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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, Nov. 18, 2001
Arutz Sheva News Service <http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com> Sunday, Nov. 18, 2001 / Kislev 3, 5762 ------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. PM SHARON: "NO MONEY FOR MURDERERS"
2. LABOR MK: IT'S EITHER THEM OR US
3. THE RIGHT WING'S ALTERNATIVE
1. PM SHARON: "NO MONEY FOR MURDERERS" Today's news involved a series of quotes uttered by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at various forums, as well as significant statements made by other political leaders.
Sharon began by repeating his pledge, at the beginning of today's Cabinet meeting, not to conduct any talks regarding a Palestinian state before a discussion is held on the matter in the government. Sharon made this statement in response to a request by Tourism Minister Benny Elon that he relate to Foreign Minister Peres' speech on Thursday in the UN. Peres gav= e Palestinian hopes a strong push when he said there, "Although this is not yet a formal policy of the Government of Israel, there is support [in Israel] for Palestinian independence, support for a Palestinian state." Elon demanded again today that Sharon fire Peres, or at least public disassociate himself from his Foreign Minister's remarks.
Later in the day, Sharon appeared at a joint press conference with visitin= g Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, the current rotating president of the European Union. Sharon repeated the Israeli demand for seven days of total quiet and a six-week cooling-off period before resuming negotiations with the PA - "even if U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell calls upon Israel to tone down this demand in his speech tomorrow... We remain committed to the agreement we made with the Americans: total quiet, then seven days to ensure that the quiet is maintained, and then six weeks of cooling-off. It was agreed clearly with the Americans that no stage would begin until the preceding one is totally fulfilled."
Secretary Powell's speech tomorrow is being anxiously awaited because it will set the guidelines for the American vision of a framework here. "Wha= t is causing the tension," Itim News Agency reporter Yoram Levy said, "is th= e question of whether or not he will nullify the demand for seven days of quiet..."
When Verhofstadt said that the past 12 days of quiet represent a positive development in the peace process, Sharon countered sharply that in the pas= t 12 days there were 268 terrorist incidents against Israel, costing five Israeli dead. "During this period, we arrested 35 wanted terrorists, whil= e Arafat arrested only one - and [based on past experience,] we don't know how much time he will remain in prison."
Prime Minister Sharon explained that Israel does not remit funds to the PA because "we refuse to pay the salaries of those who murder us." He called upon the European Union, as well, not to send financial aid to the Palestinian Authority: "Your money is used to buy weapons that are directed against the State of Israel." Sharon suggested that EU aid shoul= d be in the form of investments in the construction of factories. Verhofstadt acknowledged that there is a tendency to think tha= t the EU is pro-Palestinian, but "it's not true; we are neutral=E0 There mu= st be an arrangement, namely, two states side-by-side."
Sharon sharply attacked Yasser Arafat, saying that Israel faces "terror an= d incitement originating with Arafat, who leads a coalition of terrorism wit= h the participation of Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hizbullah, Fatah, Tanzim, and Force 17."
"Our purpose today," Sharon said, "is to bring about a ceasefire and quiet. The negotiating staff that I have established, headed by myself an= d with the participation of Peres, will conduct talks for a ceasefire when there is quiet. When the terrorism stops, then we will be able to talk about peace."
2. LABOR MK: IT'S EITHER THEM OR US The National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu strategy may be working. Labor MKs seem to have been very upset with anti-Peres remarks made at a memorial weekend for the assassinated Rehavam Ze'evi in Jerusalem, and MK Ofir Pines-Paz even threatened today that his party would not be able to remain in the same coalition with NUYB, and called upon Prime Minister Sharon to choose between the two parties. The two MKs were particularly upset with repeated calls by National Union leader Tourism Minister Benny Elon for th= e dismissal of Foreign Minister Peres. Elon and his party colleagues are presumably happy with Pines' threat; in response to puzzlement about their membership in a government that expresses many of Shimon Peres' ideas, the= y have often said that they would much rather cause Peres to leave the government than to leave themselves.
MK Cabel said that it is inconceivable for every right-wing gathering to become a forum for strong criticism of Peres and others who promote the Oslo process. He demanded that the Attorney-General investigate last night's speakers. Some 600 people participated in last night's closing event of the memorial Shabbat for Ze'evi, which was sponsored by the Arutz-7 Events Department. Some participants sported buttons with the pictures of Arafat and Peres and the caption, "Oslo Criminals."
Selected quotes from last night's event:
Peres' remarks in the UN were akin to "me giving a speech in the UN saying that most of the nation is in favor of transfer [of Arabs out of Judea and Samaria] but that it is not yet official government policy." - Tourism Minister Benny Elon
"We need elections now, when our opponents, the opponents of Zionism, thos= e who would reverse our power, are in the weakest position they have been in generations. They have never consumed themselves with internal fighting a= s they have now... Elections would enable us to get rid of Shimon Peres, th= e great informer against the State of Israel, the great weaver of lies against Israel, who unceasingly undercuts against the Zionism of pioneering, of labor, of settlement. " - Moshe Shamir, writer
"The alternative that I propose is patience and the realization that there will not be peace." - MK Tzvi Hendel
"We must reconquer all the Yesha areas=E0 What's our alternative to Arafat? We are the alternative to Arafat. There will be full Israeli security control there." - former MK Chanan Porat
"What Sharon said was 1,000 times worse than what Peres said. Why are you lashing out at Peres? If you are honest, you must lash out at Sharon." - Atty. Elyakim HaEtzni
3. THE RIGHT WING'S ALTERNATIVE "The right-wing has no alternative to Oslo." So has said Shimon Peres man= y times in the past, and in general, Israel's left wing continually challenges the right wing with this statement. Arutz-7 Israel National Radio, rising to the challenge, brought together over 20 leading thinkers of Israel's nationalist camp and asked them for their alternative to the Oslo process. Excerpts from two responses appear below, and those of others are planned to be included here during the course of the week.
Uri Elitzur, former head of Prime Minister Netanyahu's Bureau and the ex-editor of Nekudah:
"The left is correct, we don't have an answer. I'm not sure if an answer has to be provided, but we must at least recognize that the left is providing a diplomatic answer, while we are not... Two major questions face us: What will be the final borders of Israel, and what will happen with the Arab residents of Yesha? We can't avoid these questions, and the= y are intertwined. We haven't given an answer to these questions because we don't want to - because if we say that we want our final borders to includ= e all of Judea and Samaria, then the Arabs living there become our headache.= ..
"For the short-term, I see a form of autonomy=E0 Regarding the Arabs of Yesha, we must say clearly, yes, they are our responsibility. This will b= e a heavy price for us to pay in order to hold onto the Land of Israel, but we have to pay it. This doesn't mean that I would rule out transfer, and = I don't think it's an unethical solution, but I do think that it's not realistic for the next few decades at least. We have to be the body that is responsible for their autonomy. There are many variations as to how such an arrangement would work - taxes, voting rights, etc. - but the main thing is to say that we refuse to give up on the Land of Israel and that w= e are willing to admit that these two million Arabs of Eretz Yisrael are her= e and they are our headache."
Kedumim Mayor Daniella Weiss:
"The claim of the left-wing that we have no alternative is wrong. We are not seeking an alternative, because we have a way, a path: The Land of Israel is all ours, and we have to settle it, and we must continue the process of the Jews' return to their land, as told in the Prophets. We have merited to see the Land become more and more settled, and especially since the Six Day War, when we were allowed to return to the important sites of Jerusalem, Hevron, Shechem, Beit El, Jericho, and thank G-d, the verse is being fulfilled, 'You, mountains of Israel, shall bring forth you= r bounty to the People of Israel who have returned here.' ... We simply hav= e to add more effort, more study, more education, to redeem more lands... W= e don't have to weaken ourselves by talking about an "alternative," just because they try to trap us with this question. Not every stupid question has to be answered. Thank G-d, we have a strong direction and path, and i= t need not be replaced. When you have something good, it doesn't have to be switched. We must simply continue... If specific problems arise, such as Arab terrorism, then we have to deal with them. If anything, this problem helps us see even more clearly that there is simply no room in this Land for another national entity. G-d, in His great mercy, is helping us to se= e that there is no possibility of giving these murderers any form of a presence here, whether it be autonomy or something else. What has to be done is simply to take strong action - as Arik Sharon began to do but he needs to be encouraged to continue - against this Palestinian Authority until it falls apart.
[What will then come in its place?, she was asked.] Joshua, when he led the People of Israel into the Land 3,000 years ago, and our rabbis throughout the generations, have taught us that every non-Jew who completely accepts the Jewish people as masters of this Land may remain here... Whoever doesn't, may not stay here. Those who would wage war against us, we have to fight against them. We don't have to come up with new diplomatic solutions beyond those that our Rabbis and Joshua have already set for us. Why do we have to come up with new ideas? What, woul= d we dream of formulating, Heaven forbid, a new Torah or a new set of commandments? There is no need to come up with anything new, because "the Torah of G-d is perfect and revives the soul" (Psalms) - it revives the soul when it is perfect, meaning when we take it in its entirety, with all its components - the personal ones, the communal ones, the social ones, th= e national ones, and the universal ones - and then it revives the soul. But to take it apart? To divide the Land, to divide the Torah, Heaven forbid? Why do we have to break apart this wholeness? Why do we have to search for alternatives? There is one wholeness, and it is based in the Torah."
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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, November 19, 2001
Arutz Sheva News Service <http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com> Monday, Nov. 19, 2001 / Kislev 4, 5762 ------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES: 1. AWAITING POWELL'S SPEECH 2. YESHA COUNCIL DEMANDS GOV'T TAKE STAND AGAINST PLO STATE 3. WHAT'S THE ALTERNATIVE?
1. AWAITING POWELL'S SPEECH The suspense is great as Israel awaits an important foreign policy speech by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in Kentucky this afternoon. He stated earlier this week that he would not present a new Middle East peace plan. He is expected, however, to present his vision of a framework for a Middle East solution. Although he agreed in the past that the Mitchell Report - calling for a total freeze of Israeli settlement activity in Yesha and an immediate resumption of negotiations - could not be implemented while the Palestinian violence continued, he recently withdrew that condition. All now wait to see if he will continue to insist on "seven days of quiet" or not.
Prime Minister Sharon emphasized yesterday that Israel, for its part, will adhere to the conditions he outlined this past May: seven days of total quiet followed by a six-week cooling-off period before resuming negotiations with the PA. Uzi Arad, former diplomatic advisor to Netanyahu and now a member of the Interdisciplinary Institute in Herzliyah, told Arutz-7 today, "The speech will not outline operative steps, but we still must not make light of it. I fear that it will reflect an erosion of America's pro-Israel positions of the past."
The New York Times reported on Sunday that 89 U.S. Senators had signed a letter to President George Bush, urging him not to restrain Israel from retaliating fully against Palestinian violence. The letter was intended to prevent Secretary Powell from including criticism of Israel in his speech this afternoon. The Times quoted one of the signatories, Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), as saying, "Powell talks about the cycle of violence that suggests one produces the other and that there is a moral equivalency, which is not true. Terrorists killing civilians is totally unjustified, and Israel's response is self-defense."
The Sentaors' letter praised Bush for not meeting with Arafat, and stated, "The American people would never excuse us for not going after the terrorists with all our strength and might. Yet that is what some have demanded of the Israeli government after every terrorist incident they suffer. No matter what the provocation, they urge restraint." One of the initiators of the letter was Senator Christopher S. Bond (R) of Missouri.
2. YESHA COUNCIL DEMANDS GOV'T TAKE STAND AGAINST PLO STATE The Yesha Council (Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza) continues to exert pressure on the right-wing government ministers - National Infrastructures Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Tourism Minister Benny Elon - to quit the coalition. Council head Benny Kashriel, the mayor of Ma'aleh Adumim, wrote to the right-wing MKs yesterday, pleading with them to quit if the government does not vote to negate the establishment of a Palestinian state.
A senior commander in the IDF's Southern Command said yesterday that the continuing economic troubles in Gaza could lead to a popular overthrow of the Palestinian Authority. He said that Hamas and other similar organizations have grown in strength.
3. WHAT'S THE ALTERNATIVE? "The right wing has no alternative to Oslo." With these words, Israel's left wing consistently challenges the nationalist camp to come up with a solution to the "problem" of the Israeli conflict with the Arabs. Knesset Speaker Avraham Burg, speaking in the Knesset last week, formulated the problem as he sees it:
"The State of Israel has three ambitions. If it were possible, it would want to live all three of them in their entirety: The first is to be a complete and ideological democracy, a state of equality and justice for all its citizens, regardless of religion, race, or gender. The second is to be the State of the Jews, one that preserves its Jewish majority and its eternal ethical values and the special national character of the only state of this ancient people. The third is to preserve the nation's historic homeland, the entirety of Eretz Yisrael, that which was promised us in these Torah portions, the cradle of Jewish civilization. For many years we avoided a resolution; we thought that six days of miracles and heroism in 1967 would last us for the seventh day as well, which has already lasted for over three decades. We fooled ourselves by wanting all, and we are on the verge of receiving nothing.
"He who is honest knows that we cannot have all three, just like Avraham and Lot. Whoever wants a full democracy with a Jewish majority cannot hold onto the entire land, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, because it is a land that has people of another nation with different national aspirations. And whoever wants the whole land and a Jewish majority, must give up on democracy, and instead have a dark and oppressive regime. And whoever wants a democracy and the entire Land, must give up on his idea of a Jewish state with a Jewish majority."
Arutz-7 Israel National Radio, rising to the challenge of answering the question, "What's your alternative?", brought together over 20 leading thinkers of Israel's nationalist camp and asked them to formulate their substitute for the Oslo process. Two responses were excerpted here yesterday, and additional answers appear below; stay tuned for more throughout the week.
Tourism Minister Benny Elon:
"Burg's premise is wrong, as we are not demanding the entire Eretz (Land of) Yisrael. The entire Land also includes the other side of the Jordan, that which is the Promised Land of the Bible and that which Balfour promised the Jewish People for a national home. Most of this area, 78% of it, already has a Palestinian state - Jordan... We must make it clear that Eretz Yisrael has two sides of the Jordan, and that if the Arabs want a Palestinian state, it already exists, in the form of Jordan. If we keep on claiming that only 1/4 of the entire Land is ours, while the Arabs claim the whole thing, then Jewish Law says that we have to split our differences, which means we'll end up with only 1/8...
"Our solution [the voluntary exodus of Arabs out of Judea and Samaria] will lead to real peace, with a democratic Jewish state between the Mediterranean and the Jordan. Gandhi [the assassinated Rehavam Ze'evi, founder of the Moledet party that Elon now heads] taught us that there are different types of transfer: The forcible type, which is not desirable or democratic, occurs during wartime. It is sometimes justified as a form of punishment to those who start a war. Just as in the War of Independence, when they brought upon themselves a "nakba," catastrophe, and we celebrate our independence. If they continue to war with us, then that is what will happen again.
"On the other hand, we are willing to negotiate with them over some form of autonomy, with its capital in Amman, and connected culturally and municipally and in other ways to Jordan, but with Israel in control of the borders, sovereignty, Jordan Valley. This can be done if they are willing to live with us in peace. But if they are not willing to do so, then the painful price they will have to pay will be transfer."
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To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, arutz-7b@israelnationalnews= .com From: Arutz-7 Editor <feedback@israelnationalnews.com> Subject: Arutz-7 News: Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2001
Arutz Sheva News Service <http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com> Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2001 / Kislev 5, 5762 ------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES: 1. POWELL'S SPEECH AND REACTIONS TO IT 2. DISSATISFACTION WITH POWELL'S SPEECH 3. REACTIONS IN THE P.A.
1. POWELL'S SPEECH AND REACTIONS TO IT Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced that he "welcomes" U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's speech, and added what could be considered his own summary of the speech: "The cessation of all 'terrorism, violence and incitement' is a prior condition for any diplomatic progress." Sharon announced that the negotiating team he established will "conduct negotiations toward achieving a cease-fire with Powell's special representatives, Assistant Secretary of State William Burns and Gen. Anthony Zinni [and not with the PA]."
Main points of the speech:
"The United States-Israeli relationship is based on the broadest conception of American national interests, in which our two nations are bound forever together by common democratic values and traditions. This will never change.
"The Palestinian leadership must make a 100% effort to end violence and to end terror. There must be real results, not just words and declarations. Terrorists must be stopped before they act. The Palestinian leadership must arrest, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of terrorist acts. The Palestinians must live up to the agreements they have made to do so. They must be held to account when they do not...
"No national aspiration, no remembered wrong can ever justify the deliberate murder of the innocent. Terror and violence must stop and stop now.
"The endless messages of incitement and hatred of Israelis and Jews that pour out of the media in so much of the Palestinian and Arab worlds only reinforce [Israeli] fears. No one can claim a commitment to peace while feeding a culture of hatred that can only produce a culture of violence. The incitement must stop.
"Palestinians must accept that they can only achieve their goals through negotiation... "Palestinians must eliminate any doubt, once and for all, that they accept the legitimacy of Israel as a Jewish state. They must make clear that their objective is a Palestinian state alongside Israel, not in place of Israel.
"We have a vision of a region where two states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side within secure and recognized borders.
"Too many innocent Palestinians, including children, have been killed and wounded. This, too, must stop.
"Israeli settlement activity has severely undermined Palestinian trust and hope. It preempts and prejudges the outcome of negotiations and, in doing so, cripples chances for real peace and security. The United States has long opposed settlement activity. Consistent with the report of the committee headed by Senator George Mitchell, settlement activity must stop.
"[The Mitchell and Tenet documents]] offer Israelis and Palestinians a roadmap to a cease-fire and an end to the violence.
"Israel must be willing to end its occupation, consistent with the principles embodied in Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, and accept a viable Palestinian State."
Arutz-7's Yosef Zalmanson noted that Powell did announce one practical step that he expected would be implemented "in the very, very near future" - namely, the dispatching of Gen. Anthony Zinni to Israel to meet with Israel and PA teams to discuss terms for a ceasefire. Powell said that Prime Minister Sharon had formed a senior-level committee to "work with the Palestinians on the negotiation and implementation of a cease-fire and what follows from that," and that "I also understand that Chairman Arafat remains ready to do likewise," and that Gen. Zinni will "remain in the region to work with these two committees [in order to reach] a cease-fire. "
Afterwards, Powell was asked to explain what he meant by his statement, "We will push, we will prod [the two sides]." His response: "You'll see what pushing and prodding is when Tony Zinni gets on the ground."
2. DISSATISFACTION WITH POWELL'S SPEECH Criticism of Secretary Powell's speech in Israel centered on the following points:
* Powell strongly criticized Israeli settlement activity, saying it "has severely undermined Palestinian trust and hope. It preempts and prejudges the outcome of negotiations and, in doing so, cripples chances for real peace and security." He did not, however, call upon the PLO to cease its own construction in strategic places in the same areas - also a form of "preempting the outcome."
* Powell's reference to negotiation over the ultimate fate of Jerusalem could have only one outcome: Israeli concessions, meaning an end to Jerusalem's status as the indivisible and eternal capital of the Jewish People.
* Powell's call for the conclusion of yet another agreement with the PLO ignores its 37-year track record of systematically violating all its international commitments.
* Powell said, "Palestinians need security, as well. Too many innocent Palestinians, including children, have been killed and wounded. This, too, must stop." The implication is that the "innocent" Palestinians who were killed by accident, or "not so innocent" Palestinians who were killed in the course of Israeli self-defense, are equivalent to the truly "innocent" Israelis who were deliberately targeted by Palestinian terrorism.
* Powell noted, "The Palestinian leadership must arrest, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of terrorist acts" - but did not mention their Oslo obligation to extradite them to Israel for punishment.
* The bottom line is that in return for an end to Palestinian terrorism, they will receive a state. "Would the American people tolerate awarding Bin Laden with a state in response to him calling off terrorism?" asks Nadia Matar of Women in Green.
An editorial in Israel's most popular daily newspaper Yediot Acharonot today expressed doubt whether Powell's speech would have a practical effect:
"Despite the Americans' diplomatic desire to create a balanced vision, the two peoples' willingness to accept and adopt it is not balanced at all." The paper claims that while a large majority of Israelis would be willing to accept the principles Powell enumerated, "there is still no parallel, significant, peace bloc among the Palestinians, and especially not in the Islamic and Arab countries further away from Israel. There is no sincere cultural willingness to recognize Israel as a sovereign Jewish state and to put a decisive end to the war against Zionism. There is no realistic desire to reach an end to the conflict. There is no state effort to change the format of Islam's education for hatred. There is no conceptual or moral countenancing of a solution to the refugee problem outside Israel's borders. There is no rallying of public opinion against terrorism; the rallying in favor of it continues."
3. REACTIONS IN THE P.A. Yasser Arafat thanked Powell for his "continued efforts on behalf of the Palestinians," and expressed support for the speech. Itim News Agency reports, however, that other voices in the PA criticized the speech as being "empty of practical content" and "designed to cover up for the continued American actions against the Palestinians and the Moslems in Afghanistan, in order to prevent a regional escalation and enable Israel to continue its activities against the Palestinians."
Middle East media analyst Michael Widlanski notes that the official PA media "virtually ignored all elements in [Powell's speech] that were critical of the Palestinian Authority." Voice of Palestine last night noted pro-PA aspects of Powell's speech - support for a Palestinian state, demands for an end to Israeli settlements, and a call to end 'Israeli occupation' - but ignored others. For instance, Widlanski reports, PA listeners were not informed that "Powell insisted that the terms for ending occupation - the details of boundaries and timetables - had to be worked out in mutual agreement as part of negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel."
PA official Nabil Sha'ath and Oslo-architect Yossi Beilin were apparently disappointed by the speech. Contrary to their predictions, Powell's speech did not back the stationing of international observers in Judea and Samaria, nor did it void the 7-day period of no hostility demanded by Israel before talks could open.
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