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, July 17, 1998
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Friday, July 17, 1998 / Tammuz 23, 5758
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. GOV'T TO DISCUSS GIVING WEAPONS TO HEVRON ARABS
2. TEN MKs THREATEN TO TOPPLE GOV'T
3. YESHA GOES TO THE MOVIES
4. ARAB DISUNITY
1. GOV'T TO DISCUSS GIVING WEAPONS TO HEVRON ARABS
Whether to supply mini-Ingram submachine guns to the Palestinian police in
Hevron is an issue that will be raised at Sunday's government meeting.
Minister Shaul Yahalom warns the Prime Minister that additional guns to the
Palestinians there at this time will increase the mortal danger to the Jews
there. He asks how Israel can demand a reduction in the number of
Palestinian policemen and arms while we ourselves supply them with
additional weapons.
2. TEN MKs THREATEN TO TOPPLE GOV'T
Ten Knesset Members of the Knesset Land of Israel front have again warned
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu that they will act to topple his
government if it carries out another withdrawal from Judea and Samaria.
The ten coalition MKs sponsored a large ad in today's papers, in which they
note that the Palestinians have not fulfilled even one of their
Oslo-agreement obligations. The ad was signed by MKs Elon, Begin, Ze'evi,
Hendel, Shaki, Porat, Peled, Kleiner, Slomiansky, and Chaim Dayan.
Yosef Gutnik, the Australian philanthropist who sponsored the "Netanyahu is
Good for the Jews" campaign during the elections two years ago, sent a
strong letter to the Prime Minister this week. Gutnik demands that
Netanyahu not withdraw from "even 1%." The Kfar Chabad newspaper
reports
that Gutnik also spoke to Netanyahu by phone, and called upon him to "stand
strongly, with belief in the Creator, against all the pressures to withdraw."
3. YESHA GOES TO THE MOVIES
A short film prepared by the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and
Samaria will begin to play in theaters around the country next week. It
features characters representing Yasser Arafat and his Israeli-Arab advisor
Dr. Ahmed Tibi, discussing how they plan to divide up the Land of Israel.
The script writer explained, "It is not presented in a negative manner, but
rather in a way that gets the viewer to realize that it's important to get
to the permanent-status stage as fast as possible." Another film clip,
produced by Gamla Shall Not Fall Again, has also been completed; it
features excerpts from speeches by Binyamin Netanyahu in which he promises
not to "tear away pieces of the Land of Israel."
4. ARAB DISUNITY
The inter-Arab disagreement over where to hold the scheduled Arab League
summit continues. Egypt wants it to be held in Cairo, in order to cement
its position of leadership in the Arab world. King Hussein of Jordan would
like to improve his relations with the Arab countries, which have been
shaky since he signed the peace treaty with Israel. Finally, Iraq wants to
host the summit in Baghdad so as to ensure that it deals with the
international sanctions against Iraq. In addition, there is a disagreement
over how sharply anti-Israel the summit's resolutions should be.
***********************************************************************
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: Monday, July 20, 1998
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Monday, July 20, 1998 / Tammuz 26, 5758
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. TALKS CONTINUE
2. "HETER ISKA" IS BINDING
1. TALKS CONTINUE
The negotiations between Defense Minister Yitzchak Mordechai and Abu
Mazen, who met last night, will continue tomorrow. Israeli and
Palestinian negotiating teams will meet today. Sources in Prime
Minister Netanyahu's office say that last night's talks produced
developments, and that an agreement on the second withdrawal will soon
be reached. The Palestinians say that no progress was made.
The Director of the Prime Minister's Office, Uri Elitzur, told Arutz-7
today that only a few details remain to be ironed out. In answer to a
question, he admitted that if yesterday's car bomb attack in Jerusalem
had exploded and caused civilian casualties, the talks would have been
put off for a number of days or weeks, but that in any event they
would have resumed afterwards "in the same direction."
2. "HETER ISKA" IS BINDING
A court in the northern city of Safed has accepted the legal validity
of the "heter iska," a Halakhic formulation of a loan such that the
prohibition against paying interest is not transgressed. The
agreement is well-known in all Israeli banks, most of which even have
an announcement posted on a wall saying that all dealings are carried
out in accordance with a "heter iska." In a precedent-setting ruling,
the agreement was recognized by the court as formally binding. The
case at issue involved a religiously-observant owner of a toy store;
he claimed that because he did not make any profit with the money that
he received as a loan, and because the "heter iska" defines the lender
and borrower as partners, he need not return the loan. The judge, a
Druze named Yosif Ismail, displaying a keen grasp of Halakhah,
accepted the claim, and said, "The Torah of Israel forbids any form of
interest. The prohibition is so far-ranging that not only the lender
and the borrower are liable, but also the guarantors - all are in
violation of a negative commandment if interest is paid on the loan."
The lawyer representing the bank said that he plans to appeal, as such
a ruling could have a catastrophic effect on many banks in Israel.
*************************************************************************
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: Tuesday,July 21, 1998
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Tuesday, July 21, 1998 / Tammuz 27, 5758
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. NETANYAHU ATTEMPTING TO KEEP GOVERNMENT FROM FALLING
2. NO GRACE PERIOD FOR NETANYAHU
3. RABBIS ASK FOR NINE-DAYS DELAY
1. NETANYAHU ATTEMPTING TO KEEP GOVERNMENT FROM FALLING
Prime Minister Netanyahu has summoned many coalition MKs for private
meetings, in what some see as frantic efforts to keep the government
from falling. Threats have again been heard from the Third Way that
it will topple the government if a second withdrawal is not executed,
while some 10 MKs from the Likud, NRP, and Tsomet are threatening to
pull down the government in the opposite eventuality. Minister Ariel
Sharon, visiting in China, reiterated his apprehension that the
government will fall if the withdrawal is extensive, while Minister
Rafael Eitan (Tsomet) said he will quit the coalition if the
withdrawal exceeds 7% of Yesha. The NRP will convene this afternoon to
consider supporting an opposition proposal to disband the present
Knesset.
An anti-Netanyahu demonstration is planned for tonight opposite the
office of the Prime Minister. At the same time, Yoel Tzur and his
children will be continuing their sit-in protest vigil across from the
Prime Minister's home. The Tzurs are demanding that no withdrawal
take place before the wanted terrorists are extradited, including
those who killed their wife/mother Ita and son/brother Ephraim.
2. NO GRACE PERIOD FOR NETANYAHU
The Knesset House Committee approved a proposal by MK Tzvi Hendel this
morning that would enable a no-confidence motion to be introduced
against the Prime Minister even during the Knesset recess. The
practical ramification of the vote, if it is not changed, means that
Prime Minister Netanyahu will not have a "grace period" in which to
agree to a withdrawal without fear of his government falling.
3. RABBIS ASK FOR NINE-DAYS DELAY
Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef and the Grand Rabbi (Admor) of Vizhnitz sent a
telegram to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu this morning, asking him
not to conclude any diplomatic agreements during the nine days before
the fast day of Tisha B'Av (August 2). The rabbis wrote that this is
not political intervention, but rather a Halakhic ruling, as these
nine days commemorate various calamitous times of Jewish history, most
notably the destruction of the two Holy Temples.
The negotiations between the Israeli and Palestinian Authority
committees will continue today, including a possible meeting between
Defense Minister Yitzchak Mordechai and Abu Mazen. It has so far been
agreed that the Palestinian charter calling for Israel's destruction
will not have to be changed immediately, but only after the withdrawal
begins. Minister of Justice Tzachi Hanegbi, visiting today in the
Binyamin communities of Psagot and Beit El, said that Israel still
insists on the extradition of wanted Palestinian terrorists.
************************************************************************
Wednesday, July 22, 1998 28 Tammuz 5758
Jerusalem Post - Internet Edition
Palestinians
give 24-hour deadline
By
JAY BUSHINSKY and STEVE RODAN
JERUSALEM
(July 22) - Palestinian Authority Chairman
Yasser
Arafat's adviser Nabil Abu Rudeineh warned
yesterday
the peace talks would break up unless
Israel
endorses US proposals for a 13.1 percent
withdrawal.
"The
next 24 hours, we expect, will be the last of
the
talks," Abu Rudeineh said. "The US request was to
meet
with the Israelis and hear their ideas. We met
with
them several times and nothing has happened."
Other
Palestinian leaders said yesterday that this
week's
talks with Israel on the West Bank
redeployment
have yielded no progress, but they
differed
over whether the impasse portends a collapse
of
the negotiations.
"No
breakthrough or anything new has happened," said
Palestinian
security chief Mohammed Dahlan, a key
negotiator.
"The Israelis presented incomplete ideas.
We're
still in the listening stage to their ideas and
then
we will evaluate them."
Prime
Minister Binyamin Netanyahu appeared to concede
last
night that the negotiations have not yielded
results.
"There
are substantial deliberations by both sides
going
on in the negotiations, but I cannot say there
is
a result at this moment," Netanyahu told Channel 1.
The
apparent deadlock coincided with Arafat's return
from
Egypt, where his host, President Hosni Mubarak,
advised
against accepting Israel's terms for the
pullback
in the West Bank.
These
were said to include Israel's ideas for the
deletion
of anti-Israel clauses in the Palestinian
Covenant.
The PA says that required changes to the
document
have already been made.
Arafat
and Mubarak also oppose Israel's reported
proposal
that the 3 percent of West Bank terrain to
be
known as Area D should be defined and treated as a
nature
reserve.
"Unfortunately,
we cannot report any progress from
all
of the meetings that have been held," Arafat said
on
return to the Gaza Strip, where he later met with
senior
Palestinian officials.
Hassan
Asfour, head of the PA's negotiating
department,
said that the Palestinian team had
rejected
the nature reserve idea during the talks and
would
dismiss any other plans to amend a US plan
calling
for an IDF pullback from 13.1 percent of the
West
Bank.
"We
are not here to negotiate with the Israelis," he
said.
"We are here to hear from them a 'yes' to the
American
initiative."
Israel
had reportedly offered in exchange that it
would
agree to the Palestinians changing the Covenant
in
a forum smaller than their parliament-in-exile,
the
Palestine National Council.
Defense
Minister Yitzhak Mordechai telephoned Mubarak
yesterday
afternoon, reportedly to update him on his
talks
Sunday with Abbas.
Mordechai
stressed that the government is determined
to
reach an agreement on the second redeployment,
Itim
reported. But he also asked Mubarak to persuade
Arafat
to make a deal, the report said. Mordechai's
spokesman,
Avi Benayahu, would only confirm that
Mordechai
telephoned Mubarak, but declined to give
details
of their conversation.
It
was the first time Mordechai spoke with Mubarak
since
the defense minister went to Cairo on June 2
and
returned saying that the redeployment could no
longer
be delayed.
PA
officials said they are coordinating their steps
with
both the US and Egypt. They said that after each
meeting
they brief both the State Department in
Washington
and Mubarak on the Israeli proposals.
PA
sources said that Arafat feels he has enough
international
backing to resist any Israeli appeals
to
amend the US proposals to implement the Oslo
interim
accords.
The
sources said the US is not urging the PA to
accept
the Israeli ideas, but rather to sit with
Israeli
negotiators.
The
sources said that Arafat and his advisers believe
that
Netanyahu is simply staging talks this week to
avoid
a Knesset no-confidence vote during the last
days
of the summer session.
(Arieh
O'Sullivan contributed to this report.)
***********************************************************************
Wednesday, July 22, 1998 28 Tammuz 5758
Jerusalem Post - Internet Edition
Sharon
claims government in secret talks
with
Syria
By
JAY BUSHINSKY
JERUSALEM
(July 22) - Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu's
spokesman Shai Bazak yesterday firmly
denied
that secret negotiations are being conducted
by
Israel and Syria on returning the Golan Heights to
Syrian
control.
The
denial followed a report by Channel 1 that
National
Infrastructure Minister Ariel Sharon had
declared,
shortly before his departure for China,
that
such talks are under way and would go into high
gear
immediately after agreement is reached on the
handover
of 13.1 percent of the West Bank to the
Palestinians.
"The
government of Israel is not engaged in
negotiations
with Syria and is not discussing a
withdrawal
from the Golan Heights," Bazak said.
"Israel
is holding to its position and calls on Syria
to
enter into peace talks without any prior
conditions."
Sharon's
statement was made 10 days ago, after a
meeting
in Acre convened to discuss the Golan Heights
in
general and chances of negotiations with Syria
being
resumed.
A
source said Netanyahu phoned Sharon as he was
driving
to Acre and asked that he not mention Plan
2000.
Netanyahu's reason was said to have been the
then-impending
visit to France by Syrian President
Hafez
Assad.
Plan
2000 calls for 1,000 new housing units to built
in
the Golan Heights, the source said.
It
was then that Sharon told Golan settler leader
Yehuda
Wolman that Israel is engaged in discussions
"vis
a vis Syria on a Golan Heights pullback," the
source
went on.
Afterwards,
Sharon told Internal Security Minister
Avigdor
Kahalani (The Third Way) that by supporting
Netanyahu's
intention to give up 13.1% of the West
Bank
he was paving the way for the evacuation of the
Golan
Heights - which The Third Way opposes.
Kahalani
confirmed that this discussion with Sharon
took
place.
***********************************************************************
Wednesday, July 22, 1998 28 Tammuz 5758
Jerusalem Post - Internet Edition
National
unity mooted as PM works to
maintain
coalition
By
MICHAL YUDELMAN
JERUSALEM
(July 22) - Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu
held a series of intensive meetings
yesterday
with Tsomet and the National Religious
Party,
who are threatening to topple his government
if
he decides to implement a redeployment in the West
Bank.
President
Ezer Weizman would like to see a national
unity
government, but is doing nothing specific to
promote
it, according to his bureau's
director-general,
Arye Shumer.
"If
there is a national unity government he will
welcome
it," Shumer said.
Many
in the Knesset believe that early elections are
inevitable:
If Netanyahu reaches a pullback decision
by
next week - which seems improbable - the Right
will
topple him. If he doesn't, The Third Way and the
opposition
will.
Another
possibility is a national unity government,
which
Netanyahu may be forced to propose to Labor if
he
decides on the pullback.
Infrastructure
Minister Ariel Sharon warned Netanyahu
his
government will collapse if he agrees to a 13%
pullback.
Sharon telephoned Shas leader MK Arye Deri
from
China and asked him to pass this message to the
prime
minister.
Netanyahu,
who last week gave ministers the
impression
the redeployment was not imminent, this
week
persuaded Shas and Third Way members that he was
determined
to carry it out.
"There
is a real chance of implementing the pullback
before
the Knesset's summer recess," Third Way MK
Emanuel
Zissmann said, after meeting Netanyahu
yesterday.
The
Third Way is threatening to join Labor and
Meretz's
no-confidence motion next week if Netanyahu
doesn't
confirm the pullback by then.
The
NRP MKs gathered in the Knesset yesterday and
expressed
fury at what they suspect is an attempted
"fast
one" by Netanyahu. They fear the prime minister
intends
to make a pullback decision at the end of the
Knesset
session, so that the Knesset recesses before
the
NRP can topple him.
"If
Netanyahu deceives the NRP, which gave him more
help
than anyone, and harms the settlements or their
safety,
gives in to the Palestinians on reciprocity
and
decides on the third pullback without the NRP, we
will
not be part of the coalition," said faction
chairman
MK Shmaryahu Ben-Tsur.
However,
Education Minister Yitzhak Levy objected to
his
colleagues' ultimatum and said as long as the
negotiations
are going on there is no place for
threats.
Environment
and Agriculture Minister Rafael Eitan
(Tsomet)
announced that any pullback over 7% would
lead
to his quitting the coalition. Deputy Education
Minister
Moshe Peled, also of Tsomet, said he would
quit
the coalition if any territory is given away.
Coalition
chairman MK Meir Sheetrit remained unfazed
by
the right-wing factions' threats and urged
Netanyahu
to go ahead with the negotiations.
"I
don't believe them," Sheetrit said. "If any of
them
try to topple Netanyahu over the pullback, I'm
not
afraid of going to elections, because we'll win
big
time."
Labor
was divided. Contrary to party chairman MK Ehud
Barak's
position, 18 MKs including Shimon Peres,
Yossi
Beilin and Rafi Edri were in favor of providing
Netanyahu
with a parliamentary safety net, ensuring a
Knesset
majority for a pullback decision.
Meretz
MKs predicted Netanyahu's activity was meant
to
mislead everyone into thinking he was on the verge
of
a pullback, when all he wanted was to reach the
end
of the Knesset term without being toppled.
The
new deputy minister in the Prime Minister's
Office,
Michael Eitan, ruled out early elections. He
called
for setting up a national unity government, to
enable
Netanyahu to implement the pullback, saying at
least
70 MKs support a unity government.
Eitan
said he was holding talks to promote this idea.
(Haim
Shapiro and David Harris contributed to this
report.)
***********************************************************************
Wednesday, July 22, 1998 28 Tammuz 5758
Jerusalem Post - Internet Edition
Shas:
Suspend peace talks till after Tisha
Be'av
By
MICHAL YUDELMAN and HAIM SHAPIRO
JERUSALEM
(July 22) - Shas's spiritual mentor Rabbi
Ovadia
Yosef has written to Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu,
asking him to put off further negotiations
with
the Palestinians until after Tisha Be'av, which
falls
on August 2.
On
the fast of 17 Tamuz, which was 10 days ago, Jews
began
the three-week mourning period commemorating
events
that culminated in the destruction of the
First
and Second temples, which occurred on Tisha
Be'av,
the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av.
The
mourning customs intensify from the first day of
Av,
which is Friday. From then, until Tisha Be'av,
observant
Jews try to refrain from engaging in
transactions
with non-Jews.
By
contrast, during the month of Adar, in which Purim
falls,
it is considered fortuitous to conclude deals
with
non-Jews.
"Av
is a month of mourning and this is not a good
time
for negotiations, throughout Jewish history," MK
Shlomo
Benizri said.
However,
Yisrael Eichler, a haredi spokesman, noted
that
despite these traditions, practical
considerations
should prevail.
"If
negotiations will prevent the death of even one
Jew
who might be a victim of a terror attack, then it
is
preferable to conduct them even on the eve of
Tisha
Be'av, and if, on the contrary, they will
create
a dangerous situation, then one should avoid
them
even on the eve of Purim," Eichler said.
Yosef's
request bolstered the estimate among
politicians
that Netanyahu will not reach a
redeployment
decision before the end of the Knesset's
current
session, since an agreement with the
Palestinians
by Friday is unlikely.
But
Netanyahu denied that Yosef's request would sway
the
course of the talks.
"I
respect Rabbi Yosef very much, and I respect him
personally,
but there are conflicting needs and I
don't
intend to hold up the negotiations," Netanyahu
told
Channel 1 yesterday.
President
Ezer Weizman called against stopping the
talks,
stressing the negotiations are a matter of
life
and death and should continue.
Benizri
denied Yosef's request was a ploy to put off
the
talks, saying "Shas has been trying to speed up
the
negotiations. But we've waited two months;
nothing
will happen if we wait a few weeks longer."
Meretz
leader MK Yossi Sarid accused this move of
being
"another trick of Deri's to get Netanyahu to
the
recess with his coalition intact and with no
pullback.
"If
the negotiations cannot take place between our
mourning
days and the Palestinians', when will they
take
place?," he said.
"The
talks are intended to shorten the mourning days,
rather
than eternalize them."
***********************************************************************
Wednesday, July 22, 1998 28 Tammuz 5758
Jerusalem Post - Internet Edition
Arafat
reportedly says Netanyahu can't
deliver
the goods
By
MICHAL YUDELMAN
RAMALLAH
(July 22) - Palestinian Authority Chairman
Yasser
Arafat feels he is negotiating with a
government
that "cannot deliver the goods," reported
Labor
MK Shlomo Ben-Ami, after meeting European Union
special
envoy Miguel Moratinos and Palestinian
leaders
in Ramallah yesterday.
Moratinos,
who had been briefed by Arafat after the
meeting
between Palestinian and Israeli negotiators
on
Monday night, told Ben-Ami that Arafat is "very
pessimistic"
about the chances of reaching an
agreement.
"The
Palestinians are very depressed. They received
[Prime
Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu's messages that
there
is progress in the talks with amazed disbelief.
They
feel they are doing business with a non-existent
government
and a crumbling coalition," Ben-Ami said.
According
to the Palestinians, the meeting with
Mordechai
was unsuccessful and they only took part in
it
at the United States' request, Ben-Ami said.
"They
had no intention of changing the American
proposal
and are shocked by the government's
assumption
that the whole negotiation can start anew,
as
though there were no American proposal," he said.
"But
the heart of the matter is that Arafat feels
he's
holding talks with a government which cannot
deliver.
Netanyahu's basic statement for two years,
that
he can reach a peace agreement the left wing
couldn't,
has been smashed into smithereens," Ben-Ami
added.
Ben-Ami
said the opposition will support Netanyahu's
pullout
decision - if there is one. "But the
government
will lose its legitimacy when it comes to
make
a decision it has been claiming only a
right-wing
coalition can make, and it falls apart and
needs
the opposition's support," he said.
*****************************************************************