HHMI Newsgroup Archives

To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Wednesday, June 13, 2001

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Wednesday, June 13, 2001 / Sivan 22, 5761
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. NON-AGREEMENT AGREEMENT BEGINS
2. BARGOUTI: SHARON'S TEMPLE MOUNT VISIT DIDN'T CAUSE WAR

1. NON-AGREEMENT AGREEMENT BEGINS
Although CIA Director George Tenet did not succeed in hammering out an agreed-upon ceasefire between Israel and the PLO, both sides have agreed to act as if some agreement has been reached. What this means is that the sides agree to disagree, for instance, on the matter of the arrest of wanted Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists; Israel will not insist that they be arrested within the next two days - but Palestinian elements say they will never be arrested. Israel insists that there be absolutely no violence for the next 48 hours. If this in fact occurs, and if Israel sees that steps are being taken to reduce media incitement and prevent terrorism, the IDF will begin redeploying its soldiers and removing encirclements; the question of the arrest of the terrorists will then be raised again. Tenet left Israel this afternoon.

The Palestinians are already promising not to adhere to the ceasefire, both in word and deed. Marwan Bargouti, Tanzim head and leader of Arafat's Fatah organization in Judea and Samaria, said today that the ceasefire agreement applies only to the areas under total Palestinian control - but that in other areas, the Palestinians will "escalate their attacks and the intifada." Spokesmen for Islamic Jihad and Hamas similarly said that they do not accept the ceasefire, and that they will continue with the intifada. Other PA officials said they would not arrest wanted Islamic Jihad and Hamas terrorists, nor will they form the required buffer zones between their forces and Israel's.

2. BARGOUTI: SHARON'S TEMPLE MOUNT VISIT DIDN'T CAUSE WAR
Marwan Bargouti, secretary-general of Arafat's Fatah movement in Judea and Samaria, told the Jerusalem Times last week, "the intifada did not start because of Sharon's visit," but that the violence "began because of the desire to put an end to occupation and because the Palestinians did not approve of the peace process in its previous form."

Other similar statements of the past few months (assembled by the ZOA):

* PA cabinet minister Imad Faluji said at a rally in Lebanon on March 3, 2001 that the violence "had been planned since Chairman Arafat's return from Camp David..." (Jerusalem Post, March 4, 2001)

* PA cabinet minister Ziyad Abu Ziyad was asked by the Lebanon's ANN Television on April 19, 2001, "Does the PA have a tactical or strategic plan regarding the conduct of the conflict with Israel, or is the issue just a daily improvisation and response to Israeli activity?" He replied: "Had we not had a plan, we would not have endured so long. Whoever improvises becomes confused and loses his balance and his way. Our path is very clear ... Whoever follows the events can see that there is a clear Palestinian track. The events on the ground are neither spontaneous nor an improvisation."

* Mustafa Bargouti, head of the PA's Palestinian Medical Relief Services, told the on-line "Palestine Report" (May 2, 2001) that large numbers of paramedics were given emergency medical training on the eve of the violence: "Some institutions, such as the Medical Relief Services, made prior plans for emergencies. Before the Intifada, we trained a first aid team of 11,500 paramedics. These people did an excellent job during the Intifada."

* U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Edward Walker was asked at a March 2000 Congressional hearing if it is reasonable to conclude that the violence was planned well before Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount. Walker replied: "They said as much. So I think a reasonable person could assume that." (Jerusalem Post, March 30, 2001)

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To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Thursday, June 14, 2001

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Thursday, June 14, 2001 / Sivan 23, 5761
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. GSS AGENT ISRAEL'S LATEST TERROR VICTIM
2. REACTIONS
3. CEASEFIRE ROUND-UP
4. SHARON TO DISMANTLE OUTPOSTS

1. GSS AGENT ISRAEL'S LATEST TERROR VICTIM
An Israeli General Security Service agent - 45 year-old Col. Yehuda Edri of Ma'ale Adumim - today became the latest victim of the ongoing PLO mini-war against Israel. Traveling with his bodyguards this morning along on the Tunnels Road in Gush Etzion, Edri was on his way to meet with an Arab contact with whom he had worked for some time.  At the northern tunnel, a vehicle stopped and the contact, Hassan Abu Sha'ayra, got out. The Arab approached Edri's vehicle, drew a handgun, and fired at Edri and the passengers at point-blank range.  Col. Edri died immediately while one of his bodyguards was injured moderately in the neck and jaw. Informant-turned-terrorist Abu Sha'ayra then began to flee the scene, but an alert second (uninjured) guard accompanying Edri pursued the terrorist and shot and killed him. Abu Sha'ayra had previously spent approximately two years in a Palestinian Authority prison for collaborating with Israeli security agents.

2. REACTIONS
The political establishment was quick to respond to today's murder. National Religious Party leader Rabbi Yitzchak Levy said "Less than 24 hours after the PA's official declaration of a cease-fire, another Jewish person has been sacrificed on the altar of 'the policy of restraint'..." Minister of Tourism Rechavam Ze'evi called upon Prime Minister Sharon to immediately announce the end of the Tenet cease-fire. Continuing with the cease-fire, Ze'evi asserted, would only lead to the additional spilling of Jewish blood.

Minister of National Infrastructures Avigdor Lieberman said: "There is no cease-fire and no cessation of attacks. It is impossible to achieve any type of peace agreement until the other side realizes who is in charge here."

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon did not seem to accept the advice of his government colleagues; he was content to announce that today's murder of Col. Edri has simply "re-set" the 48-hour countdown required to implement the cease-fire. According to the Tenet-brokered deal, the Arabs must take a 48-hour hiatus from their round-the-clock attacks before Israel withdraws its forces and military hardware from key areas in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Sharon added that while restrictions were being relaxed in many areas, there would be no troop withdrawals from regions in which attacks continue. He cited the Ramallah, Shechem and Rafiach areas as examples of the latter.

Jewish residents of Gaza are already alarmed with the reopening of many roads to Arab vehicular traffic; these routes once again permit PA residents to drive dangerously close to Jewish communities in the area. Kfar Darom resident Efrat Badicihi said today that members of her community are also perturbed by the removal of concrete barriers and other protective devices around Kfar Darom. Until now, the objects have prevented Arab motorists from coming within proximity of Jewish homes there.

3. CEASEFIRE ROUND-UP
Israel announced that the cease-fire agreement officially began on Wednesday, June 13, 2001, at 3:00pm. Since the official start of the cease-fire, however, nothing much has changed for Yesha residents. In Gaza, the mortar rockets continue to rain down on Jewish communities. Overnight, Arabs continued to attack IDF positions with gunfire and grenades.

According to Avigdor Shatz, chief of security in the Benjamin Regional Council of the Shomron, the cease-fire "is certainly being discussed by the politicians but has little basis in reality." Major-General Giora Eiland of IDF Policy and Planning said that the events of the past 20 hours are "far from the required minimum to actualize the cease-fire." Eiland added that "Israel would not grade the PA's performance every two or four hours" but that there would be a meeting following the 48-hour implementation period. As mentioned earlier, Prime Minister Sharon has announced that - following today's murder - the 48-hour period has been restarted.

Senior PA official Saeb Erekat told reporters today that although the PA would "attempt to comply" with the latest US initiative, Yasser Arafat never signed any cease-fire agreement. Arafat has already declared that his forces will not capture Hamas or Islamic Jihad terrorists.

4. SHARON TO DISMANTLE OUTPOSTS
Ariel Sharon's ceasefire commitment apparently also includes the dismantling of Yesha security outposts. Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer today confirmed a report that Sharon issued verbal commitments to foreign leaders that he would dismantle 15 encampments established over the past months. Sources in the Prime Minister's Office say that Sharon made the decision based on "security and other considerations" - but vehemently deny that the pledge is part-and-parcel of the ceasefire agreement.

Yesha officials are opposed to the uprooting of outposts, which, they note, increase security for Israeli motorists traveling the roads of Judea and Samaria. The officials asserted that if any civilian outposts are in fact uprooted, they must be replaced by military posts.

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To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News Brief: Friday, June 15, 2001

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Friday, June 15, 2001 / Sivan 24, 5761
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. CEASEFIRE VIOLENCE CONTINUES; ARABS PROTEST AGREEMENT
2. OFFICIAL P.A. INCITEMENT AGAINST YESHA JEWS
3. TEN-DAY BOYCOTT OF THE NY TIMES

1. CEASEFIRE VIOLENCE CONTINUES; ARABS PROTEST AGREEMENT
"There is no ceasefire." So did an Army Radio reporter sum up the situation last night, in light of the non-stop Palestinian violence and attacks against Israeli targets ever since the agreement brokered by CIA director George Tenet went into effect Wednesday afternoon. In Shechem this afternoon, 1,500 Arabs stormed Joseph's Tomb and yelled slogans against the ceasefire agreement. Near Halhoul in the Hevron area this afternoon, hundreds of Arabs marching with PA flags began stoning Israeli cars, including an ambulance. Kol Rina News Agency reports that soldiers arrived and dispersed the rioters by shooting in the air.

The Aboud bypass road near N'vei Tzuf, in central Binyamin north of Ramallah, was again the site of a serious Palestinian shooting incident last night. Three residents of N'vei Tzuf were hurt - two with moderate-to-serious wounds - as they were returning home. Arab terrorists have perpetrated many similar ambush shootings in the same area in the past few weeks, killing Lt. Ya'ir Nebentzal and wounding several others. Hundreds of N'vei Tzuf residents demonstrated this morning at the site of last night's shooting, demanding better security. O.C. Central Command Maj.-Gen. Yitzchak Eitan, who arrived on the scene, told them that beginning tomorrow night they would be permitted to travel only in pairs of cars.

Other Palestinian "ceasefire" attacks yesterday and last night included a mortar rocket attack against Morag (southern Gaza); Arafat's Fatah claimed responsibility for the five shells that were
launched. In addition, hundreds of Arabs rioted against IDF forces, hurling rocks and trying to tear down the area security fences.  Soldiers were forced to used live fire to disperse the rioters. An IDF position near Ganei Tal in Gush Katif (Gaza) was attacked several times by gunfire last night. This morning, Arabs in Hevron threw 15 firebombs at an IDF position; no one was hurt, and soldiers did not return fire, in accordance with the new strict open-fire regulations.  These stipulate that soldiers must not return fire under any circumstances unless live fire is being shot at them at that moment.

An Arab resident of the Hevron area was killed late Wednesday night in a drive-by shooting attack in the Mishor Adumim-Anatot area. Although a group calling itself the Shalhevet Gilad Brigade claimed responsibility, ostensibly in revenge for the murders of Shalhevet Pass and Gilad Zar, military sources expressed "skepticism" that such a group actually exists. IDF IDF Yesha Commander Brig.-Gen. Benny Gantz stated that preliminary findings indicated that Arabs perpetrated the attack, believing they were firing on Jews - just as occurred the night before, when Palestinian terrorists mistakenly murdered a Greek monk. Police continue to investigate.

Despite the continued Palestinian attacks throughout Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, senior IDF officers will meet today with their PA counterparts to discuss how to "continue" implementing the "cease-fire." Itim News Agency quoted a security source to the effect that further relaxations of security measures will be taken on behalf of the Palestinian population. Israel intends to open additional roads in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza, and plans to open the Rafiach crossing in southern Gaza this Sunday.

2. OFFICIAL P.A. INCITEMENT AGAINST YESHA JEWS
At least one more of Israel's demands during the past eight years - and specifically during the recent negotiations under the auspices of CIA director George Tenet - does not appear to be being fulfilled: the demand that the PA cut down on its official incitement against Israelis. None other than PA Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo called on Palestinians this morning to "teach the settlers the lesson they deserve." Speaking with Voice of Palestine Radio, Abed Rabbo said that there exists a "terrorist organization of settlers, which is an arm of the extremist forces in Israel and the backbone of the Sharon government. They must be taught a lesson. They commit crimes everywhere." The Yesha Council, contacted by Ynet for a response, said, "This lowly murderer is not worthy of a response. It is too bad that the government is willing to invest more Jewish blood in its attempts to placate Arafat and his allies."

3. TEN-DAY BOYCOTT OF THE NY TIMES
Angered by what he sees as persistent bias against Israel in The New York Times' coverage of the 9-month-old intifada, Rabbi Haskell Lookstein of New York's Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun is urging a limited ten-day boycott of the paper. Rabbi Lookstein has asked Jews to cancel their subscriptions and not buy the paper during the ten days from Rosh HaShanah until Yom Kippur (Sept. 18-27). This period is symbolic both for its "introspective" nature and in its marking the first anniversary of the beginning of the Rosh HaShanah Arab Assault against Israel.

Jonathan Mark writes in the Jewish Week that Rabbi Lookstein noted several glaring aspects of the Times' coverage of the current war and related items. These include the paper's "generous acceptance" of the Palestinian view of the situation (blaming Ariel Sharon's Temple Mount walk for the violence, blaming the settlements for the crisis in spite of Israel's offer at Camp David, and creating a moral equivalence between the murdered Israelis and the Palestinians killed in the midst of attacking Israelis); a photograph of 30 anti-Israel protestors on the day of the Salute to Israel parade - and no photos at all of the over 100,000 pro-Israel participants; a "correction" of the report on the terrorist murder of Sarah Blaustein in which the paper wrote that she had "immigrated not to Israel but to the West Bank;" and more.

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To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Sunday, June 17, 2001

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Sunday, June 17, 2001 / Sivan 26, 5761
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. UNITY PARTNERS BRIEFLY QUARREL
2. CEASEFIRE ATTACKS LESSEN, ISRAEL CONTINUES GESTURES
3. PM SHARON: SETTLERS LEAD THE WAY
4. COALITION INSTABILITY
5. IN BRIEF

1. UNITY PARTNERS BRIEFLY QUARREL
Two three-way meetings scheduled for today have been postponed or canceled. Palestinian security leaders refuse to sit with Israeli officials and American representatives until tomorrow, in protest of what they call Israel's refusal to fulfill the terms of the Tenet agreement.

In addition, Yasser Arafat had requested that Foreign Minister Shimon Peres meet with him and UN Secretary-General Kofi Anan in Ramallah today. However, Prime Minister Sharon turned down the request, saying this would violate the principle of not negotiating under fire. Peres was miffed at this response, and loudly criticized Sharon at today's Cabinet meeting. Knesset Members of both the coalition and the opposition called on Sharon and Peres not to squabble, and to preserve the national unity government. Shas leader Eli Yeshai said that it is Arafat's desire to dismantle the unity government. Peres himself attempted to minimize the damages afterwards, saying that he and Sharon agree on the outline of the Mitchell Report and disagree only on several measures to be taken during the period of the ceasefire.

Anan, who met with Arafat in Ramallah yesterday, met today with President Moshe Katzav, Foreign Minister Peres, and the Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Dan Meridor. He later visited Shevach School in Tel Aviv, which lost seven past and present students in the Dolphinarium slaughter two weeks ago. Last night, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Anan talked in Jerusalem for over two hours. On the agenda: the Lebanese border dispute with Hizbullah and the "ceasefire" with the Palestinians. Anan said that the disputed Shab'a Farms are definitely not Lebanese.

2. CEASEFIRE ATTACKS LESSEN, ISRAEL CONTINUES GESTURES
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, speaking from Paris this afternoon, said that the Palestinians are not observing the ceasefire as called for in the Tenet agreement. Earlier, IDF officials acknowledged a "certain reduction" in Palestinian violence, but noted that Arafat is not taking the necessary steps in the war against terrorism such as arresting terrorists. Tanzim head Hussein A-Sheikh said that his organization has decided to accept Arafat's ceasefire orders. Israel Radio reported last night, in the name of "senior Israeli government sources," that arch-terrorists Muhammed Def and Abu Hanoud are preparing terrorist attacks and Arafat has not ordered their arrest or that of other Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists. The sources say there will be no negotiations or implementation of the Mitchell Report if Arafat does not stop the terror and violence.

Despite the continuing Palestinian attacks, Israel continues to relax security restrictions on PA residents, in keeping with the US-brokered ceasefire agreement: Fishing privileges for PA residents have been extended, the Rafiach Crossing to Egypt and the Allenby Bridge to Jordan have been opened, the closure was removed from Jericho, and roadblocks and checkpoints continue to be removed. Israeli and Palestinian officers jointly toured the Netzarim Junction area in Gaza this afternoon, in an effort to oversee the implementation of the ceasefire.

The Yesha Council announced today that it has learned that the Sharon government has instructed the IDF to lift the closure on all cities in Judea and Samaria, with the exception of Hevron and Ramallah. The Council warns that this decision will lead to a bloodbath, and that the responsibility for such lies with the government that "prefers to ignore the warning signs that Arafat has long posted on this path."

3. PM SHARON: SETTLERS LEAD THE WAY
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon paid a condolence visit this afternoon to Benny and Bat-Sheva Shoham, whose five-month-old son Yehuda Chaim was killed in a rock-throwing attack two weeks ago. Benny told the Prime Minister, "If public figures would make sure to begin every speech by saying that this is our Land and our State, this would strengthen the public, and it would also re-invigorate the leaders and restore their strength." Sharon agreed: "I have not an iota of doubt as to our total rights to Eretz Yisrael and Jerusalem. We may have erred in not emphasizing this more." The Prime Minister said that just as in the past, there were small groups who led the way, "the Yesha residents today are the model that should be imitated."

4. COALITION INSTABILITY
The secretariat of Yisrael B'Aliyah - a faction within the National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu Knesset party - will convene tonight to consider its continued membership in the government coalition. At issue is Prime Minister Sharon's continued restraint in the face of continued Palestinian aggression. MK Yuri Stern told Arutz-7 today that his party would probably not bolt the coalition at this point. "We don't believe that giving ultimatums is the language in which to speak with Sharon," he said.

5. IN BRIEF

U.S. President George Bush told the Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations today that Yasser Arafat would not be invited to Washington until Palestinian violence stops. So announced Conference Chairman Mortimer Zuckerman...

More evidence that the ongoing warfare was planned by the Palestinian Authority well before Ariel Sharon's visit to the Temple Mount:  Ha'aretz reported on Sept. 18, 2000, ten days before the visit, that, "Over the past several weeks, the Palestinian Authority has granted extended vacation leaves to dozens of jailed Hamas and Islamic Jihad activists, among them militants who were involved in serious terror attacks against Israel..."

PA leader Yasser Arafat has sent a letter of thanks to Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, expressing his gratitude for Castro's continuing support for the PA. Castro headed a mass march this weekend calling for the establishment of a Palestinian state...

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

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Monday, June 18, 2001 / Sivan 27, 5761
------------------------------------------------

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. SHARON: WAR NOW WOULD BE A MISTAKE
2. ISRAEL REMOVES MORE SECURITY RESTRICTIONS
3. PALESTINIANS IN JORDAN

1. SHARON: WAR NOW WOULD BE A MISTAKE
Prime Minister Sharon attacked the Yesha Council's call, saying that he will not accept its demand to declare war. "To take this nation to war today would be a mistake of the first-degree," he said at a meeting of coalition factions today. "There are many things that we have to do - but not to take the nation to war. There are times where there is no choice, but this is not the case at present."

The Prime Minister said that the PA's ceasefire violations are constantly on the increase, and that Arafat has neither stopped the incitement nor arrested terrorists. "There is a limit to Israel's ability to hold back," he continued. "Israel will stand on every dot of the Tenet agreement, and will not implement the next steps of the agreement until the Palestinians fully carry out the previous steps." MK Tzvi Hendel told Arutz-7's Yosef Zalmanson that he very much hopes that Sharon has not trapped himself into the position of "threatening not to fulfill the Tenet agreement instead of threatening an actual offensive against terrorism. I hope that he is merely posturing himself and the nation for the time, not far away, when the entire country will understand that the only option we have is to fight terrorism head-on and dismantle the Palestinian Authority. I do not agree with him, however, that it has to take this long to 'educate' the country on this point..."

2. ISRAEL REMOVES MORE SECURITY RESTRICTIONS
Despite the above, the IDF continued removing the closures from all PA cities, including the particularly tight one around Ramallah, and from around Halhoul near Hevron. The Ayosh Junction between Ramallah and Beit El was opened for traffic last night for the first time in months. In addition, the army announced today that it had opened approximately a dozen routes for Palestinian traffic. Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman reports that the army has reinstated the Oranit checkpoint in western Shomron, leading to heavy traffic jams for the Jewish residents traveling back and forth to the Tel Aviv area.

American officials are not satisfied with the level of the ceasefire.  Both U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and outgoing American Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk said this morning and last night that although the Palestinian violence has been reduced, "it is still not quiet."

Before today's deadly terrorist attack, Israel announced that, as a result of the ongoing terrorist attacks and the PA's refusal to arrest Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists, it is demanding an emergency meeting of high-level senior security officials to discuss the PA's failure to comply with the Tenet ceasefire agreement. A planned lower level trilateral meeting of security officials scheduled for yesterday was postponed.

3. PALESTINIANS IN JORDAN
An article in yesterday's Los Angeles Times does not quote exact statistics, but says that many Arabs are leaving Judea and Samaria for other countries. It notes that at least 20% of the student body in Al Najah School in Ramallah (kindergarten through high school) have already left, while at the Quaker-run Friends School, 15% of the students will not return next fall. Dr. Alex Bligh, Middle Eastern expert from the College of Judea and Samaria and a former advisor to the Prime Minister on Arab Affairs, told Arutz-7 today that exact numbers are unavailable, "but I don't think they reach the level of 100,000. There is definitely a stream of people leaving. Some 40% of the Arab population in Judea and Samaria is under the poverty line, and 1/3 are unemployed." Yediot Acharonot reported that four full busloads of disappointed Palestinians left for Jordan each day, over the course of several weeks. Bligh said that Jordan no longer allows Palestinians under the age of 50 to enter, "as the population there already has more Palestinians than others, although here too the exact numbers are in dispute; somewhere between 55% and 70% are Palestinian."

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