To: arutz-7@arutzsheva.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@IsraelNationalNews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Thursday, June 22, 2000
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Thursday, June 22, 2000 / Sivan 19, 5760
------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. MERETZ OUT, SHAS BACK IN
2. YESHA COUNCIL WARNS OF WHAT LIES AHEAD
3. THE PLO'S MILITARY PLANS
4. BEILIN: LET PLO FLAGS FLY
5. SHALOM DISMISSES NATIONAL UNITY GOV'T
1. MERETZ OUT, SHAS BACK IN
The Shas party has rejoined the Barak government. At 3 PM today, the Shas
Council of Torah Sages instructed its ministers to withdraw their letters
of resignation, submitted Tuesday.
In a dramatic move last night, the three Meretz party ministers announced
on national TV their decision to resign from the government. The three
ministers - Yossi Sarid (Education), Ran Cohen (Industry and Trade), and
Chaim Oron (Agriculture) - subsequently handed in their resignations to
Prime Minister Barak at 10 PM. It was a "calculation for peace", Sarid
said. Referring to Shas' struggle to relieve Sarid of his responsibilities
over its school system, the outgoing Education Minister said: "I have no
more energy to continue the battles of the last 11 months, and we have
therefore decided to step down, support the government from within the
Knesset, in the hope that Shas' return will push forward the peace
process." Minutes later, the radio waves were a-buzz with speculation as
to whether Shas would accept the opening provided. Labor and Shas
negotiated throughout the night, in talks that lasted until 4 AM.
Shas leader Eli Yeshai emerged from an early-morning meeting with Rabbi
Ovadiah Yosef and calmly stated that the new situation had indeed "paved
the way back for Shas to the government." The party's Council of Torah
Sages then met for two hours to formally approve the party's return. A
race against the clock - the resignations were to have gone into effect at
3:45 PM - prompted Cabinet Secretary Yitzchak Herzog to utilize the
services of Voice of Israel radio to announce at 2:30 PM that the Shas
ministers "can even withdraw their letters of resignation by phone or fax."
Most of Shas' budgetary demands for its educational network have been
accepted by Barak negotiators. The Prime Minister has decided to assume
the Education portfolio for the next several weeks. Discussing his party's
about-face, Shas minister Shlomo Benizri said that his party had not come
to final agreements with Labor on educational funding, the licensing of its
radio stations, or the diplomatic process. "The details of the first two
issues will be ironed out over the next ten days and will then be brought
before the Shas Torah Sages for final approval. As far as the diplomatic
process goes, we have decided to join the National Religious Party (NRP)
and Yisrael B'Aliyah in backing Mr. Barak's trip to the upcoming Washington
summit, but we have given no assurances that we will accept the outcome of
the talks. The Council of Torah Sages will determine if the agreement is
reasonable." A reporter then asked: "Is the ceding of over 90% of
territory in Judea and Samaria a 'reasonable' deal?" Benizri: "I caution
you not to take at face value announcements by the Yesha Council or other
elements on the right..."
Yossi Elituv, a hareidi political correspondent, told Arutz-7 today that
Shas will assume a more "hawkish" role in the revised Barak government.
Minister Yeshai told reporters today: "We are not prepared to be a rubber
stamp on every issue in the diplomatic talks. Each issue will be decided
on its own merits.."
2. YESHA COUNCIL WARNS OF WHAT LIES AHEAD
The Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza (Yesha)
called an emergency press conference this afternoon, at which it is
expected to release up-to-date information on the budding Barak-Arafat
diplomatic deal. An urgent letter was dispatched by Yesha officials to
Shas leader Yeshai this afternoon, demanding that any revised coalition
agreement include a commitment by Barak to preserve Israeli sovereignty
over Yesha residents, their communities and approach roads.
In a parallel move, the Yesha Council is exerting intensified pressure upon
the National Religious Party not to wait for the transfer of Abu Dis to the
Palestinians, but to leave the government immediately. Council members
plan to meet with NRP Central Committee members to convince them of the
correctness of such a move. The leaders of the NRP and Yisrael B'Aliyah -
Rabbi Levy and Natan Sharansky - met yesterday, however, and agreed that in
light of the departure of Meretz, their two parties are bound to have more
influence on government policy and should remain in the government for the
time being.
Speaking with Arutz-7 today, Yesha Council Secretary-General Shlomo Filber
said: "We have information that, no matter what the composition of the
government, Barak is pressing on, without restraint, towards a deal with
the Palestinians and the fate of the Yesha settlement enterprise will be
sealed over the next two or three weeks... Anyone who hears the details of
the far-reaching concessions by Israel to the PA - his hair will simply
stand on end! The only thing that will stop Barak is pressure, both from
other parties, and from the Israeli public. We have our work cut out for
us - we have to wake up the public to what is being planned! Politically,
after Barak secures a deal with Arafat, he will have no more use for Shas,
Yisrael B'Aliyah or the NRP. He'll go straight to elections for a mandate
to implement the deal. Instead of backing Barak's trip to Washington, the
three parties should abandon Barak, and let him go to Washington as a
lame-duck Prime Minister with no coalition."
3. THE PLO'S MILITARY PLANS
Ariel Center for Policy Research Director Arye Stav has some chilling
details on what can be expected of the PLO army and its plans in the months
ahead. "Although the PLO does not boast a full-fledged, equipped army, as
do Egypt and Syria, other factors will come into play such that the PLO
will pose a strategic danger for Israel," Stav said. "Upon the declaration
of a Palestinian state, the PLO will mobilize an army of over 100,000
soldiers. The PA already possesses 12 divisions with a total of 50-60
thousand soldiers. Add to this another 20-30 thousand troops from
elsewhere in the Arab world that would quickly join an ensuing battle."
Arutz-7's Ariel Kahane asked: "You're saying that these Arabs will somehow
reach Israel?" Stav: "What do you mean, 'somehow reach Israel?' Many of
them are already here! The day after the announcement of a sovereign
Palestinian state, and the so-called right of return, thousands of others
will pour into the area - with their weapons."
Stav then added that a very large pool of well-armed Palestinians in
Lebanon, "who are not as organized
as those in Syria or Libya, have undergone basic training, and possess
large caches of ammunition. All told, the Palestinian army could reach
150,00-160,00 fighters. This compares with the 180,000 permanent soldiers
in the IDF. "Although the Palestinians will not have F-15 jets or Merkava
tanks, they can do great damage as an organic part of a large Egyptian-
Palestinian army," Stav said.
According to Stav, the Egyptians have quietly and steadily armed the
Palestinians since the onset of the Oslo Accords via shipments of
ammunition through tunnels in the Gaza Strip. "We don't have exact
figures, but the arms include hand-held missiles and anti-tank and
anti-aircraft missile systems. Working out of PA-controlled areas just five
to ten kilometers from Lod's Ben Gurion Airport, Palestinian soldiers could
virtually paralyze Israel's commercial air traffic." Stav observed that
the Palestinians have amassed huge quantities of light weapons, like
Kalatchnikov rifles, which can be purchased for $200 a piece in certain
locations in the Far East. Under Rabin, Israel provided thousands of such
rifles to the Palestinian Authority in the early days of Oslo. "Whoever
lives in Judea or Samaria surely hears the nightly firing of light weapons
in the framework of Palestinian training exercises. The IDF is aware of
this, but does nothing about it," he said.
4. BEILIN: LET PLO FLAGS FLY
Justice Minister Yossi Beilin, a leading figure in the negotiations with
the Palestinians, told the security cabinet yesterday, "I would agree to a
Palestinian flag waving atop the Temple Mount if that is the price for a
permanent agreement with the Palestinian Authority." Minister Sarid
agreed, and Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh, too, spoke of concessions
in Jerusalem. NRP Housing Minister Rabbi Yitzchak Levy spoke against the
"rush to concessions," and said that the agreement being formulated will
not lead to the end of the conflict but is only another interim stage.
Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein will meet with police representatives
today to discuss the illegal Waqf construction on the Temple Mount. The
police have prepared a "grave" report on the happenings on the Temple
Mount. Jerusalem Municipality representatives are upset that they were not
invited to the meeting.
Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert told Arutz-7 today that his municipal
representatives were not invited to today's meeting "because we aren't
pleasant to listen to; we present issues as they are and not in a distorted
fashion. But what I can I do? When I see archeologists and writers from
all sectors of society jointly labeling the Temple Mount desecration a
'crime,' I can't be silent. Aside from the destruction of a site of such
tremendous historical significance, what's going on is a brazen violation
of the law! The Waqf thinks it is in charge of the Mount, and nobody is
telling it any differently," Olmert said.
News Editor Haggai Segal cited the oft-heard claim that a decision by
Israel to enforce the law on the Mount would ignite the entire Middle East.
"I think that this approach invites the Arab reaction," Olmert responded.
"I'm not proposing going up on the Mount with tanks, but there is a law
that must be enforced, in a respectful way and in a manner that will permit
religious freedom for all." Mayor Olmert said that the city conducts
regular inspections to see what is going on there, but that Atty.-Gen.
Elyakim Rubenstein consistently stands in the way of the proper enforcement
of the law. The Jerusalem municipality's legal advisor is obligated
according to law to adhere to Rubenstein's instructions. If Olmert
attempts to press the issue, he must do so by hiring his own private legal
counsel, "which I plan to do," he asserted.
5. SHALOM DISMISSES NATIONAL UNITY GOV'T
In the deal struck between Labor and Shas today, the latter has reportedly
agreed to vote against the next Knesset reading of the bill to dissolve the
Knesset. The apparent collapse of the center-religious-right alliance that
had threatened the Barak government over the last month has made obsolete
the Likud's promise to Shas that it, the Likud, would not join a Barak-led
national unity government. Mayors from both the Likud and Labor parties
throughout Israel today circulated a manifesto calling for such a
government, and 50 regional council heads have already signed it.
Speaking with Arutz-7 today, Likud MK Silvan Shalom rejected such an
option. "There must be joint guiding principles on which such a government
could operate," he said, "and we are guided by a clear ideology that is
very different than that of Labor. Barak is prepared to give up the entire
Golan, and his failure to do so was not because of an argument over a few
meters on the Kinneret Sea, but because he knew it would not pass in either
the Knesset or a national referendum. Aside from also being prepared to
give up over 90% of Yesha, Yossi Beilin is prepared to have a PLO flag wave
over the Temple Mount, which, since it came into our hands, is recognized
as the holiest site for the Jewish people."
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To: arutz-7@arutzsheva.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@IsraelNationalNews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News Brief: Friday, June 23,
2000
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Friday, June 23, 2000 / Sivan 20, 5760
------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. BARAK: "PURE SPECULATION"
2. PALESTINIAN VIEW OF FINAL STATUS
3. AMERICAN-JEWISH LEADER ENDORSE SHARANSKY'S CONCERNS
1. BARAK: "PURE SPECULATION"
The media both in Israel and around the world have confirmed
yesterday's report by the Yesha Council on the contents of a draft
agreement between Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat. The Barak government
has agreed to withdraw from 90% of Judea and Samaria, including the
Jordan Valley; transfer 40,000 Yesha residents to Palestinian rule;
forfeit several Jerusalem neighborhoods to the Palestinian Liberation
Organization; and even to allow the return of a limited number of
pre-1948 displaced Arabs to within Israel. The Prime Minister's
office did not deny the report, but called it "pure speculation."
U.S. envoy Dennis Ross is now in Israel, attempting to prepare the
ground for the three-way Barak-Arafat-Clinton summit in two weeks'
time. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright will arrive in Israel by
mid-week. Ehud Barak is pressing hard to hold the summit, confident
that unsettled issues will be worked out there, although the Americans
are still not convinced. The Palestinians announced this morning that
Arafat would attend the summit only if Barak carries out the third
Yesha withdrawal beforehand. It was later reported that he would
agree to attend if the date of the pullback is determined during
Albright's visit. Arafat demands that Israel withdraw from another
42% of Yesha.
Prime Minister Barak has invited Shas leader Eli Yeshai, NRP leader
Rabbi Yitzchak Levy, and Yisrael B'Aliyah leader Natan Sharansky to
join him during the summit. They have yet to respond to the offer.
2. PALESTINIAN VIEW OF FINAL STATUS
Just what is the Palestinian vision of a final peace pact with Israel?
A special dispatch of the Middle East Media Research Institute
(www.memri.org) helps answer the question, via its
translation of a
June 9th article in the official Palestinian Authority daily, Al-Hayat
Al-Jadida. In the piece, "To Whom does Haifa belong?" columnist
Kheiri Mansur expands on Palestinian accusations that Israel forges
history and archaeology to "falsely establish its right to the Land of
Israel." Following are excerpts from the article:
*"The latest historical forgery committed in the Hebrew state is a
new book called 'Our Haifa,' published by the municipality of Haifa... The
authors of the book stole Haifa [from the Arabs] educationally and
tried to record their [alleged] historical ownership of the city... "
*"The question we ask after more than 50 years of occupation in
Palestine is this: to whom do Haifa and her sister cities belong? What
determines this ownership - the weapon and the military reality, or
the memory, the national conscious and the dream?"
*"Jewish authors and poets wrote about Haifa, Jaffa, Acre and even
Jerusalem, but it was all ideological imagination - no more, no less.
Analogies [made] between Arab texts and Hebrew texts about Palestine
reveal that the Hebrew ones are filled with forgeries and phony
anticipation. [whereas] the people who lived for centuries on their
own soil and under their own skies [i.e. the Arabs] were necessarily
created with the components of the venue. Their breath was mingled
with their ancestors' sigh and each relic brings back the echo of the
past."
3. AMERICAN-JEWISH LEADER ENDORSE SHARANSKY'S CONCERNS
Thirty prominent American Jewish leaders have signed a statement
endorsing Interior Minister Natan Sharansky's recent public warning
against the developing agreement with Yasser Arafat. In a letter to
Prime Minister Barak last month, Sharansky wrote,
"From the agreement being developed, a dangerous reality is being
created according to which Israel relinquishes, in advance, all of its
assets... Honorable Prime Minister, just as the struggle for the
independence of Israel, that reached its peak in the Six Day Way,
strengthened the people of Israel and deepened the feeling of its
identification with its State, so, to my sorrow, the developing
agreement, instead of increasing these feelings, will challenge the
standing of Israel and turn it into a state that relies on the
benevolence of the nations of the world. There is no doubt that this
change will affect the standing of the Jewish people in Israel and the
Diaspora, weaken the people, and reduce their ability to identify with
the State. This is a dangerous process, and I believe that the
overwhelming majority of the Jewish people living in Zion and outside
of it cannot agree to it..."
The Jewish-American leaders who endorsed Sharansky's letter include
ZOA President Morton Klein, former chairmen of the Conference of
Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations Julius Berman and
Leon Levy, former AIPAC Executive Director Neal Sher, and other rabbis
and lay leaders. "Mr. Sharansky, as a heroic Prisoner of Zion in the
then-Soviet Union, endured so much suffering in order to fulfill the
Zionist dream of living in a strong, independent Jewish State of
Israel. He exemplifies Jewish courage, morality, and strength. We,
the undersigned, share his concerns."
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To: arutz-7@arutzsheva.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@IsraelNationalNews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Sunday, June 25, 2000
Arutz Sheva News Service
<www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Sunday, June 25, 2000 / Sivan 22, 5760
------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. BARAK PRESSES FOR U.S. SUMMIT
2. SHARANSKY MAY "EXIT, STAGE RIGHT"
3. THE LATEST SHARANSKY LETTER
4. MOUNTING PROTESTS AGAINST GOV'T POLICY
1. BARAK PRESSES FOR U.S. SUMMIT
The US administration - concerned with the potential of an
embarrassing diplomatic failure - continues to link a Camp David
summit between Israel and the Palestinian Authority with the securing
of advance understandings between the two sides. Ehud Barak, for his
part, would like to see the summit held even without such
preconditions.
Yediot Acharonot's top story today reported on Yasser Arafat's demand
for PA sovereignty over the Old City of Jerusalem. According to the
report, Arafat is willing to discuss the idea of continued Israeli
rule over the Jewish Quarter, the Western Wall and Dung Gate. Public
Security Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, head of the Israeli negotiating team
to the final-status talks, says that the positions of the PA and
Israel "have never been closer," and that clarification of a few
misunderstandings is tentatively delaying the expected summit.
Tensions ran high at the weekly cabinet meeting this morning. In an
apparent attack on Justice Minister Yossi Beilin's acceptance of PLO
flags waving over the Temple Mount, Prime Minister Barak and Foreign
Minister Levy lashed out at ministers "who are publicly expressing
their views on the talks with the Palestinians....Such comments damage
the negotiations, weaken Israel, and give the impression that Israel
has given up on its principles." Barak remarked that the
Palestinians are trying to set conditions and make demands even before
the summit convenes. He called media reports about Israel's positions
"speculative and inaccurate."
Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman noted some of the remaining
points of contention between the sides. "The PA has not accepted
Israel's proposal to transfer the Jordan Valley to the PA after which
Israel will lease its settlements there from the PA for a period of
100 years. The Palestinians continue to demand 100% of Judea,
Samaria, and Gaza (Yesha). Israel currently insists on retaining 4%
of Yesha lands, however, the Palestinians are demanding in exchange
equivalent lands - meter for meter - in 'little Israel.' Barak
publicly opposes such an exchange, but his officials are doing their
homework on the subject. The Halutza region does not equal the 4%,
and this has prompted Barak's aides to consider expanding Jenin to the
north, towards the Jezreel Valley." Huberman noted that the PA has
not agreed to permit 40,000 + Jewish Yesha residents to remain in
their present communities under PA sovereignty.
2. SHARANSKY MAY "EXIT, STAGE RIGHT"
Prime Minister Barak assembled coalition party leaders this afternoon
to discuss the state of the coalition. He has also slated a meeting
with coalition party Knesset faction heads for Tuesday to discuss the
status of talks with the Palestinians. Meanwhile, Yisrael B'Aliyah
leader Natan Sharansky says that the government in its current form
has prematurely "come to the end of its term." At today's cabinet
meeting, Sharansky repeated his demand for the immediate formation of
a national unity government even before the much talked-about summit.
Sharansky added that, aside from Public Security Minister Shlomo
Ben-Ami, not one minister knows the details of the deal-in-formation
between Barak and Arafat. "I have had to get all of my information
from the newspapers," he lamented on Arutz-7 today. "The cabinet must
assemble to deliberate on Israel's position and reach a consensus on
the matter. If Prime Minister Barak heads to a summit without doing
this, my party will leave the coalition."
3. THE LATEST SHARANSKY LETTER
A pre-election chess match between Natan Sharansky and Ehud Barak last
year may have foreshadowed the present stage of their coalition
partnership. In his second letter to the Prime Minister within a
month, Sharansky offers an analysis of the Barak strategy for securing
an agreement that would earn the approval of the Israeli public.
After reviewing the latest reports of far-reaching Israeli
concessions, Sharansky writes:
"It is clear to you that the elements outlined above are not
acceptable to a number of coalition partners, I among them. At the
same time, you believe, and rightly so, that without these partners,
you do not possess the broad public support necessary to attend a
summit in America. Therefore, you have attempted to include the
coalition partners in a summit they oppose by claiming that 'in fact,
there is not yet an agreement, and in any case, any difference of
opinion that will be found among us at the time of the summit will be
addressed there.'
".. To bridge the wide gaps between you and your coalition partners
requires patience, time and discretion, none of which are afforded by
the atmosphere of a summit. Quite to the contrary - the disagreements
between us will be deliberated under the glare of the cameras. In the
end, we will be left with only one choice - to agree to an accord to
which we are opposed, or to reject it and return home. ... The option
to reject an agreement is unrealistic and would lead to the disgrace
of Israel before the world."
"...The agreement will then be brought to a referendum... After the
worldwide ceremonies and celebrations... a rejection [by the public]
would result in Israel finding herself in the most isolated
international position since the founding of the State. The fear of
this possibility will silence many of the agreement's opponents from
voicing their opposition - which perhaps is precisely what advocates
of your current strategy are counting on."
Sharansky concludes by congratulating Barak for his "clever strategy,"
but warns him that it is an inappropriate way to relate to both
coalition partners and the Israeli public, "particularly .. with an
issue that may determine the fate of this country and the fate of the
Jewish people in this generation and for many generations to come."
4. MOUNTING PROTESTS AGAINST GOV'T POLICY
Protests against Ehud Barak's plan for the future of Israel continue.
This morning, members of the "Forty Thousand Mothers" organization
demonstrated outside of the Prime Minister's office. Elsewhere,
Elkanah, Avnei Hefetz and Kochav Ya'ir residents protested outside the
homes of Barak and Minister Shlomo Ben Ami last night. In an
unprecedented move, the two Russian immigrant parties - Natan
Sharansky's Yisrael B'Aliyah and Avigdor Lieberman's Yisrael Beiteinu
- published a joint ad in the Russian-language Israeli press calling
for a giant immigrant demonstration against Barak's capitulation to
Arafat.
The Yesha Council sent 60 buses to the Tel Aviv/Gush Dan region today
to disseminate information about the dangers of a 92% withdrawal from
Yesha. "They're even reaching the traditional left-wing stronghold of
Shenkin Street and each cafeteria and home in the area," reports
Arutz-7's Kobi Sela. Activists prepared themselves for the day with
briefings on how to avoid provocative conversations with local
residents as well as to how end conversations on a peaceful note.
Yesha Council Secretary General Shlomo Filber says that preparations
are underway for a giant rally - on the scale of last winter's Golan
rally - in the event that Ehud Barak leaves for a summit with the
Palestinians.
A visit of coalition whip Ofer Pines-Paz to Rimonim and Kochav
HaShachar in Binyamin was cancelled today, after an urgent campaign by
the Yesha Council instructing community leaders to reject Ehud Barak's
recent overtures. Speaking with Arutz-7, Kochav HaShachar resident
Ariel Gross said he was pleased that the Pines-Paz visit did not
materialize. "We have to be careful not to fall into the trap.
Pines-Paz's views are known, and we were not about to change his mind.
There was therefore no point for him to come. It is just a tactic to
soften local residents and to give the public the impression that the
government was not about to evict residents 'until we have a chance to
speak with them.' Pardon the imagery, but his visit would have been
like having the slaughterer examine the throat of a cow in preparation
for the slaughter." Pines-Paz was clearly upset by both the metaphor
and the cancellation of his visit. He told Arutz-7 today that he was
not dispatched by Barak, but rather invited by community leaders
concerned with the impact of a final-status deal on the future of
their town.
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