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: Wednesday, July 1, 1998
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Wednesday, July 1, 1998 / Tammuz 7, 5758
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. PRESIDENT AND PRIME MINISTER COME TO TERMS
2. YAALON: ARAFAT PASSIVELY HELPING HAMAS
3. NATIONAL SECURITY MAP SHOWS ONLY SECURITY ASPECTS
4. ELITZUR: ALL YESHA COMMUNITIES WILL REMAIN
5. ALBRIGHT SAYS NO
1. PRESIDENT AND PRIME MINISTER COME TO TERMS
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and President Ezer Weizmann met this
morning, in what some called a reconciliation and others called a
cease-fire. Afterwards, aides of the two read the following announcement:
"The President and the Prime Minister spoke and clarified their positions
to each other. They agreed that the welfare of the State demands that every
subject be considered and clarified between them, and not in a public
manner." Reporters were not given the opportunity to ask questions after
the announcement. The meeting was held at the initiative of Likud Knesset
faction leader Meir Sheetrit, following the most recent flare-up of
tensions between the two leaders last night: Netanyahu said that
Weizmann's call for early elections "damages the diplomatic process and
encourages Arafat not to yield on his positions," and the President said
that that was tantamount to calling him a traitor. The President called
off the press conference he had scheduled for this morning, in which he had
planned to react to Netanyahu's response. The two leaders will meet again
next week.
2. YAALON: ARAFAT PASSIVELY HELPING HAMAS
Not only is Yasser Arafat not acting against the terrorism infrastructure,
but he is aiding it in various ways. So reported O.C. Central Command
Maj.-Gen. Moshe Yaalon to representatives of various Yesha townships on
Monday. He said that Arafat has merely given a temporary red light to
Hamas terrorism in order not to disrupt the coordination between himself
and the Americans during the current negotiations.
3. NATIONAL SECURITY MAP SHOWS ONLY SECURITY ASPECTS
The national security interests map, which was presented yesterday to the
Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, excludes some 59 Yesha
settlements from its borders. Committee member Nisan Slomiansky told
Arutz-7 today that the map is misleading: "Israel's national interests
comprise four elements: military interests, settlement interests, water
sources, and historic sites. The problem is that only the military
interests were shown on this map, leading to misunderstandings, and then
people like MK Yosi Sarid say what he said today that the 59 settlements
that are not on the map are unnecessary burdens. This of course is not
true; rather the settlements that are included in this map are those that
happen to be in areas that were designated as military interests. We are
waiting for the other maps to be drawn." He explained that another claim
he has against the map is that the settlements are not defined as security
interests: "All the previous governments built settlements on lands that
were considered vital from a military point of view... We have always
claimed that settlements equal security."
Maj.-Gen. Yaalon, who presented the map yesterday, explained to the
committee that the map was drawn for a situation in which a "diplomatic
process" is underway - not for a situation of real peace, nor for a
situation of war. Slomiansky said that Yaalon did not give a clear answer
to the question of whether this map will guide Israel for the
permanent-status talks, or only for the interim stages, "although I
understood that this would be the final map." Slomiansky said that this is
problematic, however, and he gave two examples: "The Jordan Valley is
considered a vital security interest, while the mountain ridge area, which
overlooks and dominates the Jordan Valley on the west, is not. This is
absurd! Another example: For the purposes of the map, both Jordan and the
Palestinian Authority are considered enemy entities, and right in the
middle is the Israeli army, surrounded on both sides. What military
strategist can draw up such an inconceivable map? This map could therefore
not have been drawn up only with military considerations. Rather the
governmental echelons told the military that they should draw up a security
map, and should also take into account that the Jordan Valley is empty of
Arabs, while the mountain ridge has many Arabs. In other words, they had
other considerations in mind as well... The fact is that I heard the IDF
Chief of Staff two weeks ago tell us that every upcoming withdrawal
involves a certain amount of danger, and even danger to life. This means
that a purely military map would include the entirety of Judea and Samaria!"
4. ELITZUR: ALL YESHA COMMUNITIES WILL REMAIN
Uri Elitzur, resident of Ofrah and head of the Prime Minister's Office,
said today that this government sees all of the Yesha townships as being in
Israeli-controlled territory, "in a way that they can live, with roads
leading to them, such that they are not isolated and not enclaves or
islands within Palestinian territory - this goes for each and every
community." Regarding Maj.-Gen. Yaalon's assessment of Arafat's active
tolerance of Hamas, Elitzur said, "Prime Minister Netanyahu agrees with
this... and that's why we have not signed an agreement with him, until he
shows that he is truly fulfilling, in a way that can be measured and
confirmed, his security commitments."
5. ALBRIGHT SAYS NO
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright refuses to agree to a proposal
by Prime Minister Netanyahu regarding the second withdrawal. Netanyahu
suggested that a portion of the territories from which Israel would
withdraw would become Area D - a heretofore unknown status, in which
Israel will retain control over security and building rights.
********************************************************************
Wednesday, July 1, 1998 7 Tammuz 5758
Jerusalem Post - Internet Edition
UN debates Jerusalem expansion plan
By MARILYN HENRY
UNITED NATIONS (July 1) - At the start of the
security council debate on the expansion of
Jerusalem, Israeli envoy Dore Gold yesterday said
Israel's plans, in terms of the borders of the
West Bank, do not represent a departure from
previous policy.
Citing sewerage as an example, Gold called
attention to patterns of coordination already in
place between Jerusalem and two Palestinian cities
in the West Bank.
These patterns, Gold said, "have no international
political implications."
"Today, part of the sewage of Bethlehem and Beit
Jalla flows westward to Jerusalem's waste
treatment plants," he said. "Does local
cooperation in sewage indicate that someone is
planning to alter Jerusalem's borders in the
south? Nonsense."
Gold told the council that the June 21 Israeli
decision to put some Jewish settlements under
Jerusalem municipal authority for certain
services, notably building and planning, was a
move to bolster the city's economy and ensure
housing.
It was not a new political program affecting the
political status of Jerusalem, Gold told the
council. "This is not a plan to gerrymander
district lines in order to affect political
outlines."
The PLO observer, Nasser Kidwa, called on the
15-member council to "have the sufficient will to
finally take the necessary measures" to bar Israel
from what he called further illegal actions in
Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied
territories.
Kidwa called on the council to adopt a resolution
that would condemn Israel for the Jerusalem
expansion plan and demand that it rescind it.
Regarding Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, he
said: "The prime minister does not hesitate to use
old and new gimmicks" to stymie the peace process.
The expansion plan, he said, represents "a step
toward the final divorce of the Israeli government
from the peace process."
The US objected to the debate, saying that any
council action would hinder diplomatic efforts to
revive the peace process.
There appear to be several possible outcomes: The
council could support the resolution condemning
Israel and the Jerusalem expansion plan. The US
could veto the resolution, which is what Israel
prefers, although a veto has not been secured.
Or, as British Ambassador John Weston suggested,
the council might adopt a presidential statement,
which is the mildest outcome. That would require a
consensus.
A security council source quoted by The Associated
Press said that the US and the Palestinians could
live with such a presidential statement, but that
the exact language was still up for negotiation.
**********************************************************************
Thursday, July 2, 1998 8 Tammuz 5758
Jerusalem Post - Internet Edition
Arafat: Jerusalem is 'life or death'
By MOHAMMED NAJIB and gencies
RAMALLAH (July 2) - Palestinian Authority Chairman
Yasser Arafat said yesterday that the government's
new plan for strengthening Israel's hold over all
of Jerusalem could dash the last hopes for peace.
Palestinians will use all means to defend the
city, Arafat told a special meeting of Palestinian
Legislative Council in Ramallah. "The battle for
Jerusalem is a battle of life and death for the
Palestinian people," Arafat said, wagging his
finger from time to time to make a point.
"This [Israeli] settlement aggression is a total
destruction of the peace process," Arafat told the
legislators.
Arafat demanded that Arab countries convene a
summit on the future of the city. He also urged
the UN Security Council, which began debate on the
Jerusalem plan Tuesday, to condemn Israel. The
council has shelved the matter indefinitely
without a vote.
PA Finance Minister Mohammed Nashashibi told the
legislators that meetings and summits would not by
themselves be enough to stop Israel's moves in
east Jerusalem and are "not an alternative to the
confrontation."
The Jerusalem plan, introduced last month, would
expand the city's boundaries westward, into Israel
proper, to increase the Jewish population. It
would also extend Jerusalem municipal authority to
nearby Jewish settlements in the West Bank.
Arafat said: "Our Legislative Council is meeting
today at this emergency session, to [discuss]
plans which are able to protect Jerusalem from the
settlement dangers which threaten it, after the
failure of all the international efforts during
the last two years to stop the current Israeli
government."
The Netanyahu government, he added, "wants to
change the Arabic nature of the sacred city, and
deface it's cultural sites."
In his speech, Arafat said the Palestinians would
never settle for Israeli control over all of the
city.
"The patience of the Palestinian leadership and
the Palestinian people has run out," Arafat said.
"Let Netanyahu and his government know that
Jerusalem is a red line, and that there is not one
person among us who would make concessions on any
grain of soil of Jerusalem."
US Consul General in Jerusalem John Herbst
attended Arafat's speech, but declined to comment
on it.
PLC speaker Ahmed Koreh Abu Ala said: "The Israeli
decision to boost their dominance of the sacred
city, and what is called the Greater Jerusalem, is
a provocation against our feelings."
Earlier yesterday, the Palestinians sent a message
to US President Bill Clinton, asking him not to
veto a Security Council condemnation of Israel,
said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.
Erekat said a US veto would raise questions about
Washington's role as mediator in the
Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. "If this should
happen, then we can no longer say that the United
States is the co-sponsor" of the peace process,
Erekat said.
************************************************************************