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To: arutz-7@IsraelNationalNews.com
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@IsraelNationalNews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Sunday, December 24, 2000
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Sunday, Dec. 24, 2000 / Kislev 27, 5761 - Third Day of Chanukah
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. PALESTINIANS SHOOT, ISRAEL GIVES
2. THE CONCESSIONS
3. BARAK READY TO GIVE
4. FURY ON THE RIGHT
5. TEMPLE MOUNT LEADER SPEAKS
1. PALESTINIANS SHOOT, ISRAEL GIVES
Progress on the Israeli-Palestinian diplomatic front appears to be keeping
pace with that of the Palestinian shooting in Gaza, Judea, and Samaria. As
the negotiating delegations take a few-day break to discuss U.S. President
Clinton's final "bridging" proposals - calling for full Palestinian control
over the Temple Mount - the Palestinians continued last night and this
morning to attack Israeli targets throughout Yesha. A bus was shot at this
morning on the Netzarim-Karni road, a grenade was thrown at an IDF force
near Netzer Chazani, and an Israeli ambulance was stoned and damaged in
eastern Jerusalem. No one was hurt in these incidents.
Over the night, a roadside bomb exploded west of Ariel as a woman from Alei
Zahav drove by; her car was damaged. Palestinian terrorists shot at an
Israeli car near Elon Moreh, on Elon Moreh itself, and at Ofer Base. In
Gaza, IDF outposts at Dugit, Kfar Darom, N'vei Dekalim, and Rafiach were
shot at; no one was hurt.
Late Friday afternoon, three IDF soldiers were wounded - two seriously -
when a Palestinian suicide terrorist detonated a bomb at a highway cafe
near the Jordan Valley town of Mechola. The terrorist was killed; the
condition of the soldiers improved over the weekend. Jordan Valley
residents blocked Arab traffic on the Jordan Valley highway at two
intersections this morning, in what one Valley resident said today was
merely "a way of releasing steam." Itzik Miller of Shadmot Mechola told
Arutz-7 that the fury and frustration among the residents is tremendous,
"as the media acts as if the Jordan Valley has practically been given away
already, and people are in tremendous economic straits and security dangers."
Later in the day today, Palestinians shot on and damaged an Israeli car on
the Givat Ze'ev-Ofer road, and shot at the IDF Yasmin outpost near Ganei
Tal, in Gush Katif (Gaza). So reports Kol Rina, formerly known as HaKol
MeHashetach News Agency; founder Chaim Didovsky has now named it after his
wife Rina, who was murdered by Palestinian terrorists two weeks ago outside
Kiryat Arba. [Donations to the six Didovsky children, including Aviad who
will be Bar Mitzvah this week, can be made via the National Council of
Young Israel, with a notation earmarking it for the Didovsky Children Fund;
mail to: NCYI, 3 W.16th St., NY NY 10011, to the attention of Chana S.]
2. THE CONCESSIONS
"A going-out-of-business sale." So do nationalist-camp leaders term the
Israeli-Palestinian talks in Washington and the concessions that
resigned-Prime Minister Ehud Barak is prepared to make. The Israeli
delegation to Washington will land in Israel this afternoon, for a few days
of deliberations over Clinton's final "bridging" proposals. The government
tends to agree to the proposals, although only if the Palestinians do - and
they say they don't.
Clinton suggests that Israel agree to:
* a Palestinian state on 95% of Judea and Samaria and 100% of Gaza;
* the entry of 150,000 Arab refugees to Israel and their settling in the
Negev;
* and the transfer of full sovereignty of Arab-populated neighborhoods in
Jerusalem, such as Beit Tzafafa (in the south), Lifta (in the west), more
than half of the Old City, Mt. of Olives, and Beit Hanina (near N'vei
Yaakov) - and full control of the Temple Mount.
In exchange, the Palestinians will cede the "right of return" for other
Arab refugees from 1948, will announce the "end of the dispute" - and may
also agree to recognize an Israeli "affinity" to the Temple Mount. A
senior Israeli political figure who took part in the talks said that the
Palestinians were amazed at the Israeli concessions, but still refuse to
back off from their "right of return."
3. BARAK READY TO GIVE
Prime Minister Barak told his Cabinet today that every opportunity must be
seized to come to an agreement, "for if not, then within five to ten years,
the Israeli-Arab conflict will become nuclear." Health Minister Roni Milo
(Center) said he would not remain a member of a government that is willing
to cede Israeli sovereignty over the Temple Mount.
Maariv political commentator Eli Kamir told Arutz-7 today that the
government is not likely to deliberate on Clinton's proposals very
intensely during the coming days, as "Barak has already essentially made up
his mind to accept them, if the Palestinians do. Barak has never said so
formally, but from everything that is said off-the-record by Barak and
[Foreign Minister Shlomo] Ben-Ami, and from the way in which they are
conducting these negotiations, it is clear the government is prepared to
make the concessions in Jerusalem and the other concessions that are being
reported."
Kamir said that Ben-Ami told American-Jewish leaders recently that in any
event, "the Moslem Waqf is the controlling body on the Temple Mount, and
that all we want is to reach a peace agreement that says two things about
the Temple Mount: one, that we have made a concession in that we have
formalized the present situation and recognize it, but not total
sovereignty - and secondly, the preservation of 'that which is sacred to
Judaism,' meaning that the Palestinians promise not to carry out
excavations there, and to recognize all that is holy to us..."
Kamir likely based himself on a "textual emendation" of a Washington Post
report yesterday, which stated that Israel was willing to give up
sovereignty of the Temple Mount. The Jerusalem Post, however, quoted
another Israeli official as saying that it could not be that sovereignty
was offered. At issue is the exact wording used by Foreign Minister Shlomo
Ben-Ami in a phone call he received from the Conference of Presidents of
Major American Jewish Organizations two days ago. The Washington Post
reported that Ben-Ami noted that because "the Palestinians are in almost
full control" of the Temple Mount, he thinks that "we need to find a
solution that turns the practical conditions on the ground into a binding
reality in the agreement, but at the same time preserves the uniqueness of
the link between the Jewish people and the Temple Mount." The paper
interpreted this as a signal that Israel was willing to give up sovereignty
over the holy site. However, an unnamed Israeli official told the
Jerusalem Post, "The question is whether in the context of a peace deal we
can find a status acceptable to both sides. I'm sure Ben-Ami avoided the
word 'sovereignty.'"
4. FURY ON THE RIGHT
Likud MK Danny Naveh said that instead of fighting terrorism, Barak is
"giving away more and more." Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert says that Barak
never received a mandate to dismantle the State of Israel, and added, "What
kind of national disgrace is this that the Palestinians will agree to
recognize our connection to the Temple Mount? Who are these Palestinians,
anyway?!"
Rabbi She'ar-Yashuv Cohen, Chief Rabbi of Haifa, demands that the Chief
Rabbinate Council convene immediately and enlist in the struggle against
giving up the Temple Mount. Shas leader Eli Yeshai warns Barak not to come
to any agreement during the election campaign: "If government ministers
cannot make appointments during this period, then how much more so must the
government not come to diplomatic agreements." Religious MKs feel that
salt was placed on the wounds in that the negotiations took place on the
Sabbath; United Torah Judaism leader Meir Porush said that this is a clear
sign that the talks will not bear fruit.
5. TEMPLE MOUNT LEADER SPEAKS
Yehuda Etzion, a long-time activist on behalf of Jewish rights on the
Temple Mount, was saddened by the Israeli agreement to full Palestinian
control of the holy site. He told Arutz-7 today:
"The current situation is already catastrophic. For years, the Waqf has
been basically sovereign there, and for years we have been crying out
against what was essentially a Palestinian Islamic state there. From here,
the next step can only be full-fledged Palestinian sovereignty on the
Temple Mount, with international recognition, and apparently including the
setting of His Honor Arafat's seat of government on the Temple Mount. It
would mean the removal of the last vestige of Israeli sovereignty there,
namely, the Israel Police - which in any event acted as marionettes of the
Waqf - and its replacement by either an armed Palestinian police force or
possibly an international police force (if someone thinks that that is any
better...). All this on the site [speaking more slowly, emotionally] of
our Holy Temple, the place which the Holy One Blessed be He chose for His
dwelling place and for His meeting with the People of Israel."
"I would say that such a day, if, Heaven forbid, it actually arrives, is
almost another Tisha B'Av [the day on which both Holy Temples were
destroyed]. a reversal of the wonderful gift that G-d gave us during the
Six-Day War 33 years ago. I still pray that this day will not arrive, but
the fact that an Israeli government - even if it is in the twilight of its
power, and only days before it comes to its end - has decided to give away
the Temple Mount in such a degrading and humiliating way - humiliating for
all the generations of Jews, for all the Jewish prayers - this very
willingness is also a little Tisha B'Av."
Etzion said that "almost the heart of the problem" is the fact that over
the years, there was no massive support for the cause of the Temple Mount
within the nationalist and religious camp. "Chiefly the rabbis of Israel,
who should have been the ones to lead the way to the Mount - with great
pain, I would say that they are apathetic to the problem... Not only is it
not forbidden [for Jews] to enter the Temple Mount, but it is a commandment
to do so - not everywhere, of course, but the large areas where the Temple
itself did not stand. The problem is that [the rabbis have a] deep fear
[that Jews will walk in forbidden areas, or will not have taken the
necessary purification measures when entering the permitted places] that
stems from the Galut [exile] approach, of sitting and doing nothing, and
not taking the initiative, and not taking the responsibility... All these
doubts and inability to act are simply a cancerous disease of Galut that
unfortunately still grips us and our leaders..."
Continuing this point, Etzion said, "We [the national-religious camp] have
a complex by which we sanctify those ideals that secular Zionism sanctified
- such as Aliyah [immigration to Israel] and settlement, and in these areas
we even went further than them... But when we are called upon to renew the
real crux of the matter, to renew our bonds with the Holy Temple, and to
renew the Sanhedrin [the High Jewish Tribunal], to be truly renewed from
within, and to re-create the style of government and culture that the G-d
of Israel desires - here we are shown to be failing. This is just a
terrible thing..."
"And so, we have now reached our final test. Those of you who thought that
the time was not yet ripe, and that things had to develop as a step-by-step
process, etc. - we now see that the Mount has slipped away from us, the
heart is being uprooted in these very hours by the Prime Minister, and
possibly in an international agreement... 'Let us ascend to the Mount' -
if not now, when?"
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To: arutz-7@IsraelNationalNews.com
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@IsraelNationalNews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Monday, December 25, 2000
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Monday, Dec. 25, 2000 / Kislev 28, 5761 - Chanukah
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. RELAY-RACE OF GENERATIONS
2. BURG AGAINST TEMPLE MOUNT GIVE-AWAY
3. OLMERT VS. BARAK
4. ISRAEL WILL NOT SIGN ICC CHARTER
***SPECIAL INSERT: Excerpts from previous comments by Ehud Barak on
Jerusalem
1. RELAY-RACE OF GENERATIONS
Israel's two Chief Rabbis - Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau and Rabbi Eliyahu
Bakshi-Doron - demand of Prime Minister Barak that he not give away
the Temple Mount. "No one has the right to give away the site of the
Holy Temple," they said in a statement, and added, "The Temple Mount
is the basis on which rests our right to the entire Land." Rabbi Lau
explained to Arutz-7 today, "We are in a relay-race of generations,
and it cannot be that in the middle of the race, one of the
generations will simply give up and not transfer the torch to the next
in line." He said that Islam was only founded hundreds of years after
Judaism had already built two Holy Temples on the site, "such that
even if we cannot change the reality, we must certainly not give it
official legal status."
Rabbi Bakshi-Doron said this morning that the Chief Rabbinate's ruling
forbidding Jewish entry to the site should not be misinterpreted as a
surrender of the holy spot. Justice Minister Yossi Beilin said in
response that the question of sovereignty over the Temple Mount is not
one for rabbis or Halakhic [Jewish legal] decisors.
2. BURG AGAINST TEMPLE MOUNT GIVE-AWAY
Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg, a Labor party colleague of Prime
Minister Barak, is against giving away the Temple Mount. Burg, who
plans to meet with Barak today or tomorrow on the matter, said that he
also objects to giving away the Mt. of Olives and nearby areas. "It
cannot be that for 30 years every government promises that Jerusalem
will never be divided, and then at the moment of truth, it goes and
divides it," he said.
Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, on the other hand, has officially
recommended that Israel accept the proposals suggested by U.S.
President Clinton. Clinton's proposals went just a bit further than
Israel's last offer, and call for a Palestinian state on 95% of Judea
and Samaria and all of Gaza; the transfer of all Arab-populated
Jerusalem neighborhoods to the Palestinians; and the re-settling of
150,000 Arabs from other countries in the Negev. Yasser Arafat said
today that he will continue to review the Clinton proposals, but that
they do not appear to meet the Palestinians' minimum requirements.
3. OLMERT VS. BARAK
Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert commented emotionally last night on
Barak's willingness to divide Jerusalem:
"Barak will ask Clinton to pressure him to give over even more - I
have no doubt about it... Arafat will not accept [Clinton's current
proposals]. He sees that across from him [at the negotiating table]
are sitting a bunch of rags, people who have lost their inner
strength, so he says, 'Why shouldn't we pressure them to give over
even more?' ... I say again, Barak is dismantling and selling the
State of Israel. It has nothing to do with peace or reconciliation
with the Palestinians - it has to do only with politics and with
Barak's emotional and inner collapse... I have no doubt that this
decision [to divide Jerusalem] will wipe out any legitimacy that Barak
may have in history. Barak will symbolize the darkest hour of Jewish
history: the man who gave away, for the first time ever, our holiest
place to someone else - the place to which we prayed for 2,000 years,
the most essential aspect of everything that the Jewish people dreamt
for and hoped to return to... Along comes someone who has lost the
public trust, who has resigned as Prime Minister, and gives away the
Temple Mount... He deceived the nation [see Special Insert below].
He lied to me personally, but that's my personal problem. He lied to
the nation, and the nation will banish him in shame. This nation will
not exist if its right in Jerusalem is not recognized - and Jerusalem
is the Temple Mount."
The Land of Israel Front in the Knesset is back in business, and will
convene tomorrow for an emergency meeting with extra-Parliamentary
right-wing activists. The group's chairman, MK Tzvi Hendel, says that
the Front will not allow Barak to carry out a "fast one" for which the
entire country will pay dearly: "If Barak caves in to the Palestinian
demands on Jerusalem and Yesha, he will encounter a determined public
outcry that he will not be able to ignore."
4. ISRAEL WILL NOT SIGN ICC CHARTER
Israel will not sign the Rome Statute calling for an International
Criminal Court. In a meeting on the issue yesterday, Prime Minister
Barak accepted the position of Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein
over that of Justice Minister Beilin and Foreign Minister Ben-Ami.
***SPECIAL INSERT: Excerpts from previous comments by Ehud Barak on
Jerusalem
This past May, Prime Minister Barak spoke at a memorial ceremony at
Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem and said:
"Only one who does not understand the depth of the total
soul-connection between the Jewish nation and Jerusalem, and only one
who is totally estranged from the legacy of Jewish history, and from
the Jewish vision and life-song, and to the faith and the hope of
generations, could even begin to consider an Israeli concession on any
part of Jerusalem. Only one who does not understand that Jerusalem is
intertwined in the souls of our ancestors for 3,000 years, the focus
of our national yearning, the secret of its strength and existence,
could demand that we turn our backs on it. It will never come about!
For it is a matter of our national existence, and we only have one
Jerusalem."
Ehud Barak as head of the opposition, speaking in Ofrah in 1997:
"We have red lines: A united Jerusalem, under our sovereignty,
capital of Israel forever, period."
After the Wye Agreement, in late 1998, Barak responded to accusations
by then-Prime Minister Netanyahu that Barak would give away 90% of
Yesha; Barak told Arutz-7at the time,
"Netanyahu signed an agreement to give away 40% of Yesha to Arafat,
and the public now fears that he may even lead us to the 'worst of
all' and give away everything. A government under my leadership will
not give away 90%, and not 50%."
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To: arutz-7@IsraelNationalNews.com
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@IsraelNationalNews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Tuesday, December 26, 2000
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Tuesday, Dec. 26, 2000 / Kislev 29, 5761 - Chanukah
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. VILNA'I JOINS BURG, MILO
2. CABINET TO DECIDE
3. AGAINST GIVING AWAY PARTS OF THE NEGEV
4. ELON EQUATES VOTE FOR SHARON WITH VOTE FOR TEMPLE MOUNT
5. OLMERT TO MOVE TO WALL
1. VILNA'I JOINS BURG, MILO
Culture and Sport Minister Matan Vilna'i has added his voice to the
group of left-wing figures who are against giving away the Temple
Mount. "The Temple Mount is an issue too laden with emotions and
historical background to give up on it so easily," said Vilna'i today.
Health Minister Roni Milo said earlier this week that he would not
remain in a government that agrees to give away the Temple Mount, and
Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg has also come out against the idea.
Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef of Shas instructed his followers yesterday to work
to ensure that the Temple Mount remains in Jewish hands.
2. CABINET TO DECIDE
Prime Minister Ehud Barak will convene a special cabinet meeting
tomorrow to discuss the official Israeli position on Clinton's
bridging proposals. Clinton has suggested that Israel give over 95%
of Judea and Samaria and 100% of Gaza; grant sovereignty over eastern
Jerusalem and control over the Temple Mount to the Palestinians, and
allow 150,000 Arabs into Israel. The Cabinet is expected to agree in
principle to the proposals, with slight changes on which Israel will
elaborate after the Palestinians announce their position. The
Americans are reportedly planning a White House signing ceremony on
Jan. 10th.
The plan at present calls for Israel to retain sovereignty under the
Temple Mount, where the remnants of the Holy Temples lie. Palestinian
negotiator Yasser Abed Rabbo rejected what he called "this verbal
sleight of hand" and said that it returns the negotiations to their
starting point. PA Chairman Yasser Arafat said yesterday that the
American proposals will not suffice to remove all the obstacles, and
that therefore the road to peace is still a long one. U.S. President
Clinton has said that he is willing to entertain "minor comments" on
his proposals, but not major changes.
Barak is already planning to leave tomorrow for talks with Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah of Jordan, whom he will try
to convince to support the American proposals. Foreign Minister
Shlomo Ben-Ami is scheduled to leave for Sweden on Thursday in a
similar bid to garner diplomatic support.
Minister of Regional Development Shimon Peres - who recently delivered
an ultimatum to Barak demanding a peace agreement with Arafat by Jan.
20 - now believes that Barak has given away "too much, too soon."
Peres feels that the joyful reactions coming from Minster Ben-Ami and
his aides are greatly harming the peace talks, and give the
Palestinians the impression that further concessions from Israel may
yet be gained.
3. AGAINST GIVING AWAY PARTS OF THE NEGEV
Shmulik Rifman, head of the Ramat Negev Regional Council and a member
of the Labor Party, objects strenuously to one of the less-publicized
aspects of the budding Israeli-Palestinian agreement: the give-away of
part of the Negev - specifically, the Halutza Sands - to the
Palestinian Authority. This area is designed to compensate the
Palestinians for the areas of Judea and Samaria that Israel will
retain, such as Pisgat Ze'ev, Gilo, and Ma'aleh Adumim. Rifman said
he is against the idea for several reasons:
"Giving away this area means that we are essentially going back to the
Partition Plan of 1947 [which, because the Arabs did not accept it,
led to the War of Independence in 1948, in which Israel gained more
territory in borders that were internationally recognized]. For years
the argument amongst us has been whether to return to the 1967 borders
or not - but here we're going back to the 1947 borders! This means
that no border of Israel is safe... Secondly, I am against the idea
from a security standpoint. The towns that today straddle the border
are already in a dangerous position - now we'll cause a whole new
group of towns to be put into this situation. I assume that there
will be peace - but even so, we live in Eretz Yisrael, and we know
that things happen..."
Rifman said that he has so far not had success in getting the Negev
residents to begin public protests, but he will continue trying this
week: "We are losing the Negev, especially to the Bedouin, who are
snatching up every empty spot. Instead of developing it, we are
giving it away."
4. ELON EQUATES VOTE FOR SHARON WITH VOTE FOR TEMPLE MOUNT
"What is needed now is a massive outpouring of support for Ariel
Sharon," MK Benny Elon said today. "We must come out en-masse and
vote for him, in order to show that just the very talk of giving away
the Temple Mount is totally unacceptable to us." Elon said that the
situation is patently absurd: "Can you imagine if there was a
right-wing Prime Minister who had the support of only 29 MKs, and who
then annexed all of Judea and Samaria? Can you imagine the outcry?"
MK Elon said that Prime Minister Barak is putting the State of Israel
in a very dangerous situation:
"Ariel Sharon [who has declared that he will not fulfill any agreement
initialed by Barak] is about to be elected by a wide margin, and then
the entire world will say that we are a nation of war, that we have
rejected a signed or initialed international agreement. If we then
start explaining that Barak only initialed it, or that he did not have
a majority, who will pay attention?"
5. OLMERT TO MOVE TO WALL
Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert has decided to transfer his office to the
Western Wall. All the Mayor's meetings between this Thursday and next
Thursday will be held at his Western Wall office. Olmert will remain
in his office until the eve of the Fast of the Tenth of Tevet, which
commemorates the beginning of the destruction of the First Holy Temple
- the site of which the Western Wall was built 2000 years ago to
buttress.
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