significant than the Temple Mount - it is a
section of a supporting western wall around the Temple dating back to
the Herodian era.  Minister Melchior indeed conveyed some very
piercing words at the Wall today, but did so by completely ignoring
that the holiest place for the Jewish people is the Temple Mount." 

Dr. Berkovitz was careful to qualify his statement: "I am not saying
that we should in any way infringe upon the religious sovereignty of
the Moslems on the Mount," he said, "but I think that it's important
for our government to remember - and this point is not directly
connected to the Pope's visit - that religious autonomy [for the
Moslems] there is one thing, but that political sovereignty is quite
another.  We are, after all, speaking of Palestinian control over the
Temple Mount, in the very heart of Jerusalem, in the holiest place for
the Jews!  We should note who exactly greeted the Pope there: not just
any Palestinians, but leaders like Feisal Husseini, who is considered
the PLO 'Minister of Jerusalem Affairs,' and the Palestinian Mufti
Ikrema Sabri.  It was over this that the prophet cried! The State of
Israel has now effectively conveyed the message that it has forfeited
its claim on the Temple Mount."

Berkovitz was more critical of the government than of the Pope:  "I
think that his visit there represents another effort by this Pope to
reduce the alienation between Christianity and Judaism, and between
Judaism and Islam.

But first and foremost, his visit to the Temple Mount can be
understood in terms of its religious significance for Christians..." 
He rejected the suggestion that the sincerity of the Pope's apology
to the Jewish people must be questioned in light of his apparent
sanctioning of Palestinian control of the Mount: "The format for the
day's events were agreed-upon beforehand between Israel and the
Palestinians, and we therefore cannot lodge a complaint against the
Pope on this...

What he has to say about the future of Jerusalem, he has said clearly
at other times, but this visit cannot be understood to be a reflection
of that..."

3. PRESIDENTIAL MEETING
No word has yet been received on the results of the ongoing meeting
between Presidents Clinton and Assad in Geneva today - although a
recess has been called in order to allow the ailing Assad to rest.
Barak's administration is hoping that Assad will give his OK to the
resumption of talks with Israel, although Barak said today that the
chances for such are only 50%. The participants will not hold a press
conference after the meeting, which is expected to end this evening. 

The Golan Residents Committee held a demonstration today outside the
American Embassy in Tel Aviv, under the theme, "Don't Interfere,
Friend" - a take-off on Clinton's famous farewell to the late Prime
Minister Yitzchak Rabin, "Shalom, Friend."  Uri Elitzur, who served as
a top aide to former Prime Minister Netanyahu, wrote this week,
"Clinton will pull out all the stops in Geneva.  At stake for him is
whether his two lines in the history books will mention the Nobel
Peace Prize - or Monica Lewinsky."

Middle East expert Dr. Yossi Olmert told Arutz-7 today that, as of the
summer, the outgoing U.S. President will no longer be able to exert
real pressure on Israel - "although he is not doing much of that now,
anyway; Barak seems to be taking much of the initiative...  At any
rate, as the Presidential and Hilary Clinton's New York State
senatorial races heat up, President Clinton will turn into a
full-fledged lame duck, and even if a deal is signed soon, he will not
have enough time to push Congress for the aid to Israel and Syria that
would be part of the treaty."

Olmert observed that not only is Clinton on his way off the world
stage, "but Assad, too, for different reasons, is also on his last
legs.  This makes today's meeting crucial for those who would like to
see developments in the Israel-Syria negotiations...  Don't let the
pictures on television, where Assad looks healthy, deceive you; Assad
was groomed for this trip for some time.  I am not a doctor, but all
signs indicate that his process of physical deterioration continues.
At any rate, the fact is that the Syrian regime is braced for an
upcoming changing of the guard.  Not only Syria, but other countries
too are expecting the same, and the U.S. is certainly working with
this assumption."

Olmert noted that Israel has a "card" that it can use to its
advantage: the pending IDF withdrawal from Lebanon:  "The prospect of
a unilateral withdrawal, independent of any diplomatic deal with
Syria, apparently really upsets the Syrians.  If so, what is Israel's
hurry to sign a deal with Assad now? Israel could go ahead with its
plans to leave Lebanon, and maybe the Syrians will be willing to make
some concessions in order to avoid Israel's unilateral withdrawal."
Olmert noted, however, that the Barak government is not taking that
approach, "and is instead claiming that the upcoming period of
uncertainty is a reason to sign an agreement as quickly as possible."

***********************************************************************

Return to Newsgroup Archives Main Page

Return to our Main Webpage


©2011 Hebraic Heritage Ministries International. Designed by Web Design by JB.