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Subject: Arutz-7 News: March 16-18, 1999 / Jerusalem Post
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 14:54:08 -0800
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Subject: Arutz-7 News: Tuesday, March 16, 1999
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Arutz Sheva News Service
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Tuesday, March 16, 1999 / Adar 28, 5759
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. P.A. ON THE AIR
2. CENTRIST POLITICS
3. WATER PROBLEMS WITH JORDAN
4. NEW MONTH TO BE ANNOUNCED TOMORROW
1. P.A. ON THE AIR
No less that 65 Palestinian television channels, and 19 radio stations,
broadcast within the Palestinian Authority. So states an internal
government memorandum, which also notes that the Oslo agreements allow the
Palestinians to operate only 8 radio stations and 6 TV channels. Arutz-7
correspondent Kobi Sela adds that 7 Palestinians stations operate from
Bethlehem alone, while in Hevron there are 20 television stations. The PA
itself operates five TV channels, compared to three in Israel.
2. CENTRIST POLITICS
The Third Way - the party that has made the preservation of the Golan
Heights its flagship issue - has chosen its Knesset candidates for the
upcoming elections. Following party leader Minister Avigdor Kahalani,
whose number-one position was affirmed by the party two weeks ago, is Eli
Malka, the Third Way's Secretary-General. A former chairman of the Golan
Residents Committee, Malka said that he believes that the party will gain
support "as the public begins to realize that the Golan is in real danger."
In the number 3 slot will be MK Yehuda Harel, who supported Malka's
candidacy for the number 2 spot. The two other incumbent Third Way MKs -
Alex Lubotsky and Emanuel Zisman - resigned from the party two months ago
and two days ago, respectively. The polls do not foresee great public
support for the party, and it is not certain whether the Third Way will
receive the minimum amount necessary to enter the Knesset.
Centrist party leaders will announce their party list for the upcoming
Knesset elections today. Sources say that Dalia Rabin-Pilosof (daughter of
late Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin) and Nechamah Ronen (previously of
Tzomet) will be placed in the 5th and 6th spots respectively. Uri Savir - a
friend of Amnon Lipkin-Shachak, and Director-General of the Foreign
Ministry under Rabin and Peres - is expected to make the party's top ten,
as is former Labor MK Haggai Merom. Meanwhile, MK Moti Zandberg
(previously of Tzomet) will probably place relatively low on the roster,
while one-time Labor party Secretary-General Nissim Zvilli has withdrawn
his name from the running.
Other election news: Yossi Ben-Aharon, who served as Director-General of
the Prime Minister's Office under Yitzchak Shamir, has resigned from the
Likud. He wrote of his "disillusionment" with Prime Minister Netanyahu in
a letter to the party. Ben-Aharon has been mentioned for a possible
ninth-place position on the united nationalist-camp party list... Rabbi
Chaim Druckman, head of the Yeshivot Bnei Akiva system, hinted today that
the National Religious Party will add a new well-known
religious-educational figure to its list for the Knesset...
3. WATER PROBLEMS WITH JORDAN
Another developing consequence of the winter drought is a water crisis
between Israel and Jordan. Jordan has rejected an Israeli request to cut
back the amount of water Israel must, according to the peace treaty between
the two, supply Jordan. Itim news service reports that Israeli Water
Commissioner Meir Ben Meir told his Jordanian counterpart that the peace
agreement between the two nations did not take into consideration an
Israeli water crisis on this scale.
In an interview with Arutz-7 today, Ben Meir explained that under the
Israel-Jordan peace agreement, Israel pledged to provide its neighbor with
10 million cubic meters of fresh water each year. In addition, the two
parties agreed that Israel would draw 20 million cubic meters of water from
the Yarmuk River yearly, store this amount in the Sea of Galilee during the
winter months, and then retrieve it for the benefit of Jordan each summer.
"This part of the deal, too, we simply cannot fulfill," Ben Meir said.
"The Yarmuk now holds only one-third of its average yearly level. We can't
draw any water from the river, and consequently, we have nothing to
'retrieve' for Jordan in the summer." Ben Meir noted that in a more recent
arrangement with Jordan, "Prime Minister Netanyahu and Infrastructures
Minister Ariel Sharon consented to 'grant' Jordan 25 million cubic meters
of additional water for a limited period of time - until a major
desalination plant is built in the region. This water would have to come
from the Sea of Galilee, but it can't, since the sea is currently only at
40% of its average yearly level." The Water Commissioner called upon
Israelis to water their yards sparingly throughout the spring and summer
months, and to conserve water in general.
4. NEW MONTH TO BE ANNOUNCED TOMORROW
A re-enactment of a Biblical and Talmudic custom will take place tomorrow
afternoon at 4 PM, at the Hulda Gates of the Temple Mount (near the Western
Wall). The "declaration of the new month" of Nisan will be announced then,
shortly before the new moon is scheduled - according to the Jewish calendar
- to be seen on the horizon. The shofar will be blown, and special prayers
will be recited, according to customs that continued to be practiced for
hundreds of years after the destruction of the Second Temple. Prof. Hillel
Weiss, one of the organizers of the event, said that the new moon will not
be sanctified according to eye-witness testimony, as ideally mandated by
the Biblical commandment, "because we do not have a Sanhedrin [supreme
Jewish tribunal], and also because the calendar itself is not 100%
accurate." He later clarified that this in no way casts any doubt on the
validity of our Biblical-festival schedule, as "it is within the power of
the people of Israel to 'sanctify the times,' which we did in advance" many
hundreds of years ago.
Cantor Hanoch Weiss will sing a newly-composed melody for the words of Aviv
L'Yesha, a liturgical poem written for such occasions several hundred years
ago. Yehuda Etzion, one of the prime initiators of the idea, explained in
an article on the topic, that such occasions are designed to encourage "the
'renewal of our days as of old' , and we also arouse our own desire for the
renewal of the Sanhedrin... If this custom was practiced by Jews while in
exile, how much more so should it be preserved when were are marching
forwards towards a new sunshine of redemption?"
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To: arutz-7@a7.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@a7.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Wednesday, March 17, 1999
Reply-to: netnews@a7.org
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Wednesday, March 17, 1999 / Adar 29, 5759
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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. NETANYAHU IN FAVOR OF ABU DIS?
2. PALESTINIAN EFFORTS IN JERUSALEM
3. HOUSE VOTES AGAINST PALESTINIAN STATE
4. CENTRIST PARTY LIST - FINALLY READY (ALMOST)
1. NETANYAHU IN FAVOR OF ABU DIS?
Prime Minister Netanyahu reportedly told leaders of the American
Jewish Committee three days ago that he is willing to accept an "Abu
Dis-type solution" for Jerusalem, but that the Palestinians will
likely reject it. So reports Ma'ariv today, referring to an
arrangement whereby a Palestinian parliament would be established in
an Arab suburb of Jerusalem, just outside the city borders. Such an
idea was originally proposed in the famous Beilin-Abu Mazen plan of
several years ago. The Prime Minister's office claims that his
remarks were not said seriously, and that the government objects to
any division of Jerusalem.
2. PALESTINIAN EFFORTS IN JERUSALEM
Palestinian security agents operated in Jerusalem throughout 1998,
according to a recently published government report. The Palestinian
activity included violent arrests and kidnappings, in which the
Palestinian security agents arrested 50, kidnapped 21, and attempted
to kidnap another 4. "The purpose of this activity is to strengthen
their foothold in Jerusalem, and to make eastern Jerusalem the capital
of a future Palestinian state," according to the memorandum. Arutz-7
correspondent Haggai Huberman reports that the document concludes that
though there has been a marked reduction in the scope of such
activity, it stems more from a change in Palestinian operational
strategy than from successful Israeli intelligence or preventive work.
3. HOUSE VOTES AGAINST PALESTINIAN STATE
Prime Minister Netanyahu has welcomed the U.S. House of
Representatives' decision of yesterday to warn Yasser Arafat not to
unilaterally declare a Palestinian state. He called it "a responsible
decision." The resolution, approved by a 385-25 vote, calls for a
halt to American financial support for the Palestinian Authority
should Arafat make the anticipated May 4th declaration. The House
vote was preceded by a similar Senate motion this past Saturday, which
passed 98-1. Yoram Ettinger, a former Israeli Embassy liaison to the
Congress, told Arutz-7 today said that the decision and its timing -
on the eve of an official visit to Washington by Arafat - was very
much not in line with the position of the Clinton Administration,
"which is quite pro-PLO." Ettinger added, "Unfortunately, even
Israeli government figures were not in favor of the vote at this
time."
Despite advice from other Arab countries, Arafat continues to imply
that he will declare a Palestinian state on May 4th. Ettinger said
that the present China-related scandal in Washington shows how the
Administration takes a "conciliatory stance in general - towards
China, towards Iraq, and towards the Palestinians. It is all part of
a world-view of the 'flower-children' generation who modify their
national security threat-assessments and lower their demands for
international compliance, all for the sake of 'peace processes' and
dialogue..."
4. CENTRIST PARTY LIST - FINALLY READY (ALMOST)
The new "centrist" party, headed by Yitzchak Mordechai and Amnon
Lipkin-Shachak, chose its top nine Knesset candidates yesterday,
though not without great difficulty. Dan Meridor and Roni Milo, the
party's two other founders, will be numbers three and four, while Uri
Savir - Foreign Ministry Director-General under Prime Ministers Rabin
and Peres - will be fifth. Sixth will be Rabin's daughter Dalia
Rabin-Pilosoph, wile former Tzomet member Nechama Ronen and MK David
Magen (formerly of Likud-Gesher) will follow. A newcomer to national
politics, Dr. Yechiel Lasri - a former Likud activist, who was Chief
Medical Officer in the Israel Navy - will be number nine, and Svetlana
Alexsandrova will represent the immigrants in the 11th position. In
places number 10, 12, and 13 will be Alex Lubotsky, Haggai Merom, and
probably Dimona Mayor Gaby Lalush, in an order that will be
determined. Dan Meridor had demanded that Lubotsky be placed higher
than place #13, threatening not to appear at last night's press
conference if not, and the above compromise was finally reached.
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To: arutz-7@a7.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@a7.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News Brief: Thursday, March 18, 1999
Reply-to: netnews@a7.org
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Thursday, March 18, 1999 / Rosh Chodesh Nisan, 5759
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TODAY'S HEADLINE:
1. PENTAGON GOLAN POLICY CRITICIZED
1. PENTAGON GOLAN POLICY CRITICIZED
The Zionist Organization of America has criticized the Pentagon for
forbidding a delegation of U.S. military officials from visiting the
Golan Heights. The ZOA, quoting Ha'aretz, learned that "the Pentagon
told the delegation that such visits would violate U.S. policy against
touring Israeli-occupied territory." A study prepared in 1967 by the
Pentagon itself, however, recommended that Israel keep the entire
Golan Heights in order to defend itself against future Syrian
aggression. "Israel must hold the commanding terrain east of the
boundary of 4 June 1967 which overlooks the Galilee area. To provide
an in-depth defense, Israel would need a strip about 15 miles wide,"
i.e., the entire Golan Heights, according to a report by the U.S.
Joint Chiefs of Staff shortly after the Six-Day War.
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, "The Pentagon is banning
visits to the Golan Heights while it is under Israeli rule, yet the
Pentagon never had such a ban when the Golan was occupied by Syria
during 1948-1967. By employing this double standard, the Pentagon is
in effect accepting the false Arab propaganda claim that the Golan
belongs to the Arabs. The fact that this action contradicts the
Pentagon's own 1967 recommendation that Israel keep the Golan makes
the ban all the more troubling."
**********************************************************************
Wednesday, March 17, 1999 29 Adar 5759
The Jerusalem Post - Internet Edition
US: Settlement expansion jeopardizes peace
By HILLEL KUTTLER
WASHINGTON (MARCH 17) - The US administration
yesterday slammed Israel for its recent statements
supporting the expansion of settlements.
In one of its most detailed explanations of its
position, State Department spokesman James Rubin said
that the US opposes "settlement activity" because it
"jeopardizes" the chances for Israeli-Palestinian
peace.
The US has been "troubled by the expansion of
existing settlements well beyond their periphery,"
Rubin told reporters. The remark came in response to
a question on Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon's support
for further settlement building.
"These activities directly prejudge and predetermine
issues that were to be reserved for permanent-status
negotiations. They create serious impediments by
changing the realities on the ground in a way that
will make already complicated negotiations that much
more difficult," Rubin said.
"Second, these activities undermine the partnership
which is so vital for building trust and confidence.
And without trust and confidence, it is difficult to
see how permanent-status negotiations can succeed.
"If both sides are really serious about creating the
right environment for permanent-status negotiations,
then they need to act seriously by avoiding steps
such as settlement activity that undermine
partnership and take steps that promote trust and
confidence."
Meanwhile, following his meetings with US officials,
Industry and Trade Minister Natan Sharansky said he
believes the administration expects no progress on
the Israeli-Palestinian or Israeli-Syrian tracks
until after the elections and hopes that the Wye
River accord will be implemented then.
US special Middle East coordinator Dennis Ross said
at their meeting that the US remains opposed to a
possible Palestinian unilateral declaration of
independence, Sharansky told Israeli reporters. Ross
went from the meeting to fly to Europe to see
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.
Arafat's threats to declare a state are no more than
"unending blackmail" lacking any weight, because the
moment he pronounces independence the peace process
is over, Sharansky said.
Late yesterday, the House of Representatives voted
380-24 to approve a resolution calling on President
Bill Clinton to oppose such a unilateral declaration.
The Senate had passed the non-binding measure by 98-1
last week.
Sharansky spent much of the day in joint meetings
around town with Uzbekistani Foreign Minister
Abdulaziz Kamilov. Before they headed to meetings
with administration officials and members of
Congress, Kamilov told representatives of Jewish
organizations that Americans should invest in his
country, according to B'nai B'rith's Dan Mariaschin,
who attended the gathering.
Sharansky came to Washington to participate in
yesterday's semiannual meeting of the US-Israeli
Science and Technology Commission.
Rubin said that Assistant Secretary of State for Near
Eastern Affairs Martin Indyk, who met with Sharansky
yesterday, told Syrian President Hafez Assad during
their meeting in Damascus on Sunday that the US "is
not seeking a change in the April 1996
understandings, but a more effective implementation."
The assurance was apparently in response to Defense
Minister Moshe Arens's consideration of seeking
alterations to the cease-fire that followed Operation
Grapes of Wrath, which he said limits the IDF's
capacity to respond to Hizbullah attacks.
************************************************************************
Friday, March 19, 1999 2 Nisan 5759
The Jerusalem Post - Internet Edition
PM revokes 3 PA officials' travel permits
By DANNA HARMAN and MARGOT DUDKEVITCH
JERUSALEM (March 19) - Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu, in consultation with
Defense Minister Moshe Arens and Foreign
Minister Ariel Sharon, yesterday decided to
revoke the travel documents of three Palestinian
Authority officials: Ziad Abu Ziyad's VIP card, and
Hanan Ashrawi's and Faisal Husseini's special travel
privileges.
The decision followed a meeting between the
three PA officials and 10 consuls-general in
Jerusalem's Orient House.
"In light of the provocative participation of these
three members of the PA in a diplomatic activity in
Jerusalem, which is a complete breach of the
agreements we have reached on Jerusalem, it has been
decided to take these steps," the Prime Minister's
Office said in a statement.
"It has further been decided that, if the PA
continues with such provocations and blatant
breaking of the law in Jerusalem, our capital,
Israel will respond with the utmost severity."
Abu Ziyad's VIP pass had allowed him free entry into
Israel; Husseini's and Ashrawi's had permitted them
to pass through checkpoints from the West Bank and
Gaza Strip.
The privileges were revoked several hours after
Husseini had hosted foreign diplomats, including
representatives of Germany, France, Britain, Italy,
Spain, Sweden, other EU nations, Canada, and
Australia, at Orient House, in defiance of Israeli
requests to refrain from diplomatic contacts in
Jerusalem.
US Consul-General John Herbst did not attend.
Husseini warned his guests that the peace process
would be jeopardized by a US move to transfer its
embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. "If the US is
interested in the progress of the peace process, it
must refrain from doing this," he said.
A law passed by Congress in October 1995 gave the US
administration until this May to move the embassy.
But President Bill Clinton is likely to exercise a
waiver by which he can postpone the move in the
interests of national security.
Husseini told reporters that the meeting was routine
and had nothing to do with the Israeli elections.
He also said that "there will be two capitals in
Jerusalem, one in east Jerusalem that will be the
capital of Palestine and another in west Jerusalem
that will be the capital of Israel."
The rescinding of the PA officials' privileges came
after a day in which politicians from both the
Center Party and Labor scoffed at Netanyahu's claim
that his government had managed to put an end to PA
diplomatic activity in Jerusalem.
"The meeting in Orient House today is just one more
example of how Netanyahu is attempting to sell us
false realities. Orient House is as much a
Palestinian Foreign Ministry as ever," said the
Center Party's Nehama Ronen.
Labor Party leader Ehud Barak charged that "while
Netanyahu talks endlessly about closing Orient
House, he doesn't take real action. This is a
government of gimmicks, full of troubles, that
chooses to cry about bygones while Orient House is
holding a party."
Netanyahu's communications director, David Bar-Illan
- who earlier in the day had echoed Netanyahu's and
Sharon's statements that the Orient House meeting
was meaningless - said that Abu Ziyad's
participation had not been known to the government
at first.
"The decision [to revoke the travel privileges] was
made after we heard of Abu Ziyad's participation,
and after we had heard Ashrawi and Husseini's
diplomatic declarations," he said.
Earlier in the day, Netanyahu had called the meeting
"standard procedure," and belittled its importance,
claiming such gatherings have been taking place for
30 years. Bar-Illan explained that the difference
between a high-level meeting and the consuls-general
gathering yesterday, is that a consul-general's work
is mainly administrative, and "discussions are meant
to be on civic matters, not diplomatic ones."
"The meeting yesterday is not news," Netanyahu said.
"What we care about is meetings of ambassadors,
deputy foreign ministers, foreign ministers, prime
ministers, and presidents at Orient House, an
everyday occurrence under the past government which
does not happen anymore."
Netanyahu stressed that a recent attempt by the PA
to invite foreign ambassadors to a briefing at
Orient House was thwarted last week after the
government sent out letters to all the ambassador's
clearly stating Israel's position.
"The meeting today is meaningless, a feeble attempt
by the PA to show it has some standing in
Jerusalem," said Netanyahu, "but the truth is
that... we have stopped the use of Orient House as a
Palestinian foreign ministry."
In a meeting with EU special Mideast envoy Miguel
Moratinos yesterday afternoon, Netanyahu said he
reiterated his stand that "we are not willing to
accept any compromise or any division in Jerusalem
or any internationalization of Jerusalem... when the
final-status talks reach the point of discussing
Jerusalem, I will open and close the meeting with
one sentence: Jerusalem is not up for any
negotiating."
US special Mideast envoy Dennis Ross, meanwhile, has
asked to meet with PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, before
his scheduled meeting with Clinton next week, a US
official said.
The official added that there is some concern in
Washington that Arafat and Clinton are coming into
their meeting with differing expectations regarding
what the US can offer the Palestinians in return for
a postponement of a declaration of statehood.
State Department spokesman James Rubin said that at
the meeting between Ross and Arafat, which will take
place in Madrid, there will be an "effort made to
set the agenda for the Arafat-Clinton meeting."
Marilyn Henry adds from New York:
In its monthly bulletin, the Palestinian UN mission
said that in the run-up to the May 4 "end of the
Oslo transitional period," its options are to take
no action, postpone action, agree with the Israelis
to extend the transitional period, or declare
statehood.
An extension is "unfeasible," the paper said,
because of circumstances "intentionally created" by
Netanyahu. That leaves only the last option, the
paper said.
Such a declaration would be a violation of the Oslo
Accords, UN Ambassador Dore Gold said, adding: "The
international community does not have to compensate
the PLO if it decides not to violate the Oslo
agreement."
(Hillel Kuttler and news agencies contributed to
this report.)
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