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Subject: Israel in the News
Date: Thu, 18 Mar 1999 14:48:39 -0800
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From: Eddie Chumney
To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject: Israel in the News

TEMPLE MOUNT

VATICAN'S FOREIGN MINISTER DISCUSSES FUTURE STATUS OF JERUSALEM
WITH U.S. JEWISH, ARAB, MUSLIM LEADERS
Washington March 8, 1999 via Murray Kahl

Jerusalem is sacred to the three monotheistic religions and has
universal religious significance, according to the Holy See's
foreign minister, who today urged U.S. Jewish, Muslim, and Arab
leaders to work in helping Israeli and Palestinian peace
negotiators find a "final status" for Jerusalem which preserves
its uniqueness and sacredness.

Archbishop Jean-Louis Tauran, the Holy See's Secretary for
Relations with States, met in Washington today with represent-
atives of major Jewish, Muslim, and Arab organizations in the
United States to share with them the Holy See's concerns about
the ongoing Middle East peace negotiations, and to urge all
parties interested in Jerusalem's future to work together.

For some years, the Holy See has sought a "special statute" for
the ancient core of Jerusalem and its attendant holy places which
would preserve the unique religious character of the Holy City
and secure the rights of the religious communities there. As
envisioned, such a special statute would:

1. preserve, restore, and safeguard the physical, cultural, and
historical attributes of the city.

2. assure equality of rights and services for all residents of
the city.

3. guarantee the freedom of the religious communities to carry
out the full range of their activities.

4. afford protection to the holy places and freedom of access to
all, residents and pilgrims alike, including local pilgrims from
anywhere in the Holy Land.

According to previously published information, the Holy See has
no specific position on the political questions of territory and
sovereignty to be decided among the Israelis and Palestinians in
the so called "final status" negotiations. Likewise, the Holy
See believes any special statute ought to be negotiated by the
two parties themselves in consultation with the three religious
communities. Finally, once agreed upon, the provisions of such a
statute should enjoy further guarantees from the international
community.

JERUSALEM

EU ASSERTS JERUSALEM IS NOT ISRAELI
By Akiva Eldar, Ha'aretz Correspondent 3/11/99

In a formal letter to the Foreign Ministry in response to its
demand that foreign ambassadors here stop visiting the Orient
House in East Jerusalem German Ambassador Theodor Wallau has
reconfirmed the EU's support for the internationalization of
Jerusalem - and he rejected any Israeli limitations on diplomatic
visits to the erstwhile Palestinian foreign ministry.

Germany is currently the president of the European Union and is
considered Israel's staunchest friend in Europe. The ambas-
sador's letter follows one sent by Foreign Ministry Director
General Eytan Bentsur telling foreign ambassadors that visiting
the Orient House, offices of the Palestinian Authority's Minister
for Jerusalem Faisal Husseini, contravenes the Oslo and Wye
agreements. In verbal messages to the ambassadors, the foreign
ministry also told them that visiting the Orient House is an
intervention in the Israeli election campaign.

In his letter, Wallau says, "We reaffirm our stated position
regarding the specific status of Jerusalem as a corpus separatum
[a separate body] ... This position is in accordance with
international law." Therefore, states the ambassador, "We have no
intention of changing our custom regarding meetings in
Jerusalem." (See full story - Page 6)

By not distinguishing between east and west Jerusalem, the letter
essentially determines that as far as Europe is concerned,
Jerusalem is occupied territory.

Use of the term "corpus separatum" is a clear reference to the
UN's original 1947 Partition Plan. In recent days, there have
been intense discussions in official circles in Jerusalem how to
respond to the ambassador's letter, but the Foreign Ministry
refuses to comment on the subject.

The future of Jerusalem is also due to come up in meetings
between the Vatican's foreign minister, Archbishop Jean-Louis
Tauran with U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in the
near future, while an official U.S. source has told Ha'aretz
that President Bill Clinton has decided to use his authority to
suspend a congressional decision to move the U.S. embassy from
Tel Aviv to Jerusalem by May of this year.

International jurist Rotem Giladi, who specializes in the issue
of the internationalization of Jerusalem says that internation-
alization has not been explicitly mentioned in any European
community decision since the November 1947 partition decision at
the UN. It was also not mentioned in the Venice Statement of
1980, which followed Israeli legislation that declared Jerusalem
the capital of the country. While Europe has not retreated from
its position on the legal status of the city, he said, it sup-
ports the U.S. position that the future of Jerusalem will be
determined in negotiations.

LIKUD TO USE EU LETTER ON JERUSALEM IN CAMPAIGN; Sharon demands
letter be rescinded; EU says it 'doesn't understand what fuss is
about'
By Yerah Tal, David Makovsky and Dov Alfon, Ha'aretz 3/12/99

The Likud hopes to capitalize on the European Union's letter
expressing support for the internationalization of Jerusalem by
citing it as proof of the dangers facing the city, and presenting
the Likud and Benjamin Netanyahu as the only ones capable of
defending Jewish sovereignty over all of Jerusalem. The EU's
letter on Jerusalem came in response to a Foreign Ministry demand
that European diplomats stop visiting the Orient House in East
Jerusalem, where the Palestinian Authority's Minister for
Jerusalem, Faisal Husseini, has his offices.

The Likud credits Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon and Prime
Minister Netanyahu with determined efforts to prevent ambassadors
from meeting with Husseini at the Orient House and plans a new
advertising campaign centered on the following slogan: "Netanyahu
- A strong peace and united Jerusalem." According to the Likud
campaign, "Barak, Beilin and Meretz will give in to Arafat on the
establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its
capital."

Foreign Ministry officials said yesterday that Sharon was
demanding that Germany rescind the letter written by its envoy in
Tel Aviv, using the terminology of the 1947 UN partition plan to
describe Jerusalem as a "corpus separatum," or a separate body.
"Israel steadfastly rejects the contents of the letter," Sharon
said. "The position put forward by the German ambassador will
not in any way undermine the complete sovereignty of Israel over
a united Jerusalem as the eternal capital of the Jewish people
and the State of Israel."

In his response to the letter, published yesterday by Ha'aretz,
Netanyahu termed Jerusalem "the heart and soul" of the Jewish
people.

SUPERMARKET THRIVES ON JEWISH SABBATH IN JERUSALEM
March 13, 1999 By Laurie Copans, Associated Press Jerusalem (AP)

A Jerusalem supermarket defied a Labor Ministry threat to shut it
down for employing Jews on the Sabbath by staffing only with
Muslims and Christians. Customers formed long lines Saturday as
business went on as usual. Ministry inspectors showed up early
in the day but, finding only Muslim and Christian workers, did
not fine the owners of "Drugstore 2000,'' the first supermarket
to open on the Sabbath in west Jerusalem. Israeli law bans the
employment of Jews on the Jewish Sabbath, from Friday evening to
Saturday sundown. Labor Minister Eli Ishai of the ultra-Orthodox
Shas party has overlooked work at restaurants and other places of
entertainment. But he said he is determined to close the store
to safeguard the status quo in the Holy City. Some 20 Jews
showed up Saturday to demonstrate. They yelled "Sabbath!'' at
secular Jews and tourists as they filed out, carrying cigarettes,
chocolates, bread and other items.

BARAK JOINS FORCES WITH POPULAR POLITICIAN IN BID AGAINST
NETANYAHU
March 8, 1999 By Dafna Linzer, Associated Press Tel Aviv, Israel
(AP)

Israeli prime ministerial candidate Ehud Barak has joined forces
with a veteran politician who has strong ties to the key voting
block of Sephardic Jews. The union with David Levy, a former
member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud Party, is
likely to help Barak's Labor Party draw much needed support from
Sephardic voters Jews with roots in the Middle East and Africa.
Sephardic Jews, who make up about half of the country's Jewish
population, traditionally back the Likud.

PEACE PROCESS

EGYPT SAYS ARAFAT'S INDEPENDENCE DECLARATION THREAT STILL STANDS
BBC 3/9/99

The Egyptian Foreign Minister, Amr Moussa, has told reporters in
Cairo that the Palestinian leader, Yassar Arafat, is sticking to
his date of May the fourth to proclaim an independent Palestinian
state. Mr Amr Moussa was speaking after Mr Arafat had met the
Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak. Mr Amr Moussa said that Egypt
supported Mr Arafat's stand. Israel and the Palestinians were
meant to have negotiated a final peace settlement by May the
fourth, which marks the end of a five-year transitional period
laid down under the Oslo accords.

INDYK TRIES TO REVIVE SYRIAN-ISRAELI TALKS
By David Makovsky and Daniel Sobelman, Ha'aretz 3/9/99

Assistant U.S. Secretary of State Martin Indyk will meet Syrian
President Hafez al-Assad in Damascus next Sunday to discuss
resuming stalled Middle East peace talks after the Israeli
election, a U.S. official said yesterday. The official con-
firmed that the visit was "to prepare the groundwork" for renew-
ing the negotiations with both Syria and Lebanon after the
elections.

In Damascus, Indyk also is expected to discuss the situation in
Lebanon where there has been a recent upsurge in fighting between
pro-Iranian Hezbollah guerrillas and Israeli troops. Syria is
the main power broker in Lebanon with 35,000 troops stationed
there. Defense Minister Moshe Arens requested that Indyk inquire
in Damascus about the possibility of "halting the erosion" in the
1996 understandings about combat in South Lebanon, Defense
Ministry officials said yesterday.

ANTI-SEMITISM

THIEVES STEAL ANCIENT TORAH FROM ROMANIAN SYNAGOGUE
March 6, 1999 Bucharest, Romania (AP)

Thieves plundered a synagogue in northeastern Romania, stealing
an ancient Torah, a police officer said Saturday. The theft was
reported on Friday but police investigations found that it
occurred earlier this week in a synagogue in the city of Suceava, 225
miles north of Bucharest. The Torah, which contains the first five
books of Moses written on four leather scrolls, was 200 years old and
worth $60,000.

SIBERIAN SYNAGOGUE DESECRATED
Associated Press - In Ha'aretz 3/10/99 Novosibirsk, Russia

A newly rededicated synagogue in southern Siberia was vandalized, with
Torahs thrown onto the floor and swastikas and anti-Semitic writings
scrawled on the walls and ceilings, Jewish leaders and police said
yesterday. Police downplayed the seriousness of the attack, with an
investigator describing it as "kids having hi-jinks."

Jews received the synagogue back from local authorities about a
year ago, and a rabbi arrived from Israel 10 days ago to help the
community get back on its feet, according to Rabbi Berel Lazar, who
leads the Lubavitch movement of Hasidic Jews in Russia. "It was the
first time in many years they had a rabbi there. They just celebrated
Purim and had an incredible turnout, about 1,000 people," he said in
Moscow.

BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING

ISRAEL: NOW HEAR THIS: YOUR EVERY MOVE IS BEING TRACKED
Cellphone companies have been keeping computer records of your
phone's whereabouts
By Nicole Krau - Ha'aretz 3/10/99

The Pelephone and Cellcom cellular phone companies have been
storing precise records in their computers of all their custom-
ers' movements throughout the country, to an accuracy of several
hundred meters.The monitoring, which has been going on for at
least several months - perhaps years - occurs all day long when
the phone is switched on, even when it is not actually being used for
a conversation.

Information about the movements of hundreds of thousands of phone
users may, following a court order, be handed over to any law
enforcement agency. This confidential and private information may
also fall into unauthorized hands.

Cellcom regularly provides the information to subscribers as a
customer service - phone owners can get information regarding the
hourly whereabouts of a phone without breaking the law. Thus, for
example, a husband can find out where his wife was at a given hour if
she uses the phone registered in his name. In the same way, an
employer can locate any of his employees at a given time if the
staffer is using a company cellular phone.

ARMING THE MIDDLE EAST

DAMASCUS TO REARM SADDAM
BY Michael Evans Defence Editor, London Times 3/8/99

A secret deal has been agreed between Syria and Iraq for the
supply of military equipment to Baghdad, according to Middle East
intelligence sources. Relations between the two countries have
been improving significantly in recent months, with agreements
already signed to develop both political and economic co-
operation. Now, after a new deal between the Syrian and Iraqi
intelligence services, military equipment valued at about =9C60
million is to be shipped across the border, the intelligence
sources said.

Since the 1991 Gulf War, President Saddam Hussein has faced a
severe shortage of spare parts for his army because of the
international arms embargo. Under the Damascus agreement, Syrian
spare parts for military equipment would be converted for use by
the Iraqi Army, the sources said. The parts would include
engines for Russian-made tanks and tracks for armored fighting
vehicles. Syria is also expected to supply spares for
anti-aircraft radar facilities - hit by recent American and
British bombing - lorries, aircraft and helicopters, and
ammunition.

US MILITARY IMPROVES GROUND COMBAT ABILITY IN PERSIAN GULF REGION
March 10, 1999 By John Diamond, Associated Press Kuwait (AP)

The U.S. military is taking a series of low-profile steps to
improve its capability for ground combat in the Persian Gulf
region even as the high-profile air battle over northern and
southern Iraq thunders on. The effort gained urgency when, after
the U.S. air strikes on Iraq in December, Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein said he no longer recognizes Kuwait's sovereignty.
Defense Secretary William Cohen, who winds up a six-nation tour
of Gulf states today, says America's commitment to the region is
long term and goes beyond air cover.

"The one thing that you can be sure of is that we're going to
defend Kuwait, and any attack upon Kuwait we're going to consider
as an attack upon us,'' Cohen told U.S. air crews Tuesday at Al
Jaber Air Base in the Kuwaiti desert. "We're here to defend
their interests and our interests.''

So far on his trip, Cohen has reached agreement with Saudi Arabia
to conduct joint military exercises involving ground troops. In
Qatar, the United States expects by next year to complete the
pre-positioning of 200 tanks and other armored vehicles, and U.S.
officials are discussing a proposal by Qatar to expand accommo-
dations for U.S. ground troops. In Kuwait, regular field
exercises involving Marines or Army troops continue with equip-
ment from another huge armored vehicle storage center on the
outskirts of Kuwait City.

COHEN OUTLINES $3 BILLION ARMS SALE TO EGYPT
March 11, 1999 By John Diamond, Associated Press Jerusalem (AP)

Defense Secretary William Cohen offered today to sell $3.2
billion of America's most sophisticated weaponry to Egypt. He
later met with Iraeli Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu, who
shrugged off the sale as "nothing particularly new.'' The sale,
announced in Cairo by Cohen, would involve 24 advanced-model F-16
fighters, 200 M1-A1 tanks and one eight-unit Patriot missile
battery.

Israel has expressed concerns about Egypt and other Mideast
allies of the United States acquiring the latest weaponry. But
Netanyahu told reporters today that Egypt and Israel have been at
peace for two decades. "There's nothing particularly new here,''
Netanyahu said of the sale. And he underscored the close ties on
defense issues with the United States. "It will be very hard to
find two countries that cooperate in the field of defense as
intensely as Israel and the United States,'' Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu said the most important security issue for Israel is
the development of ballistic missiles and chemical and biological
weapons by "radical regimes in the Mideast.'' "The cooperation of
the United States and Israel is the most important
counter-development to offset these threats to stability and
peace,'' Netanyahu said.

DRUMBEATS OF WAR

IRANIAN 'MODERATES' SAY ISRAEL HAS NO RIGHT TO EXIST
International Christian Embassy Jerusalem 3/12/99

Despite his warm reception this week in Rome and at the Vatican,
Iran's "moderate" leader Mohammed Khatami oversees a government
that continues to question Israel's right to exist. MA'ARIV
reports that during discussions between Iranian and Italian
officials, the parties did not agree on aspects of the Middle
East conflict, and Iranian Foreign Minister Kamal Harrazi told
Italian officials that "the State of Israel has no right to
exist."

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

The Jerusalem Post - Internet Edition
Wednesday, March 17, 1999 29 Adar 5759

Sharon: UN resolutions on Jerusalem are null
and void

By DANNA HARMAN

JERUSALEM (March 17) - Israel's military triumphs
have rendered Jerusalem's status as a "separate
entity" in UN resolutions "null and void," Foreign
Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday in a briefing
for members of the diplomatic corps.

The briefing had been called to once again clarify
Israel's position on Jerusalem, and Sharon got right
to the point. He opened his remarks by welcoming the
ambassadors to "Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish
people for the last 3,000 years and the capital of
Israel for the last 50 years."

The European diplomats, who were sitting together
around one of the breakfast tables at the King David,
glanced at one another and took copious notes.

Last week, German Ambassador Theodor Wallau, writing
in his country's capacity as current chairman of the
European Union, told the Foreign Ministry that EU
diplomats would continue to meet Palestinians in east
Jerusalem - and that the EU regards Jerusalem as a
"corpus separatum," as defined in UN General Assembly
Resolution 181 of 1947.

Sharon recalled his own role as a platoon commander
in the battle for Jerusalem in the War of
Independence and said: "It is very hard to imagine
that after all those years we again have to struggle
for Jerusalem."

Sharon also told the diplomats that settlements, "are
not an obstacle to peace, but contribute to peace,"
said a spokesman from his office after the briefing.
Sharon explained this by saying that the settlements
create a sense of security among Israelis, which
allows them to be more accepting of the Palestinians.
He then invited the diplomats to join him in a tour
of the settlements in the near future.

"This is a very particular angle, a rather Jungian
angle, and an innovation that warrants some thought,"
said one diplomat, somewhat sarcastically.

After the meeting, diplomats said they agreed to
disagree. "We have our views, about the settlements,
about Jerusalem, it is very clear," said Egyptian
Ambassador Mohammed Bassiouny.

Wallau said that the EU still understands that
Jerusalem is "open to negotiation" according to the
1993 Oslo Agreement. "The EU has no interest to
preempt the outcome of these negotiations," he said.

Wallau appeared sensitive to the criticisms, and
stressed that letter was an EU dispute, not a
German-Israeli one. "My concern that we have acted in
our role as president and this never could influence
our very good bilateral relations," he told
reporters.

Sharon acknowledged that Jerusalem is on the Oslo
agenda, but said that was the "major mistake" of the
Labor government that signed the agreement.

"This issue will have to be brought to the table,"
Sharon said, but added that if the Likud leads the
next government, "the negotiations about Jerusalem
will be very short."

In the briefing, Sharon further touched upon the
issue of restarting negotiations with the Syrians,
saying, according to his office, that Israel is
prepared to begin such talks "any day."

"If you, through your connections, can help us
restart such talks, I will accept that help with
gratitude," he said.

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