HHMI Newsgroup Archives

To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com
From: Arutz-7 Editor <feedback@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Wednesday, July 11, 2001

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Wednesday, July 11, 2001 / Tammuz 20, 5761
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. MA'ARIV: ARAFAT ORDERS DAILY KILLINGS OF YESHA RESIDENTS
2. SHARON AND THE GOLAN
3. MK TIBI HITS JEW

1. MA'ARIV: ARAFAT ORDERS DAILY KILLINGS OF YESHA RESIDENTS
Ma'ariv newspaper's front-page story today states that Yasser Arafat has instructed his men to "shoot at settlers and kill a settler every day." A "very trusted source" told Ma'ariv that "the decision-makers in Jerusalem" have received a report stating that Arafat instructed Muhammad Dahlan not to dare arrest terrorists. Though the report allegedly states that Arafat forbids shooting from within Area A (under total PA control) and terrorism within the Green Line, it also notes that Arafat told Fatah leaders, "Don't pay any attention to what I say on television or publicly. Listen only to my written instructions."

The report comes two days after Foreign Minister Shimon Peres reported that Arafat had given orders to crack down on terrorism, order a ceasefire, and arrest terrorists. Jibril Rajoub, head of PA Preventive Security in Gaza, told Abu Dhabi television today that the PA has no plans to arrest terrorists.

Neither the Prime Minister's Office nor Public Security Minister Uzi Landau has yet responded to the report. MK Michael Kleiner said today, "Arafat certainly meets the criteria of those who have been the targets of our 'liquidations' until now. If the government would rather simply exile him, that's also fine with me."

2. SHARON AND THE GOLAN
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said that Israel must make it a priority to enlarge the existing Jewish towns in the Golan Heights and increase the Jewish population throughout the Golan. Visiting the area yesterday for the first time since taking office, Sharon said that only in this way can Israel guarantee that Jews will remain in the Golan forever. Syria continues to demand that Israel agree to a full retreat from the Golan Heights. Sharon says he is willing to talk with the Syrians, but without any Syrian preconditions.

3. MK TIBI HITS JEW
Knesset Member Ahmed Tibi brought Arab violence to the Knesset yesterday when he slugged an Israeli citizen during a committee session. The civilian, Yehuda Levinger, security officer of Jerusalem's Ramat Shlomo neighborhood, filed a complaint with the police.

The incident occurred while the Knesset Interior committee deliberated the problem of illegal Arab construction. Levinger was there to represent his neighborhood which, the residents claim, is slowly but surely being encroached upon by illegal Arab construction from nearby Arab neighborhoods. Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert, who had been invited to give his point of view on the matter, was yelled down and insulted by several of the Arab MKs. Speaking to Arutz-7 today, Levinger picked up the narrative at that point:

"Committee Chairman Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) was forced to expel Arab MK Issam Mahoul because of the way he was shouting and insulting Olmert, in an attempt to divert the discussion to the demolition of illegally-built Arab homes in northern Jerusalem the day before. As Mahoul left, he called for 'reinforcements' in the form of other Arab MKs, and Gafni finally had to close the session. At that point, MK Tibi started totally losing control - he's known to have been involved in violence of this nature other times - and started yelling. I didn't even say anything to him, but he apparently heard someone next to me say something like, 'Would they let them speak like this in Syria?' He then turned and punched me. I screamed at him, "Why are you hitting me, idiot?" and then he again pulled my arm, until others came and took him away from me."

Knesset Education Committee Chairman Zevulun Orlev (NRP) said today that the problem of verbal violence in the Knesset, "which is generally instigated by one sector [the Arabs]," is a severe phenomenon that must be addressed by Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg. Likud MK Ze'ev Boim accused Burg of being unduly forgiving of such behavior by Arab MKs.

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To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com
From: Arutz-7 Editor <feedback@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Thursday, July 12, 2001

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Thursday, July 12, 2001 / Tammuz 21, 5761
------------------------------------------------

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. RESTRAINT-POLICY UNDER ATTACK
2. OPTIMISM REGARDING SHARON'S TRIP TO ITALY
3. CALLING ON EU TO "BACK OFF"

***SPECIAL INSERT: WALL ST. JOURNAL ANALYSIS OF ARAFAT'S HISTORY

1. RESTRAINT-POLICY UNDER ATTACK
Today's two terrorist attacks (see below) have made but a slight change in official Israeli policy and statements. Coalition whip MK Ze'ev Boim said that the "hourglass of the restraint policy has reached the moment of truth." Minister Dalia Itzik (Labor) acknowledged today that the right-wing ministers are increasing their pressure upon Sharon to put an end to his restraint. She said she hopes that Sharon will persist in his restraint despite the continuing attacks. This may or may not occur, however; for the first time in several weeks, Israeli tanks fired 10-15 shells towards Shechem and the southern slopes of Mt. Eval; a PA officer was reported killed.  The army also destroyed a Palestinian military position nearby, one that had been actively involved in facilitating local terrorist attacks, and took over a hilltop in the village of Kalil overlooking the road leading down from Har Brachah, south of Shechem.

The Yesha Council called today on the army to immediately activate the plan to stabilize security, featuring the distancing of Arafat and the dismantling of the PA, "the largest terrorist organization in the world." The Council, together with Mateh Ma'amatz and Kiryat Arba residents, will hold a demonstration outside the PM's house at 7:30 tonight, demanding, "Expel Arafat and Restore Security." 

The Hevron Jewish Community responded sharply to today's attacks: "Sharon's continued policy of restraint in the face of the daily attacks on Yesha residents proves that the government, too, has accepted Arafat's instructions to 'murder a settler every day.' The government and the one who stands at its helm will not be spared accountability for the fact that the settlers' blood has become expendable, and the bill will yet come."

Another call to "end the restraint" came today from Deputy Minister Yuri Stern (Yisrael Beiteinu), who said that Israel must begin a worldwide information campaign to prepare world public opinion for a military offensive against the PA. He said that the army must be ordered to re-take the Abu Sneineh hills in Hevron.

Prime Minister Sharon's reaction to the events of today: "There will be an Israeli response, accompanied by our efforts to maintain open roads in Yesha and the implementation of our natural right to self-defense. Today's very grave attacks show that the PA is not fulfilling its share of the Tenet Agreement." Sharon said that there is no threat of war, but "we must remain on guard." He said that Israel has given the PA the names of 70 Palestinians engaged in enlisting suicide bombers and other acts of terrorism, but the PA has done nothing. It was learned today that the PA had placed four terrorists, still armed, in private apartments for their own protection, and with total freedom of movement.

2. OPTIMISM REGARDING SHARON'S TRIP TO ITALY
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon departed this morning for a day-long visit to Italy, where he will meet with the President, Prime Minister, and Foreign and Defense Ministers. Sharon will also fit in a meeting with local Jewish leaders. Italy's Prime Minister Berlusconi is considered to be Israel's top supporter among European leaders. Maariv correspondent Eli Kamir said that Sharon has set himself a goal, in addition to Shimon Peres' trips around the world, of attempting to present to world leaders "facts and figures" on the extent of Arafat's terrorism against Israel. "The particular importance of this visit, however," Kamir continued, "lies in the fact that Italy, together with other 'Southern Europe' countries such as Spain and Portugal, has traditionally followed France's lead in accepting anti-Israel resolutions in the European Union. Every EU resolution must pass unanimously, and Sharon now feels that with this new Italian leadership, there is a chance to improve the situation."

3. CALLING ON EU TO "BACK OFF"
Fifty-two Knesset Members have signed a petition calling on the European Union to cease its monetary intervention in Israel's internal affairs. The letter follows revelations that the EU contributed great sums to left-wing organizations in Israel in an attempt to influence public opinion here. The petition also demands that the EU publicize all the bodies to which it has given money over the years. The letter, addressed to EU Rotating President Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, states that the European Union "should refrain from any attempt to influence the internal democratic process of another democratic state." The MKs, who include eight government ministers and nine deputy ministers, expressed their "shock and outrage at this attempt at achieving political purposes."

SPECIAL INSERT:
A commentary article in The Wall Street Journal on July 9 by assistant editorial features editor Robert L. Pollock is entitled, "Arafat Always Goes Too Far." Pollock writes that Arafat has wreaked havoc in Jordan in the late 1960's, in Lebanon in the 1970's - both times bringing down his hosts' wrath upon him - and that a similar situation seems to be unfolding now in Israel. Some excerpts:

"In 1970, Palestinians, both citizens and refugees, were almost as numerous in Jordan as King Hussein's own Bedouins. Mr. Arafat used the estimated 20,000 Palestine Liberation Organization fighters in Jordan to exercise control over much of the Palestinian population. In many parts of the country, he was the de facto government. The king had grown increasingly worried that Mr. Arafat posed a threat to his regime, and cross-border attacks into Israel and other acts of PLO terror had put intolerable strains on his relations with the West. The last straw came on Sept. 6, when the PLO hijacked four civilian airliners... The Jordanian response became known as Black September. An estimated 2,000 PLO fighters and several thousand more Palestinian civilians were killed [and] within 10 months they were driven out of the country.

"As the world waits to see whether the current, fragile ceasefire will put an end to nine months of low-level warfare between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, the past may prove instructive. For, in essence, we've been here before... [Arafat's] history, wherever he has gained a territorial foothold, has not been that of a reliable or even rational partner, even with potential Arab allies. His history is one of pushing too far.

"...Within months of their expulsion from Jordan, Mr. Arafat and the PLO were setting up shop in Lebanon and tearing at the fabric of that country too. Lebanese Christians, particularly, resented suffering the Israeli retaliations that the PLO's cross-border raids provoked. In April 1974, for example, the PLO killed 18 at Kiryat Shmona and 20, mostly schoolgirls, at Maalot, both in northern Israel. The early '70s were also boom years for PLO terrorism on the international stage. The year 1972 alone saw PLO groups blow up a West German electricity plant, a Dutch gas plant and an oil refinery in Trieste, Italy; kill, in conjunction with the Japanese Red Army, 24 at Israel's Lod airport; and massacre 11 Israeli athletes at the Munich Olympics...

"Flush with money from his Arab and Soviet sponsors, as well as an income tax levied by the Gulf states on Palestinian workers, Mr. Arafat quickly built up a state in much of Lebanon. By 1975, he had some 15,000 troops under his command, with many more associated paramilitaries, and was acquiring tanks and anti-aircraft guns.  PLO-affiliated conglomerates, including one controlled by Ahmed Qurei [Abu Ala], who would later negotiate the Oslo Accords, monopolized everything from shoes to baby food. Billions of dollars flowed through the PLO, the only thorough record of which seemed to be a small notebook Mr. Arafat carried on his person. His underlings levied arbitrary taxes on the Lebanese, and practiced other forms of extortion, car theft and racketeering. [In] 1975, Christian rage boiled over, and Lebanon's long civil war began... [by the end of which] 40,000 had been killed. And in subsequent years, PLO attacks into Israel continued, provoking more Israeli retaliation. The endgame began in June 1982, when renewed PLO attacks on Israel coincided with an assassination attempt on the Israeli ambassador in London. Prime Minister Menachem Begin ordered Defense Minister Ariel Sharon to send Israel's armed forces into Lebanon to drive out the PLO... On Aug. 30, [Arafat] left for Tunis, while his forces dispersed to other Arab countries. The Lebanese would suffer eight more years of the civil war he provoked.

"...[The] pressing question is what the future holds for the little war now going on in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. Mr. Arafat's history in Jordan and Lebanon suggests this is headed for no good end. From internal corruption and abuse of power, to the repeated breach of agreements, to the apparent use of territory as a base for terrorism, the situation of today's Palestinian Authority is strikingly similar to those two prior episodes... If Prime Minister Sharon soon feels compelled to act decisively against Mr. Arafat, as he did in 1982, and as King Hussein did in 1970, it would behoove the world to think carefully about where blame for the continuing Palestinian tragedy really lies."

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To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com
From: Arutz-7 Editor <feedback@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News Brief: Friday, July 13, 2001

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Friday, July 13, 2001 / Tammuz 22, 5761
------------------------------------------------

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. AP: ARAB ACCUSATIONS REGARDING BABY'S DEATH WERE LIES
2. SHARON SENDS EMISSARIES TO ARAFAT: WE'RE NOT TALKING TO YOU
3. ANAN: THE U.N. IS THE ONLY HOPE

1. AP: ARAB ACCUSATIONS REGARDING BABY'S DEATH WERE LIES
Yet another example of how Palestinians "use" the world media to unfairly paint Israel in an ugly light was revealed yesterday.  Associated Press quoted Palestinian sources on Tuesday saying that Israeli checkpoint soldiers held up an Arab woman-in-labor for an hour, leading to the death of the baby soon after its birth. The director of a nearby clinic, Dr. Abdel Hassan Daraghmeh, told AP that the taxi had been held up at the roadblock for an hour, and the family's physician, Dr. Ghassan Hamdan, similarly said that he delivered the baby at the checkpoint after soldiers prevented the mother from traveling to a hospital. AP dutifully spread the shocking "story" around the globe - until learning yesterday that the doctors had lied.

What in fact happened, according to a "corrected" AP report yesterday, was that the young mother's father-in-law - from a Bedouin family in northern Shomron - took her by taxi to a nearby hospital, and soon came upon an Israeli army checkpoint, which was closed to Palestinian traffic at the time. The man did not tell the soldiers that his daughter-in-law was in labor, and after 15 minutes, she gave birth. At that point, the taxi driver went up to the soldiers, and they allowed the car to pass. The baby, however, died of suffocation en-route to the hospital - because the family members assisting in the birth did not know how to keep his airway open.

2. SHARON SENDS EMISSARIES TO ARAFAT: WE'RE NOT TALKING TO YOU
The "no negotiations under fire" rallying cry of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon appears to be crumbling. His son Omri met last night with Yasser Arafat, and Israel Radio reports that the Prime Minister has asked Foreign Minister Shimon Peres to meet with Arafat tomorrow night. In addition, Sharon stated last night that he regretted calling Arafat "Bin-Laden," and that there is no need to insult Arafat personally. The Prime Minister explained that his message to Arafat was that Israel would not return to the negotiating table "under fire." Likud MK Yuval Shteinitz responded to this flurry of reports by condemning Israeli meetings with the PLO leader. "Meeting with Arafat while he continues attacking and heavily inciting against the State of Israel and the residents of Yesha causes great ham to Israel, and sabotage our efforts to isolate Arafat," Shteinitz said.

3. ANAN: THE U.N. IS THE ONLY HOPE
Despite the recent revelations casting UN neutrality and trustworthiness in doubt, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Anan stated last night the "need for the establishment of an international peacekeeping force" to implement the recommendations of the Mitchell Committee. He said that without such an arrangement, it would not happen. Israel remains adamantly opposed to the deployment of an international force in the area.

The United States recently joined Israel in demanding that the UN provide Israel with an uncensored videotape that may cast light on the Hizbullah kidnapping of three Israeli soldiers nine months ago. The UN had long falsely maintained that there was no such tape, and now insists on giving Israel only an "edited" version. It was also learned yesterday that UNIFIL peacekeeping agents were bribed to cooperate with Hizbullah in its combat against Israel.

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To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com
From: Arutz-7 Editor <feedback@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Sunday, July 15, 2001

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Sunday, July 15, 2001 / Tammuz 24, 5761
------------------------------------------------

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. PERES MEETS ARAFAT
2. NO MAIL
3. FEIGLIN PLANS FURTHER TEMPLE MOUNT ATTEMPTS

***SPECIAL INSERT: Netanyahu Explains

1. PERES MEETS ARAFAT
After two days of uncertainty, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres finally did meet with Yasser Arafat in Cairo today. He first met for two hours with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. After the hour-long session with Arafat, which Peres later said was "very important," he explained that Israel has no interest in attacking the Palestinian Authority. PA sources said that the counting of seven days of no-violence might begin as soon as today, so that Israel can begin implementing the Mitchell Report next Sunday. Peres was once again greeted in Cairo by a front-page photo-montage of him wearing a Nazi uniform, with the caption, "His return pollutes the air."

Likud Knesset faction leader MK Ze'ev Boim told Arutz-7 today, "No, this is not negotiating under fire, but rather an attempt to get the Palestinians to adhere to the Tenet agreements. I would say that these meetings are more of a warning to the PA that our patience is waning... The question seems to me not whether we will react [against Palestinian violence], but when we will react. It's important that we do this with as broad a consensus in the nation as possible."

Infrastructures Minister Avigdor Lieberman had earlier called on Peres not to visit Cairo, in light of threats by a senior Egyptian official to take sides with Syria against Israel. Egyptian official Osama el-Baz said that if Israel attacks Syria, "Syria would not stand alone." Lieberman's party colleague Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi said today, "Peres meets time after time with the man who gives orders to kill Jews, in 'tireless subversion' [paraphrasing Yitzchak Rabin's description of Peres] to revive the wretched Oslo agreements."  Lieberman and Ze'evi met with Prime Minister Sharon this morning, registering their protest of the "continuing Oslo policies."

2. NO MAIL
The Postal Authority has stopped delivering mail to the Shechem-area communities of Elon Moreh, Itamar, Brachah, and Yitzhar. The Authority says that it will not bring mail to these towns until it can acquire a bulletproof van for the purpose.

3. FEIGLIN PLANS FURTHER TEMPLE MOUNT ATTEMPTS
Zo Artzeinu leader Moshe Feiglin was sentenced today to six months on probation and a 3,000-shekel fine for leading a group attempting to pray on the Temple Mount several months ago. Feiglin, who represented himself at the trial, asked what law he had violated by attempting to pray on the Mount. The police admitted that there was no law forbidding Jewish prayer or entry to Judaism's holiest site, but that "that was the order they had received that day." Feiglin wanted to know who gave the order, and the answer finally came that it had originated all the way at the top, with Police Commissioner Shlomo Aharonishki. Feiglin then demanded that Aharonishki be summoned to court to explain why he gave the order, but the judge refused. At that point, Feiglin said he would no longer cooperate in the proceedings.

Asked afterwards whether he doesn't think that the struggle to enter the Temple Mount has already played itself out, Feiglin said, "On the contrary, we haven't done enough in this struggle, and I definitely blame also myself. The fact that I only have one conviction for trying to enter the Mount is a failure on my part. We have to try to do it again, and with G-d's help I will do it again." He attempted to minimize the issue of the actual violence during the incident, such as who pushed first and the like - he said that he did not even bring witnesses to testify that he did not act violently - and instead tried to concentrate only on the issue of the elementary right to pray on the Temple Mount.

***SPECIAL INSERT: Netanyahu Explains

Former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu appeared on Arutz-7 today, answering listeners' questions live for two hours. He plans to run against Ariel Sharon for Likud party head and Prime Ministerial candidate. Some excerpts of today's broadcast:

Q. What would you do as Prime Minister to extricate Israel from its present difficult security situation?

A. I have believed for many years that the way to stop terrorism or reduce it is by taking action against the regimes that back it. When I was Prime Minister, I exerted heavy pressure on the Palestinian Authority, and during my term in office there was very little terrorism. Arafat understood that he would pay a very steep price, including the collapse of his regime. Today, the same price must be exacted from the PA. We must expand our activities against the PA, but this is contingent upon achieving the proper international public-opinion conditions. We can paralyze the PA. We can strike their telephone systems, their TV and radio broadcasting networks, their ability to deliver newspapers, their fuel supplies, their weapons, their strategic transportation points, economic assets of PA leaders - while at the same time allowing unlimited food and medicines to pass."

Q. Do you now see Arafat differently than you did before?

A. There is no change. I always thought that the Oslo agreements were a catastrophe. but they were legally binding, and when running for Prime Minister, I explained my principles: I would strive for reciprocity and damage-control. During my term in office, we put the brakes on terrorism, and on the mad rush to the May 1967 borders. Now we can say that Oslo is dead, that Arafat buried it. We are no longer obligated to any aspect of Oslo. Arafat violated the heart of the agreement; he is now the head of the largest terrorism organization in the world, more than Bin-Laden. Public opinion in Israel and around the world sees the situation differently now, and it is possible to do now what we could not do then.

Q. Is there currently a threat of a comprehensive war against Israel?

A. My estimation is that our Arab neighbors - Egypt, Syria, and Jordan - do not have an interest in a war with us. If there is something that is liable to bring war upon us, it is the weakness that Israel transmits.

Q. The right wing has trouble forgiving you for the withdrawal from Hevron, despite all the warnings at the time that are now coming true. The same is true for the Wye Agreement and the withdrawal from northern Shomron, Ganim and Kadim, where a woman was murdered just two weeks ago.

A. The Hevron withdrawal agreement was basically finalized by the Peres government, except for security arrangements. I wanted to guarantee joint patrols on the Abu Sneineh hills [overlooking the Jewish community]. I made it clear that if there would be violations, we would take back the territory. They [the Palestinians] understood, and didn't shoot then. Today, I would go in and take it back. At the time, I was able to wage difficult negotiations and [obtain American agreement that we need not turn over "all the territory except for settlements and defined military locations," but rather that Israel would be able to define for itself the size of necessary security zones that it could keep]. What this means is that with all my sorrow and regret about giving over Hevron, I received in return a stop to the withdrawal from the rest of Judea and Samaria.

Q. (by Moshe Feiglin, who himself is seeking the Likud party leadership):

1. When you were Prime Minister, you boycotted Arutz-7. Are the settlers and Arutz-7 merely political fodder for you?

2. My friends and I paid a heavy price when we fought the Rabin government. You became Prime Minister partly because of us, and now you are again turning to this same public. But when you reached power, you rushed to warmly shake Arafat's hand. Why do you hold us in such disregard and yet expect that we will trust you once again?

3. Despite all the warnings, you gave Arafat weapons and the areas [in Hevron] from where the baby Shalhevet Pass was shot and killed. From where do you draw your brazenness to again appear before the Yesha public, which pays bodily for your actions every day?

A. I think your questions are tendentious, but I will answer them. Regarding Arutz-7: I felt that while judicial proceedings were underway against the station, my appearing here would be harmful to it. But practically, I instructed all the elements to work towards saving Arutz-7 and preventing its closure. [ed. note: the Knesset later passed a law legalizing Arutz-7, the implementation of which was later frozen by the Supreme Court.] Regarding Arafat, I am not his good friend. The fact is that he recently admitted that he tried hard to topple me from power. Regarding Hevron, I have said that I regret it. I don't hide this, even though we received in return for it a stop of the withdrawals on other fronts.

Q. In my opinion, the press in Israel is. your number one enemy, Mr. Netanyahu. How do you plan to deal with this if you return to power?

A. Many of the journalists have wised up. My approach is simple:  Open skies. There should be no monopolies, no limits. Whoever wants to, should be able to broadcast, and the public will decide. There will be a free market of ideas, interviews, news. This is the solution: to let the people choose.

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