HHMI Newsgroup Archives

From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@israelnationalnews.com>
To: <arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com>;<arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Tuesday, January 30, 2001

Arutz Sheva News Service
  <http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2001 / Sh'vat 6, 5761
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
   1. BARAK NOW WANTS TO MEET ARAFAT
   2. MEIMAD: NO POSITION ON BARAK

1. BARAK NOW WANTS TO MEET ARAFAT
Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who has changed his mind on several issues during his term in office, has done it again: He is now willing to meet Yasser Arafat before the election.  He had announced two days ago that he would not meet with him, in light of Arafat's incendiary speech against Israel in Davos. Barak's Office head Gilad Sher confirmed this morning that European leaders were mediating in efforts to set a time and place for the meeting.  He said, "Barak is not fickle; on the contrary, he is consistent in his pursuit of peace."  Palestinian sources said today that a Barak-Arafat summit was likely to take place later this week.

Political analysts assume that the goal of such a meeting would be a dramatic announcement that would help close the gap between Barak and Ariel Sharon in the Prime Ministerial campaign.  Possibly in preparation for such a development, Zalman Shoval - head of Sharon's international campaign - said today that Minister Ben-Ami had deceived the public when he claimed after the Taba talks that "Israel and the Palestinians were never closer to an agreement than today."  Shoval said that the Palestinian view of the talks was more accurate, and quoted chief PA negotiator Abu Ala as saying, "The gap in the positions of both sides has never been more obvious," while negotiator Saeb Erekat said, "the negotiations in Taba emphasized the size of the gap between the two sides' positions and the depth of the disagreements."

As if to emphasize this point, a senior Fatah official in Jerusalem said today that the Taba talks had proven that there is no point in talking with Israel - "not with Barak, not with Sharon, and not with anyone else" - and that the only solution was "armed struggle" against Israel.  The official added that the Judea-Samaria Fatah leadership voted unanimously today to escalate its violence against Israeli targets, in light of Israel's arrest of a Force 17 officer yesterday.

The IDF Intelligence Chief told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee today that the PA had come to the Taba talks not to reach an agreement, but only to squeeze out more concessions from the Israeli negotiators.

2. MEIMAD: NO POSITION ON BARAK
The left-wing religious Zionist party Meimad - a partner in the One Israel coalition - decided last night to refrain from a public endorsement of Ehud Barak.  The compromise decision may have prevented a split in the party; Rabbi Yehuda Gilad had threatened to join the National Religious Party if Barak had received Meimad's endorsement.  Party leader Rabbi Yehuda Amital said, "The partnership between Meimad and One Israel is dead;" the final straw was apparently Barak's recent campaign ad in which he promised public transportation on Sabbath, civil marriages, and the like.  Government Minister Rabbi Michael Melchior, on the other hand, said that Meimad must not make a decision that would help Sharon get elected.

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From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@israelnationalnews.com>
To: <arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com>;<arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Wednesday, January 31, 2001

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2001 / Sh'vat 7, 5761
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
   1. BARAK CANCELS "VISIT AND DISMANTLE" PLAN;  ADVICE FOR SHARON
   2. ROSS BLAMES ARAFAT 
   3. MORE TABA DETAILS

1. BARAK CANCELS "VISIT AND DISMANTLE" PLAN;  ADVICE FOR SHARON
Prime Minister Ehud Barak said last night, "Peace is within our grasp...  Just like we knew how to withdraw from and draw a line in Lebanon, we will know how to bring our boys back from Judea and Samaria!"  He had planned to visit Shomron [Samaria] today, for the first time in a long while, but local residents refused to meet with him and pressured him not to come.  The plan was for Barak to meet with and promise residents in Ofrah that their town would not be dismantled, and then, further north in the small community of Kadim, stoically break the news that there was no choice but to give away the residents' homes for the sake of peace.

Yesha Council head Benny Kashriel stated in response that the nation would not permit Barak to "sell out Jews as he did the Christians in Lebanon."  Shlomo Filber, General Secretary of the Yesha Council, explained to Arutz-7 today why he objected to Barak's plan: "When they start working in such secrecy and trickiness, it starts turning on alarm bells.  There was a series of signals:  First Barak's aides called [the people of] Kadim, in a very secret and mysterious manner, and said that they would like to meet with them, and then they added that they shouldn't tell anyone but possibly Ehud would come too... Then they called the Hershkovitz family [in the midst of the traditional week of mourning for their father and husband Aryeh, who was murdered by Palestinian terrorists on Monday], and asked if they could come. Then we saw that some reporters knew about a visit by Barak.  We realized that Barak needs some kind of major 'bomb'  for the weekend polls to be taken tonight, and we saw that he is talking about 'returning the boys home from Yesha' - so we decided that if this is his campaign gimmick, we don't work for him and we don't want to be involved in his campaign.  If Barak really wanted to meet with us, he could have come any time in the last four months during which we have been in mortal danger.  Barak's campaign managers decided that they need an authentic background against which he can tell the nation that we have to run away from here - he wants to come and stand on a Shomron hilltop and tell the nation how we have to run away just like we did from Lebanon.  And if he wants to come to Ofrah and promise the nation again that Ofrah will remain ours forever, then it's worth about as much as if he would promise not to divide Jerusalem."

Kahane asked Filber if he has any concrete and immediate demands from Ariel Sharon, on the assumption that Sharon will win the Prime Ministerial election.  Filber: "Yes, certainly.  The new government's very first meeting must be on how to solve the severe security situation that has arisen here.  The new ministers must not get up out of their chairs until they reach a decision that they will approve whatever solutions the army recommends, with no political restrictions or limitations."

Arutz-7 then put the question to Col. (res.) Moshe Leshem, head of Gamla Shall Not Fall Again:  "What can the new Defense Minister do to solve the security dangers faced daily by Yesha residents?"  Leshem: "A terrorist organization is like an octopus with one head and many arms.  What is happening in the field now is that we are exposed to many of its arms.  We see that in the recent double murder of Moti Dayan and Etgar Zaitouni [who were abducted last week while dining in a Tulkarm restaurant] they were taken to Ramallah by Jibril Rajoub - and we see that the murders in Binyamin were planned by Tawfiq Tirawi - and we see many murders and attacks planned by Muhammad Dahlan - and above all of these men sits Arafat.  This means that we don't have to work with forceps or pincers [to hit only the exact men who pulled the trigger].  Rather, we must strike at the high-level planners...  How can it be that we allow the VIPs to pass through IDF checkpoints, and continue to embrace Dahlan, while the murders that they plan are continuing every day?!  Just like in Lebanon, when the terrorist leaders were forced to hide every night somewhere else, and knew enough to be afraid of the long arm of the IDF - that's what has to be done here as well.  Sharon knows how to do this - he did it in Gaza in the 1970's, when there were hundreds of terrorists there, very cleverly and effectively."

Kahane then spoke to Likud MK Danny Naveh, and asked him, "Is this in fact how your new government will act?"  Naveh: "I can tell you in general that our approach to security will have to be very different than that of the present government, because the situation now is intolerable.  Regarding the exact details, it would not be wise for me to go into that right now.  Regarding negotiations under fire, I can tell you what I hear Sharon saying all the time: We will absolutely not conduct talks under fire.  There is no question that one of our very top priorities will be the restoration of the security of Yesha residents, and there is no doubt about this."

2. ROSS BLAMES ARAFAT
Reuters reports today that former American Mideast mediator Dennis Ross blames Yasser Arafat for rejecting the "fair and balanced proposal" suggested by ex-President Clinton for a peace agreement with Israel.  The Palestinians "are continuing the ideology of those who rejected the Partition Plan in 1948," Ross said.  Ross also criticized Israel for its continued construction on Yesha lands that, he said, were confiscated from Palestinians.  He blamed Yasser Arafat for not educating Palestinian youth about the advantages of peaceful co-existence, but "continued instead to educate to hostility in schools and in the media."

Efforts continue for a possible summit between Barak and Arafat, possibly this coming Sunday.  The Prime Minister had said this week that he would not meet with Arafat before next week's election - as a result of Arafat's hateful speech against Israel in Davos - but Barak spokesmen explained that Arafat gave a "conciliatory" interview to Israel's Channel 2 this week.  In addition, Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami said today, "Look, we're stuck with Arafat.  He's a very difficult partner, but the way to peace in the Middle East passes through him."

3. MORE TABA DETAILS
Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman reports on additional Israeli concessions made in Taba last week:  Ehud Barak's negotiators agreed to compensate the Arab refugees not only for their loss of property, but also for what was termed "the years of suffering of the Palestinian refugees."  The Barak team also agreed to cede Beit El and Ofrah to the Palestinians, contrary to Barak's specific promises of last year.

Another aspect of the Taba talks involves the construction of a new Palestinian city in the sands of Halutza, southeast of Gaza.  Ma'ariv reports today that the Palestinians had agreed that refugees would only be allowed into the Palestinian state-to-be-created, and that Israel would help build them a new city or two in Halutza.  Ramat HaNegev Council Head Shmuel Rifman, a Labor party member, wrote to Prime Minister Barak that he "cannot support a Prime Minister who has led me astray for the last several months."  Rifman said he wrote the letter after learning that Barak has in fact made an offer of a Halutza city to the Palestinians.  Saeb Erekat of the Palestinian negotiating team denied the reports, however, and said that the PA had rejected all Israeli plans regarding Halutza.  "Only minor issues were agreed upon in this matter, nothing worth relating to," Erekat said.

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Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Thursday, Feb. 1, 2001 / Sh'vat 7, 5761
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
   1. BARAK WON'T MEET ARAFAT
   2. BARAK IN YESHA
   3. REVELATIONS IN ISRAELI DOCUMENT
   4. TEMPLE MOUNT DESECRATION CONTINUES

1. BARAK WON'T MEET ARAFAT
Prime Minister Ehud Barak put an end to speculation that he might conduct one last pre-election summit meeting with Yasser Arafat, as his aides announced this afternoon that such a meeting was now out of the question.  Several reasons were given:  The continued Palestinian violence; the murder of Lior Atiya; the imminent election; and the lack of a clear purpose for the meeting.  Despite many recent reports in Israel, including by Barak himself, that an agreement was "within reach", PA officials continued to strenuously deny this week that a Palestinian-Israeli deal was imminent or near.

2. BARAK IN YESHA
Prime Minister Ehud Barak visited the Yesha community of Alfei Menashe today, despite the success of the Yesha Council in preventing a visit yesterday by Barak to Ofrah and Kadim.  Dozens of inhabitants of nearby towns demonstrated outside against Barak and his visit.  Alfei Menashe Mayor Hisdai Eliezer (Likud) explained to Arutz-7 today why he agreed to host Barak despite the Yesha Council's objections: "In my opinion, the proper thing to do when the Prime Minister wishes to visit is to accept him and greet him, even if I very much don't agree with him or with his far-reaching concessions to the Palestinians... We should look him in the eye and tell him exactly what we think - I think it's more effective that way, as well - and that's what I did.
I told him that it's impossible to understand how he can compare Lebanon to Judea and Samaria [Barak said two days ago that just as he withdrew from Lebanon, he will "bring our boys back from Judea and Samaria" - ed. note]...  If he wants to use this visit for campaign purposes, and cuts up and splices the film and only broadcasts what he said, I can go to the Likud campaign and offer to tell them what really happened and what I told Barak in response."

3. REVELATIONS IN ISRAELI DOCUMENT
For the first time, the government of Israel has officially stated that the Palestinian arsenal includes anti-aircraft missiles and cannons.  Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA ("www.imra.org.il") notes that
paragraph 141 of the Israeli report submitted to the Mitchell Committee - charged with investigating the violence of the past four months - states that illegal weapons held by Palestinian Police,
militia and other elements include machine guns; rocket-propelled grenades; anti-tank missiles; shoulder launched anti-aircraft missiles, cannons and machine guns; and more.  Lerner notes that the report was not released to the Israeli public until this morning when, in reaction to the placement of the Palestinian report to the Mitchell Committee on the PA's website, the Government of Israel also placed its report on the Foreign Ministry website.

The Israeli document, which was submitted a month ago, is emphatic that the Palestinian violence was not a reaction to Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount: "The groundwork for the violence had been laid long before this. Stung by the widespread appreciation in the international community that Palestinian inflexibility was responsible for the failure of the Camp David Summit, counseled not to declare a Palestinian state unilaterally on 13 September 2000 as had been planned, the Palestinian leadership looked to violence to 'create new facts on the ground...'" The document notes, in paragraph 173, that PA Security Chief Jibril Rajoub had specifically told Foreign Minister Ben-Ami that Sharon's visit to the Mount would pose no problem.  See the entire document at <"www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/go.asp?MFAH0jcb0">

4. TEMPLE MOUNT DESECRATION CONTINUES
Another four public figures have signed a petition against the desecration of the Temple Mount by illegal Moslem Waqf construction.  Former Supreme Court Chief Justices Meir Shamgar and Moshe Landau, ex-Jerusalem Mayor Teddy Kollek, and writer Amos Oz have signed the petition organized by the Committee to Prevent the Destruction of Temple Mount Artifacts.  The group maintains that the Waqf is continuing even now to excavate there extensively with no archaeological supervision.  In its most recent letter to Prime Minister Barak - who has the sole authority to prevent the desecration - the committee wrote that an aerial photograph taken early this week clearly shows that another very large area is being dug to a depth of up to a meter, which could destroy artifacts.

Excerpts from the letter:
"We are aware of the fact that we are at the height of an election campaign.  But despite our strong desire not to become a tool on the political battlefield, we cannot remain silent as we witness nonstop daily work on the Temple Mount - and when you do not prevent serious damage to the site.  The impression is that what is done on the Mount has completely avoided all control and supervision...  History, and academic and archaeological research, will not forgive you if you do not halt the terrible vandalism that is occurring before your eyes, with your knowledge and consent."

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From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@israelnationalnews.com>
To: <arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com>;<arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News Brief: Friday, February 2, 2001

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Friday, Feb. 2, 2001 / Sh'vat 9, 5761
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
   1. ELECTION NOTES
   2. MOSLEMS OUTLAW NO-RETURN AGREEMENT
   3. BARAK WENT TOO FAR

1. ELECTION NOTES
A poll published in Yediot Acharonot today shows that 65% of the Arabs in Israel do not plan to vote in Tuesday's election.  The poll finds that Sharon is leading Barak by 21%.  Other polls published today show margins of victory for Sharon between 17 and 22%... Meretz leader MK Yossi Sarid, quoting "Labor party elements," says that if Labor joins a national-unity government led by Ariel Sharon, several members of Labor will quit the party.  Meretz is against a unity government.  (MK Benny Elon of the National Union is in fact working for a unity government that will include Labor but not Yossi Beilin and Shlomo Ben-Ami.)  Sarid also said, "If Barak receives less than 45% of the vote, it will enable people to say that most of the public does not accept the Oslo process.  This is a responsibility that Barak will have to accept upon himself..." Center party MK Roni Milo - who recently resigned his position as Health Minister in the Barak-government in opposition to Barak's proposed division of Jerusalem - is apparently planning his return to the Likud.  He is likely to announce his endorsement of Ariel Sharon by Sunday.

2. MOSLEMS OUTLAW NO-RETURN AGREEMENT
Several Moslem religious leaders in the Palestinian Authority issued a ruling yesterday severely limiting the validity of a future Israeli-Arab agreement.  The ruling states that any agreement that
does not include the right of Arab refugees to return to their former homes in Israel is "null and void, and will not be binding upon the Palestinians."

3. BARAK WENT TOO FAR
"Ehud Barak has succeeded."  So announced political analyst Dr. Aaron Lerner on Arutz-7 English Radio last night, and explained why: "Barak has succeeded in achieving the goal he set when he first came to office: to demonstrate beyond the shadow of a doubt that a deal could or could not be made with the Palestinians based on terms that are anything close to being acceptable to Israel.  To prove this, Bark entertained terms far beyond the Israeli consensus: dividing Jerusalem and losing the Old City (not obscure outlying neighborhoods - the very heart of Jerusalem); giving up the strategically critical Jordan Valley and high ground in Judea and Samaria and a whole series of other measures that would make it literally impossible to defend the country...  And this still was not enough for the Palestinians.  But instead of moving on, Barak continues to talk about taking a few more steps...  Barak's ultimate downfall is that he has failed to announce the failure himself."

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Arutz Sheva News Service
  <http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Sunday, Feb. 4, 2001 / Sh'vat 11, 5761
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
   1. HAREIDIM FOR SHARON
   2. ARAB NATIONS PERPETUATED THE REFUGEE PROBLEM

1. HAREIDIM FOR SHARON
The rabbis of United Torah Judaism have come out with a call to vote for Ariel Sharon - though they don't mention him by name.  In return, the Likud candidate promised to extend the status quo - according to which yeshiva students receive yearly military exemptions - for an additional eight months.  The present arrangement is due to expire at the end of April.  Likud MK Ruby Rivlin said that nothing had been signed, but that Sharon had given his oral agreement to extend the law.  Rivlin explained that the extension is necessary because Sharon will be busy after the election with coalition negotiations and work on the national budget, and there will not be enough time to deal with the yeshiva-draft issue.   If the budget is not passed by March 31, new elections must be held.

Sharon plans not to speak on the media until the end of the election campaign this Tuesday; he even canceled a previously scheduled interview with Arutz-7.  Prime Minister Barak, on the other hand, granted an exclusive interview to Abu Dhabi Television over the weekend, and called upon Israeli-Arabs to vote for him.

2. ARAB NATIONS PERPETUATED THE REFUGEE PROBLEM
Whatever was or was not accomplished during last month's Taba talks, Israeli negotiators learned one thing:  the intensity of Palestinian feeling about the refugee issue.  HaModia newspaper reports that the Israelis came away with the feeling that there could be no Palestinian compromise on the demand for both repatriation and compensation.

To put the matter in perspective, Arutz-7's Yosef Zalmanson notes that the Arab refugee problem was both caused and perpetuated by the Arab nations.  The Arab nations, in the weeks preceding and following their declaration of war on the fledgling State of Israel in May 1948, encouraged the Arab inhabitants to leave, saying it would ease the victory which they guaranteed would not be long in coming.  After Israel's victory, however, the Arab countries made sure to keep the problem alive.  As Joan Peters, author of From Time Immemorial, recently told WorldNetDaily.com, "The Palestinians who fled or were ordered [by the Arab countries] to run from Israel - many of them recently-arrived nomads who had come for a job - those people could have taken over the positions that were left by the Jews in those Arab countries.  It could have been solved and it could have been one of the more humane solutions to the refugee problem anywhere in the world. There were many international boards of inquiry.  There were many recommendations by American and foreign presidents and prime ministers to solve the Arab refugee problem.  [But as] the Arabs said in the Arab League at that time, "We want to keep this as an open sore and use these people as a pawn against Israel."

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From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@israelnationalnews.com>
To: <arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com>;<arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com>
 Subject: Arutz-7 News: Monday, February 5, 2001

Arutz Sheva News Service
  <http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Monday, Feb. 5, 2001 / Shvat 12, 5761
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
   1. BARAK EXPLAINS HIS ZIG-ZAGS
   2. RABBI ELYASHIV: TOMORROW'S ELECTION IS CRITICAL

1. BARAK EXPLAINS HIS ZIG-ZAGS
Despite Prime Minister Barak's prediction that the gaps in the polls between himself and Ariel Sharon would begin to narrow in the days preceding the election, surveys released today and last night still show a 20% margin of victory for the Likud candidate.  Barak has not given up, however, and his supporters flooded 120 main intersections today with campaign literature.  Shlomit Amichai, Director-General of the Education Ministry, called upon school principals not to allow students to take part in electioneering today.

The Prime Minister has come out with yet another apology - this time for what has become known as his policy of zig-zagging.  In a campaign letter delivered to hundreds of thousands of citizens throughout the country, Barak writes, "I knew that I was entering a field strewn with mines, through which I would sometimes have to zig-zag in order to pass safely through."  Senior Labor party figures have criticized the letter:  "Barak's apology to the Arabs was acceptable, but it was not necessary for him to admit to having zig-zagged," one source told Ma'ariv today.  Barak's announcement that he does not plan to step down from the Labor party leadership even if he loses the election was also not warmly received in the party.

Barak continues to work hard for the Arab vote, but Arab MKs Bishara and Tibi said again today that the Israeli-Arab population would make its voice heard by abstaining in the election.  The Prime Minister verbally attacked Sharon and his alliance with the religious parties today, as evidenced by the hareidi endorsement of Sharon's candidacy this week.  The Likud, for its part, is concerned that the large gaps shown by the polls in favor of its candidate may lead to a low turnout among his supporters.
 
2. RABBI ELYASHIV: TOMORROW'S ELECTION IS CRITICAL
Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, one of the top leading Rabbinical authorities of the hareidi community, feels that voting in tomorrow's election is "even more important than in the last elections." He himself, as well as other leading hareidi rabbis, plans to depart from his normal routine and vote in the election, explaining that there is a danger of "an attempt to uproot Judaism if Barak wins."

Ariel Sharon is already making efforts to form a national unity government, and has asked Prof. Yaakov Ne'eman to begin the work. Ne'eman served as first as Justice Minister, then as Finance Minister, under Binyamin Netanyahu.  MK Silvan Shalom, one of Sharon's campaign managers, said that if Sharon's bid to form a unity government with Labor fails, he would try to form as broad a right-wing government as possible.  MK Benny Elon (National Union), a long-time proponent of a unity government, said that Sharon will first have to form a narrow government, and only afterwards will be able to invite Labor to join.

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From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@israelnationalnews.com>
To: <arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com>;<arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Tuesday, February 6, 2001

Arutz Sheva News Service
  <http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2001 / Sh'vat 13, 5761
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
   1. RELATIVELY CALM ELECTION DAY
   2. RELIGIOUS VOTERS COME OUT IMPRESSIVELY
   3. VERY LOW ARAB TURNOUT
   4. ARAB PAPERS WELCOME SHARON

1. RELATIVELY CALM ELECTION DAY
Shimon Peres has already jumped to some conclusions from the present election - on behalf of Ehud Barak.  "Ehud will have to draw conclusions from his failure," he told CNN today, saying that if Barak loses by a large margin, he would have to quit the party leadership. Peres said that Barak should have given him a chance to run in this election, "in light of the polls - which are, after all, the voice of the public."  Peres himself has been tripped up in past elections by polls which mistakenly predicted a victory for him.  Barak has said recently that even if he loses, he will not step down from the leadership of the Labor party.

2. RELIGIOUS VOTERS COME OUT IMPRESSIVELY
Many leading hareidi rabbis voted early this morning, hoping to set an example for their followers to vote for Ariel Sharon.  Rabbi Shalom Yosef Elyashiv even called upon mourners - who are forbidden by Jewish law to leave their homes except for specific reasons - to vote today, as well as mothers of newborns and the elderly in old age homes.

3. VERY LOW ARAB TURNOUT
A big disappointment for Ehud Barak is the very low Israeli-Arab voting rate: Currently hovering around the 10% mark, it is not expected to pass 25-30%.  In many Arab areas, groups of residents stood outside polling booths, trying to convince others not to vote. The voting rate in Judea and Samaria started out slowly, but stands now at 55%, well over the national average.

4. ARAB PAPERS WELCOME SHARON
"The Arabs and the Israelis will never forget the history of the Likud Party's terrorist leader Ariel Sharon, and his massacres against the Palestinians and the Lebanese."   (from Syria's official Tishrin) "Who is a better choice for the Arabs? Barak or Sharon? .  Both are hawks. The only difference is that one wears iron gloves, while the other silk.  But, deep inside they are all black, with no mercy in their hearts, with a record of never-ending crimes.  [We] must maintain our vigilance and be militarily prepared.  No matter who rules in Israel... our Army should be ready to deter any Israeli attempt at aggression."  (from Egypt's Al Wafd) "A complete revision of our economic, political, and social position is required to have the whole of Egypt standing behind the Army in case that Sharon attempts any foolishness once he wins the vote."

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