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Subject: Israel in the News: August 16 - August 29, 1998
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1998 17:24:05 -0800
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From: Eddie Chumney
To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject: Israel in the News: 8/16 - 8/29/98
Israel in the News
August 16 to August 29, 1998
TEMPLE MOUNT
MUSLIM CLERICS CLOSE MOSQUE AFTER ARREST OF PALESTINIAN
August 25, 1998 Jerusalem (AP)
Muslim clerics closed Islam's third-holiest shrine to tourists
for several hours in protest today after Israeli border police
arrested two Palestinians in the mosque compound. The Al Aqsa
Mosque, like other Islamic sites in Jerusalem, enjoys a great
deal of autonomy and Israeli authorities are only permitted to
enter under certain circumstances.
The incident began when two border policemen stopped two
brothers, Mohammed and Shadi Hidadit, for an identity check in
the walled Old City. A scuffle ensued and the brothers ran away
and sought refuge in the Al Aqsa compound. The police followed
to arrest them. Three mosque guards intervened and scuffled with
the border police, said bystander Walid Zurda.
The Islamic Trust, or Waqf, which administers the compound,
closed Al Aqsa to tourists for several hours as director Adnan
Husseini met with Jerusalem's police commander. Husseini said
the Waqf would not accept the presence of border police in the
compound, which is known to Jews as the Temple Mount, the site of
the ancient Jewish Temple.
Meanwhile, the Israeli daily Maariv reported today that Israeli
authorities have beefed up security near the Al Asqa compound
because of growing concern it could be targeted by Jewish
extremists.
YITZCHAKI REJECTS WAKF DEMANDS
IsraelWire-8/25-5:38pm
Jerusalem Police District Commander Yair Yitzchaki rejected
demands made by senior Moslem Wakf officials, to distance the
Israeli border policemen stationed on the Temple Mount.
Yitzchaki, who responded to the area in an attempt to cool
tempers following the arrest of three Arab men this morning by
Israel police, told Wakf officials there would be no change
implemented in the status quo in Jerusalem. As a result of the
arrest, the Temple Mount remains closed to visitors, following a
decision by the Wakf Authority to shut it down.
GSS WARNS OF JEWISH ATTACK ON TEMPLE MOUNT
IsraelWire-8/26
Members of the General Security Service (GSS/Shin-Bet) feel that
the Temple Mount, under the control of the Moslem Wakf, is a
prime target for members of the extreme Jewish right. Members of
the security establishment have issued official warning at
different forums, explaining that "extreme actions such as those
of Baruch Goldstein, are not entirely impossible again in the
future."
Former GSS director Karmi Gilon stated yesterday that there are
still "Extremists from the same school as Goldstein," who are
capable of carrying out such attacks. The GSS admits it has
agents monitoring the activities of several "extremists," who
they feel are prime candidates for carrying out attacks against
Arabs or Arab targets. Police report however, that even
according to the GSS intelligence reports, there is no immediate
threat of such an attack.
ISRAEL
EDELSHTEIN CALLS FOR PREPARING FOR LARGE INFLUX FROM CIS
IsraelWire-8/18
According to the Minister of Immigration and Absorption Yuli
Edelshtein, the sharp devaluation of the ruble is likely to
result in a large influx of new immigrants from the CIS. The
minister stated he believes the instability of the economy is
likely to serve as a factor which will facilitate the
decision-making process for many residents who are contemplating
moving to Israel.
MAJORITY OF LAW COMMITTEE MEMBERS CALLING FOR DISSOLVING KNESSET
IsraelWire-8/18
Labor Party MK Chaim Ramon enlisted nine of the fifteen members
of the Knesset Law Committee to sign a petition to begin the
preparation of legislation calling for early elections. The
committee chairman has decided the committee will meet next
month. Ramon explains the current government has lost its
majority in the Knesset and may no longer continue under its
present mandate. Ramon based his petition of the passing of the
preliminary reading of the bill calling for dissolving the
Knesset. The bill passed during the final hours of the Knesset
summer session.
KATYUSHA ROCKETS LAND IN ISRAEL AFTER GUERRILLA KILLED
August 25, 1998 By Alik Maor, Associated Press Kiryat Shemona,
Israel (AP)
Katyusha rockets slammed into northern Israeli towns Tuesday
night, injuring at least 19 people, after a top Lebanese
guerrilla leader was killed by an Israeli helicopter that
ambushed his car in south Lebanon. Along the northern border,
Israeli residents dashed for shelters after the rockets took them
by surprise. The barrage fell only hours after an Israeli
helicopter gunship fired a rocket of its own, killing guerrilla
commander Hossam al-Amin, reportedly the second-in- command of
the military faction of Shiite Muslim guerrilla group, Amal, as
he was driving along a south Lebanese coastal road not far from
the Israeli border.
PM: NO DEAL UNTIL PA FIGHTS TERROR
By Helen Kaye, Margot Dudkevitch, and Mohammed Najib Tel Aviv
(August 28) Jerusalem Post
"There will be no [redeployment] agreement unless the Palestinian
Authority, in word and in deed, fights terror everywhere, whether
in Hebron or Tel Aviv," Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
emphatically stated yesterday. He was speaking at Tel Aviv's
Ichilov Hospital, where he was visiting victims of yesterday's
bomb blast in Tel Aviv.
A bus packed with early morning commuters pulled away from a bus
stop just before the bomb, packed with nails and hidden in a
trash can, exploded at the intersection of Allenby Street and
Rothschild Boulevard. Twenty-one people were hurt in the attack,
19 lightly and two moderately. Among them were a toddler and a
4-year-old boy, police said.
CLASHES ERUPT IN HEBRON AS ISRAEL LIFTS CLOSURE
August 28, 1998 By Nasser Shiyoukhi, Associated Press Hebron,
West Bank (AP)
Palestinian teen-agers threw stones and empty bottles at Israeli
soldiers in Hebron today, just hours after Israel lifted a
weeklong closure of the city. The closure preventing Palestinian
travel in and out of the West Bank city had been imposed after a
rabbi was stabbed to death Aug. 20 in his home in a Jewish
enclave. The killer remains at large.
A curfew on the 30,000 Palestinians who live in the Israeli-
controlled sector of Hebron was lifted for three hours early
today to allow people to buy supplies. Clashes broke out after
the curfew was reimposed and about 30 Palestinian youths on the
Palestinian side of the city began throwing stones and empty
bottles at Israeli soldiers.
PEACE PROCESS
ARAFAT SAYS PALESTINIANS ARE LOSING PATIENCE WITH PEACE
By Sami Sockol and Gideon Alon, Ha'aretz Correspondents and
Agencies 8/16/98
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat yesterday told
opposition Knesset Members that he fears that Palestinians are
losing patience with the lack of progress in the peace
negotiations.
Arafat spoke at his offices in Ramallah with Knesset Members Dedi
Zucker and Naomi Chazan of Meretz and Ophir Pines-Paz of Labor,
as well as Peace Now Secretary-General Mossi Raz. Arafat said
the negotiations were at a dead end and Palestinian frustration
is rising, and expressed fear that he would not be able to
control the Palestinian masses.
US: SYRIA PREPARED FOR RESUMPTION OF TALKS WITHOUT PRECONDITIONS
IsraelWire- 8/17/98
The Clinton administration has sent messages to Jerusalem
indicating that the Syrian government is willing to resume peace
talks with Israel without preconditions, contrary to its former
position. According to a Ma'ariv newspaper report, the US
message was also delivered to members of the Labor opposition
party, who met recently with State Department officials in
Washington.
ANOTHER AGREEMENT TO BE SIGNED?
Jewish Telegraph Agency News and Analysis, 8/25/98
A new agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority
could be signed in Washington on the fifth anniversary of the
signing of the Oslo accords, U.S. diplomatic sources were quoted
as saying. Word of a Sept. 13 signing came amid signs that the
two sides had softened their positions and were closer to
reaching agreement on a further Israeli West Bank redeployment
coupled with Palestinian steps to combat terror.
SIDES SOFTENING POSITION, DEAL ON WITHDRAWAL REPORTEDLY EMERGING
August 25, 1998 By Dafna Linzer, Associated Press Tel Aviv,
Israel (AP)
After 17 months of stalemate, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat are reportedly
softening their positions and nearing a deal on a long-overdue
Israeli troop withdrawal. Arafat called the new Israeli ideas "a
beginning'' and said Monday that he would accept an Israeli-
proposed formula to turn part of the land slated for withdrawal
into a nature reserve where Palestinians would not be allowed to
settle.
Israel radio reported that Israel had eased the parameters it had
set over how the nature reserve would be defined. The issue was
the main sticking point in reaching a deal. Israel is now
willing to give Palestinian police freedom of movement and allow
limited construction in a 3 percent area of the West Bank from
which Israeli troops would withdraw and convert into a nature
reserve, Israel radio said, citing Israeli diplomatic sources.
MIDDLE EAST
JORDAN'S KING HUSSEIN GIVES BROTHER MORE AUTHORITY
August 16, 1998 By Jamal Halaby, Associated Press Amman, Jordan
(AP)
King Hussein, who is undergoing cancer treatment in the United
States, has given his brother and heir to the throne the power to
carry out a likely shuffle of the government, officials said
Sunday. The move came as Hussein's government has come under
increasing fire in recent weeks. It has been accused of
negligence in allowing Amman's water system to become polluted
and for fudging economic statistics to hide the extent of
Jordan's recession. The move gives 51-year-old Crown Prince
Hassan, acting as regent in the king's absence, more
constitutional powers.
JORDAN READY TO STRENGTHEN TIES WITH IRAN
Weekend News Today Source: Jordan Times Mon Aug 17 , 1998
Jordan's Speaker of Lower House of Parliament visited Iran on
Saturday to discuss parliamentary cooperation with Tehran, and to
convey King Hussein's and Crown Prince Hassan's greetings to
President Khatami. He said that Jordan was "ready to strengthen
ties" with Iran. President Khatami said Sunday that Iran
recognises Jordan's hard conditions and the burdens it
shouldered. "Jordan has shouldered the outcome of the 1967 war.
We are for peace and tranquillity in the region, but peace will
only come when everyone will be given their rights," President
Khatami said. "Of course, there is no hope that Israel will opt
for a just peace and reconciliation," he added. "As long as
millions of Palestinians are removed from their homes and the
usurper does not allow them to return, there will be no real
peace in the Middle East," the official Iranian news agency IRNA
quoted Khatami as saying.
PREPARATION FOR WAR
ISRAEL INCREASES MILITARY SPENDING FOR FIRST TIME SINCE PEACE
PROCESS August 17, 1998 By Nicolas B. Tatro, Associated Press
Jerusalem (AP)
For the past decade, Israeli governments put off the generals and
allowed the military budget to slowly erode. After all, tensions
in the Mideast were easing and peace with the Arabs expanding.
Now, for the first time since the peace process began, Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government has authorized an
increase in defense spending one that totals $543 million.
***********************************************************************
Friday, September 4, 1998 13 Elul 5758
Jerusalem Post - Internet Edition
ROSS EXPECTED NEXT WEEK
By DANNA HARMAN
JERUSALEM (September 4) - US Mideast envoy Dennis
Ross is to make a short visit here in the middle of
next week to try to bridge gaps between Israel and
the Palestinians.
US President Bill Clinton announced his intention to
send Ross to the region while on an official visit to
Northern Ireland, a day after speaking by phone with
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.
Netanyahu's communications director David Bar-Illan
characterized the 40-minute talk between the US and
Israeli leaders Wednesday evening as "warm, friendly,
and wide-ranging," and expressed his hope that while
in Israel, Ross would succeed in encouraging the
Palestinians to comply with their security
obligations.
Bar-Illan stressed that once such commitments by the
Palestinians were secured, Israel would be willing to
move forward with the 13 percent pullback.
"The scope of the withdrawal is no longer an issue,"
said Bar-Illan, adding that Netanyahu is confident
his cabinet will approve such a redeployment under
certain conditions.
The Israeli proposal, submitted in writing last month
but not formally announced, is for a full withdrawal
from 10% of the West Bank, but only a limited one
from the remaining 3%. The 3% would become a nature
reserve, in which Israel would retain full security
control.
A senior official in the Prime Minister's Office
added that Ross would not be coming unless he was
sure progress was going to be made.
"Ross has come and gone empty-handed so many times,"
said the official, "...he cannot afford another
senseless trip."
The Palestinians also welcomed the Ross visit, but
complained that Netanyahu was playing "word games" by
trying to package a 10% withdrawal as one of 13% -
and then blaming the Palestinians for rejecting it.
According to Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, the
Palestinians have given a "firm yes" to the original
US proposal, but not to the "10-plus-three" Israeli
offer.
The blame for the deadlock, he stressed, is to be
placed firmly in Israel's lap.
"All we want is one word from Mr. Netanyahu, and that
is 'yes,'" said Erekat, "and we will apparently
continue waiting for it."
Erekat said the two letters sent by Arafat to Clinton
last month complaining about the stalemate in the
talks may have been the catalyst for the president's
renewed personal involvement in the negotiations.
US Embassy spokesman Larry Schwartz warned both sides
against being too optimistic regarding the Ross visit
or Clinton's apparent newly energized efforts to
personally push the process forward.
"We are guardedly optimistic about Ross's reported
visit, but would not want to prejudice the outcome of
the discussions," said Schwartz, who also tried to
downplay the optimistic spin the government put on
the Clinton-Netanyahu phone call.
"The outline of an agreement is becoming clearer, but
there is a great need to nibble around the sides. The
victory will be in the details, but as of yet there
are no signing ceremonies planned," he said.
Meanwhile, MK Michael Kleiner (Gesher) said that all
the talk about Ross's visit and the ongoing deadlock
in the process was of secondary importance, as he had
information regarding secret talks being held between
Israeli and Palestinian officials on the island of
Rhodes, with the knowledge of the Americans.
According to Kleiner, the talks, which began several
months ago, started out as an informal way of
hammering out ideas regarding the final-status talks,
and soon became an official, albeit secret, channel.
Palestinian, Israeli, and US officials have all
denied such talks are taking place.
Netanyahu's spokesman Aviv Bushinsky called the
report "ridiculous," and said academic meetings
between Israelis and Palestinians had taken place on
Rhodes, but nothing further.
Kleiner said his information came from several
sources, including an interview with one of the
Palestinian participants.
He claimed that the secret talks have already yielded
results, with the Palestinian delegates agreeing to
step back from their demands regarding Jerusalem and
refugees - in return for Israeli recognition of a
Palestinian state.
"I am not for secret channels, but I am a firm
supporter of reaching a final-status agreement as
soon as possible," said Kleiner. "All these
negotiations on the interim agreements are only
creating trouble, while moving straight to the
final-status agreement is the only healthy thing to
do."
**********************************************************************