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, August 19, 1998
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Wednesday, August 19, 1998 / Av 26, 5758
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. NEW COOPERATION BETWEEN IDF AND YESHA RESIDENTS FORESEEN
2. AMERICAN FUNDING TO PALESTINIAN TV TO END
* * SPECIAL INSERT: THE LATEST IN PALESTINIAN VIOLATIONS
1. NEW COOPERATION BETWEEN IDF AND YESHA RESIDENTS FORESEEN
Maj.-Gen. Moshe Ya'alon, the relatively new Commanding Officer of the
Central Command, has issued a new order that will increase the level of
cooperation between the IDF and the Jewish residents in Judea and Samaria.
According to the new order, soldiers and officers in all the brigades will
participate in patrols in and around the Jewish communities in Yesha. In
addition, each brigade will appoint representatives to hold regular
meetings with the residents, and regular contact will be made with the
civilian security officer in each community.
2. AMERICAN FUNDING TO PALESTINIAN TV TO END
JTA reports that the U.S. Congress is close to banning all American support
for the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation. Before leaving for its
August recess, the Senate voted 99-0 to approve a ban on all funds for the
Palestinian network. This follows the acceptance of a similar, but not as
strong, bill in the House of Representatives. The ban comes in the wake of
a renewed awareness of Palestinian incitement to violence broadcast on
Palestinian television. The Israeli organization "Peace for Generations"
has widely distributed copies of the Palestinian Broadcasting Company's
"Children's Club," in which children perform anti-Israel, pro-violence
skits. A July 2nd episode features young boys with arms raised, chanting,
"We are ready with our guns, we are ready with our guns. Revolution until
victory, revolution until victory." Mickey Mouse is featured dancing with
the children during the show's opening song.
Since 1994, the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation has received about
$500,000 from various U.S. federal agencies. Initially founded as an entity
separate from the Palestinian Authority, the television station has been
considered by the U.S. government to be a direct arm of the PA since 1995
and therefore ceased receiving U.S. funds directly. Given the fact that
the PBC's funding has been seriously cut back, the ban is thus mostly a
symbolic move. See below to see how video clips of "The Children's
Club"
can be viewed on the Arutz-7 website.
SPECIAL INSERT:
THE LATEST IN PALESTINIAN VIOLATIONS
The Israel Government Press Office publicized the exact clauses of the Oslo
Agreement that the Palestinians are violating during their current
provocation in Shechem:
** Annex III, Appendix I, Article 32 of the 28 September 1995 Oslo 2 accord:
"2. Both sides shall respect and protect the listed below religious rights
of Jews, Christians, Moslems and Samaritans:
a. protection of the Holy Sites; b. free access to the Holy Sites; and c.
freedom of worship and practice."
** Article V(2b) of Annex I spells out specific arrangements concerning
the Tomb of Joseph in Nablus and the Shalom al Yisrael Synagogue in
Jericho. These arrangements are designed "to ensure free, unimpeded and
secure access to the relevant Jewish holy site."
In addition to the present siege on Joseph's Tomb, the PA has assaulted
other holy sites, such as Abraham's Oak Russian Monastery. Located in the
Palestinian-controlled part of Hevron, the monastery belonged to the
Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia. On July 5, 1997, Palestinian
policemen arrived at the monastery and ordered the monks and nuns to vacate
the premises. The PA officers physically removed all of the monks and
nuns, and took over the site.
The GPO also released examples of official Palestinian remarks about Jewish
holy sites. For example:
* "If the Jews really want peace, they must absolutely forget about having
any rights over the Temple Mount or Al-Aksa Mosque... the Western Wall also
belongs to Moslems, and was given to the Jews as a place of prayer only
because the British asked and the Moslems agreed out of the goodness of
their hearts. The Western Wall is just a fence belonging to a Moslem holy
site." -- Sheikh Ikrama Sabri, the official PA Mufti (senior Muslim
cleric) who was appointed to his position by Yasser Arafat, in an interview
with the Israeli weekly Makor Rishon, May 22, 1998.
* "The archeology of Jerusalem is diverse - excavations in the Old City and
the areas surrounding it revealed Umayyad Islamic palaces, Roman ruins,
Armenian ruins and others, but nothing Jewish. Outside of what is
mentioned/ written in the Old and New Testaments, there is no tangible
evidence of any Jewish traces/ remains in the old city of Jerusalem and its
immediate vicinity." --- PA Information Ministry Press Release, 10 December
1997.
* "Be alert and treat Joseph's Tomb and Rachel's Tomb as parcels of
Palestinian land which must be liberated, and treat Joseph and Rachel as
two people who died, like anyone else." --- excerpt from an article in the
official PA newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda, 1 December 1997, concerning
Jewish holy sites in Nablus and Bethlehem.
*********************************************************************
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: Thursday, August 20, 1998
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Thursday, August 20, 1998 / Av 28, 5758
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. WITHDRAWAL TALK AGAIN?
2. ARAFAT'S WATER CHARGES ARE "BASELESS"
3. THE PALESTINIAN REVOLVING DOOR
4. MIXED REVIEWS RE NETANYAHU NO-SHOW
5. MIXED REVIEWS ON GOLAN DECISION
1. WITHDRAWAL TALK AGAIN?
For the first time in a while, Prime Minister Netanyahu - vacationing
in Tiberias with his family - held a long meeting with Minister Ariel
Sharon today. Netanyahu briefed Sharon on the latest developments in
the negotiations with the Palestinians. This, plus the statement by
Minister Avigdor Kahalani that an agreement could be reached within a
matter of days, has again sparked speculation that a withdrawal from
Judea and Samaria may be near. Yesha Council leader and Beit El Mayor
Uri Ariel told Arutz-7 today, "I can only say again what I have said
in the past, that if there will be a withdrawal, the government will
fall."
2. ARAFAT'S WATER CHARGES ARE "BASELESS"
Yasser Arafat recently charged that Israel is denying water to the
residents of the Palestinian autonomy, and that this could lead to an
explosion in the area. In response, the Ministry of National
Infrastructure announced yesterday that Israel is supplying more water
to the Palestinians than it is required to by the Oslo accords. In
the Hevron region alone, Israel is supplying the Palestinians 22,000
cubic meters of water daily, instead of 17,000 as determined by the
accords. In addition, the Ministry stated that some 2,000 cubic
meters of water are stolen daily between the time the water is
delivered to the Palestinian Authority and the time it reaches the
Arab consumers. Water is also stolen directly from Israeli water
facilities.
Describing the situation in Gaza, the Ministry states that over 2,000
illegal wells have been dug by Palestinians since the signing of the
Oslo Accords, causing salinization of the local aquifer. Today,
Israel is supplying Gaza with approximately 5 million cubic meters of
water, even though the Oslo Accords do not require Israel to do so.
The Israeli Ministry statement concludes: "The charges that Israel is
to blame for the fact that not all Palestinian households are
connected to the water authorities are baseless. According to the
Oslo Accords, the obligation for the connection and necessary
infrastructure falls on the Palestinians."
3. THE PALESTINIAN REVOLVING DOOR
The revolving door in the Palestinian prison system is operating once
again. Two pairs of prisoners "escaped" yesterday from two different
prisons in the autonomy. In Jericho, the murderer of Jerusalem
taxi-driver Shmuel Ben Baruch escaped together with another prisoner;
the PA announced that they were caught this morning. Later in the
day, two Kabatiyeh residents, convicted of murdering an Arab last
year, escaped from the Jenin prison. The Palestinian Authority denies
that the escapes were staged, and promises to quickly apprehend Imad
Awadallah, the Hamas terrorist who escaped from prison last week.
Minister Rafael Eitan said that the escapes were enabled by the PA's
"closed eyes" approach.
Ha'aretz reporter Nadav Ha'etzni concurs with Minister Eitan's view on
the matter. He told Arutz-7 today that it is almost certain that
Awadallah's escape, for example, was facilitated by the Palestinian
Authority. "The murder of [Hamas terrorist leader] A-Sharif and the
subsequent arrest of Awadallah as the responsible party created
enormous problems for the PA," Ha'etzni said. "With Awadallah's
'escape,' the PA can now breath a sigh of relief."
Ha'etzni added that the PA's claims that particular terrorists are in
prison can simply not be trusted. He described how, two years ago, he
interviewed an Arab personality in the latter's home only hours after
the PA announced that that person had been arrested and locked up in a
Palestinian prison. Ha'etzni said that though Israel has officially
demanded the transfer of numerous murderers of Jews supposedly jailed
in PA prisons, "it has not banged on the table or made any ultimative
demands to the Palestinian Authority on these matters."
4. MIXED REVIEWS RE NETANYAHU NO-SHOW
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has decided that he will not
represent Israel at the festivities in Oslo on the fifth anniversary
of the signing of the Oslo Accords. Instead, MK Meir Shetreet, Likud
Knesset faction leader, will represent the government, together with
Netanyahu's diplomatic advisor Uzi Arad. Shetreet expressed sorrow
that Mr. Netanyahu will not personally attend, and said that he
himself [Shetreet] had been satisfied with the agreement "from the
moment it was signed." MK Michael Kleiner, head of the Knesset Land
of Israel front, congratulated the Prime Minister on his decision, and
said that the anniversary of Oslo is a "black day for the Jewish
nation, on which the flags should be lowered to half-mast."
5. MIXED REVIEWS ON GOLAN DECISION
A ministerial committee on settlement in the Golan and the Negev,
headed by Infrastructures Minister Ariel Sharon, decided yesterday to
expand four communities in the Golan Heights, and to establish five
new towns and a college in the Negev. Four Golan communities are
slated to be expanded by up to 400 housing units each. One of them is
Had-Nes (named for three Jewish towns in the Sinai that were evacuated
following the Camp David agreements - Haruvit, Diklah, and Neot
Sinai), situated close to the south-east corner of the Sea of Galilee.
Pini Almog, Had-Nes town council head, told Arutz-7 today that the
village presently numbers about 70 families, and that it will be
taking only partial advantage of the government decision. "We are
presently building some 40 additional homes, and will build another
180 homes within the next year and a half. We are very happy about
the government decision," he said.
Deputy Minister Moshe Peled said that he is very disappointed that no
building was approved for the northern Golan. "I was originally very
happy with the announcement to build in the Golan and in the Negev.
But when I realized that the construction is being concentrated only
in the south, I began to ask, does this mean that the long-run
political fate of the northern Golan is being decided here? This
appears dangerous." On the other hand, Meretz leader MK Yossi Sarid
says that additional construction in the Golan will thwart the chance
for negotiations with the Syrians, and MK Shimon Peres of Labor says
that the decision to build in the Golan is a provocation against the
Syrians.
On another topic, Deputy Education Minister Peled said that he had
returned three weeks ago from a visit to Moscow "terrified" about what
could happen to the Jews there. "Half of the government is Jewish, as
is 80% of the banking community. If the economy collapses, this could
set off a terrible wave of anti-Semitism." He said that we must begin
a massive education campaign "in Russia, and all over the world, for
Judaism and Zionism."
********************************************************************
From: Arutz-7 Editor <editor7@virtual.co.il>
To: arutz-7@ploni.virtual.co.il, arutz7-b@ploni.virtual.co.il
Subject: Arutz-7 Bulletin and Op-Ed: THE NATION IS
STRONG
Arutz Sheva Israel National Radio
<http://www.a7.org>
Friday, August 21, 1998 / Av 29, 5758
------------------------------------------------
BULLETIN:
Rabbi Eliyahu Shlomo Ra'anan was stabbed to death last night by an
Arab terrorist who broke into his home in Admot Yeshai (Tel Romeida),
Hevron. The terrorist murderer entered through a back window of the
caravan (mobile home without wheels) at about 11:00 PM, stabbed the
Rabbi, and attempted to stab his wife. The injured Rabbi tried to
stop the terrorist, who then stabbed him again, threw a firebomb, and
fled.
A Jewish paramedic neighbor arrived at the scene, and seeing the house
on fire, quickly pulled the fatally wounded Rabbi from the home. He
tried to care for Rav Ra'anan, but to no avail.
***********************************************************************
From: Arutz-7 Editor <editor7@virtual.co.il>
To: arutz-7@ploni.virtual.co.il
Subject: Arutz-7 News Brief: Friday, August 21, 1998
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Friday, August 21, 1998 / Av 29, 5758
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. REACTIONS
2. CIRCUMCISION FOLLOW-UP
1. REACTIONS
MK Tzvi Hendel (National Religious Party) says that his continued
membership in the coalition depends upon the response of the Netanyahu
government to the murder in Hevron. He talked this morning with Prime
Minister Netanyahu, and demanded that he not depend on Arafat to take
action, but to use the IDF against the terrorists. Hendel also joined
MK Chanan Porat, MK Michael Kleiner, and others in calling for
permanent construction in Tel Romeida.
Yesha Council Secretary-General Aharon Domb says that in the past year
there have been four murderous terrorist attacks against Jews in Judea
and Samaria, and in all of them, the murderers were able to escape
safely into the autonomous areas - "because the Oslo agreements
provide them these areas of refuge."
Meretz MKs Yossi Sarid and Amnon Rubenstein also condemned what they
called the "vile murder," while emphasizing their objections to the
Jewish presence in Tel Romeida. A Labor party protest vigil scheduled
for this morning outside the home of MK Chanan Porat in Kibbutz Kfar
Etzion in Gush Etzion was canceled following the murder, by order of
Labor party Secretary-General Ra'anan Cohen.
2. CIRCUMCISION FOLLOW-UP
In a follow-up of a report earlier this week about anesthesia during
ritual circumcisions, Arutz-7 spoke with Dr. Shabtai Sabato, a ritual
mohel (circumciser) and a medical doctor at Sha'arei Tzedek Medical
Center. He said that not only is the injection of an anesthetic into
an eight-day old baby painful and Halakhically forbidden, it is
out-of-date: "There are some who now use an anesthetic creme, but its
effectiveness is limited. It dulls the pain, but cannot prevent the
pain of a cut beneath the skin surface." He said that some leading
rabbis forbid the use of this creme, although not for babies older
than eight days. "When a circumcision is performed on an adult, the
injection of anesthesia is totally acceptable by Halakhic standards,"
he said.
********************************************************************
From: Arutz-7 Editor <editor7@virtual.co.il>
To: arutz-7@ploni.virtual.co.il
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Sunday, August 23, 1998
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Sunday, August 23, 1998 / Rosh Chodesh Elul, 5758
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. YESHA COUNCIL REACTION
2. YESHA RESIDENTS TARGETED
3. WALLERSTEIN: DETERRENCE NEEDED
4. CONFLICTING ARAB VIEWS ON LEWINSKY SCANDAL
1. YESHA COUNCIL REACTION
Members of the Yesha Council met with Prime Minister Netanyahu this
afternoon. They said last night that his decision not to suspend the
talks with the PA, as was done last year after the terrorist attacks
in Jerusalem, sends a signal to Arafat that even the present
government regards the blood of Yesha residents as cheaper than that
of other Israelis. The Yesha leaders said that they are not prepared
to settle for the construction of homes only for the seven families
currently living in Tel Romeida, but demand that an apartment complex,
such as that in the Avraham Avinu neighborhood of Hevron, be built at
the site.
2. YESHA RESIDENTS TARGETED
Security elements estimate that the Palestinian terrorist groups will
focus their energies on attacks against Jewish residents of Judea and
Samaria in the near future. Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai Huberman
reports that Arafat's lack of condemnation of the latest attacks is
but a minor indication of this trend. "The message that is constantly
given over by the Palestinian press and officials is that it is OK to
attack the settlements," Huberman said today. "It is not said
straight out, but the terminology and intonation make it quite clear,"
he said, quoting several official statements and press headlines in
which the settlements are called a "cancer that must be removed" and
the like. PA Security Chief Jibril Rajoub told reporters yesterday,
"The settlers will not have security unless they leave their homes and
return to the places from whence they came." He added, "Their presence
in Hevron is illegal and smacks of racism."
The Central Command has decided upon a number of emergency measures to
protect the Yesha communities. These include the erection of fences
and other protective devices, and increased army protection around
them. (See below for reactions to the decision.) Defense Minister
Mordechai and Chief of Staff Mofaz demand that the residents of Hevron
be obligated to reinforce their homes. Prime Minister Netanyahu said,
"Fencing around a community does not mean that it will not be able to
expand - every community that is fenced can be expanded."
Huberman noted that the Israeli security evaluation of increased
terrorist attacks against Yesha residents is not new, but rather began
to take root even a bit before the murder of Dov Dribben in Maon four
months ago. He noted that Arafat apparently realized that the murder
of Tel Aviv residents receives much more press and is much more
traumatic for the Israeli public than that of people living in Yesha,
and decided that it is "more worthwhile for him to concentrate the
attacks in Yesha and not in central Israel."
3. WALLERSTEIN: DETERRENCE NEEDED
Pinchas Wallerstein, Mateh Binyamin Regional Council head, was asked
by Arutz-7 today for his opinion regarding the decision to improve the
security around Yesha communities. He responded that such a plan
merely treats the symptoms and not the causes. "The real remedy must
consist of a government policy focusing on deterrence," he said. "The
government doesn't seem to understand that once a group of people has
decided that they want to kill innocent people, nothing except
deterrence will help. The government has not seriously demanded the
turning over of Arab murderers, for instance, something which is
mandated by the Oslo accords. The Palestinians must be told that if
terrorists are not handed over, then negotiations for withdrawal will
be discontinued." He added that the government must grant the
residents of Yesha the right to live normal lives. "People want to go
to work, children want to tour, attend summer camps, go to school and
the like, and not have to travel around in convoys only at
pre-scheduled times. Bolstered security arrangements diminish the
feeling of normalcy even if they enhance the communities' security."
4. CONFLICTING ARAB VIEWS ON LEWINSKY SCANDAL
Syria's Defense Minister Mustafa Tallas attributes the Monica Lewinsky
scandal to a plot by the Mossad. In an interview to a United Emirates
newspaper, Tallas said that Israel is behind the scheme to harm
Clinton's image, and Monica is nothing but a Mossad agent. As proof,
he cites the fact that the Lewinsky scandal broke the day after
Netanyahu met Clinton in the White House. Tallas thus contradicts the
official Palestinian Authority version of the scandal. The official
PA newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda editorialized on Friday that Monica
Lewinsky is "connected to AIPAC and Jewish pressure groups." The
paper accused the Zionist and Jewish lobby in the United States "who
blackmail American presidents" of being behind the Lewinsky scandal.
************************************************************************
From: Arutz-7 Editor <editor7@virtual.co.il>
To: arutz-7@ploni.virtual.co.il
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Tuesday, August 25, 1998
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Tuesday, August 25, 1998 / Elul 3, 5758
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. NETANYAHU IN HEVRON
2. KNESSET FRONT THREATENS TO TOPPLE GOV'T
3. PA OFFICIAL: CLINTON IS A TERRORIST
4. STILL NO CONDEMNATION
1. NETANYAHU IN HEVRON
For the first time since being elected, Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu visited Hevron today. He came to the Admot Yeshai (Tel
Romeida) Jewish neighborhood this morning to express his condolences
to Chaya Ra'anan, the widow of Rabbi Eliyahu Shlomo Ra'anan who was
murdered Thursday night by Palestinian terrorists. Netanyahu
responded to the widow's plea to discontinue the Oslo negotiations
saying, "With all my reservations regarding Oslo, I cannot stop the
process since I was elected on the basis of a commitment to fulfill
these agreements." Netanyahu told reporters that the condolence visit
impressed upon him the truth of the rabbinic dictum that "the Land of
Israel is acquired through pain and suffering."
Regarding the government's plans to build in Hevron, Netanyahu said,
"Look at how these people are living. Any observer would describe
this as a poverty-stricken neighborhood. We must build permanent
homes here. The residents may not care about the level of luxury--but
I do!" Netanyahu added that the new building plans were presented
today, and construction would begin very soon. "The new homes will
ensure both the comfort and security of the residents of Tel Romeida,"
he said. The Prime Minister also remarked, "Since arriving here this
morning, I have been overwhelmed by the modesty, courage and peace
that one feels throughout the Jewish neighborhoods in Hevron. Being
here fills me with a sense of my mission as a leader of the Jewish
people." When asked by one reporter whether he plans to make further
territorial concessions to the Arabs, Netanyahu answered: "One thing I
can tell you, is that any progress is dependent on the Palestinians'
serious efforts at clamping down on the murderers in their midst. But
I didn't come here for political speeches. I came to draw inspiration
from the modesty, courage and commitment of Hevron's Jewish
community." MK Chanan Porat praised Netanyahu for his warm words, but
said that only when he sees facts on the ground, will he be impressed.
2. KNESSET FRONT THREATENS TO TOPPLE GOV'T
In the wake of the rumors that an agreement on an additional IDF
pullout is near, The Land of Israel Knesset Front has once again
warned Netanyahu that it will topple the government if he implements a
withdrawal. According to media reports, Israel has consented to a 13%
pullout to be carried out over the course of three months. Chairman
of Land of Israel Front Michael Kleiner estimated that a withdrawal
agreement would pass in the Knesset with the help of the opposition
parties, but that the government would thereafter fall as a result of
a no-confidence vote. Cabinet Secretary Danny Naveh clarified this
morning that Israel has not rescinded its demand for the revision of
the PLO Charter by the Palestinian National Council.
3. PA OFFICIAL: CLINTON IS A TERRORIST
In an interview yesterday on Israel Army radio, Head of the PA's
Israel desk Sufian Abu Zaida sharply criticized the U.S.
administration's missile strikes against Sudan and Afghanistan. Abu
Zaida said, "It would be a disgrace if a Palestinian or an Arab were
to agree to this, since there was no proof." The next exchange in the
interviews follows:
Question: ...So you come and say that we can not totally rely on
American intelligence?
Sufian Abu Zaida: That is the answer. That is the answer - to kill
Sudanese and Afghan civilians - that is the answer? Let us say that
Bin Laden is a terrorist, let's assume that he is a terrorist and that
he did it. So Clinton is also a terrorist who kills Afghan and
Sudanese innocents. That is the answer?!"
Secretary-General of the PA Cabinet Ahmad Abd al-Rahman expressed
similar sentiments. On August 21, he told the Voice of Palestine (the
official PA radio station) that America's retaliation operations were
"an aggression against the sovereignty of these countries."
4. STILL NO CONDEMNATION
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein has spoken out against Yasser
Arafat's failure to condemn the latest Palestinian terrorist attack -
Thursday night's murder of the elderly Rabbi Eliyahu Shlomo Ra'anan.
Klein said: "If Arafat would explicitly condemn this latest murder of
an Israeli, in Arabic to Arab audiences, it would send a message to
the Palestinian Arabs that violence against Jews is immoral and must
cease. Arafat's failure to condemn the attack --along with his
constant praise of terrorists as 'heroes' and 'martyrs'-- encourages
Arab terrorists to believe that he sympathizes with their actions."
The ZOA president pointed out that according to the 1994 Middle East
Peace Facilitation Act, U.S. aid to the PLO "will be conditional on
the PLO condemning individual acts of terrorism and violence."
[Sec.583(b)(5)(D)]. When Congress revised MEPFA in 1995, it added a
requirement that the President report on the PLO's "responses to
individual acts of terrorism and violence." Klein declared: "Instead
of pressuring Israel to make new concessions to the Palestinian
Authority above and beyond what Oslo requires, the Clinton
administration should be pressuring Arafat to start fulfilling what
Oslo requires of him, such as publicly condemning the latest Arab
terrorist attack."
***********************************************************************
From: Arutz-7 Editor <editor7@virtual.co.il>
To: arutz-7@ploni.virtual.co.il
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Wednesday, August 26, 1998
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Wednesday, August 26, 1998 / Elul 4, 5758
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
EGYPTIAN INTERFERENCE
Ma'ariv reports that "very high-placed government sources" in
Jerusalem accuse Egypt of harmful interference in the peace process
and of "driving a stake in the spokes of the agreement." The sources
blame Egyptian President Mubarak's recent pressure on Arafat for the
latter's letter to Netanyahu, in which he stated that he cannot accept
the Israeli proposal in its current form. Arafat also wrote that he
is still waiting for a positive Israeli response to the comprehensive
American initiative.
On the other hand, sources close to the talks report that the
Palestinians view Israel's proposal as making "significant progress."
This afternoon, following his meeting with Dennis Ross, Palestinian
negotiator Abu Allah said, "The crux of the matter is the small
details." Prime Minister Netanyahu appeared on American television on
Monday, stressing that the Palestinians still need to accept Israel's
demands concerning the war against terrorism, changes to the
Palestinian charter, and the issue of reciprocity. Conflicting
reports and rumors continue to circulate regarding the imminence, or
lack thereof, of an agreement; Minister Avigdor Kahalani was quoted as
saying that it is "days or weeks" away.
*******************************************************************