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Subject: Arutz-7 News: February 24-25, 1999 / Jerusalem Post Articles
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Arutz Sheva News Service
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Wednesday, February 24, 1999 / Adar 8, 5759
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. NATIONALIST-CAMP UNITY EFFORTS SHOW PROGRESS
2. ARUTZ-7 APPEAL TO BE HEARD NEXT WEEK
3. REACTIONS FROM SPONSOR HENDEL AND OTHERS
4. STRICT DROUGHT MEASURES

1. NATIONALIST-CAMP UNITY EFFORTS SHOW PROGRESS
Significant progress has been made in the efforts to unite the right-wing
camp. Leaders of the Moledet, Herut, and Tekumah parties met last night,
and agreed that their common party platform will not make mention of
Moledet's "transfer of Yesha Arabs" concept. The top two spots on the list
will likely be Benny Begin (Herut) and Rehavam Ze'evi (Moledet), but the
rest of the list will not be determined until Chanan Porat announces
whether he will join the united front. Porat, who was essentially voted
out of the next Knesset by the NRP Central Committee earlier this week,
said that he would not be able to ignore the calls of right-wing rabbis and
leaders to leave the NRP and join the Herut-Moledet-Tekumah list.

Aharon Domb, Secretary-General of the Yesha Council, called upon the
National Religious Party to find a solution that will enable it to
"continue to wave the banner of Eretz Yisrael." He said today that he
wishes to warn the NRP that if a change is not made in the current party
list, "there is a great danger that it will lose much of its support among
its traditional voting public." Domb said that he is not giving specific
suggestions, but "in the current constellation, there would be nothing more
natural than for Chanan Porat [in the 11th position on the party list] and
Tzvi Hendel [in the 7th spot, which is no longer necessarily considered a
realistic slot] to migrate to the developing nationalist-camp front... I
myself may have great trouble voting for the NRP in the current situation."

2. ARUTZ-7 APPEAL TO BE HEARD NEXT WEEK
The continuing saga of Arutz-7: A forum of three Supreme Court justices
will hear petitions to disqualify yesterday's Knesset bill which formally
licenses Arutz-7. The two appeals - by MK Eitan Cabel (Labor), and MKs
Yossi Sarid and Chaim Oron (Meretz) - were submitted just hours after
yesterday's vote, and will be heard next Monday. At this point, it remains
unclear as to who will defend the new law, as the State Attorney's office -
whose function it is to defend government laws - refuses to do so. Yaakov
Katz (Ketzaleh), Arutz-7's Executive Director, said today, "The fact that
the Attorney-General is not planning to represent our position puts us in a
very difficult spot. We are raising money to retain the best lawyers in
the country in order to ensure that the Court does not nullify this Knesset
law. Hopefully this is merely the last hurdle that must be overcome before
Arutz-7 can finally serve its hundreds of thousands of listeners without
interference."

Hebrew University law professor Eliav Shochetman today discussed the legal
aspects of yesterday's bill formally legalizing the operations of Arutz-7.
Responding to the claim of Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein that the law
is basically "illegal," Shochetman stated, "One of the fundamentals of
Israeli law is that the Knesset, as the country's sovereign legislative
body, has the authority to enact a law such as this. In fact, in one of
the Court's previous decisions, Justice Berenson wrote: 'The Knesset is the
sovereign authority in matters of legislation, both in respect to the given
law's topic and contents. Everyone agrees that the courts cannot undermine
the decisions of the sovereign legislature.' Former Chief Justice Landau
made a similar statement on another occasion."

When asked whether the Supreme Court is likely to annul a law passed by the
Knesset, the professor cited the following statement of Chief Justice
Aharon Barak from several years ago:

"It is improper for us to stray from our accepted judicial tradition,
by which the Court does not annul a Knesset law that does not contradict
any clause of Israel's Basic Laws. If we do so, we would appear in the
public perception to be departing from the accepted consensus as to the
definition of the role and authority of judges in Israeli society."
Shochetman deduced from this statement that "although it is technically
possible for the court to annul a Knesset law, this is not the practice
given the division of powers and responsibilities between the courts and
the Knesset. Justice Chaim Cohen, who is renowned for his consistent
protection of human rights in Israeli law, has stated that the Knesset's
law-making powers preclude the Court from canceling even an apparently
discriminatory law. So we see that, using the principles of the Supreme
Court itself, there is no basis for uprooting the Arutz-7 law. I've read
the opinions of numerous Supreme Court judges, past and present, and I
haven't found one that says differently." In light of the above,
Shochetman said that he is "puzzled" by Attorney-General Rubenstein's
refusal to defend the new law against petitions that have been submitted to
the Supreme Court.

Prof. Shochetman then discussed the effect of the new law on pending
indictments against Arutz-7: "First of all, from legal opinions issued
during the era of Abie Nathan's 'Voice of Peace' radio broadcasts, we find
senior Justice Department officials - including former Attorney-General
Yoram Bar-Sela - who stated clearly that no legal charges can be filed
against an unlicensed station that broadcasts outside of Israeli
territorial waters. So it's hard to say that yesterday's vote was
necessary in order to make Arutz-7 'legal.' But even if we presume, for
the moment, that there was a violation of the law in the course of the
station's operation, the fourth clause of the 1994 Penal Code unequivocally
states that once a law is passed legalizing a previously-illegal behavior,
'the criminal responsibility for the act ceases to exist. The legal
proceedings against the offender shall be halted, and in the case of a
conviction, any implementation of the sentence shall be stopped
immediately.' Given the explicit nature of this clause, I am absolutely
bewildered by the various legal commentators who said today on Israeli
radio that the courts may still press on with the current charges against
the station."

Prof. Shochetman noted that there are "countless precedents" in Israeli law
for the retroactive legalization of previously criminal behavior. As an
example, he noted a post-Oslo 1993 Knesset decision nullifying Paragraph
4(h) of the Criminal Code which forbade any formal contacts with the PLO.

3. REACTIONS FROM SPONSOR HENDEL AND OTHERS
Arutz-7 also spoke today to MK Tzvi Hendel (NRP), the sponsor of the
Arutz-7 bill, who called upon the Supreme Court not to nullify the law:
"The Knesset, which represents popular will, made its opinion - and
therefore the opinion of the public - known by a large majority, and the
Court must not intervene based on some technicality or another... I am not
a legal expert, but I can speak from a simple rational perspective: After
we searched for so long to find a way to license at least one radio station
in the Land of Israel that speaks to the nationalist camp, I think that it
is only right that the Court not intervene, but should rather accept the
'fait accompli' and move on."

Hendel rebuffed accusations by Attorney-General Rubenstein that he (Hendel)
"has no understanding of the legal process and no respect for the law."
Hendel invoked the halakhic and psychological principle that people tend to
project their own flaws on others (Kol HaPosel, B'Mumo Posel): "Mr.
Rubenstein had [a very long time] to come up with a solution, instead of
constantly explaining to us how each proposed solution was unacceptable.
Various proposals were put forth by the Prime Minister's Office, the
Ministry of Education and by individual MKs, but Mr. Rubenstein invalidated
each one of them. He approved only a solution that would involve a public
tender, under which it could not be guaranteed that the new station would
not end up in left-wing hands. This would of course make our entire
struggle worthless... In short, the Attorney-General didn't permit the
acceptance of any authentic, realistic proposal."

Yoel Tzur, Technical Director of Arutz-7, said today, "The public has
already decided that this is the station that it wants, by listening to it
and by donating money, such that no other public tender was necessary." He
said that the ship will not be brought to shore until various technical
details - such as frequencies, location of transmitters, and the like - are
arranged with the Communications Ministry.

MK Yossi Sarid said that the Arutz-7 law yesterday was "a typical move of
the settlers - always clashing with the law." Condemnation of the Knesset
decision paving the way for a license for Arutz-7 has been heard from yet
another quarter: the Palestinian Authority. Chief Palestinian negotiator
Sa'eb Erekat says that the decision is dangerous and "encourages acts of
terror against the PA." He said the PA would ask the U.S. to pressure
Israel to cancel the decision.

4. STRICT DROUGHT MEASURES
Farmers who use more than their quota of water will have their spigots
turned off. The Water Commission's new plan calls for the strict measures
in place of the fines that were levied until now. The Agricultural Center
is against the new plan. "Water quotas should definitely be cut back, in
light of the severe drought," said Yoram Tamari, in charge of water at the
Center, "but cutting off water altogether could leave fields ands orchards
to die and cause irreparable damage to Israel's agriculture." Agriculture
Ministry experts estimates the damages of this year's drought at 120
million shekels (almost $30 million).

***********************************************************************

Date: Thu, 25 Feb 1999 17:17:48 +0200
To: arutz-7@a7.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@a7.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Thursday, February 25, 1999
Reply-to: netnews@a7.org

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Thursday, February 25, 1999 / Adar 9, 5759
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---

*****************************************

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. DEFENDING THE ARUTZ-7 LAW
2. NRP EFFORTS TO KEEP PORAT
3. COMING TO THE AID OF JORDAN

1. DEFENDING THE ARUTZ-7 LAW
Knesset legal adviser, Tzvi Inbar is set to defend the new law on
behalf of the government next week. He says that no fault can be
found with the Knesset procedure licensing Arutz-7. Not only has the
State Attorney's office refused to represent the government in the
matter, but Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein intends to add his
name to the list of those petitioning the Supreme Court to overrule
the new legislation.

Atty. Yehuda Ressler, who may represent Arutz-7 in the Supreme Court
next week, says that Atty.-Gen. Elyakim Rubenstein must either
represent Arutz-7 in court or resign. "As his title indicates, the
Attorney-General must represent the government and municipal
authorities in legal cases. If Rubenstein feels that he cannot
represent the government, then he must realize that its choice not to
listen to his advice on this issue shows a lack of faith in him as its
legal advisor, and Rubenstein should draw the relevant conclusions."
Ressler expressed his confidence that Arutz-7 will win the case: "The
Knesset is sovereign in this area. Despite the separation of powers,
the Supreme Court draws its authority from the legislature, and not
vice-versa. The Court cannot nullify a law legislated by the Knesset,
in my opinion, except on procedural grounds. For example, if a
particular law requires a certain special majority, which was not
attained, then the Court can annul the law. This was not the case
here." Regarding the retroactive legalization of previously-illegal
activities, Ressler noted, "the Ministry of Transportation, as a
matter of policy, permits taxi cab companies which operated without
permission for many years to receive operating licenses thereafter.
This policy successfully withstood numerous Supreme Court petitions,
in cases in which I was personally involved," said Ressler.

The Supreme Court today approved the participation of MK Tzvi Hendel
in next week's Arutz-7 hearing. Hendel, the sponsor of the Knesset
bill to grant an automatic license to radio stations that have
broadcasted continuously for the past five years, will be represented
by Renato Yarak, who formerly served as head of the Supreme Court
appeals division in the State Attorney's office. Yarak expressed his
confidence today that the court would summarily dismiss the
left-wing's petition.

MK Michael Kleiner, one of the instrumental figures in ensuring the
passage of the new Arutz-7 law, said today that the petition by
left-wing MKs against the licensing of Arutz-7 reflects a double
standard: "One of the petitioners, Meretz MK Yossi Sarid, was among
the main sponsors of a proposed bill some years ago calling for the
licensing of Abie Nathan's 'Voice of Peace' radio station. Not only
did Nathan broadcast near the coast, but the law proposed then was a
specifically personal law solely for the benefit of that station. The
new law, on the other hand, legalizes any radio station which has
operated for five years, not just Arutz-7."

2. NRP EFFORTS TO KEEP PORAT
MK Chanan Porat appears to have rejected an offer to be advanced to
the 5th position in the National Religious Party Knesset list. The
offer was initiated by Nachum Langental, the current holder of the
number-5 slot, who is identified with the more "dovish" faction in the
party. Langental met this morning with Rabbi Chaim Druckman in an
effort to ensure that either Porat or another personality popular
within Yesha circles appears near the top of the NRP list. He would
not reveal details of the meeting, but expressed "optimism." Leaders
of the new Tekumah movement this morning repeated their call to Porat
to join the ranks of the budding party.

Porat has some strong criticism of the political behavior of NRP party
leader Rabbi Yitzchak Levy. In an interview to be published tomorrow
in the Israeli weekly paper Makor Rishon, Porat says, "Rabbi Levy has
a pleasant disposition and views that are in agreement with mine, he
lacks key leadership qualities and has difficulty in maintaining a
strong ideological stance in the face of various pressures." Porat
reiterated his openness to join the Tekumah party should there be a
public call for him to do so.

3. COMING TO THE AID OF JORDAN
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon
will travel to Jordan this Sunday to meet with newly-crowned King
Abdullah. The two are expected to formally pledge to strengthen
Israel's economic ties with Jordan, with the express purpose of
helping Abdullah consolidate his monarchy. In a parallel move, U.S.
Undersecretary of State Martin Indyk has asked the Israeli lobby in
Washington to convince members of Congress to support an emergency
$300 million U.S. aid package to Jordan, while Saudi Arabia plans to
deposit $450 million in Jordan's central bank to revitalize the
country's sluggish economy.

**********************************************************************

The Jerusalem Post - Internet Edition
Thursday, February 25, 1999 9 Adar 5759

NRP considers offering Porat No. 5 slot

By NINA GILBERT and MARGOT DUDKEVITCH

JERUSALEM (February 25) - Nahum Langenthal has
reportedly offered to give up the No. 5 spot on the
National Religious Party list he won earlier this
week to veteran MK Hanan Porat.

Langenthal, a first-time candidate who belongs to the
party's moderate camp, said last night the matter is
still under discussion, and would not confirm or deny
that he is willing to agree to such a move.

Party sources said the top six candidates had
discussed the matter yesterday, and it was suggested
that Langenthal move himself to the No. 6 slot,
thereby pushing others down the list. It is unclear
whether the No. 8 candidate, Gila Finkelstein, in a
slot reserved for a woman, would also move down, or
whether the central committee would agree to such a
move.

After Porat, a longtime Greater Land of Israel
champion, was pushed down to No. 11, the hawkish wing
of the NRP was outraged, saying the party had moved
to the left. On the other hand, the moderates
declared victory, saying it is time to have a
balanced Knesset list.

According to one source, Education Minister Yitzhak
Levy, the leader of the hawkish camp, is spearheading
the effort to get Porat moved higher on the list.

"It would have been better if the offer hadn't come,"
Porat said last night. "What is needed is for the
religious Zionist camp to do some soul-searching."

Porat's supporters have warned they will leave the
NRP for other parties if Porat is not moved into a
higher position.

The NRP maneuvers follow warnings from leaders of the
Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria, and
Gaza that the party could lose support unless Porat
and MK Zvi Hendel are moved to more realistic spots.
Hendel won the seventh slot, which according to
recent polls will not get him elected to the Knesset.

The settlement leaders suggested that Porat could be
forced to leave the party and join forces with the
smaller right-wing parties - Tekuma, Moledet, and
Herut - which are negotiating the establishment of a
united front.

Tekuma yesterday called on Porat to join its ranks.
"Tekuma is the natural alternative to the NRP" for
Porat, said its leader, Beit El Mayor Uri Ariel. "Our
door is open to him."

Porat could become Tekuma's No. 1, according to
Ariel, who noted that the party has not yet picked
its list.

Council director-general Aharon Domb returned from
Paris in the afternoon and met with Levy shortly
after landing.

Earlier in the day, Domb sent a strong letter to Levy
and Transport Minister Shaul Yahalom warning them
that if the NRP does not change direction, it will
lose support among its voters.

Domb stressed that the next government will be faced
with important challenges that will affect the future
of the settlements, and national camp followers will
be faced with a difficult struggle as pressures, both
internal and external, become more intense.

**********************************************************************

The Jerusalem Post - Internet Edition
Friday, February 26, 1999 10 Adar 5759

Labor closes deal with Levy, Meimad

By SARAH HONIG

TEL AVIV (February 26) - The Labor Party hopes to
sign agreements with Gesher's David Levy and Meimad
early next week, after reportedly reaching agreement
yesterday in negotiations with both.

No further contacts, however, took place with Bat Yam
contractor Shlomi Lahiani, who left yesterday morning
for a short vacation in the North. He will not be
available for talks until next week.

All three sets of negotiations involve plans to
reserve slots for non-Labor candidates in a new
electoral bloc, One Israel, in which Labor will be
the major component. This would mean that the
outsiders would push Labor candidates further down
the list, to places considerably lower than those
they won in the recent primaries.

Party chairman Ehud Barak met yesterday with Levy,
and, though nothing was firmly concluded, both sides
report that the session ended in good spirits. A
high-ranking Gesher source said that Levy seems about
to get most of what he is asking for. He will be
placed in One Israel's third slot, immediately after
Barak and MK Shimon Peres.

Gesher MKs Yehuda Lankri and Maxim Levy will both be
placed between the 20th and 30th slots. Nothing
specific was said about the notion the Lankri would
resign his Knesset seat as soon as he is elected and
would then be appointed ambassador to France. Labor
sources revealed on Wednesday that this is the plan.
It, of course, will become possible only if Labor
wins the election.

Maxim Levy expressed confidence the deal will be
signed next week.

The Meimad executive is to convene on Monday to
approve its deal with Labor. Barak is expected to
attend.

The dovish religious movement is said to have
received slots 17, 30, and 33 on the One Israel
slate. In addition, it will get an undertaking that
if Barak wins, it will get a key cabinet portfolio,
but its minister will not be an MK. The aim here, as
in Lankri's case, is to get one of the new Meimad MKs
to resign in order to take up the ministerial
appointment. Meimad is reported to be after the
Education portfolio.

Lahiani, who narrowly lost the Bat Yam mayoralty in
November, is said to be miffed that Barak has reneged
on his previous promise to reserve the 11th slot for
him. The outcry this generated in the party led Barak
to change his offer to the 34th slot.

Sources close to Barak say that beggars can't be
choosers and that none of the those being considered
for slots under the One Israel framework have another
way of getting into the Knesset.

News that the deals are on the verge of completion
has already fanned flames in Labor. Those who won
marginal slots have banded together to foil any
additions to the list, except Levy himself and a
single Meimad candidate.

Representatives of the group met with Barak for over
three hours yesterday and warned him that the central
committee meeting at which the co-options will come
up for approval will be extremely stormy if he
decides to ignore their protests. Former MK Eli Dayan
told Barak that he plans to request a secret ballot
at the committee, in which case there is no guarantee
how the members will vote.

MK Shevah Weiss argued that Barak is bringing aboard
"not groups which can appreciably bolster his
electoral prospects, but virtual factions and
freeloading hitchhikers."

MK Eli Ben-Menahem argued that "the greatest travesty
of all is the Lahiani episode. We have plenty of
Lahianis already among us."

Barak dismissed the criticism, saying that "crybabies
will not bring us victory."

He also told the gathering that those who might be
edged out of the Knesset should recall that there are
other jobs for them if Labor is victorious. The Labor
dissidents were also warned that if they attempt to
sabotage or delay the One Israel plan, they will be
doing great harm to Barak's prime ministerial
campaign. If the deals are not closed very soon, they
were told, Barak's image and personal credibility
will suffer.

*******************************************************************

Rabbinate: Do not meet with Reform

By ELLI WOHLGELERNTER

NETANYA (February 25) - The Netanya Religious Council
failed to convene its scheduled meeting last night,
after Sephardi Chief Rabbi Eliahu Bakshi-Doron and
the city's chief rabbi ruled that the Orthodox
council members did not have to sit with their Reform
counterparts.

The meeting was called to order by council chairman
Dov Dombrovitch, who told the nine of 26 members who
attended that he had received orders from the Chief
Rabbinate and Rabbi David Shloush, the city's chief
rabbi, to cancel the meeting, because they do not
allow them to sit with Reform and Conservative Jews.

Dombrovitch said that, although he is not a legal
expert, he knows the law said one thing and the
rabbinate another, and so for the time being there
would be no meeting.

The maneuver was apparently aimed at preventing the
Orthodox from sitting with Dr. Joyce Brenner, who 11
months ago became the first person in the country's
history to take part in a meeting of a local
religious council as a representative of the Reform
movement.

"It's sort of sad, because we've been meeting for
about a year and we thought in Netanya we had it
under control," Brenner told The Jerusalem Post last
night.

"Listen, this whole thing is very political, and
there must be a lot of trade-offs. All the meetings
I've been to, none of the ultra-Right came but the
others did, and they talked with me, and they're
friendly with me, and even today they were all
supportive.

"The struggle is much bigger than just Reform and
Conservative against the ultra-Right. I think it's
really middle of the road observant against the
ultra-Right, because the middle of the road is
supporting the ability for all of us to sit together,
because this is not a halachic body."

Brenner said the ruling came now after a year,
because the council members were supposed to sign
affidavits pledging loyalty to the State of Israel
and to uphold the policies of the religious
authorities.

"I came prepared to sign the oath of allegiance, but
I wasn't going to unless they signed, and they didn't
sign."

Earlier yesterday, Religious Affairs Minister Eli
Suissa announced that he was planning on setting up
new, smaller religious councils in those places where
the gatherings have not convened.

Rabbi Uri Regev, director of the Reform movement's
Religious Action Center, said "it is not going to be
so simple for him to do it, because the law requires
that he first appoint an investigative committee to
see why the council does not function. In that
investigative committee, by law there has to be a
representative of the attorney-general, and I think
the attorney-general is not going to be playing along
with a policy that is clearly geared to bring about a
contempt of court decision."