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Subject: Arutz-7 News: February 26 - March 4 1999
Date: Thu, 4 Mar 1999 16:35:41 -0800
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From: Arutz-7 Editor <netnews@a7.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News Brief: Friday, February 26, 1999

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Friday, Feb. 26, 1999 / Adar 10, 5759
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. LABOR FINALIZES AGREEMENT WITH GESHER AND MEIMAD
2. ARAB MK SUPPORTS HIZBULLAH
3. COURT APPEALS AGAINST ARUTZ-7'S
4. YAD VASHEM GRANTS "RIGHTEOUS GENTILE" HONOR

1. LABOR FINALIZES AGREEMENT WITH GESHER AND MEIMAD
The Labor party reached an agreement last night with the Meimad and Gesher
factions for reserving slots on Ehud Barak's One Israel Knesset list.
Meimad candidates will receive slots 17, 33 and 38 on the ticket plus a
reserved cabinet post for a fourth member of their party. David Levy of
the Gesher party will be allotted the number three spot on the Labor list,
and two additional Gesher party candidates will receive the 29th slot, as
well as a slot between 11-20. The Labor party Central Committee will
convene next week to approve the new agreements.

2. ARAB MK SUPPORTS HIZBULLAH
MK Hashem Mahmeed, of the Arab Hadash party, has again made severe
statements, this time in support of the Hizbullah terrorist organization,
which claimed responsibility for the death of three IDF soldiers late
Monday night. In a gathering at Haifa University, Mahmeed said that
Hizbullah is a "national liberation movement of the first order." He said
also that Lebanon will become a graveyard for any conqueror. In response,
Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Uzi Landau
said that the Israeli Arabs are placing "question marks" on their degree of
loyalty to the State of Israel as a Jewish and Zionist state.

3. COURT APPEALS AGAINST ARUTZ-7'S
In its response to the petitions against the licensing of Arutz Sheva
Israel National Radio, the State Attorney's office has told the High Court
of Justice that it does not object to the issuing of an "order to show
cause" against the Knesset and the government, as requested by the
petitioners. This response marks a significant divergence from the State
Attorney's usual practice of asking the court to summarily reject all
petitions. The State Attorney also told the court that it does not object
to the issuing of an interim junction blocking the implementation of the
new licensing law. However, the State Attorney has asked the court to
reject the petitioners' request for an order to block the new law from
taking effect. If the State Attorney's position is accepted by the court,
Arutz Sheva will be forced to continue to broadcast from sea until a
hearing takes place and a final decision by the High Court of Appeals is
handed down. During the interim period, Arutz Sheva would be considered to
be operating with a license. The Supreme Court hearing on the matter is
scheduled for this Monday, the Fast of Esther. Arutz-7's attorney's are
requesting that the court summarily dismiss the appeals submitted by
left-wing activists, and allow for the law to be implemented immediately.

The Gesher Foundation, which promotes dialogue and helps foster better
understanding between the religious and secular communities in Israel,
sponsored a survey last week on the government's intentions to grant
Arutz-7 a broadcasting license. The survey found that a majority of the
Israeli public (52.4%) supports the law, while 32.9% oppose it, and 14.7%
have no opinion. Gesher Foundation Chairman Dr. Danny Tropper stated in
response that the survey's findings again prove that the Israeli public
favors dialogue and the granting of a means of expression in the media to
the wide range of cultural groups in Israeli society.

4. YAD VASHEM GRANTS "RIGHTEOUS GENTILE" HONOR
A Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial committee officially recognized last night
the late British diplomat Francis Frank Foley as a "Righteous Gentile," for
his efforts to save Jewish lives in Germany during the 1930's. Foley, who
was in charge of granting visas to anywhere in the British Empire including
to the Land of Israel, processed thousands of visas for Jews who sought to
emigrate from Germany. In many cases, Jews received visas from Foley
despite the fact that they did not meet the financial and other criteria.
Foley also provided refuge in his home for "a day or two at a time" to Jews
who feared arrest by the Gestapo. Though Foley was a known figure to the
Yad Vashem committee, the recognition was made possible only after a list
of firsthand testimonies by Jews who were saved by Foley reached Yad Vashem
last month.

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

From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@a7.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Sunday, February 28, 1999

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Sunday, Feb. 28, 1999 / Adar 12, 5759
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---

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

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. HEAVY FIGHTING IN SOUTHERN LEBANON
2. UNREST IN THE CENTER
3. SUPREME COURT HEARING AGAINST ARUTZ-7 LAW POSTPONED
4. PORAT AND HENDEL WOULD HELP TEKUMAH

1. HEAVY FIGHTING IN SOUTHERN LEBANON
Israel Air Force planes heavily bombarded terrorist positions
throughout the day, in reaction to an earlier Hizbullah attack. Prime
Minister Netanyahu told foreign reporters today that Israel will not
tolerate such attacks by Hizbullah, and will know how and when to
react to such provocations.

In a separate incident, a large katyusha rocket, 107 millimeters in
diameter (just over four inches), was fired last night at a northern
Galilee community. There were no casualties, but a residential
building was hit and damaged. A resident said that this was the
fourth time this building was hit by a katyusha, and that "the rocket
we removed from the house today weighed 70 kilograms (over 150
pounds)."

2. UNREST IN THE CENTER
Leaders of the new centrist party have pushed off their meeting -
originally scheduled for tomorrow - at which they were to decide if
and how to re-compose their Knesset list. Party leader Yitzchak
Mordechai has rejected threats in this connection by at least one
would-be member of the list. One issue in dispute concerns the
placement on the slate of Uri Savir, former Foreign Ministry
Director-General and chief Oslo negotiator during the Rabin-Peres
governments. Amnon Lipkin-Shachak, the centrist party's number-two
man, wishes to place Savir in a relatively prominent position, because
he feels that the list is too "right-wing" at present. Another
unresolved issue is the identity of the "religious" candidate. Dan
Meridor, number three, is in favor of Third Way MK Alex Lubotsky,
while next-in-line Roni Milo, who was the target of criticism by
Lubotsky in the past, wishes to see former NRP Knesset Member Yehuda
Ben-Meir on the list.

In other election campaign news, Deputy Housing Minister Rabbi Meir
Porush of the hareidi United Torah Judaism has appeared at several
parlor meetings within Yesha of late. This may portend a new
phenomenon of grass-roots support for UTJ within the Yesha
communities. As Yisrael Rosenberg, a participant of one of the
meetings, told Arutz-7 today, "There is basically no reason why UTJ
should not receive our support. UTJ believes in the Land of Israel,
and objected to every aspect of Oslo and Wye, helped build Yesha
significantly over the past three years, and stand strong for
religious education and other issues." He admitted that UTJ was not
likely to topple the government over an Eretz Yisrael issue, however.

3. SUPREME COURT HEARING AGAINST ARUTZ-7 LAW POSTPONED
The Supreme Court hearing on the petitions against the Arutz-7 law has
been postponed from tomorrow until next week. Knesset Law Committee
chairman Chanan Porat told Arutz-7 today that in his opinion, the
decision paving the way for the licensing of Arutz-7 should bring to a
halt the legal proceedings against the operators of Arutz-7. Porat
criticized the behavior of Atty.-Gen. Elyakim Rubenstein, which he
called "obsessive," in this matter.

4. PORAT AND HENDEL WOULD HELP TEKUMAH
MK Tzvi Hendel, who, along with MK Chanan Porat, is considering
leaving the NRP and joining Tekumah, has shown the results of recent
polls to NRP heads Rabbi Yitzchak Levy and Sha'ul Yahalom. The polls
show that if Hendel and Porat join Tekumah, the party will gain up to
four seats in the national election, while it otherwise would barely
pass the minimum percentage required for Knesset representation.
Hendel also met with former Chief Rabbi Avraham Shapira today on the
matter.

Yesha Council Secretary-General Aharon Domb reiterated again today the
importance of unity for the nationalist camp. "Over 15% of those who
say they voted for the right-wing last time now say that they may vote
for the centrist party," Domb told Arutz-7 today. "This is most
severe. In addition, there are others to the right of Netanyahu who
may not vote for him. It is important for both of these groups to
remember that they may very well lead to the ascendancy of a left-wing
government headed by Ehud Barak." Domb also said that the Yesha
Council may come out, as it did during the elections three years ago,
with a campaign on behalf of Netanyahu - "but at present this is being
held up, partly because of actions by Defense Minister Moshe Arens.
He has frozen much construction in Judea and Samaria, and when I spoke
this morning to Communications Minister Limor Livnat, one of the heads
of Prime Minister Netanyahu's election campaign, I warned her that the
Yesha Council is likely to begin a public protest against this policy
of the Netanyahu government."

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

To: arutz-7@a7.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@a7.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Monday, March 1, 1999

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Monday, March 1, 1999 / Adar 13, 5759
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. WITHDRAW, TALK, OR FIGHT
2. SNAG IN UNITY EFFORTS
3. PURIM FOOD ON THE MOVE

1. WITHDRAW, TALK, OR FIGHT
Israel's Lebanon policy has once again become an issue of public
debate. Ma'alot Mayor Shlomo Buchbut called on the government to
strike heavily at Hizbullah, while the Four Mothers group continues to
demand a unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon. Prime Minister Netanyahu
said yesterday that his government will find a way to leave Lebanon,
but not at the expense of forsaking the security of the northern
towns. Senior security officials say that our policies in Lebanon are
appropriate, despite some recent serious losses. They say that the
army has succeeded in pre-empting many more attacks than those in
which Hizbullah is successful. "If the IDF would just be permitted to
continue the war against Hizbullah, it would win in the end," said the
officials.

Brig.-Gen. (res.) Rafi Noy - former senior officer in the Northern
Command, who served as an aide to former Defense Minister Mordechai -
spoke to Arutz-7 today about the recent developments in Lebanon.
Asked why Israel did not initiate these strikes before the recent
Hizbullah attacks, Noy said, "Hizbullah has located most of its
terrorist bases in civilian population centers. Ever since the Grapes
of Wrath understandings of 1996, Hizbullah knows that we will not
initiate attacks on Lebanese civilians. If we were to do so, katyushas
would come raining down on Kiryat Shmonah...
The reason there are no katyushas this time is not because Hizbullah
has learned its lesson, but because it understands that this was not a
regular offensive, but rather a response to the heavy losses they
inflicted upon us yesterday."

Arutz-7 News Editor Haggai Segal asked Noy whether all future
governments are locked into the Grapes of Wrath agreement. Noy
responded: "No, but until the government adopts a different strategy,
it's the best solution. Let's say Israel wages an all-out war on
Hizbullah. It is very possible that a similar event will happen [as
in 1996, when Israel accidentally killed many civilians in an air
strike on a Lebanese village]. This could very well lead to another
'Grapes of Wrath'-type of arrangement, but not before we will have
suffered many katyusha strikes and casualties. In the meantime, at
least this arrangement provides both sides with a framework to return
to, even if once in a while it is violated." Noy added that by
striking only at Hizbullah, Israel ignores the source of the problem:
Syria. "We must change our strategy, and enter into direct
negotiations with the Syrians on what interests them - the Golan
Heights." In response to a question, Noy admitted that there was
another option: "To issue Syria a real ultimatum, such as the one
Turkey issued Syria not long ago, in which we threaten not to hit
Lebanese targets, but to hit targets inside Syria. This is also a
possibility."

2. SNAG IN UNITY EFFORTS
Plans for a united nationalist-camp front have once again hit a snag.
The Moledet party has apparently demanded the top position on the
joint list, in place of MK Benny Begin. Moledet claims the first spot
because it is "the most veteran party with the greatest support in the
Israeli right." Natan Natanzon, a lead player in the Tekumah party,
told Arutz-7 today that he is optimistic that within ten days there
will be a union of nationalist-camp elements, including MKs Chanan
Porat and Tzvi Hendel. He expressed confidence that the Moledet-Begin
dispute over the top spot will be solved easily and quickly.

Dozens of NRP Central Committee members have called upon Porat to quit
the National Religious Party and join Tekumah, and have promised to
follow in his footsteps. It is likely that Porat would capture the
top spot on the Tekumah list, if he joins it, and as a result Tekumah
may well demand that it receive a higher spot than the #5 position it
has been promised in the joint list. MK Tzvi Hendel, who was voted
into the seventh spot - a not particularly 'realistic' place - on the
NRP list, is also considering joining the Tekumah party, while the NRP
is at the same time intensifying its efforts to hold on to Porat and
Hendel. Chaim Falk, a close advisor to Porat, explained that Porat's
hesitations to leave the NRP stem from a suspicion that the move would
be perceived by the public as "motivated by personal concerns -
something which everyone who knows him knows is not true."

The Third Way party will choose its Knesset list today, although
surveys indicate that the party may not receive enough votes for even
a single seat. Internal Security Minister Avigdor Kahalani holds the
#1 spot, while MKs Emanuel Zisman and Yehuda Harel are vying for the
second position. MK Alex Lubotsky has joined the new "centrist" party
and will thus not compete in the Third Way elections.

3. PURIM FOOD ON THE MOVE
Israelis will consume some 45 million hamentaschen (small,
three-cornered pastries filled with chocolate, jelly, and the like)
this Purim, a drop of 10% from last year. In honor of the holiday,
which begins tonight, the Chabad movement plans to distribute one
million "Mishlo'ach Manot" packages throughout Israel tomorrow. The
traditional commandment of "sending food from one person to another"
on Purim will thus be commemorated on a grand scale.

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

From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@a7.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Wednesday, March 3, 1999
Reply-to: netnews@a7.org

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Wednesday, March 3, 1999 / Adar 15, 5759 - Shushan Purim
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. SHARON'S "EMERGENCY GOV'T" IDEA REJECTED BY LABOR
2. PORAT QUITS NRP
3. LEVY'S FOLLOWERS NOT FOLLOWING HIM TO LABOR
4. SHAS TO BACK NETANYAHU
5. PA-SPONSORED ANTI-SEMITISM ALIVE AND WELL

1. SHARON'S "EMERGENCY GOV'T" IDEA REJECTED BY LABOR
Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon proposed last night that a "national
emergency government" be formed immediately, headed by both the Likud
and Labor parties. Its mandate, according to Sharon, would be to
reach a decision for a staged unilateral withdrawal from Lebanon, and
to reach an agreement with the Palestinians. Legal experts said that
the Knesset is authorized to vote to postpone the date of early
elections (although not to schedule them later than the end of the
regular four-year Knesset term). The Labor party has already rejected
the idea. Opposition leader Ehud Barak said, "Even Sharon understands
that Netanyahu has failed and is not able to run the country."

2. PORAT QUITS NRP
National Religious Party Knesset Members Chanan Porat and Tzvi Hendel
announced officially today that they are leaving the NRP. The two
have formed a new party called "Emunim" which enables them to benefit
from Knesset election funding. They insist, however, that "Emunim"
will not run on its own in the elections. Both are strongly
considering joining the Tekumah party. Porat said today that a united
right-wing front could win 10 Knesset seats.

3. LEVY'S FOLLOWERS NOT FOLLOWING HIM TO LABOR
David Levy's Gesher party appears to be disintegrating. Armand
Suissa, head of the Tel Aviv division of Gesher, told Arutz-7 today
that his branch decided last week to break off from the party, and
will decide next week whether to join the Likud. "I am not authorized
to speak for other chapters," he said, "but some 20 other local Gesher
offices have called me to say that they have made a similar decision,
and my understanding is that this involves half or more of the party."
Suissa explained that he has been a political loyalist of Levy for
thirty years, but "Levy's decision to join Barak's 'One Israel' list
shows that he is not only deserting the Likud, but also the social
platform which he has always stood for." In a related development,
former Bat Yam mayor Shlomo Lachyani has announced that the 34th spot
offered him on Ehud Barak's 'One Israel' list is in violation of
previous understandings he reached with the Labor party leader. As a
result, Lachyani said he will not join 'One Israel.'

Senior Labor MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Arutz-7 today that he is not
worried that David Levy will be unable to deliver the promised votes.
"The Gesher members are not blind followers of Levy - we are aware of
that. We are also aware that Levy, running alone for the Knesset,
would not even get a seat in the Knesset. What's more important to me
is that David Levy, as a symbol of the solution to the social problems
of Israel, is on our list. The same with the Meimad candidates: I
don't know how many votes they will get us, but they are important as
a symbol of the traditional religious Zionism that I so long for -
not like the messianic Judaism of today which I can't even recognize
anymore."

4. SHAS TO BACK NETANYAHU
Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef and Shas are backing Binyamin Netanyahu for Prime
Minister. This was made clear by various comments of Shas party
leaders over the Purim holiday. During Netanyahu's visit to Rabbi
Yosef yesterday, the Prime Minister broke out in laughter when Rabbi
Yosef told him a Purim joke: "Why were the ten sons of Haman hanged in
one breath (a reference to the custom of publicly reading the names of
the ten executed sons in one breath)? - In order to ensure that the
Supreme Court would not issue a restraining order in the meantime."

5. PA-SPONSORED ANTI-SEMITISM ALIVE AND WELL
The official PA media organs continue to engage in crude anti-Semitic
incitement and Holocaust denial. Two examples from a report released
today by the Israel Government Press Office follow:

* a crossword puzzle clue in the official PA newspaper Al-Hayat
Al-Jadeeda, February 18, 1999 reads: "clue for 7 across- 'Jewish
center for eternalizing the Holocaust and the lies.' Correct answer:
'Yad Vashem'" [Israel's national Holocaust memorial]

* excerpts from a religious program broadcast on official PA
television on
February 16, 1999:

"The Jews are used to deceit. they fake the facts and changed the laws
of Allah.. They faked the words of Allah and changed their religion
and laws and they are the wicked. And whomever does not rule according
to what Allah brought down, whomever rebelled against this. is the
descendant of the Satans and he is worthy of receiving the punishment
of the oppressors. They changed this Torah to an expression of the
History of the Jews, and their history is full of guilt and crimes.
they changed the grace of Allah into heresy and they faked this
Torah."

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

From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@a7.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Thursday, March 4, 1999
Reply-to: netnews@a7.org

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Thursday, March 4, 1999 / Adar 16, 5759
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. SHACHAK: BROAD-BASED AGREEMENT IS NECESSARY
2. ROOM FOR FIVE MORE
3. FACTIONS AND MORE FACTIONS
4. NRP CRITICIZES PORAT
5. STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT ACCUSED OF MISREPRESENTATION

1. SHACHAK: BROAD-BASED AGREEMENT IS NECESSARY
The new centrist party will work to preserve Yesha settlement blocs in
Israeli hands in the framework of a final settlement with the
Palestinians.
So says former IDF Chief of Staff Amnon Lipkin-Shachak, number two on
the centrist party list. In an interview with Arutz-7 today, Shachak
stated that he knows that the topic of Jewish communities in Judea and
Samaria will definitely arise during the negotiations with the
Palestinians. "We must come to an agreement with the Palestinians
that has the broadest possible base of support within Israel," he
said.

Regarding Lebanon, Shachak criticized Labor party leader Ehud Barak's
announcement that the IDF should withdraw from Lebanon within a year.
"A withdrawal is not the answer. The key to the problem must be found
in Syria. We must negotiate with them, and even though they will
surely demand the entire Golan, we will make our own demands, and we
will try to come to an agreement." Arutz-7's Haggai Segal asked
Shachak to comment on the recent televised remarks by the IDF
commander in the western security zone in Lebanon, Col. Noam, who
criticized the phenomenon of "every worried parent [getting] up on
television and [calling] for a withdrawal from Lebanon. These parents
are acting against the opinions of their sons - many of whom
volunteered to be here - and this must be stopped." Shachak replied,
"Israel is definitely a very open society, and many differing opinions
are heard, on many different issues..."

President Ezer Weizman invited Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to
meet with him this morning, to discuss the situation in Lebanon and
the suspended Wye process. Weizman said yesterday that he "agrees
with Ehud Barak, that a deadline of a year should be set by which to
quit Lebanon."

2. ROOM FOR FIVE MORE
The Labor Party Central Committee approved the assignation of five
places on Ehud Barak's One Israel list for outsiders today. David
Levy and Gesher members will receive three spots, and two spots will
be reserved for Meimad representatives - all among the first 35 on the
list. The low-ranking Labor MKs rescinded their objections to a
secret ballot, and a comfortable majority in favor of the proposal was
attained. On the other side of the political spectrum, the Likud is
also scheduled to convene next week to approve the protection of two
spots for Tzomet leader Rafael Eitan and his colleague Doron Rubin on
its list.

3. FACTIONS AND MORE FACTIONS
The Knesset House Committee today approved a series of new factions,
caused by the separation of MKs from existing factions. National
Religious Party MKs Chanan Porat and Tzvi Hendel broke off from the
NRP and formed the Emunim faction. Agriculture Minister Rafael
Eitan's Tzomet faction separated from the Likud party, with which it
ran - together with Gesher - on a joint ticket in the 1996 elections.
Despite this, Eitan and another Tzomet member will run together with
the Likud in the coming elections, while Tzomet MK Moshe Peled left
the party immediately after today's decision to join Moledet. In
addition, Degel HaTorah has separated from United Torah Judaism party
for technical reasons, although they too will run as one party in the
elections.

By the end of the meeting, Committee Chairman Rafael Pinchasi (Shas)
sounded a bit dizzied by the plethora of Knesset factions that he was
able to enumerate: "Labor, Likud, Shas, NRP, Meretz, Yisrael
B'Aliyah, Third Way, United Torah Judaism, Moledet, Herut, Shinui,
Emunim, the Centrist party, Tzomet, Gesher, Aliyah, Degel HaTorah,
Hadash, Mada, Bashara-Mahmeed." (Arab MKs Bashara and Mahmeed headed
separate electoral lists until now, although they were both members of
the Hadash party for most of the current Knesset.) The formation of a
separate Knesset faction usually requires one-third of an existing
faction; within three months before the elections, however, even one
MK can form his own separate faction.

4. NRP CRITICIZES PORAT
Strong criticism was sounded today by NRP leaders Rabbi Yitzchak Levy
and Sha'ul Yahalom against Chanan Porat and Tzvi Hendel on their plans
to join Tekumah. Rabbi Levy called upon Porat to return the Knesset
funding that he will receive when he breaks off from the NRP:
"Chanan, when you broke away from the Techiya party [15 years ago],
you acted very morally when you resigned from the Knesset outright,
saying that the mandate belonged to the party and not to you
personally. Why have you lowered your moral standards this time?"
Yahalom said, "This is the third time that Porat is dividing the
religious-Zionist camp" - a reference to his joining of the Techiya
party after the Camp David accords, and then his joining Rabbi
Druckman's Morasha party. Yahalom said that the NRP will probably be
a member of a national unity government that will likely be formed
after the elections, while Tekumah will almost certainly be in the
opposition, and "therefore a vote for Tekumah is a vote that will
weaken the NRP's chances to be granted the Education Ministry in the
next government."

In response, a spokesman for Porat clarified that Porat feels that the
party's Central Committee, by pushing him out of the Knesset, has
turned its backs on the will of the party's voters, who ranked him
second in popularity only to Rabbi Levy. He said that Porat has made
it a clear condition that Tekumah do all it can not to remain in the
opposition. Tzvi Hendel said today, "We did not leave for personal
reasons. Chanan was offered the fifth position on the NRP list, and I
was chosen for the seventh position, which could have been realistic
slots. But we decided that we cannot be members of a party whose
Central Committee accepts every decree [regarding concessions to the
Palestinians] with a feeling of 'there's no alternative.'"

5. STATE DEPARTMENT REPORT ACCUSED OF MISREPRESENTATION
The U.S. State Department's 1998 annual human rights report basically
equates violent Palestinian Arabs with the Israeli residents of
Judea-Samaria. So accuses the Zionist Organization of America. In
its human rights report entitled "The Occupied Territories," the State
Department states, "Israeli civilians, including settlers, continued
to harass, abuse, and attack Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip." Two sentences later, it uses the same language to refer to
Palestinian attacks on Jews: "Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip continued to harass, abuse, and attack Israelis, especially
settlers." Referring to the attacks on Arabs, it lumps together cases
where Arabs were killed either in self-defense, by unidentified
persons, or pre-meditatedly. The ZOA comments that the report "makes
it appear as if both sides are equally guilty of aggressive violence.
In fact, the violence consists of Arabs throwing rocks and firebombs
at Israeli motorists or policemen [and subsequent Israeli
self-defense]."

The ZOA continues, "During 1998, at least 86 Israelis traveling in the
territories or the Old City of Jerusalem, or soldiers or policemen
serving there, were injured in attacks by Palestinian Arab
rock-throwers," and provides a list of the cases. The State
Department's human rights report makes no mention of these 86 Israeli
victims, except to say very generally, "There were periodic reports of
Israeli cars being stoned by Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza,"
as opposed to the detailed list it provided of attacks on Arabs.

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