HHMI Newsgroup Archives
To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com From: Arutz-7 Editor <feedback@israelnationalnews.com> Subject: Arutz-7 News: Thursday, Sep. 6, 2001
Arutz Sheva News Service <http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com> Thursday, Sept. 6, 2001 / Elul 18, 5761 ------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES: 1. PM CALLS FOR MASSIVE ALIYAH 2. PERES-ARAFAT MEETING STILL A MAYBE 3. EUROPEAN THREATS FUEL EFFORTS FOR DURBAN COMPROMISE
1. PM CALLS FOR MASSIVE ALIYAH Prime Minister Ariel Sharon calls upon Russian Jewry to immigrate en-masse to Israel. Appearing before representatives of the Jewish community in Moscow last night, Sharon said that Israel needs another million Jews in the coming years in order to guarantee its Jewish majority. He spoke of the success Israel has had over the past decade in absorbing the previous wave of a million Russian Jews, and expressed his confidence that it can be done again.
Meeting with reporters in Moscow this morning, Sharon strongly attacked Yasser Arafat, calling him a "major obstacle to peace" and associating him with arch-terrorist Bin Laden. Sharon ruled out any resumption of negotiations at this time, saying that the PLO leader "understands only pressure." He further said that Arafat cooperates with Bin Laden, Hamas, Hizbullah, and many other groups in his terrorism against Israel. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, on the other hand, said this morning that he intends to conduct a "series of meetings" with Arafat, "for the purpose of stopping the violence and implementing the Mitchell Report."
Prime Minister Sharon said clearly that the most important part of his visit was meeting with Jewish representatives. He was in a Chabad synagogue yesterday, then in a Jewish Agency Hebrew-study program, and then met with parents who have children in Israel. "When he met a mother with two sons in the IDF, who said she plans to come soon with her other son, he was beaming with happiness," reported Yoram Levy of Itim News Agency.
Israel's ambassador to Russia, Natan Meron, said that Israel's relations with Russia are better today than they have ever been, and "the Russian leadership is very open towards Israel." Russian President Putin told Sharon that only a strong Israel can contribute to stability in the Middle East, said Meron. On the other hand, Putin did not hold a joint press conference with his visitor, as is customary, and the Russian media had criticism of Sharon for his sudden cancellation of his visit to the Duma (Russian parliament). Sharon staffers said that the Duma was dropped from the itinerary long ago.
Upon his return to Israel this afternoon, the Prime Minister convened a security briefing with the participation of Ministers Peres and Meridor, Deputy Defense Minister Rabin-Pilossof, and senior security and military figures.
2. PERES-ARAFAT MEETING STILL A MAYBE Despite Foreign Minister Peres' efforts, the Palestinians have set three conditions for a meeting between Peres and Arafat: Peres must come with a "clear mandate" from Prime Minister Sharon, "good preparations" must precede the meeting, and diplomatic issues must also be discussed. Sharon has long held that there can be no diplomatic discussions until the Arab violence is stopped for at least seven straight days. In addition, PA senior Nabil Shaath told reporters today that Sharon's remarks against Arafat in Moscow this morning have "raised doubts" with Arafat over whether he should meet with Peres.
3. EUROPEAN THREATS FUEL EFFORTS FOR DURBAN COMPROMISE Efforts to find a compromise formulation of a final Durban conference resolution continue, with tonight's deadline looming in the offing. The European Union has not withdrawn its threat to walk out of the conference if an acceptable compromise is not found. At the heart of the efforts is a proposal by the South African delegation, which leaves out the phrase "racist state" in reference to Israel. It also adds that the Holocaust against the Jews must never be forgotten.
The central sentence of the South African proposal reads, "We are concerned about the plight of the Palestinian nation that is under foreign conquest, and we call for a just and permanent peace in the region, in the framework of which all will be able to enjoy equal rights and basic civil rights." The proposal recognizes the Palestinians' right to self-determination and an independent state.
The efforts to seek a compromise were complicated after a gathering of nearly 5,000 independent non-governmental groups formally branded Israel a "racist, apartheid state" today. The gathering is U.N.-backed, but is officially separate from the main Durban conference.
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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, Sept. 7, 2001
Arutz Sheva News Service <http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com> Friday, September 7, 2001 / Elul 19, 5761 ------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. TEMPLE MOUNT REPORT The Committee to Prevent the Destruction of Temple Mount Antiquities laments yet again that despite police reports, the Moslem Waqf continues with its excavation and construction work on the Mount, causing damage to 2,000-year-old Jewish artifacts. The committee sent off an urgent letter to Prime Minister Sharon, saying that the Moslems are in the process of building a large monument on the Mount in memory of Feisal Husseini, and are damaging ancient water cisterns while refurbishing the Al Aksa Mosque. The police, according to the Committee, are not preventing them from bringing construction materials to the site. Two months ago, Public Security Minister Uzi Landau informed the Committee that he had instructed the police not to allow the Waqf to bring such materials to the Mount.
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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, Sept. 9, 2001
Arutz Sheva News Service <http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com> Sunday, Sept. 9, 2001 / Elul 21, 5761 ------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES: 1. FIVE TERRORISM VICTIMS TODAY 2. THE MILITARY RESPONSE 3. "EXPEL ARAFAT," AND OTHER POLITICAL REACTIONS 4. GOVERNMENT DISCUSSES SEPARATION PLAN 5. TEMPLE MOUNT DESECRATION CONTINUES
1. FIVE TERRORISM VICTIMS TODAY Five Israelis were murdered and dozens were wounded - ten in moderate condition - in a grave series of three terrorist attacks this morning and early afternoon. The attacks took place on the Jordan Valley highway, where a driver and his teacher-passenger were murdered; in Nahariya, where a suicide terrorist blew himself up, killing three; and at the Beit Lid Junction east of Netanya, wounding one person moderately.
The morning began with a drive-by murder in the Jordan Valley at around 8 AM. Palestinian terrorists in a car overtook a van transporting teachers from Beit She'an southwards to a regional school and opened fire with automatic weapons. One teacher - Sima Franko, 24, of Beit She'an - was killed on the spot, and the driver, Kobi Hatzav, died later of his wounds. A second teacher was moderately wounded, and two others sustained light wounds. The attack occurred about 500 meters north of the Adam Bridge Junction. Sima Franko was buried this afternoon in Beit She'an, and driver Kobi Hatzav will be laid to rest tomorrow in Kibbutz Alonim, southeast of Haifa.
Jordan Valley Regional Council head David Levy explained that the teachers' van is not bulletproof, as the IDF requires such measures only for school buses. Municipality officials added that in any event they could not afford to bulletproof all official vehicles.
At approximately 10:45 AM, a large blast shook the area near the train station in the northern coastal city of Nahariya. Three people were killed in the suicide attack, and 74 others - including 20 soldiers - were injured; eight of them are listed in moderate condition. The bomb included a large amount of nails, which in fact fulfilled the murderers' intentions of increasing the intensity of the wounds and suffering. Elro'i Abuhatzeira, a student of the nearby Yeshivat Hesder Nehardeah and an eyewitness to the attack, told Arutz-7 in a broken voice that he is "Thank G-d fine, saved by a miracle." He recounted the seconds before the blast:
"I had just walked out of the train station when I happened to see a man - short, with a beard - holding a large package. I was standing only about five meters away from him, and suddenly I heard a tremendous explosion... I looked down and saw that my hands were bleeding; someone helped me bandage them up... It was hard for me to believe when they told me that three people were killed, and yet I had been so close and nothing happened to me..."
Police are searching throughout the Galilee for suspects in the suicide attack, under the strong assumption that the suicide killer may have come from a village in the area. If these suspicions turn out to be true, this would be the first case of an Israeli-Arab suicide killer.
2. THE MILITARY RESPONSE The IDF's reaction to today's murders included pin-pointed bombing of terrorist targets in several locations throughout Judea and Samaria. In Ramallah, Tanzim, Force 17, and PA police buildings were targeted, followed by IDF tank shelling of a Palestinian checkpoint east of Shechem. Targets in Jericho, Shechem, and Jenin were also hit. Arab sources reported eight wounded in the raids. In addition, IDF planes flew in the skies of Lebanon, while ground troops directed heavy fire into Lebanon from the Shab'a farms.
Defense Ministry officials say that all evidence leads to the fact that Yasser Arafat is behind the increased wave of terrorism, and that he currently supports an escalation.
Prime Minister Sharon has sent what many observers consider to be a significant message to the Palestinian Authority when he ordered the arrest today of Ziyad Abu Ziyad. The detainee is responsible for the Jerusalem portfolio on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, and he was arrested for "illegal presence in Israel." The policemen entered his office near Rockefeller Museum in eastern Jerusalem. After an interrogation, he was banished to the autonomous areas.
Former GSS official Menachem Landau told the Makor Rishon newspaper on Friday that Israel has been effective in thwarting Arafat. Asked to list achievements that Arafat has attained over the past year, Landau said,
"I have not seen Egypt sending forces; on the contrary, Mubarak's remarks show that he has no interest in getting involved. [An article was written] on what the man-in-the-street in Egypt thinks, and it showed that the Egyptian people say that they have already done their share and don't want to get involved in any more wars. I don't see Jordan sending forces either. The world's condemnations [of Israel] are only lip service. We went into Area A and we didn't see any ultimatums. We showed that we can go in wherever we want and for as long as we want. Arafat tried to organize an Arab summit and did not succeed. He did not get the UN to pass the resolutions that he wanted. He had some success in Durban, true, but not in terms of pressure on Israel or internationalizing the dispute. The world is tired of him. I think that he was also disappointed by the Israeli public's reaction. I believe in unity, in the State of Israel's inner strength. So far, we have withstood the tests with extraordinary forbearance and strength."
3. "EXPEL ARAFAT," AND OTHER POLITICAL REACTIONS The Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria (Yesha Council): "As long as the terrorist Arafat heads the largest terrorist organization in the world, there will be no security for Israel, and he must be expelled from the region."
Shinui party leader MK Tommy Lapid: "If Arafat can't stop the terrorism, then there's no point in Peres meeting with him."
National Religious Party head Rabbi Yitzchak Levy also says that all preparations for Peres-Arafat meeting, which have in fact been almost feverish over the past few days, be called off: "There must be a limit to the humiliation that Israel is willing to undergo."
Public Security Minister Uzi Landau says that a Peres-Arafat meeting will only encourage terrorism: "After eight years of Oslo and 11 months of intifada, the conception that dialogue with Arafat can reduce terrorism has been smashed to smithereens. Hundreds have been murdered because of this dialogue."
Education Minister Limor Livnat, too, said that the meeting must be called off: "A situation in which teachers are murdered on their way to school on a major national highway is intolerable."
Deputy Absorption Minister Yuli Edelstein: "Even the fathers of the Oslo process must now see that dialogue without strong military action cannot stop the terrorism."
4. GOVERNMENT DISCUSSES SEPARATION PLAN The government's weekly meeting was delayed this morning because of the attacks, but was held later this afternoon. On the original agenda was the Seam-Line Plan, which calls for closing off large areas along the Green Line - the 1949-1967 ceasefire lines - to all Arabs, and allowing only restricted entry to Jews. The goal is to separate between terrorists and large Israeli population centers, but it has drawn criticism from many quarters for being either potentially ineffective, a de-facto border, or both. Prime Minister Sharon has not yet publicly expressed his opinion on the matter.
Today's attack in Nahariya, far from the Shomron, is expected to impact on the results of the Seam-Line Plan debate. The ministers also discussed the worsening security situation as evidenced by today's three major attacks. Foreign Minister Shimon Peres returned from Italy in time to take part in the meeting. Several ministers said they would demand the cancellation of the Peres-Arafat meeting. The PA, for its part, continues to lay down conditions for the meeting.
5. TEMPLE MOUNT DESECRATION CONTINUES Israeli authorities, willfully or inadvertently, have allowed the utter destruction of archaeologically important artifacts on the Temple Mount to continue, without so much as properly investigating the matter. So says Dr. Eilat Mazar, of the Committee for the Protection of Temple Mount Artifacts, in a talk with Arutz-7 today.
Dr. Mazar said that the Islamic Waqf authorities and the Israeli Islamic Movement, who are behind the work being carried out on the Mount, have a singular objective: "To fill the Mount with a complex of mosques both above and below ground." Excavation and construction to that end are continuing without stop, she said, yet no government agency is doing anything about it: "The police are 'telling stories' to the Minister for Internal Security and maybe also to the Prime Minister, but [we have strong evidence that] in fact the illegal works are going on."
Such construction includes a new monument in memory of Feisal Husseini, who was responsible for PLO activities from the Orient House and who is buried in a chamber adjacent to the Temple Mount. When confronted with the evidence of such construction, the Jerusalem police explained that the Waqf was merely leveling floor tiles in the area - yet no such floor damage had ever been observed there previously. Other illegal work being carried out is excavation in ancient cisterns, something that by rights should only be done by the Antiquities Authority. "It is not our job to protect the Temple Mount," complained Dr. Mazar. "There are officers of the Antiquities Authority and of the Jerusalem Municipality whose job it is to [oversee the construction on the Temple Mount]. Instead they are prevented from going up there, while the police provide excuses for all the illegal activities. and for what?"
Meanwhile, Dr. Mazar says, the political leaders who have proclaimed so vociferously in the past that the Temple Mount is "our soul," today are not willing to act to prevent the destruction. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has yet to meet with the Committee members, and Public Security Minister Uzi Landau continues to maintain that there is no illegal construction being carried out on the Temple Mount.
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To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com From: Arutz-7 Editor <feedback@israelnationalnews.com> Subject: Arutz-7 News: Monday, Sept. 10, 2001
Arutz Sheva News Service <http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com> Monday, Sep. 10, 2001 / Elul 22, 5761 ------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES: 1. ISRAELI-ARABS: A FIFTH COLUMN? 2. JORDAN VALLEY PROTEST 3. BUSH WON'T MEET ARAFAT - BUT PERES WILL
1. ISRAELI-ARABS: A FIFTH COLUMN? "The loyalty of Israel's Arab citizens must be looked into." So said Public Security Minister Uzi Landau today in a pre-Rosh HaShanah (New Year) briefing today. "We should check the entire educational system in the Arab sector, their loyalty to the State and to Israeli law, including the teachers. We must be sure that taxpayers' money is not used to raise a generation that will harm the State."
Landau made the remarks in the wake of the news that an Israeli-Arab from the Galilee was the suicide terrorist who murdered three Israelis in Nahariya yesterday - the first Israeli-Arab to commit a suicide terrorist act. The police have also arrested the killer's son, Salah Habaishi, 26, on charges of murder and attempted murder. He was originally arrested 11 days ago during the course of Israeli security agencies' search for his father, and was released after a short while, only to be arrested again yesterday.
Minister Landau also said that anti-Israel Arab movements should be outlawed, and that the government is planning to change the law according to which families of Arab terrorists in prison are eligible for national insurance payments: "It cannot be that a boy throws rocks at Israeli cars, and his family receives child support stipends." Regarding Temple Mount disturbances, he had news: "The policy has changed, and from now on Arab disturbances there will be met with an immediate break-in of police forces." Landau also said that there would be no further illegal excavations by the Moslem Waqf on the Temple Mount, and that building materials have been banned from the Mount. The Committee to Prevent Temple Mount Desecration denies the veracity of these claims.
Former senior GSS official Nachman Tal, a member of the Council for Security and Peace and a researcher at the Jaffe Center, was asked by Arutz-7 today if it was really so surprising that an Israeli-Arab suicide bomber has surfaced. "It did not surprise me at this point in time," Tal said, "but two years ago it would have surprised me. This guy was part of an extremist northern-Israel Islamic Movement faction, which does not recognize the State of Israel in any way. There are a few thousand of them. Their counter-faction from the south is a bit more practical in terms of recognition of Israel."
Tal said that in general, "attacks by Israeli-Arabs are not organized by a movement, but are rather private initiatives inspired by the incitement of local imams [Moslem religious leaders]. For instance, nine years ago, the murderous Night of the Gliders, when four soldiers were killed, was perpetrated by a few Um el-Fahm killers who heard the imams... The same thing with the car bombs of two years ago in Haifa and Tiberias..." As an example of unchecked murderous incitement, Tal noted that this coming Friday, "there will be an annual Islamic festival in [the Israeli-Arab city] Um el-Fahm, with the inflammatory title, 'El Aksa Mosque in Danger.' There will be tremendous incitement there, including a video speech of Sheikh Yusuf al-Kardawi, who is so extreme that he was expelled from Egypt; he is one of the few Moslem leaders who is totally in favor of suicide for the sake of killing Jews..." [Others say that the soul of one who commits suicide is punished no matter what the circumstances of his death.] Tal said that it is not true that the GSS has stopped seeking intelligence in the Israeli-Arab community, as claimed last week by former Northern District Police Chief Alik Ron - but he does feel that more tools such as administrative arrests and closure of inciteful newspapers must be employed.
Earlier today, MK Yisrael Katz (Likud) demanded that the Prime Minister immediately fulfill his promise to outlaw the Israel Islamic Movement, and order the demolition of the house of the Nahariya suicide terrorist as well. Katz called on his fellow Knesset Members to support his proposal to prevent terrorism supporters from serving in the Knesset. "The hesitation in taking necessary measures against anti-Israeli incitement could cost much blood," said Katz. In a related item, the Knesset House Committee will discuss this Wednesday the Attorney-General's request to strip Arab MK Azmi Bishara of his parliamentary immunity; this will enable Bishara to be charged with incitement for his anti-Israel remarks during his trip to Syria. Committee Chairman Yossi Katz (Labor) said that the members would not "rubber stamp" the Attorney-General's request.
2. JORDAN VALLEY PROTEST Hundreds of Jordan Valley residents protested outside the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem this morning, railing against security and other deteriorating circumstances in their region. Two Israelis were murdered along the Jordan Valley highway yesterday morning, and just last week, the residents protested their area's problematic economic situation by turning off all lights in all of their 18 communities. Just over 600 families now live there, following the departure of 51 in the past months. Regional Council head David Levy said yesterday that he will no longer allow students and teachers to travel in non-bulletproof cars, "even if it means that no schools will open."
In today's protest, speaker after speaker took the stage to relate how their life's work is now falling apart in front of their eyes. They demand that Prime Minister Sharon provide not only better security, but also economic help for tourism and for businesses that have suffered or collapsed as a result of the violence, as he promised. "At the very least," said David Lachayani, "no Arab traffic on the Jordan Valley highway should be allowed." It was later reported that this idea will in fact be enforced by the IDF as of today.
Representatives of the protestors obtained a meeting this afternoon with Prime Minister Sharon's Bureau Director Uri Shani. It was agreed that a special team of directors-general would convene this Sunday to try and find solutions to the issues raised by the Jordan Valley, Maaleh Ephraim and Megillot Regional Council area residents. In addition, representatives of the Prime Minister's Office, the Finance Ministry and the Agriculture Ministry will visit the Jordan Valley area tomorrow.
3. BUSH WON'T MEET ARAFAT - BUT PERES WILL Despite previous reports to the contrary, U.S. President George Bush has no intention of meeting Yasser Arafat in the coming month. "The President has said that he will meet with people when it is necessary to meet with people to advance the cause," said National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. "At this point in time, there are no plans for him to meet with Yasser Arafat in New York."
The State Department is in favor of such a meeting, which had been rumored to take place during the UN General Council session two weeks from now, but the White House, at present, does not agree. The meeting between Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Arafat, however, is still on, and may even be held tomorrow night, according to a senior military source. The meeting is scheduled to take place at the Erez Checkpoint separating Gaza from the rest of Israel. Palestinian sources said that there is no chance that the meeting will lead to a breakthrough.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said last night that Israel has the right to defend itself and to react to Palestinian violence. "Israel has a very difficult problem," Rumsfeld told Fox News. "It has suicide bombers going into restaurants and hotels and bus stops and killing themselves and killing 10, 20, 30 people who are innocent bystanders... This is certainly terrorism and it is something that any country has to deal with." Israeli leaders must take action to try to reduce or end the violence, said Rumsfeld.
Yoram Ettinger, Israel's former liaison to the U.S. Congress, told Arutz-7 today that U.S. Vice President Cheney and Secretary Rumsfeld "comprise the backbone of the Bush Administration, and they are not only very supportive of Israel, they even expect that Israel should take stronger actions against terrorism... When Israel destroyed the Iraqi reactor in 1981, Rumsfeld said, 'Thank G-d that Israel did this.'"
Ettinger said that the American media are not as anti-Israel as some might think: "When Israel thinks of the American media, they think of The New York Times, the Washington Post, and CNN. But these are liberal, dovish papers. Israel should be paying much more attention to the Wall Street Journal, which is very influential across the United States and in government circles, and which has been critical of Oslo since 1993 and critical of Arafat over the past year. Similarly, FOX News is now ahead of CNN in importance in the U.S...."
Ettinger concluded with the following: "When Israel destroyed the Iraqi reactor in 1981, Israel's best friend ever in the White House, Ronald Reagan, cut off arms to Israel for six months, and our strong supporter in the UN, Jeanne Kirkpatrick, delivered a scathing speech in the UN. But I ask: Isn't it true that six months of tension is a fair price to pay for years and generations of protection from an Iraqi nuclear threat? This is what is required now as well: strong leadership that will make the right decisions for the long-range, even at the expense of temporary discomfort."
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