Subject: Arutz-7 News: April 24-26, 1998
Date:    Mon, 27 Apr 1998 07:06:53 +0000
To:      "Arutz-7 List"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>



From:          Arutz-7 Editor <editor7@virtual.co.il>
To:            arutz-7@ploni.virtual.co.il, arutz7-b@ploni.virtual.co.il
Subject:       Arutz-7 News Brief: Friday, April 24, 1998

Arutz Sheva News Service
     <http://www.a7.org>
Friday, April 24, 1998 / Nisan 28, 5758 / 13 days to the Omer
------------------------------------------------
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
  1. GOVERNMENT UPSET AT GORE'S JUBILEE VISIT WITH ARAFAT
  2. GIANT RALLY PLANNED ON HAR HOMA
  3. JEWISH FAITH AND PRIDE IN POLAND
  4. RALLY PLANNED TO OPPOSE WITHDRAWAL
  5. LONDON CATHEDRAL TO HOLD PRO-PALESTINIAN SERVICE

1. GOVERNMENT UPSET AT GORE'S JUBILEE VISIT WITH ARAFAT
Arutz-7 has learned that senior Israeli government officials are angered
over what they termed "the blatant insensitivity" of American Vice
President Al Gore, who plans to meet with Yasser Arafat in Ramallah next
Friday.  The officials say that Gore has turned what was to be a diplomatic
salute to Israel - his representation of the United States at Israel's
jubilee celebrations - into an "insult."  They emphasized that he has
ignored Israeli government requests and protests, and will thus turn his
visit into an American version of the recent Robin Cook fiasco.  A large
anti-Israel demonstration is planned in Ramallah during the meeting,
intensifying the sensation of an American insult.

2. GIANT RALLY PLANNED ON HAR HOMA
Close to 100,000 Israelis are planned to gather next Thursday in Har Homa,
demanding that the long-promised construction begin there at once.  Avi
Schmidt, representing a group of 1200 families who plan to make their homes
in a future Har Homa community, said that the intention is to place there a
symbolic cornerstone for the neighborhood.  Reuters News Agency has
circulated reports of the upcoming rally across the world.  Yaakov Katz
(Ketzaleh), a Yesha leader and one of the event's organizers, said that the
rally will also protest the planned visit of U.S. Vice President Al Gore to
Yasser Arafat this coming Friday.  Katz said, "Gore is coming as the guest
of the State of Israel, for its 50th anniversary celebrations, and yet at
the recommendation of his advisors who wish to humiliate the State of
Israel, he plans to meet with Arafat in Ramallah. This is a slap in the
face of the State of Israel," said Katz.  

3. JEWISH FAITH AND PRIDE IN POLAND
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, enwrapped in a tallit (prayer shawl)
yesterday at the site of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp, read
aloud the Shma Yisrael prayer, and declared, "With a trembling heart, I
stand here on this accursed ground...  With a trembling heart, but with an
upright back - because in front of me I see the flag of Israel waving, and
around me are thousands of youth of the Jewish people, the nation that has
arisen from the dust."  He said that our lesson from the Holocaust is
"Jewish sovereignty and a Jewish army, relying on the strength of Jewish
faith."  Netanyahu, speaking at the conclusion of the March of the Living
ceremonies in Poland, said that the reason the Allies did not bomb the
railroad tracks leading to the camps was because the Jewish people had no
state of their own, and therefore no one to champion their interests.

Education Minister Rabbi Yitzchak Levy, speaking in Poland yesterday, said,
"It appeared that the Jewish nation would not be able to recover from the
blow of losing six million of its sons and daughters so brutally...  It
appeared that way - but it was not that way, because the spirit of Israel
is eternal, and from it the nation of Israel drew the strength to arise
from the dust and establish the State of Israel.  From this valley of
death," said the Education Minister, "we will return with the help of God
to Israel next week and celebrate the jubilee anniversary of Israel's
independence."

The central Holocaust Day youth ceremony in Israel took place yesterday in
Yad Vashem.  Deputy Education Minister Moshe Peled said, "The entire Jewish
nation salutes the 250,000 survivors of the Holocaust who arrived here
after the war and enlisted in the effort to establish the State of Israel."

4. RALLY PLANNED TO OPPOSE WITHDRAWAL
Jewish leaders in Judea and Samaria are greatly concerned after having seen
the map of the proposed 11% withdrawal from Yesha.  They say a withdrawal
of this nature would leave at least 15 Jewish communities in the same
position as Netzarim in Gaza - isolated islands within a Palestinian
autonomous sea.  Many of the by-pass roads will become narrow corridors
within the autonomy, and Israel will not be able to prevent Arab
construction alongside them.  Clashes between Israelis and Palestinian
policemen will become a common and unavoidable phenomenon.  Yesha Council
head Aharon Domb sent a telegram last night to the Prime Ministers and the
government ministers, warning that the planned withdrawal would create a
horrendous situation, and impose a grave sentence upon the residents of
dozens of Jewish towns and their residents.  

A large rally is planned for this coming Sunday, opposite the Prime
Minister's Office.

5. LONDON CATHEDRAL TO HOLD PRO-PALESTINIAN SERVICE
The British Chronicle reports that the prominent Westminster Cathedral in
London will be used for a pro-Palestinian church service next month.
British-based Palestinians will mark "50 years of the Palestinian tragedy"
with an inter-faith service at the church, organized by the Palestine
Solidarity Campaign and other groups.  The main speaker will be Canon Naim
Ateek, pastor of the Anglican St. George's Cathedral in Jerusalem and an
outspoken proponent of a Palestinian state.  Invitations to the event
feature a map of Palestine on Israeli territory, overprinted with the
words: "Palestine 50 - Time for Justice."  A spokesman for the Council for
the Advancement of Arab-British Understanding admitted that securing the
cathedral had been "something of a coup."  The director of the Council of
Christians and Jews, Paul Mendel, said that he regretted the cathedral's
use for a "one-sided" service. "It does not reflect the pain on both sides
of the conflict," he said. 

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From:          Arutz-7 Editor <editor7@virtual.co.il>
To:            arutz-7@ploni.virtual.co.il,arutz7-b@ploni.virtual.co.il 
Subject:       Arutz-7 News: Sunday, April 26, 1998

Arutz Sheva News Service
     <http://www.a7.org> 
Sunday, April 26, 1998 / Rosh Chodesh Iyar, 5758 / 15 days to the Omer

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
  1. ROSS/INDYK PUSHING FOR 13%
  2. YESHA RALLY TONIGHT
  3. MOLEDET STILL CONSIDERING JOINING GOVERNMENT
  4. THREAT TO ARUTZ-7 DEALT WITH BY MINISTERS

1. ROSS/INDYK PUSHING FOR 13%
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will convene the security
mini-cabinet this afternoon for yet another session on the proposed
withdrawal from Judea and Samaria.  Netanyahu met last night with
American mediators Dennis Ross and Martin Indyk, in another
unsuccessful attempt to find an agreed-upon formula for the
withdrawal.  Ross and Indyk met today with Defense Minister Mordechai,
and will meet also with Ministers Sharon and Ne'eman.  The Americans
demand a 13% withdrawal, but the mini-cabinet is not willing to
surpass 11%.  

2. YESHA RALLY TONIGHT
The Yesha Council has called a large rally for tonight, outside the
Prime Minister's Office, demanding that the Prime Minister stand firm
against American pressure for further concessions.  Speakers will
raise the fact that according to the maps being worked on in the
Central Command, many Jewish towns will become small enclaves amidst
the Palestinian autonomy. Pinchas Wallerstein, head of the Binyamin
Regional Council, told Arutz-7 today:  "Residents of many towns in
Yesha will return home every night via a narrow strip of territory
passing through the Palestinian autonomy, enabling our enemies to
threaten an Israeli population.  I don't know how anyone has the gall
to do this.  There was no one who told me that the maps [depicting a
proposed 11% withdrawal] don't harm national security interests,
whether they be water sources, military-strategic interests, etc.  I
have not found one IDF officer who said that the maps don't harm these
interests..."  

Regarding the possible joining of Moledet to the coalition,
Wallerstein said, "I cannot explain such a move.  From Netanyahu's
standpoint, it is a brilliant move, since there will then be no one to
submit a no-confidence motion in case of a withdrawal; only a Knesset
faction can do so, while individual Knesset Members can only join in
after it has been submitted. This means that if Moledet joins the
government, Netanyahu need not fear a no-confidence motion on this
issue."

3. MOLEDET STILL CONSIDERING JOINING GOVERNMENT
MK Rehavam Ze'evi, speaking with Arutz-7 today, said that his threat
until now to bring down the government if it executes a further
withdrawal is "meaningless."  "Everybody knows that the alternative to
Netanyahu is [Arab Democratic Party MK Abdul Wahab] Darawshe, [Hadash
MK Tamar] Guzansky, and [Labor party leader MK Ehud] Barak," said the
Moledet leader, explaining why he is now considering joining the
Netanyahu government in an attempt to influence from within.  "All my
life I have fought for the Land of Israel," he said.  He added,
though, that a decision to close down Arutz-7 would be enough of a
justification not to join the government.  The other Moledet MK, Rabbi
Benny Elon, told Arutz-7 last week that he still stands behind the
letter he (and Ze'evi) signed last month threatening to bring down the
government if it decides to withdraw from further territories.

In response, MK Chanan Porat (NRP) said that the threat to bring down
the government is not at all meaningless, but a real course of action
in the case that the government decides on another withdrawal.  "If we
bring down the government, there will be new elections, and the right
wing may even receive more Knesset mandates than it has now," said
Porat.  He said that it would be "political folly" to transfer
additional territories to Arafat even as he announces that he plans to
turn them into a Palestinian state next year.  

4. THREAT TO ARUTZ-7 DEALT WITH BY MINISTERS
Yediot Acharonot reports that Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein has
decided that there is no choice but to close down Arutz-7.  According
to the newspaper, Rubenstein came to this conclusion during a secret
session of police, GSS, and legal elements.  The meeting was called to
discuss Labor MK Eitan Kabel's petition to the Supreme Court to close
the station. A special ministerial committee, headed by 
Communications Minister Limor Livnat, convened today for an emergency
session to find a way to keep the station from being shut down.  

Responding to the report, the Arutz-7 management announced that it has
been broadcasting for ten years from outside Israel's territorial
waters, involving millions of dollars in expenses for its ship "Eretz
HaTzvi."  The station expressed its confidence that the State
Attorney's Office would not act to close Arutz-7, just as Abie
Nathan's Voice of Peace was permitted to broadcast from the sea for
over 20 years.  It stated that Arutz-7 is a mouthpiece for over half
the country's population who wish to hear views other than those
broadcast over government-owned radio.  The station's statement
predicted that MK Kabel's petition would be rejected because is stands
in opposition to the Basic Law of Human Dignity and Freedom, and the
Basic Law of Freedom of Occupation.  

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                    US AIMS TO CLOSE PEACE PROCESS IN  10 DAYS 
                                            (Jerusalem Post)

                     Friday, April 24, 1998       28 Nisan 5758 

                    By HILLEL KUTTLER and MARGOT DUDKEVITCH 

                                     
                    WASHINGTON (April 24) - The US believes that
                    diplomatic moves over the next 10 days will
                    determine whether the peace process will emerge
                    from its year-long freeze, a senior administration
                    official said in Washington yesterday.

                    US special envoy Dennis Ross and Assistant
                    Secretary of State for Near East Affairs Martin
                    Indyk are to arrive in the Middle East this
                    weekend to prepare for the May 4 London meetings
                    with US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. She
                    is to meet separately with Prime Minister Binyamin
                    Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority Chairman
                    Yasser Arafat.

                    In what might be a new development, West Bank
                    settlement leaders said yesterday they were told
                    by senior officers in the Central Command that
                    maps were being drawn for an 11 percent
                    redeployment.

                    Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria,
                    and Gaza spokeswoman Yehudit Tayar said council
                    members were given details of the plans. She would
                    not identify the officers who divulged them.

                    She said that council members drafted letters last
                    night to cabinet ministers to protest that the
                    plans would isolate about 20 settlements, which
                    would be surrounded by Palestinian territory and
                    have only a single access road.

                    The Central Command spokesman had no comment.
                    Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai's spokesman
                    said he had no information about such plans, and
                    that any such decisions are made by the cabinet.

                    The council heads' letters appealed to ministers'
                    "sense of responsibility" after learning that the
                    issue would be raised in Sunday's cabinet meeting,
                    Tayar said.

                    She warned that if indeed the details are true,
                    the settlers would seek to topple the government.

                    "Even when a 9% withdrawal was being discussed, we
                    were warned by defense officials that national
                    security would be forfeit," she said.

                    Settlers plan to hold a demonstration on Sunday
                    outside the Prime Minister's Office to urge the
                    government to stand firm and not give in to
                    pressures, for which Tayar said the settlers would
                    pay a high price.

                    "We hope that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
                    fulfills his responsibilities and remains in
                    power, but we will withdraw our support if he goes
                    ahead with an 11% withdrawal," she said.

                    Council member Elyakim Haetzni warned that an 11%
                    withdrawal would bring destruction on the entire
                    settlement enterprise in the West Bank and Gaza.
                    He noted that Arafat has already announced
                    intentions to declare Palestinian statehood in May
                    1999.

                    "He expects us to provide him with an airport,
                    seaport, safe passage, and territorial contiguity.
                    Without these things he can't declare a state,"
                    Haetzni said.

                    While the US has often called on the parties to
                    make the "hard decisions" necessary to spur the
                    talks, this time Washington believes that the two
                    sides understand the gravity of the situation and
                    the US's desire to resolve the stalemate, the
                    senior administration official said.

                    "This really is the process now of bringing this
                    to an agreement," he said.

                    The official said that the Ross and Albright trips
                    were being viewed as "the end game".

                    "We've been at this a long time. We do believe
                    this process needs to reach a resolution."

                    "We want to see closure. As long as we see the
                    sides engaged, we'll be there," the official said.
                    "This is a time of decisions. We are concerned
                    about the process spinning on. The string for
                    diplomatic decisions has run out."

                    "This isn't being arbitrary or forcing or
                    compelling, but recognizing we have taken this as
                    far as it can go. This is not a surprise. The
                    parties know our thinking. It's the time to bring
                    it to closure," the official said.

                    "We've made our views clear at the highest levels.
                    We're not interested in a rhetorical statement. We
                    want an agreement."

                    The official refused to discuss what consequences
                    might follow continued disagreement over
                    fulfilling the US's four-part agenda: progressing
                    to final-status talks; ceasing provocative acts;
                    resolving Palestinian demands for a larger Israeli
                    redeployment, and improving the PA's level of
                    security cooperation with Israel.

                    He would not comment, for example, on speculation
                    that the US is weighing the possibility of
                    removing itself as a mediator.

                    "If we're not successful in moving ahead, we'll
                    have to look at what we can do," he acknowledged,
                    adding that the US is hoping that the next 10 days
                    yield dramatic changes in the year-long freeze.

                    He added that the US is encouraged by Arafat's
                    crackdown on Hamas and wishes that Israel were
                    more encouraging toward Arafat for the progress he
                    has made in fighting terrorism.

                    "They're in a full-blown campaign against Hamas as
                    an institution. That's very important," the
                    official said. "It needs to be sustained... Arafat
                    is doing the right thing. I can add - 'at last' -
                    but he's doing the right thing."

                    Indyk is to remain in the region to link up with
                    Vice President Al Gore, who is to fly to Israel
                    late next week to participate in the 50th
                    anniversary celebrations.

                    In Gaza, Arafat met last night with cabinet
                    members to discuss the Ross visit. A senior PA
                    official warned Israel against trying to stop the
                    declaration of Palestinian statehood.

                    Also discussed were the visit of British Prime
                    Minister Tony Blair and the London meeting with
                    Albright.

                    Arafat plans to fly to Germany today for a two-day
                    visit, during which he will meet with Chancellor
                    Helmut Kohl and Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel.

                    PA Secretary-General Tayeb Abdul Rahim said
                    neither peace nor stability would come to the
                    region unless the Palestinians obtain statehood
                    with Jerusalem as their capital. Addressing a
                    graduation ceremony of security officers in Gaza,
                    Abdul Rahim reiterated that statehood would be
                    declared in another year.

                    He warned Israel against trying to stop the
                    Palestinians.

                    "If they enter our lands, they will not leave
                    alive," he said. "This is our decision. The
                    Israeli side should understand that we are
                    determined to bring about our stage next year on
                    all our Palestinian lands according to the
                    international laws."

                    Arafat aide Nabil Abu Rudeineh warned that if the
                    London summits fail, the Arab countries would
                    convene a summit and take a united position
                    against Israel.

                    (Jay Bushinsky, Steve Rodan, and Mohammed Najib
                    contributed to this report.)

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