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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, Dec. 13, 2001
Arutz Sheva News Service <http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com> Thursday, Dec. 13, 2001 / Kislev 28, 5762 ------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES: 1. TEN MORE VICTIMS 2. ISRAEL RESPONDS VERBALLY AND MILITARILY 3. REACTIONS 4. HISTORY OF THE GOV'T DECISION DECLARING ARAFAT 'IRRELEVANT" 5. YESHA COUNCIL EMERGENCY MEETING IN EMANUEL
1. TEN MORE VICTIMS The victims of yesterday's terrorist massacre outside the hareidi city of Emanuel in the Shomron:
* Moshe Mordechai Gutman, 40, from Emanuel, was buried this morning in Har HaMenuchot in Jerusalem. He was the father of nine children, the oldest of whom is a 16-year-old daughter. He was wounded a year ago in another terrorist attack.
* Border Guard Sgt. Yoel Bienenfeld, 35, of Tal Shachar was buried in the regional cemetery near his home, off the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway. He was killed when he and his three Border Guard colleagues rushed to the scene to help the wounded and the terrorists opened fire on them. Another Border Guard fighter was wounded, but the two others helped kill the terrorist.
* The three Tzorfati family members - Yaakov Tzorfati, 64, of Emanuel, and his two sons David, 38, and Chanan, 32, both of Ginot Shomron - were buried in Kfar Sava at 3 PM. They are survived by their wife/mother and two daughters/sisters.
* Yisrael Sternberg, 46, of Emanuel, survived by his wife of 12 years.
* Yirmiyahu Salem, 48, of Emanuel.
* Esther Avraham, 42, mother of five children between the ages of 4 and 20, who moved to Emanuel only a short time ago.
* Avraham Nachman Nitzani, 18, of Beitar Illit, buried in Har HaMenuchot.
* Ya'ir Amar, 14, from Emanuel, son of Yemenite immigrants. He was a student at the Migdal Ohr Yeshiva in Migdal HaEmek.
The attack occurred when a public bus traveling from Bnei Brak to the Shomron community of Emanuel was bombed and fired upon from three different directions at about 6 PM. The Dan Company #189 bus was several hundred meters from the entrance to Emanuel when two roadside bombs were detonated alongside it, killing four passengers almost instantly. The driver managed to keep driving out of the line of fire, but when he neared the gate and some of the wounded were finally able to get off the bus, the three terrorists began spraying the area with automatic weapons fire. No one was able to approach the bus to help the wounded who could not alight on their own. Nearby cars, and those who escaped from them, were also shot at. One terrorist actually stood on the road and continued firing; a car ran him down, but he kept firing until a jeep ran him over a second time and killed him. The two other terrorists escaped, but not before they fired on emergency vehicles that arrived on the scene. At least one person was killed when his car - and two others - turned over.
Some 30 wounded were taken to hospitals in Tel Aviv, Kfar Sava, and Petach Tikvah. Over 20 are still hospitalized - one in critical condition and seven listed in moderate condition. Four of the seven children of the Siton family were hurt, including one who is conscious but in critical condition. Three children are in one hospital, and a fourth is in another. Ten-year-old Aharon Cohen was saved when a bolt from one of the bombs blasted through his yarmulke - but caused only surface wounds to his head. Chief Rabbi Lau and President Moshe Katzav visited the wounded in Beilinson Hospital today. Rabbi Lau said that the latest events prove that the Oslo process was a mistake, and that "we should learn from Egypt and Jordan how to deal with hostile elements."
Israeli sources say that the three terrorists who perpetrated the massacre were included in the list of 33 wanted terrorists that Israel submitted to the PA several weeks ago.
2. ISRAEL RESPONDS VERBALLY AND MILITARILY Following the attacks in Emanuel and Gush Katif last night, the government decided to call off all contacts with Yasser Arafat and to take strong military action against Palestinian targets. The Cabinet declared that Arafat is no longer "relevant," and considers him directly responsible for the terrorism. It was further decided that the army would prepare quickly for arrests and the confiscation of weapons in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza. The government sees the PA and its leader as "directly responsible for the Palestinian population's sad situation, and will continue to do what it can to help this population."
In the ensuing air and ground attacks during the night, the following targets were hit: The Palestinian Department of Science in Shechem (which served as a cover for an explosives manufacturing plant), the PLO airport's radar and control tower, the only helicopter pad in Shechem, Force 17 buildings in Gaza, the PA's naval police headquarters, and more. The army also took control of a few neighborhoods in Ramallah, and positioned tanks aimed at Arafat's office windows only 200 meters away. Around noon, IDF forces destroyed the main antenna of Voice of Palestine Radio - one of the PA's central symbols - and bulldozed others of the installation's buildings. "If the PA doesn't stop its incitement," an army source said, "we'll stop it for them." Irregular radio and television broadcasts continue from other stations, however.
3. REACTIONS The United States has not followed Israel's lead, and still wishes to maintain contact with Yasser Arafat as the head of the Palestinian Authority. So said Deputy Secretary of State William Burns this afternoon. The EU's Javier Solana said that the Union would continue to negotiate with Arafat and, despite Israel's objections, would even keep sending money to the PA [although see below].
Jordan's King Abdullah II told a London newspaper that if the situation in the Palestinian autonomy escalates and leads to mass Arab flight, Jordan will close the Jordan River crossings and not let his Arab brethren in. The King said he would not get militarily involved in the dispute.
Mayor Ron Nachman of Ariel told Voice of Israel Radio today:
"I simply cannot understand what happened to our national pride. How can it be that Marwan Bargouti says [this week] that the terrorism should concentrate only on 'settlers' [within Judea, Samaria, and Gaza] and yet the government doesn't even react? How is it that Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin is allowed to live - why shouldn't we send him to paradise? True, the army has taken action against terrorists - but who are they? They're not the leaders!" Nachman said that the immediate reaction to last night's attack should be the announcement of a new neighborhood of 1,000 housing units in Emanuel - 100 for each casualty of last night.
Yediot Acharonot's military commentator Alex Fishman wrote today that the massacre was the "last straw," and that it marks the end of the Oslo accords and of the Palestinian Authority in its current format. "Even Javier Solana of the European Union said last night, 'This is the end of the Palestinian Authority.'" Commentators predict that the next step in the gradual escalation of actions against the PA would be the takeover of areas under full Palestinian control and the disarming of the residents there. It is assumed that Arafat will not be directly targeted.
4. HISTORY OF THE GOV'T DECISION DECLARING ARAFAT 'IRRELEVANT" Arutz-7's Haggai Segal sees the government declaration as a "verbal escalation" that, if nothing else, "accustoms the public to understand that there is really no one to talk to [on the Palestinian side] nor anything to talk about, and that war is close." The following brief history may shed some light:
After the Dolphinarium massacre on June 1, Prime Minister Sharon said, "The situation is definitely not simple, but we must look at the entire picture. I want to say that even restraint is a form of strength." Following the murder of victim #121, Danny Yehuda from Chomesh on June 18, Sharon said, "There are many things that must be done, but to take the nation to war now in my opinion would be a first-degree mistake, from many standpoints. Sometimes there is no choice, but that is not the situation now."
Following the murder of victim #188, Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi on Oct. 17, Sharon declared, "What has been until now will not continue." The government demanded that the PA extradite the murderers, and if not, then the government "would have no choice but to see the PA as a terrorism-supporting entity." The PA did not do so, and neither did Israel carry out its threat. Even after Gen. Zinni's arrival in Israel and the second Afula bus station attack, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said, "The ceasefire talks must not deal narrowly only with a ceasefire, but must also include other elements - economic, social, emotional."
Yediot Acharonot's Fishman wrote that people who were with the Prime Minister last night when he heard the news of the attack said they never saw him as angry before. It remains to be seen, then, if last night's massacre really was the "turning-point attack" in terms of Israel's military response.
It's not clear whether the decision means no more contacts with Arafat alone, or no more contacts with the Palestinian Authority at all. Today's meeting between IDF officers and senior PA leaders implies that the former is correct. Labor MK Effie Oshaya explained to Arutz-7 today that his party did not object to the government decision this time, as opposed to last week, because, "there is a limit to what even we are willing to tolerate in our pursuit of peace."
5. YESHA COUNCIL EMERGENCY MEETING IN EMANUEL The Yesha Council held an emergency meeting this morning in Emanuel, demanding the immediate expulsion of Arafat and the immediate dismantling of the Palestinian Authority. The Council announced that the war in Afghanistan proved that there is no diplomatic solution to terrorism, only a military one.
Former Council leader MK Uri Ariel (National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu) said that either the PA is dismantled or Sharon's government will be dismantled - a veiled threat that his party would quit the government if the recommended action is not taken. The party is comprised of the National Union - Tekumah MKs Hendel and Ariel and Moledet Minister Benny Elon - and the four MKs of Yisrael Beiteinu, headed by Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Ariel told Arutz-7 that his and Hendel's recommendation is to quit the coalition, but that a meeting would be held on Sunday, after MK Elon returns from the U.S., to decide the party's future.
The MKs of the National Religious Party - a supporter of the coalition from without - convened today and decided to give Prime Minister Sharon only a few days to restore Israel's security. "If the policy of bombing empty buildings continues," they say, "we will work all-out to topple the government."
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To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com From: Arutz-7 Feedback <feedback@israelnationalnews.com> Subject: Arutz-7 News Brief: Friday, Dec. 14, 2001
Arutz Sheva News Service <http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com> Friday, Dec. 14, 2001 / Kislev 29, 5762 ------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES: 1. WIDE-SCALE IDF INITIATIVE INTO PLO-CONTROLLED AREAS 2. PLO BROADCASTS FOCUS ON ANTI-AMERICANISM 3. RIGHT WING PARTIES: TO LEAVE OR NOT TO LEAVE? 4. YESHA LEADER: CONTINUED ATTACKS ON EMPTY BUILDINGS ABSURD 5. SHAMIR: BRING DOWN THE PA
1. WIDE-SCALE IDF INITIATIVE INTO PLO-CONTROLLED AREAS In what is being termed one of the largest IDF operations into areas under the jurisdiction of Yasser Arafat, IDF soldiers last night and today killed 6 Arab terrorists, wounded tens, and arrested scores of others. The IDF says that many of those arrested and killed were directly involved in attacks against Israelis. In two locations, there were exchanges of fire, resulting in no injuries to Israeli troops. In the Arab township of Salfit, east of Tel Aviv and just ten kilometers south of Emanuel (the site of Wednesday night's attack on a public bus), Arabs opened fire on IDF forces who entered the area. IDF soldiers charged at the attackers killing five and wounding four of them. Earlier in the evening, an Arab terrorist made his last stand as he fired upon a convoy of Israelis traveling near their home Netzarim along Israel's southern Mediterranean coast. IDF forces escorting the convoy killed the gunman who was found to be armed with a large quantity of ammunition and grenades.
Near the Jewish township of Netzarim, along Israel Near Shechem (east of Netanya), two Arab gunmen attempted to flee from IDF troops, but they were wounded and transferred by chopper for treatment in an Israeli hospital. In the Hevron area, more terrorists were captured including a senior Hamas leader. IDF ground forces also operated last night against targets in PLO-controlled Khan Yunis along Israel's southern Mediterranean coast. The aim of the mission was to silence a cell of mortar launchers.
Before the initiative, the IDF warned Arab civilians to stay in their homes lest they be mistaken for a terrorist and harmed in the operation.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon reiterated that army forces would remain deployed in areas under PA control to restore law and order. Military rabbis have transferred Hanukkah menorahs of IDF issue to Jewish soldiers in their new positions in PLO areas. The soldiers will thus be able to perform the commandment of Hanukkah candle-lighting for the remaining three nights of the holiday.
2. PLO BROADCASTS FOCUS ON ANTI-AMERICANISM Though presenting themselves in the American media as supportive of the US war effort, the Palestinians continue to ridicule and condemn the United States in their own Arabic-language publications and broadcasts. Palestinian Media Watch reports that one of the themes regularly expressed in the PLO-controlled media is hatred of the US as an integral part of Palestinian ideology. In a sermon delivered last Friday in the Al-Aqsa Mosque and broadcast on Palestinian Radio, the US-Taliban war was presented as part of a global conflict in which the Judeo-Christian West is fighting against the entire Muslim nation. America is referred to as "infidel","Crusaders", and "head of world terror." The deliverer of the sermon tells Muslim worshippers that there is no place for America in the world.
The following excerpts from this important sermon shed light on the Islamic world view of the Palestinians and possibly of many other Muslim nations:
"The [battle] cry 'To help Islam!' continues to echo in the Muslim world [today]. Is anyone responding? Here [today] the "Mongolians" and "Crusaders" are raising their heads and enlisting armies to fight the Islamic nations in an oppressive campaign, under the label of "terrorism" which the infidels are attaching to the Arabs and Muslims, for the purpose of realizing their imperialist interests, and to spread their control over the Muslim countries and their resources. "If terrorism - as viewed by America, the leader of world terror - is the killing of innocent civilians, we have to ask: ...Is the killing of Afghani civilians and their expulsion as refugees in their country and in neighboring countries considered terrorism? Does the continued siege on Iraq, continued aggression against it in the North and South, and the death of children due to the shortage of food and medicine enter the category of terrorism? "Cannot these war crimes, and the rest of the conditions to which Muslims are subjected in Chechenya, Kashmir and the Philippines, be categorized as terrorism, according to the American perception of terrorism? ".There is no place for a weak nation [America] among the nations of this world, one which was blinded by the intoxication of power and understands nothing but the language of interests and hegemony." [Palestinian Radio, from the Al Aqsa Mosque, by Mohammed Hassin, Dec. 7, 2001]
3. RIGHT WING PARTIES: TO LEAVE OR NOT TO LEAVE? Knesset members Tzvi Hendel and Uri Ariel (National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu party) say that they are disappointed with Sharon's "soft" retaliation to the recent wave of terrorist attacks. They now call upon their party to leave the coalition in protest. However, party colleague and Tourism Minister Rabbi Benny Elon says in response that there is no reason to bolt the coalition at this time. Elon says that now more than ever, the government is on the right path in its dealing with Arab terrorism. Minister of Infrastructure Avigdor Liberman (National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu party) has not revealed his position on the issue. The faction will convene on Sunday to debate the issue and reach a decision whether to leave the government.
4. YESHA LEADER: CONTINUED ATTACKS ON EMPTY BUILDINGS ABSURD Director of the Council for Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza (Yesha) Benny Kashriel stated that the continued IDF strikes against empty buildings in PLO autonomous areas were "absurd" and "a waste of ammunition." Kashriel told Arutz Sheva Radio that Arafat has been a terrorist for about fifty years and as such, there was nothing to talk to him about. He added that continued military strikes on empty PA buildings were "absurd to the point of crying," adding the PA was equally amazed by the Israeli response.
Kashriel stated that the Yesha Council was not seeking revenge or a specific response, just a commitment to get rid of the PA. Kashriel stated there must be a definitive decision that Arafat is a terrorist and dealt with accordingly.
5. SHAMIR: BRING DOWN THE PA Former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir told a gathering yesterday that the Israeli government must completely nullify all of its previous accords with the PLO and utterly destroy the Palestinian Authority. "Anyone who still insists that Arafat can be a partner to negotiations is sick," said the former premier. Shamir called the Oslo Accords a "nightmare come true" and a "suicidal agreement."
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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, Dec. 16, 2001
Arutz Sheva News Service <http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com> Sunday, Dec. 16, 2001 / Tevet 1, 5762, 7th day of Hanukkah ------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES: 1. ARAFAT TO CALL ON ARABS TO STOP WARFARE; ISRAEL NOT IMPRESSED 2. DEFENSE MINISTER: ARAFAT TRYING TO LIMIT TERROR TO YESHA 3. LABOR'S BURG: I WOULD NEGOTIATE UNDER FIRE 4. RIGHT WING PARTIES UNDECIDED ON LEAVING COALITION 5. ARAFAT: MOSSAD KILLED ZE'EVI
1. ARAFAT TO CALL ON ARABS TO STOP WARFARE; ISRAEL NOT IMPRESSED Advisors to Yasser Arafat announced this morning that the PLO leader will deliver an important speech today to mark the end of the religious month of Ramadan. PLO officials originally said that Arafat will call on Arabs to lay down their arms and end all warfare with the State of Israel. The same aides later changed their announcement and are now saying that the thrust of the Arafat declaration would be a call to Arabs "to maintain the ceasefire with Israel." But, diplomatic sources in Israel are no longer relating seriously to announcements by Yasser Arafat. "In the last year alone, Arafat has made many declarations which remained just that declarations," says one Israeli leader in response to reports of the televised Arafat statement at 6:00 PM. Israeli government officials are saying that they will judge Arafat by his actions, not by his words.
The PLO announced today that it had closed down Hamas offices in various locations.
2. DEFENSE MINISTER: ARAFAT TRYING TO LIMIT TERROR TO YESHA JEWS Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said today that the international pressure against Arafat has not pushed the PLO leader to fight against terrorism. On the contrary, Arafat is now trying to reach a deal with the Islamic Jihad and Hamas terrorist organizations that will enable them to continue to murder Jewish civilians in Israel. Arafat hopes to alleviate some of the diplomatic pressures by limiting the terrorist activity to Israeli citizens located in Yesha (Judea, Samaria, and Gaza) alone. Ben-Eliezer also said that Arafat has had countless opportunities to combat terrorism and has missed every one of them.
There was a sharp difference of opinion at the weekly cabinet meeting between Prime Minister Sharon and Ben-Eliezer over the granting of permits to 6,000 Arab laborers to enter Green Line Israel for agricultural work. Sharon was angered when he learned that Ben-Eliezer gave the okay, saying he was not consulted. Ben-Eliezer stressed that he does not want to bring down the Palestinian Authority and therefore is permitting the laborers to enter. Sharon remained opposed to the gesture, saying that the PA must feel "pressured and threatened."
3. LABOR'S BURG: I WOULD NEGOTIATE UNDER FIRE Knesset speaker and Labor party chairman candidate Avraham Burg told the Arab-Israeli newspaper Panorama that if he were elected prime minister he would negotiate with the Arabs "even under fire, in order to achieve a cease-fire." Burg and Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer, who will face each other in a run-off to determine who will lead the party, are both concerned that the Druze and Arab sectors will boycott the upcoming vote.
In other Labor party news, Former Justice Minister Yossi Beilin is enlisting support for the Labor party to pull out of the national unity government headed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The issue of remaining or leaving the government will be on the party's central committee agenda in January. Beilin, considered an extreme left element in the party, told a French publication that the isolation of Arafat was an "irresponsible and dangerous move."
Contrary (and perhaps due) to the positions taken by Beilin, Burg, and other party leaders, a recent study conducted by Ben Gurion University political-media researcher Udi Lebel indicates that Labor Party Central Committee members are not satisfied with Labor party policy these days. As reported in Ha'aretz, Lebel said that the party members sense "shame and de-legitimization when taking part in public discourse" in light of the failures of Oslo and Camp David. The committee members admitted that they longed to reconnect to 'Israeli-ism' and to distance themselves from the 'extreme left'. They also, surprisingly, expressed their satisfaction with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and feel that he is more worthy then Burg or Ben-Eliezer to serve as the head of their own party.
4. RIGHT WING PARTIES UNDECIDED ON LEAVING COALITION The Yisrael Beitenu/National Union (YBNU) faction convened this morning to discuss leaving the national unity government due to the inadequacy of government action against Yasser Arafat and his Palestinian Authority. The parties' leaders adjourned without a decision. Yisrael Beitenu head, Minister Avigdor Lieberman, remains adamant in his demand that the party resign from the government. However, Tourism Minister Rabbi Binyamin Elon (National Union Party) is opposed to bolting the coalition at this time. Elon believes that Prime Minister Sharon is on the right path, and the faction should give him more time. The party leaders are expected to confer with central committee members and reconvene at a later date. The combined YBNU faction decided that they will not split over the issue and will resign from the government only if a unanimous decision is reached.
In an exclusive interview with Arutz Sheva Israel National Radio today, Rabbi Benny Elon said that current government policy is leading in the direction of nullification of Oslo, and the gradual collapse of the Palestinian Authority. Elon said: "Following the Dolphinarium and Sbarro suicide bombings, Peres lead government policy by its nose, despite vociferous protests in cabinet meetings from several ministers. The protests [against giving Arafat another chance] fell on deaf ears, and therefore Minsters Ze'evi and Lieberman together submitted their letters of resignation from their government ministries. But then policy began to change. Following the murder of Ze'evi, something clicked, and the cabinet then declared that if the murderers of Ze'evi are not handed over and if the PLO does not cease its support of terror, Arafat's PA will be declared a terrorist supporting entity. A week later, the declaration was made. Since then, I feel that the general direction of government policy has changed. We'll continue to monitor the situation closely."
5. ARAFAT: MOSSAD KILLED ZE'EVI PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat is accusing the Israeli Mossad (foreign intelligence service) of carrying out the October 17, 2001 assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rechavam Ze'evi. Arab terrorists from the Islamic Jihad organization shot Ze'evi dead that morning as he returned from breakfast to his Jerusalem hotel room. In an interview broadcast last week on Israeli television, Arafat also accused Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak of conspiring with current Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to "provoke" the Palestinians into violence, in order to provide Israel with an excuse to attack the local Arab targets.
The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has recently published a special report, alerting the public to similar conspiracy theories launched by Arafat and the Palestinian leadership. Such theories say that Israel poisons Arab food in order to harm male virility, and that Israeli planes have dropped bags of poisoned candy into PA areas as part of its "genocide" plan. ZOA National President Morton Klein commented on Arafat's theories: "If any other international political figure spouted these kinds of insane and hate-filled conspiracy theories, he would be dismissed as a lunatic, as was Ugandan president Idi Amin. Instead, the world continues to treat Arafat as an international statesman and negotiating partner. Arafat's anti-Israel conspiracy theories are part and parcel of the constant torrent of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic hate material on official PA television and radio, the PA's newspaper, in the text books used in PA schools, in the summer camps that the PA runs, in the speeches given by PA officials and in the religious sermons delivered by PA-appointed clergymen. After eight years of promoting terrorism, promoting hatred and the murder of Jews, and continuing human rights abuses, the time has come for the United States to end all relations with Arafat and his terrorist regime."
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