Subject: Israel News: June 24-25, 1998 (Jerusalem Post) Date: Wed, 24 Jun 1998 23:55:44 +0000 To: "Arutz-7 List"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
Wednesday, June 24, 1998 30 Sivan 5758 Jerusalem Post - Internet Edition Arafat: 'Enough is enough' By LIAT COLLINS and news agencies JERUSALEM (June 24) - Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has urged the Clinton administration to step up pressure on Israel and go public with its redeployment plan, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said yesterday. MK Haim Ramon (Labor), meanwhile, charged that the updated US redeployment plan would give the Palestinians more territory than the original plan, introduced last January. Arafat's appeal came in a letter to US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Erekat said. Arafat reminded Albright that, in a phone call last month, she had assured him that her negotiations with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on a second redeployment would be completed within two weeks, Erekat said. "He said that he went all the way with her ideas in meetings here and there, and now it is time for the American administration to introduce its ideas and proposals publicly and officially, and it is time to tell Netanyahu that enough is enough," Erekat said. "Netanyahu is just wasting time, just stalling," he said. Ramon made his disclosures at a press conference, where he presented translated copies he had made of both US pullback proposals. He also distributed the copies to other MKs. He said that the updated plan from June 20 includes comments in the handwriting of US special envoy Dennis Ross. The first version, from January 31, was apparently presented by Ross in London to Yitzhak Molcho, the prime minister's adviser and to Erekat. Ramon said the in the latest version, the redeployment would be carried in three stages over a 12-week period during which 27.2 percent of the area under Israel's complete or security control would be handed over to complete or administrative Palestinian control, compared to the 25% in the first version. He said, 15.2% would be transferred from Area B to Area A (instead of 13.1% in the original initiative) and 12% would be transferred from Area C, under complete Israeli control, to Area B (compared to 11.9%). Both documents deal with reciprocity issues, changing the Palestinian Covenant, opening final-status negotiations as soon as the agreement is signed, resuming security cooperation, and establishing committees to deal with arms smuggling, incitement, and the extradition of wanted terrorists. "Most of the Israeli public - including ministers and MKs - have no idea about the details of the US plan and have no idea how the negotiations are being carried out," Ramon said. "Ninety percent of the [second] agreement is based on the prime minister's ideas... In effect, between January and June there have been no changes in the plan and if there were, they are small changes for the worst." Ramon said Netanyahu is acting out of coalition considerations - a charge the prime minister has repeatedly denied - and ruining relations with the US. ********************************************************************** Wednesday, June 24, 1998 30 Sivan 5758 Jerusalem Post - Internet Edition Netanyahu: Obtaining a public consensus is not a joke By HERB KEINON JERUSALEM (June 24) - Proposals to hold a referendum on the second-stage withdrawal gained momentum yesterday, as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with a number of cabinet ministers and discussed ways of holding the vote, as well as a target date. An official in the Prime Minister's Office said that one of the ideas raised for holding the referendum was to use magnetic ballots that would be sent to all voters, which would then be cast at post offices. One of the target dates mentioned, the official said, was mid-September. No final decisions were made at the meeting, attended by Justice Minister Tzahi Hanegbi, Communications Minister Limor Livnat, Interior Minister Eli Suissa, and cabinet secretary Dan Naveh. Further discussions are scheduled for today, with Hanegbi due to lead deliberations on regulations to govern campaigning in the electronic media. Speaking to reporters at the Israel Democracy Institute's economics conference in Zichron Ya'acov, Netanyahu said: "I think that obtaining a consensus in the public is not a joke, but something important." In a criticism of the Rabin government, which passed the Oslo 2 accords on the strength of renegade Tsomet MKs Gonen Segev and Alex Goldfarb, he added: "I always said that I wanted the widest consensus possible for diplomatic agreements, in contrast to how another government acted." Netanyahu said he is confident a decision on the referendum will gain ministerial support, despite criticism already levelled by some ministers, including Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai. Netanyahu, during a separate appearance in Ramat Gan, blasted Palestinian moves to upgrade the status of the PLO mission at the UN. He warned that if these plans are approved, they will severely damage the peace process. "We are hearing of plans to violate the agreement. Upgrading the PLO's representation at the UN is a violation of the agreement," Netanyahu said. "If this is done, it will cause grave damage to the peace process, and we cannot accept it." Netanyahu said his government is doing everything it can to "minimize the damage" of the Oslo accords. "We inherited a problematic agreement and we are doing everything to minimize the damage," he said. "We are not willing to give and not receive. We want to give the minimum, and receive what has been promised us." Mordechai yesterday continued to express skepticism over the effectiveness of a referendum. "I never said it was a bad thing," he told reporters during a visit to the Gaza Strip. "I only said that I am studying the matter and will continue to study it. I will state my opinion when I understand the referendum and its significance." "What is a referendum and what service can it provide?" Mordechai asked. The opposition, meanwhile, vowed yesterday to fight against the referendum and foil the legislation to pave the way for it. Arieh O'Sullivan, Dan Izenberg, and Michal Yudelman contributed to this report. ************************************************************************ Thursday, June 25, 1998 1 Tammuz 5758 Jerusalem Post - Internet Edition Netanyahu pushing hard for referendum By MICHAL YUDELMAN and news agencies Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu yesterday made intensive efforts, including via a telephone marathon, to muster support for a referendum, accusing those who oppose it with wanting to harm the government. By last night, however, the number of coalition MKs, including many in the Likud, who oppose the referendum was estimated at 48, while only 15 were in favor or had not yet decided. Netanyahu called a meeting of coalition party leaders, putting his whole weight behind a referendum. He told them he could hold a referendum two months after a decision is made. He said the referendum is a tool intended to help the government, and would help bridge the differences among the population. Political sources said that Netanyahu intends to announce the planned referendum today, if he is assured of sufficient support. Those objecting to the proposal include Agriculture Minister Rafael Eitan (Tsomet), Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai (Likud), coalition whip Meir Sheetrit (Likud), Shas, Gesher, five of the seven Yisrael Ba'aliya MKs, United Torah Judaism, Moledet, and two of The Third Way's four MKs. The objectors said their main reason is not knowing whether Netanyahu wants the referendum to advance the peace process or as a means to delay a pullback decision. Shas leader Aryeh Deri said his party tends to object to a referendum, fearing it would set a precedent for issues of state and religion. "Tomorrow someone will get up and say they want a referendum to separate state from religion. Every month it will be something else. What's the Knesset for? We have a principled stand that the government and Knesset should reach a decision [on the pullout]. This is what they were elected for," Deri said. "In any case, a referendum should not come instead of a decision. If there's any place for a referendum, it's only to prevent a rift in the nation and help reach unity. "If we are convinced it would not delay the pullout and contribute to unity, then we'll support it." Deri said Shas will not demand any political benefits in exchange for its support. In Washington, the US State Department urged Israel again yesterday to approve a US proposal for turning over 13 percent of the West Bank to the Palestinian Authority and said a referendum may not a good idea if it adds to the delay. "If it involves significant delay of any breakthrough, that would be of concern to us," a statement said. "Our emphasis remains on the need for rapid progress to reach agreement on implementing the further redeployments," State Department spokesman James Rubin said. He tempered the statement, though, by saying it was up to Israel to decide what to do, and that it was "not obvious" that a referendum would produce delay in reaching an agreement and reopening negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. By some accounts, a referendum would delay a withdrawal for at least two months because parliament would have to pass special legislation first. Arafat is urging the administration to step up pressure on Israel. In a letter to Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called for public disclosure of the US withdrawal plan. But Rubin said "it wouldn't be helpful at this time to take that step. And so we're not going to do so." ********************************************************************** Thursday, June 25, 1998 1 Tammuz 5758 Jerusalem Post - Internet Edition Israel threatens to spurn UN bodies if PLO upgraded By HERB KEINON JERUSALEM (June 25) - Israel would retaliate against a UN decision to upgrade the status of the PLO by cutting back on cooperation with UN bodies interested in becoming more involved in the Middle East, a senior Foreign Ministry official warned yesterday. The official said the Palestinian move to upgrade its UN status is a violation of the "spirit of Oslo," since the accords state that neither side should take dramatic unilateral actions that alter the status quo prior to a final-status agreement. Although Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said the resolution would "severely damage the peace process" if passed, the Foreign Ministry official did not say what action Israel would take against the Palestinian Authority. A debate in the General Assembly on the proposal was scheduled for Friday, but has been postponed. Israel has been lobbying intensely against the move. US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright called PA Chairman Yasser Arafat on Tuesday and discussed the issue. Netanyahu also spoke with British Prime Minister Tony Blair about the matter. The Foreign Ministry official said the Palestinians are interested in the upgrade because it will provide them with the status of "a state minus," and enhance their position in the international community. Such a move, he said, would not only have symbolic consequences, but tangible ones, since the Palestinians would be able to draft resolutions and participate in all debates on the Middle East. "Their ability to maneuver against us at the UN will be radically enhanced," the official said. Yitzhak Lior, the Foreign Ministry's deputy director-general for international organizations, noted that since Israel has been boxed out of regional groupings at the UN, it can never dream of full representation on the Security Council or other prestigious UN bodies. An enhanced status for the Palestinian delegation could paradoxically give "Palestine" more clout at the UN than Israel, he said. **********************************************************************