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From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@israelnationalnews.com>
To: <arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Thursday, January 18, 2001

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Thursday, Jan. 18, 2001 / Tevet 23, 5761
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
   1. THE SHARON PLAN
   2. SHARON MAINTAINS WIDE LEAD; BARAK PLANS "RELIGIOUS WAR"
   3. FEAR IN PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY

1. THE SHARON PLAN
Likud Prime Ministerial candidate Ariel Sharon's diplomatic plan, as publicized in Ha'aretz today, includes the following points: * A long-term interim agreement in which a Palestinian state will be established on the 42% of Judea and Samaria (Yesha) that is currently under Palestinian control (even if currently only administrative control); * no change in the status quo of the Jewish presence in Yesha - no new towns, and all the existing ones will remain; * no more closures or collective punishment on the Palestinian areas; * new communities in the Halutza Sands, which the Barak government had agreed to give to the Palestinian Authority; * massive Jewish construction in the Galilee; * no negotiations with Syria.

Likud MK Ruby Rivlin, speaking with Arutz-7 today, confirmed that Ha'aretz had, in general, accurately outlined Sharon's intentions.  Where did the reporter Aluf Benn get his information, Rivlin was asked?  "I can tell you that Sharon did not sit with Benn and divulge his plans," Rivlin said.  "What I think happened is that Benn heard Sharon speak many times over the past years, and he simply took out important excerpts and turned this into the 'Sharon Plan.'  In truth, I didn't see much here that was particularly sensational..."  (When asked what portfolio he would like to hold in a Sharon government, Rivlin said, "It is a bit too soon to have suits made, although it's not too early to find the addresses of some good tailors.  Sharon will decide what position to give me, but personally, I would very much like to be Minister of Justice.")

The Barak campaign team's reaction to the Sharon plan was sharp:  "Full of contradictions, and an insult to the public intelligence, just like the candidate himself." Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami said this morning that Sharon's plan exists only in his imagination:  "The era of interim agreements is dead.  The Palestinians have absolutely no faith in interim agreements, and we are also opposed to them.  They have only led to terror and to a Bosnia-like situation." Shimon Peres also, not surprisingly, was not enthusiastic about the plan.  "I don't believe it is possible to make peace without the Arabs," he said mockingly.

Yesha Council head Benny Kashriel said that Sharon's willingness to "part with 42% of Yesha - most of which is in already under Palestinian control - doesn't scare me."  Kashriel clarified that he is against a Palestinian state, "because that means a foreign army in Judea and Samaria, and this would be unacceptable.  I have no objections to a Palestinian autonomy on these territories, so that they can run their own lives - but not a state.  Furthermore, we must not give away any more land..."  Regarding Sharon's intention not to build additional communities in Judea and Samaria, Kashriel said, "What we need now is not necessarily more towns, but growth in the existing ones.  We have to get to a point where there are 500 families in each Yesha community."

An official Yesha Council statement takes a stand against the plan, asserting that after seven years of "failed Oslo," there is no justification to give Arafat a prize in the form of a state in the
heartland of Eretz Yisrael.

Sharon presented his plan to National Religious Party members today.  NRP leader Rabbi Yitzchak Levy encouraged Sharon to fulfill his commitment to establish a national-unity government; Prime Minister Barak has not made clear his position on this subject.  Regarding the Education Ministry, which the NRP deeply covets, Sharon was unable to totally reassure the party.  He did not completely renege on his declaration of a few days ago to allocate the Ministry to a Likud member, but said, "It will remain within our 'bloc.'  Don't worry, the NRP will not be deprived."

2. SHARON MAINTAINS WIDE LEAD; BARAK PLANS "RELIGIOUS WAR"
Three different polls carried out over the past two days - by the prestigious pollsters Hanoch Smith, Mina Tzemach, and Gallup - show that Barak continues to trail Sharon by some 18-20%.  Some in Barak's staff attribute the wide gap to the public perception that Peres may still replace Barak as Labor's Prime Ministerial candidate.  Peres refused to guarantee last night that he would ask his supporters to cease working to replace Barak with Peres.  In fact, as a result of today's polls, Peres supporters have taken to the streets with large placards reading, "Israel is Waiting for Peres."  Labor party leaders have said that, polls notwithstanding, the party simply does not have enough money to create another campaign for a new candidate.

Political affairs journalist Yossi Elituv, of the religious Mishpacha magazine, told Arutz-7 today that the Barak campaign is likely to shift its emphasis away from the pursuit of an agreement with the Palestinians, and focus instead on religious issues.  "The television ads on Sunday or Monday will already reflect this change," Elituv said, "assuming that no dramatic developments occur on the diplomatic front.  The Barak campaign will begin a full-fledged propaganda war against the hareidi public.  The reason for this is that Barak needs to bring back some 10% of the left-wing vote, as well as much of the new-immigrants vote, and this can happen only if he begins to use scare tactics.  He will tell the new immigrants that the hareidim want to control what the immigrants will eat, how they will spend their Sabbath, etc.  He will use this method even at the expense of strife and discord amongst the various population sectors."

3. FEAR IN PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY
The reign of terror in the Palestinian Authority continues.  The bodies of two dead Palestinians have been discovered in the past few days - one not far from Psagot, and one near Netzarim.  They are assumed to have been killed as part of the campaign against "collaborating" with Israel.  Other bodies of suspected informants have been found during the week, all near PA autonomous areas.  The PA has declared a period of clemency during which collaborators may turn themselves in, but Hamas leaders in Gaza have condemned the offer.  The terrorist organization demands that all informants be treated with an "iron fist."   Preliminary reports have been received this afternoon of yet another suspected collaborator who was shot today in Palestinian Authority territory in Hevron.

In addition, Palestinian security service agents last night arrested the photographer who filmed one of the two PA executions of informants five days ago.  The photographer, Majadi el-Arabid, works with foreign and Israeli news agencies, and his photos of the execution were screened in Israel and internationally.

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From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@israelnationalnews.com>
To: <arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News Brief: Friday, January 19, 2001

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Friday, Jan. 19, 2001 / Tevet 24, 5761
------------------------------------------------

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
   1. SHARON LEADS BOTH BARAK AND PERES
   2. ARAFAT OFFERS MARATHON TALKS
   3. ROSS' PARTING WORDS
   4.. LOVE FOR JERUSALEM UNDER FIRE

***SPECIAL INSERT: Avital Sharansky's speech at the "Jerusalem - I Pledge!" rally

1. SHARON LEADS BOTH BARAK AND PERES
The polls:  Today's weekly public-opinion polls - which themselves are attracting more interest as the election nears and as the Peres-Barak tensions intensify - show that the gap between Sharon and Barak remains wide, while Peres' small lead over Sharon has turned upside-down into a small lead for Sharon.  Potential voters said they would choose Sharon over Barak by a margin of between 18 and 20%.  If, however, Peres replaces Barak in the race - which he may do up until Feb. 2, four days before the election - he, too, would lose to Sharon, but only by 1%, according to the surveys published today.  Peres, to the consternation of Barak and his staffers, continues to keep his virtual candidacy alive by not stating in absolute terms that he will not run.

In other poll news, a survey by the Degani Survey Institute finds that more than half of the population feels that there is no point in continuing peace efforts given the current circumstances.

2. ARAFAT OFFERS MARATHON TALKS
It was decided this morning that Prime Minister Barak's "peace cabinet" will not convene today.   The cabinet was to have convened to decide on the government's response to Yasser Arafat's invitation to begin marathon talks next week.  Barak is against such talks, while most of his colleagues - Ministers Ben-Ami, Beilin, Shachak, and MK Sarid - are pressing for a "yes" answer.  The cabinet may convene tomorrow night.  Barak admitted publicly for the first time last night, on his nightly television political commercial, that the peace agreement he hopes to conclude will involve the "painful concessions" of dividing Jerusalem and giving away "more than 90%" of Judea and Samaria.

3. ROSS' PARTING WORDS
American mediator Dennis Ross, whose job will cease tomorrow with the inauguration of George W. Bush as President of the U.S., says that the Palestinian leadership misled its public about what would be achievable through negotiations and has missed a historic opportunity for a peace settlement with Israel.  He told The Jerusalem Post, "The Palestinians have to do more to tell the truth to their own public about what's possible and what isn't possible."  Regarding the current violence, he diplomatically blamed the Palestinians:  "It is difficult to see what possible stake Israel has in violence, and there are clearly some on the Palestinian side who seem to think violence serves their cause."  Ross said that what he most regretted was not having more effectively ensured that there was no incitement.

4. LOVE FOR JERUSALEM UNDER FIRE
The Barak campaign accused Avital Sharansky of calling for a "war" for Jerusalem - and drew the ire of her husband Yisrael B'Aliyah party leader MK Natan Sharansky.  Referring to her speech last week at the giant rally for Jerusalem, the Knesset Member said, "My wife described the Jewish people's love for Jerusalem wonderfully in the rally, and I was very proud.  It is a revelation to me that her words of love for Jerusalem can be interpreted as a call for war."  The Jerusalem Post reported that Sharansky said that his wife's speech had been praised all across the political spectrum, and that hundreds of requests for copies of the speech, from individuals and schools, had been received.  A complete translation of her speech appears below.

***SPECIAL INSERT:
The following is the text of the speech delivered by Avital Sharansky at the giant "Jerusalem - I Pledge!" rally on Jan. 8th.  Mrs. Sharansky led a years-long international struggle for the release of her husband - former refusenik Natan (Anatoly) Sharansky, currently a Knesset Member and leader of the Yisrael B'Aliyah party - from Soviet prison for his Zionist activities.

Jerusalem - together with the Temple Mount and the Western Wall - was not all that was liberated during the Six Day War.  Also liberated was the spirit of that part of the People of Israel that was caught behind the Iron Wall of the Soviet Union.  During the Six Day War, this spirit was revived and came to life, like a sleeping giant awakening from his slumber.  For the first time, we - millions of Jews who had been distanced from their land and their legacy - felt our Jewish identity.  We felt Jewish brotherhood, we felt Jewish pride.  We dreamt of a return to Zion, of our return home.

This dream drew tens of thousands and millions back to Eretz Yisrael, out of a feeling of great uplifting faith.  This belief is that which, in the end, knocked the Iron Wall to the ground, and broke an international superpower into tiny pieces.

Sylva Zalmanson, during her trial in Soviet Russia, read aloud to the judges the verse, "If I forget thee O Jerusalem, let my right hand wither."  My husband Natan, at the end of his trial there, when he was in genuine danger to his life, declared in unforgettable words, "Next year in Jerusalem."  We always knew that the liberty of Israel and that of Jerusalem are one and the same.

What is the connection between Jerusalem and world Jewry?  What power does this city have to arouse the entire House of Israel to new life?

Jerusalem has forever been the heart of the nation.  When the heart is healthy and strong, it streams life to the entire body, even to the distant organs.  "G-d is the builder of Jerusalem, He will gather all the dispersed of Israel," is written in Psalms.  When Israel liberated Jerusalem with G-d's help, vitality was restored to every corner of the Jewish nation; the flow of Jewish oxygen was renewed to Jewish communities in the Diaspora, to Jews in Moscow and Siberia, in New York and Melbourne.  The Jews of America, of Russia, of the entire world now live more complete Jewish lives, and their Jewish awareness is much stronger.  All this in the merit of Jerusalem - the heart of the nation, the heart that after 2,000 years of exile is now beating strongly once again.

As we declared a generation ago, let us announce once again all of us together here today:  "Am Yisrael Chai" - the People of Israel lives! A live nation does not allow anyone to harm his heart!

Jerusalem:  Thirty years ago, you restored to us our national Jewish identity and awareness.  You gave us a gift.  Today, thirty years later, we, appreciative of this kindness, gather in the shadow of your walls to assure you:  "We have not forgotten, you have not abandoned us and we will not abandon you."

When we worked for the freedom of our imprisoned brothers in the Soviet Union, we felt that we were the mouthpiece of hundreds of thousands who could not, or who were afraid to, speak out.  Today, too, there were people who wanted to speak out - but were afraid. Jerusalem was defined by some as a "political" issue.  To our great disappointment, there were those who surrendered and retreated.

But, "For Zion I will not be mute, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not be silent."  Just like thirty years ago, today too we are willing to be a voice for the Jewry of Silence - for all those who wished to be here but were not allowed to, or who did not find within themselves the courage to come.  We speak for them, and through us their voices, too, will be heard.

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From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@israelnationalnews.com>
To: <arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Sunday, January 21, 2001

Arutz Sheva News Service
  <http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Sunday, Jan. 21, 2001 / Tevet 26, 5761
------------------------------------------------

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
   1. BARAK, TRAILING IN POLLS, AGREES TO MARATHON TALKS WITH ARAFAT
   2. SHIFTING LINES
   3. TEMPLE  MOUNT DESECRATION REACHES NEW LOWS
   4. SHAS LASHES OUT AT BARAK

1. BARAK, TRAILING IN POLLS, AGREES TO MARATHON TALKS WITH ARAFAT A
marathon series of Israeli-Palestinian talks begins tonight in Taba, 16 days before the Prime Ministerial election.  Ministers Peres, Ben-Ami, and others of the "Peace Cabinet" convinced Prime Minister Ehud Barak to respond affirmatively to Arafat's invitation to hold such contacts, despite strong reservations by the Prime Minister.  The goal is to reach a "framework agreement" before the election.  The talks are scheduled to run consecutively for the next week to ten days, with four committees dealing with the following cardinal issues:  Jerusalem, borders, refugees, and settlements.

Labor party Minister Chaim Ramon said today that he objects to the Taba talks, calling them, "not appropriate, not ethical, not proper." Likud members in Eilat invite fellow residents to a demonstration tonight near the Taba border crossing against the talks.

Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman reported that the make-up of the delegations - Ben Ami, Beilin, and Shachak for Israel, and the PA's Abu Ala, Erekat, and Dahlan who is responsible for many murderous attacks against Israel over the past months - shows that the talks will deal with the "most fundamental" issues.  "There is no chance for a detailed agreement," Huberman said, "but they're hoping for a framework agreement."  The delegation will return to Israel in three days for "updating."  Huberman explained how Taba was chosen for the site of the talks:  "First of all, an anonymous Palestinian source said yesterday that there were new Israeli concessions on the Temple Mount, and he called them 'practically a breakthrough.'  Although this was denied by the Prime Minister's Bureau, it is borne out by the fact of the intense talks.  In any event, Mubarak got angry at Arafat for not telling him of the 'breakthrough,' and Arafat, wishing to pacify him, suggested that the talks be renewed at Taba, in Egyptian territory.  Mubarak agreed."

Huberman reported that Israel proposed that the Palestinians be granted sovereignty over the mosques on the Temple Mount, but not on the area in between; the Palestinians refused.

Likud Prime Ministerial candidate Ariel Sharon had strong words of criticism for the holding of the Taba talks:  "There is no doubt that the renewal of talks tonight is an attempted 'grab' for electoral purposes, by a government that does not exist."  Sharon reiterated today that he would honor any agreement that is accepted by the Knesset.

2. SHIFTING LINES
Prime Minister Barak emphasized to his Cabinet this morning the three "red lines" on which his negotiators would insist at the Taba talks. The exact wording of the three points were released by the Government Press Office as follows: * Israel will never allow the right of Palestinian refugees to return to inside the State of Israel. * Prime Minister Barak will not sign any document which transfers sovereignty over the Temple Mount to the Palestinians. * Israel insists that in any settlement, 80% of the Jewish residents of Judea, Samaria and Gaza will be in settlement blocs under Israeli sovereignty.

The Barak government's self-declared "red lines," as enumerated by Foreign Minister David Levy in November 1999, were as follows: "United Jerusalem under Israeli sovereignty, settlement blocs with most of Yesha's Jews under Israeli sovereignty, no return to the 1967 borders, and no foreign army west of the Jordan River."

3. TEMPLE MOUNT DESECRATION REACHES NEW LOWS
Desecration of the Temple Mount by the Moslem Waqf continues, with the permission of Prime Minister Barak - although he maintains that he has issued an order to stop it.  Archaeologist Dr. Gabi Barkai, of the Committee to Prevent Destruction on the Temple Mount, told Arutz-7 today that over the course of this past Sabbath, "We received reports that a tractor worked throughout the Sabbath, and that a 50-meter long trench was dug leading out of the southern entrance of the Dome of the Rock.  This is a tremendous violation of the status quo - the ancient floor, which has not been touched for hundreds of years, has been dug up.  All the earthmoving works that the Waqf has carried out until now were on the southern and southeastern areas of the Mount, which are a bit lower down, but yesterday for the first time they started digging up the upper level of the Temple Mount - where the Holy Temple itself stood, according to all archaeologists and rabbis."

Left-wing thinkers such as Shlomo Lahat, Chaim Guri, A. B. Yehoshua, S. Yizhar, and others have called upon Barak to stop the construction activities, "which is causing irreversible damage to the most important Jewish archaeological site in the world, and will be a cause for 'weeping for generations.'"  Dr. Barkai was not surprised at the ideological make-up of the list of signatories to the above declaration:  "This is not a political issue at all, but rather a cultural one - the Temple Mount is not only a national asset, but also a universal asset, and the damage being done now is simply irreversible."  When asked what seemed to be the Waqf's goal, Barkai said he did not know.  It was reported, however, that Israel's General Security Service believes that the Moslems hope to pave and turn the entire area into one big mosque compound, thereby preventing Jews from entering the Mount.

Last week, Prime Minister Barak issued permits for Waqf construction on the Mount, against the recommendations of Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein, the police, and the Antiquities Authority.  Barak said today that he had ordered Public Security Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami to close off the entrance through which the Waqf equipment enters the Mount.  Dr. Barkai said, "This is simply not true - all the works have been done, as far as we know, with his approval.  Barak apparently does not know what is going on there.  Heavy equipment and trucks are going in and out of the northern gates around the Mount, and 150 tons of dirt have been removed in the past weeks."

Ha'aretz reported that the Waqf had announced that it would halt all construction on the Mount on Sunday.  The Mufti of Jerusalem, Sheikh Ekrima Sabri, told Itim News Agency that there are no historical artifacts belonging to the Jews on the Temple Mount, and that Moslem construction and renovation work on all parts of the Mount is legitimate and legal.

8. SHAS LASHES OUT AT BARAK
The Shas party attacked the Barak campaign for its television ads of last night. The party says that last night's Labor campaign ads were "extremist, anti-religious, anti-Sephardic, disrespectful, ugly, and full of lies and incitement."  In the ads, Barak continued enumerating his mistakes of the past two years, and said that he should not have included Shas in his coalition.  He promised to pass legislation that would essentially bypass the Chief Rabbinate in terms of marriage and divorce, and would enable stores to open and public buses to run on the Sabbath.  A Shas statement warned today that, "Barak is liable to outlaw religion altogether."

The left-wing religious Meimad party, which has gone hand-in-hand with Barak's One Israel, is also angry with Barak for his secular-revolution campaign; Meimad leader Rabbi Melchior met with him today for "clarifications."

Kiryat Gat Mayor Lior Katzav - brother of Israel's President Moshe Katzav - was shown on one Barak ad praising and thanking the Prime Minister for his help for Kiryat Gat.  Today, Katzav explained that he supports Sharon, not Barak:  "The Prime Minister helped Kiryat Gat, but choosing a Prime Minister is a question of national, not local, policies."

President Moshe Katzav and his wife Gila set off this morning for Kiev, the first stop of their first Presidential trip abroad. They will visit Ukraine, Russia, and Georgia.  The Katzavs are accompanied by a delegation of some 50 people, including Deputy Foreign Minister Nawaf Masalha, army generals, and industrialists.  In addition, two soldiers from Russia and Ukraine have been included on the trip; they will get to see their families for the first time in over a year.

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