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Subject: Arutz-7 News: April 11-16, 1999
Date: Fri, 16 Apr 1999 15:26:59 -0800
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Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999 17:28:22 +0300
To: arutz-7@a7.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@a7.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Sunday, April 11, 1999

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Sunday, April 11, 1999 / Nisan 25, 5759 - Day 10 of the Omer
------------------------------------------------

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. SHARON MEETS ALBRIGHT, HEADS FOR RUSSIA
2. WATER QUOTAS CUT
3. HAREL AND DOMB DEBATE

1. SHARON MEETS ALBRIGHT, HEADS FOR RUSSIA
Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon arrived in Russia today for meetings with
government officials. Sharon met with U.S. Secretary of State Madeline
Albright yesterday, and said afterwards that his visit to Russia is in
complete coordination with American officials. The atmosphere in the
Sharon-Albright meeting is the subject of conflicting versions. A State
Department spokesman says that Albright expressed concern during the
meeting about recent expansion of Yesha communities. Sharon denies that
Albright reproved him, although he admitted that the U.S. has a
long-standing policy of opposition to the settlements. Another bone of
contention between Albright and Sharon was said to be the latter's
statements about the situation in Kosovo.

2. WATER QUOTAS CUT
The government decided on a 40% cut in farmers' water quotas today - a sad
consequence of the winter drought. In addition, the Finance Committee of
the Knesset decided on the payment of compensation sums to these same
farmers which could reach 450 million shekels. The water cuts will total
over 250 million cubic meters of water.

Speaking with Arutz-7 today, MK Tzvi Hendel, one of the heads of the
agricultural lobby in the Knesset, had harsh criticism of the Finance
Ministry: "Not only does it object to compensating the farmers, it also
wants to raise the cost of water by 39% [a plan which was later rejected].
If there is any one to blame for our lack of water - aside from our need to
pray better - it is the Finance Ministry. We submitted plans years ago for
the desalination of ocean water, but the Finance Ministry never sees beyond
the end of its nose, and keeps pushing off the plans again and again...
Desalination is not expensive - contrary to what the Finance Ministry would
have us believe."

3. HAREL AND DOMB DEBATE
Former Yesha Council head Yisrael Harel has come out against the tendency
of current Yesha Council leaders to support Prime Minister Netanyahu's
re-election bid. "I think it's very difficult for someone who is honest
with himself to support Netanyahu," Harel told Arutz-7 today. "It was
written in the weekend papers that Netanyahu is conducting surveys to find
out whether or not transferring 5% more territory to the Palestinians
after the May 17th election will help or hinder him in the second round of
the election [two weeks later]. This means that even the Likud candidate,
the person who was once the leader of the
nationalist camp, is now no more than a simple real estate merchant busy
trading in the property of our homeland. Why should we trust him?" Harel
added that voters on the Israeli right apparently have very short memories,
and wished to remind them that Netanyahu withdrew from Hevron, and
transferred 400 square kilometers to the Palestinians in the framework of
the Wye Agreement that he signed. "Now he's preparing to give another 5% -
25,000 dunams of Eretz Yisrael. We should be screaming at the top of our
lungs instead of standing behind him," Harel said.

Harel minimized a recent interview by Netanyahu on Arutz-7, in which the
Prime Minister declared that he would neither evacuate Yesha communities
nor permit the establishment of a Palestinian state. "What is an opening
position worth if you have no ability to withstand pressure?" Harel asked
rhetorically. "What good is it to declare one thing and do another? Let me
remind you that just a week ago, the government was supposed to close three
Jerusalem PA offices. Nu, what came of this? A compromise. He climbs a
high tree, makes strong declarations, and then does nothing." In
conclusion, Harel said, "If I decide to trouble myself to vote in the
coming election, it won't be for Netanyahu."

Yesha Council Secretary-General Aharon Domb responded sharply to Harel's
words: "Remarks of this nature will bring about a situation in which Barak
will win, and the entire enterprise that he [Harel] worked for all these
years will go down the drain. It's easy to sit at home and be righteous
and say one's own 'personal truth,' but practically speaking, in this
complex situation, we have no choice but to choose the lesser of the
evils... We cannot ignore the governmental environment in which each of
them [Netanyahu and Barak] will be [if elected], and who will be each one's
coalition partners... It is clear that a Netanyahu strengthened by the
right-wing camp is better than Barak/Mordechai/Meretz."

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

Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1999 16:27:09 +0300
To: arutz-7@a7.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@a7.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Monday, April 12, 1999

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Monday, April 12, 1999 / Nisan 26, 5759 - Day 11 of the Omer
------------------------------------------------

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. NEW SETTLEMENT ATTEMPT FOILED
2. BARAK TO SIT OUT TELEVISION DEBATE
3. COULD THE WEST ACT AGAINST ISRAEL?

1. NEW SETTLEMENT ATTEMPT FOILED
Approximately ten Israelis attempted to establish a temporary
"settlement" on the Givat Harsina hilltop near Hevron and Kiryat Arba
over the night. They brought tents and small water tanks, but Israeli
soldiers did not allow them to erect the tents. By order of Defense
Minister Moshe Arens, the would-be settlers were evacuated around
mid-morning, and at least one was arrested.

2. BARAK TO SIT OUT TELEVISION DEBATE
Ehud Barak refuses to participate in tomorrow night's
nationally-televised debate with his opponents in the Prime
Ministerial race, Binyamin Netanyahu and Yitzchak Mordechai. Barak
said today that he will debate the two of them at a later date, but
that "for now, it is more important for me to maintain direct contact
with the people rather than appear on television." An empty chair will
represent Barak at the debate tomorrow night between Netanyahu and
Mordechai, according to MK Ruby Rivlin, a Likud campaign manager.

The Meretz party has withdrawn its complaint against the Yesha
Council's "Arafat Won't Dictate" ad campaign. Yesha Council head
Aharon Domb told Arutz-7 today that it was Ehud Barak who requested
that the complaint be withdrawn. Domb said that Barak told Meretz
leader Yossi Sarid that he doesn't want to appear as being in favor of
Arafat determining Israel's fate.

3. COULD THE WEST ACT AGAINST ISRAEL?
Israeli officials, including Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon, do not
rule out the possibility that the West would intervene against Israel
as it is now doing in Yugoslavia. Middle East correspondent Steve
Rodan reports that it was Italy's ambassador to Israel, Gian Paolo
Cavarai, who first raised such a possibility during a meeting of
diplomats last month with Mr. Sharon. Sharon was at first stunned that
a NATO ambassador would raise such a prospect just days after the
beginning of the NATO campaign against Yugoslavia. Later, however,
Sharon admitted that Israel's Arab minority might call for autonomy in
the future, and, as a senior government source put it, "the West would
consider Yugoslavia a precedent to intervene in our part of the
region." Rodan reports that Sharon's warnings could serve as a basis
for a Jewish lobby against the NATO campaign. In his meeting with
U.S. Jewish leaders on Monday in New York, Sharon said that the Kosovo
Liberation Army is strongly supported by Iranian-backed terrorist
organizations, and that an independent Kosovo would enable Islamic
terrorism to spread throughout Europe. He appealed to U.S. Jewish
leaders to call for an end to the fighting in Kosovo.

The PA has not taken a stand on the Kosovo issue, but PA Cabinet
Secretary Ahmed Abdul Rahman appears to feel that the Palestinians can
only benefit from the NATO strike. "We must make it clear that what
is happening in Yugoslavia must serve as a lesson to Israel to
withdraw from its current policies before something similar happens to
it as what is now taking place in Yugoslavia," said Abdul Rahman.
Prince Khaled Bin Sultan, commander of the Saudi Arabian army during
the Gulf War, has called upon Washington to take the same tough stance
against Israel that it is taking against Serbia. Writing in the
London-based Saudi paper al-Hayat last week, Khaled expressed his hope
that the American people would soon realize that "it is their interest
to achieve justice and lift repression and not to abide by whatever is
said by Israel... We ask the US, when you are the only superpower, to
get rid of [sic] being a follower of Israel, and her supporter, when
she is oppressive or very oppressive, since Israel has never been
oppressed, [so that] we can praise you, as we praise you now [for your
action in Yugoslavia]."

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

To: arutz-7@a7.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@a7.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Tuesday, April 13, 1999

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Tuesday, April 13, 1999 / Nisan 27, 5759 - Day 12 of the Omer

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. SHARON DENIES RUSSIAN-GOLAN DEAL
2. PALESTINIANS HOPE TO REVIVE 1947 PARTITION PLAN
3. DEBATE WILL GO ON - WITH QUALIFICATIONS
4. LIKUD PLATFORM ANNOUNCED

1. SHARON DENIES RUSSIAN-GOLAN DEAL
Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon vehemently denies a story published in
Ha'aretz today according to which he has been working in Moscow to
have Russia serve as an intermediary between Israel and Syria. The
paper reports that the plan under consideration would see the IDF
depart from both the southern Lebanon security zone and, later, the
Golan Heights. Sharon said today that he objects to any withdrawal in
the Golan, and attacked Labor for its position calling for a
"withdrawal to the shores of the Galilee [Kineret] Sea." Ha'aretz
Military Editor Ze'ev Schiff wrote today that the proposed deal
"includes a Syrian agreement to an orderly Israeli withdrawal from
Lebanon," as well as a commitment to prevent terror attacks by
Hizbullah and other terrorist groups on Israeli interests in the
north. According to the plan, after the elections Netanyahu would
begin negotiations with Syria over the Golan Heights.

2. PALESTINIANS HOPE TO REVIVE 1947 PARTITION PLAN
The Palestinian Authority has launched an international diplomatic
campaign to revive the 1947 United Nations partition plan. Israel's
Foreign Ministry has recently received reports that Yasser Arafat has
been conducting numerous meetings around the world on the subject, and
will attempt to bring before the General Assembly a draft resolution
to vote once again on UN Resolution 181 of 1947 on the partition of
the Land of Israel. Sources in Jerusalem are apparently greatly
concerned over the initiative and the support it may receive at the
United Nations. In a meeting two days ago with U.S. Undersecretary of
State Martin Indyk, Prime Minister Netanyahu requested that the United
States take a firm position against the renewed introduction of the
resolution. Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon said today that the idea is
totally unacceptable.

Arab studies expert Professor Mordechai Nisan of Hebrew University
told Arutz-7 today that Arafat has been building what he hopes will be
the new "pan-Palestinian infrastructure" for some time now. "The 1947
UN Partition Plan would have placed towns of the Western Galilee, such
as Acre and Nahariyah, as well as Safed and Nazareth, in the hands of
the proposed Arab state," Nisan explained. "Arafat is hoping to
foster the renewal of Palestinian nationalism to link towns such as
Jenin, Ramallah and Gaza City with Arab centers inside the Green Line,
i.e., Israel proper. Given the Palestinian success in recent years in
obtaining sovereignty over various sections of the Land of Israel,
this latest initiative is hardly surprising."

"On the contrary," countered Arutz-7 News Editor Haggai Segal,
"Arafat's tactics are somewhat surprising and foolish. Israelis who
would otherwise be willing to let the Palestinians take over Judea and
Samaria will reconsider their positions when they hear that he also
seeks sovereignty over places such as Jaffa and Safed." Nisan
responded: "For this reason, Arafat is working first within the
international arena. He assumes, perhaps correctly, that the UN will
feel that it is obligated to abide by the decision it once made and to
ensure that it is implemented."

3. DEBATE WILL GO ON - WITH QUALIFICATIONS
Central Election Committee Chairman Hon. Eliyahu Matza has decided to
approve tonight's scheduled television debate between Prime Minister
Binyamin Netanyahu and centrist party leader Yitzchak Mordechai.
Israel's Media Watch had appealed against the holding of the debate,
claiming that the lack of an invitation to Prime Ministerial
candidates Benny Begin and Azmi Bashara grants the debate a status of
campaign propaganda and should be regulated accordingly. Speaking on
Arutz-7's In Focus newsmagazine last night, IMW's Yisrael Medad
explained that Israeli law requires that during the last 60 days of
the campaign, all such campaigning must be done only in the framework
of party-sponsored election commercials. In today's decision, Judge
Matza stipulated that the moderator must announce at the beginning of
the show that campaigning will not be allowed, and that both Netanyahu
and Mordechai have agreed to debate the other Prime Ministerial
candidates in the future.

Speaking to Arutz-7 from the Knesset today, Medad reported that in a
meeting between IMW, Judge Matza, and the television producers of the
debate, the producers argued that the show would not be only a
platform for electioneering, but that host Nissim Mishal would ask
Netanyahu and Mordechai "tough questions" in areas of their expertise.

Labor party leader Ehud Barak has refused to participate in tonight's
debate. When asked if the symbolic 'empty chair' in the studio won't
bother him, he said, "I don't care about the empty chair - I only care
about the empty refrigerators of hungry families in Netivot."
Political commentators have surmised that Netanyahu will not attack
Mordechai personally during the debate, and that his goal is rather to
bolster Mordechai's candidacy at the expense of Barak's. The theory
is that a debate-strengthened Mordechai will be less likely to ally
himself with Barak shortly before the election.

4. LIKUD PLATFORM ANNOUNCED
The new Likud party election platform bears a striking resemblance to
its previous edition in the 1996 election campaign. Former Cabinet
Secretary Danny Naveh, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee
Chairman MK Uzi Landau, and new Likud Knesset-hopeful Dr. Yuval
Shteinitz authored the platform. The platform contains no surprises,
and focuses chiefly on security issues. It opposes the establishment
of a Palestinian state while accepting Palestinian autonomy.

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

To: arutz-7@a7.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@a7.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Wednesday, April 14, 1999

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. DEBATE OVER THE DEBATE
2. ARAB MK TO BE INDICTED FOR CALL TO MURDER

1. DEBATE OVER THE DEBATE
Last night's televised debate between Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu and centrist party leader Yitzchak Mordechai turned out to
be more of an exchange of insults than a substantive discussion of the
issues. Netanyahu dubbed Mordechai's list "the party of losers," and
Mordechai accused Netanyahu of having been deserted by numerous former
Likud members. When Netanyahu boasted that his government had
improved Israel's security situation, Mordechai said that he
[Mordechai], as Defense Minister under Netanyahu, should take credit
for that. Mordechai accused Netanyahu of agreeing to give away 13% of
Judea and Samaria, to which Netanyahu responded that Mordechai [who
helped negotiate the Wye Agreement in Washington] had praised the
agreement at the time. Some of their answers to direct questions
posed by moderator Nissim Mishal were almost exactly the same;
regarding enlistment of hareidim in the army, they both said, "Only
with the consent of the hareidim," while on whether they would include
Shas - if it is headed by recently-convicted Aryeh Deri - in a future
government, they both said, "This a state that is run by law, and I
will follow whatever the law says..."

Headlines in most of the Israeli press gave Mordechai the victory in
the debate, although it was noted that Netanyahu's concluding foray -
"Tell me your party's way! Tell me your party's approach!," which he
repeated several times and to which Mordechai did not have a ready
answer - partially erased the confident image that Mordechai had
projected throughout most of the debate. Netanyahu obtained
Mordechai's promise to remain in the race until the end.

2. ARAB MK TO BE INDICTED FOR CALL TO MURDER
Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein has decided to indict Arab MK
Salah Salim (Hadash), for his call upon Palestinians several months
ago to kill Arabs who sell land to Jews. Salim will be charged with
publicly praising violent acts. Coincidentally, it was learned
yesterday that the Jerusalem police have arrested four Arabs from
Shu'afat on suspicion that they murdered land-dealer Ali Jamhour two
years ago. One of the suspects - all of whom have confessed - is the
victim's widow. The police say that they warned Jamhour that he was
targeted for murder, and in fact senior Palestinian Authority
officials were the ones who gave the order to murder him.

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

To: arutz-7@a7.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@a7.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Thursday, April 15, 1999

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Thursday, April 15, 1999 / Nisan 29, 5759 - Day 14 of the Omer
------------------------------------------------

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. ISRAEL DEFENDS YESHA GROWTH
2. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE POLLS

1. ISRAEL DEFENDS YESHA GROWTH
"Israel and the United States have always had their differences on the
matter of settlements." So announced the Prime Minister's Media
Advisor today, in light of various reports of American criticism of
the growth of Jewish population in Judea and Samaria. The spokesman
continued, "With all due respect for the friendship between the two
countries, the Prime Minister is committed to ensure, first and
foremost, the interests of the State of Israel. On various occasions,
the Prime Minister has clearly told the U.S. government that Israel's
policy is to enable the development and expansion of existing
communities in Judea and Samaria, just as there is no restriction on
the continued expansion of Arab communities."

Meanwhile, Meretz party leader Yossi Sarid pledged this morning that
if a left-wing government is formed next month, he will personally
work to remove all of the temporary neighborhoods established by Yesha
residents on the outskirts of their communities. The Labor party's
spokesman also released an announcement today condemning the
accelerated pace of construction of new Yesha neighborhoods.

The number of residents in Judea and Samaria is approaching 190,000
and will likely surpass the 200,000 mark by the end of the summer. So
estimates Ya'ir Ma'yan, who is completing his tenure today as
Netanyahu's advisor for settlement affairs. Ma'yan emphasized that no
new communities had been built during this time, but that the increase
of 50,000 during Netanyahu's term in office is a result only of the
expansion of existing towns. Ma'yan told Arutz-7 today that he is not
sure why U.S. authorities have become exceptionally critical of
Israeli settlement policy of late. "It could be that some internal
Israeli sources are spreading rumors to foreign interests as if there
have been changes in our national policy. >From the first day, we
promised that we would strengthen settlement in the area - and we did,
but no new settlements have been built." Ma'yan is leaving his
advisory role in order to run for the leadership of the Gush Etzion
Regional Council.

2. THE OTHER SIDE OF THE POLLS
Pollster Dr. Yaakov Katz of Bar Ilan University felt that public
surveys about the recent Mordechai-Netanyahu debate did not tell the
full story - and he decided to do something about it. Polls by Gallup
and Mina Tzemach, published today in Ma'ariv and Yediot Acharonot
respectively, showed that among a representative and random sampling
of the public, 53-56% felt that Mordechai had won the debate, while
only 22-24% felt that Netanyahu was the victor. Arutz-7's Ariel
Kahane reports that Dr. Katz felt the result were inaccurate, since
they did not differentiate between those who had viewed the program
themselves and those who were merely influenced by the media's verdict
on the debate. In fact, the PeopleMeter ratings company found that
less than half the population saw the debate on television. Dr. Katz
therefore conducted his own poll of a representative and random
sampling of those who saw the debate, and came up with less
strongly-conclusive results: 44% felt that Mordechai had won, while
40% declared Netanyahu the victor. Katz also found that more than
half of those polled felt that Netanyahu had presented his positions
more coherently and that his positions were more logical.

Another Gallup poll today found that, in terms of the election itself,
the big winner in the debate this week was someone who did not
participate - Ehud Barak. Barak's lead in the second round over
Netanyahu, which has been hovering around 3%, was found by the poll to
now be 7% - 48% for Barak, and 41% for Netanyahu. Yitzchak
Mordechai's support increased somewhat, to 15%, but far from enough to
ensure him a place in the second round. Benny Begin, according to the
survey, will receive only 3% of the first-round vote, while Arab
candidate Azmi Bishara will receive 4%.

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

To: arutz-7@a7.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@a7.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News Brief: Friday, April 16, 1999

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Friday, April 16, 1999 / Rosh Chodesh Iyar 5759 - Day 15 of the Omer

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. STATE DEPARTMENT REFUSES TO RECOGNIZE JERUSALEM AS PART OF
ISRAEL
2. ARAB PARTY TO ENDORSE BARAK

1. STATE DEPARTMENT REFUSES TO RECOGNIZE JERUSALEM AS PART OF ISRAEL
The case of two American babies born in Jerusalem is threatening -
unsuccessfully, so far - to change United States policy in the Middle
East.

Shoshanna Walker, whose two children were born in the Israeli capital
in 1985 and 1986, is attempting to raise public awareness of the fact
that their birth certificates lists their birthplace only as "Jerusalem,"
without specifying Israel. She has been attempting for
some time now to have the United States State Department recognize
Israel's sovereignty over the city. Mrs. Walker has been told by
State Department officials that Jerusalem - all of it - is not in
Israel, but she claims that this directly conflicts with a
Congressional decision of November 1995 recognizing Jerusalem as the
capital of Israel.

One State Department official at the Country Desk for Israel in
Washington, D.C., told Shoshanna that the State Department cannot
favor requests for documents to read "Jerusalem, Israel" over those
requesting "Jerusalem, Palestine." Greg Rickman, an aide to Senator
Alfonse D'Amato, who attempted to help Mrs. Walker, told her that "the
State Department was adamant about not changing its position on
Jerusalem." Senator D'Amato's office also sent Ms. Walker's complaint
to the State Department. In response, the Senator received a letter
from Barbara Larkin, Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs,
which cited U.S. passport law: "The practice of listing Jerusalem
without a country in a U.S. passport as the place of birth of a U.S.
citizen born there is a long-standing one. We do not believe that
this is an appropriate time to change that practice."

2. ARAB PARTY TO ENDORSE BARAK
The Arab party Hadash will announce on Sunday its endorsement of Ehud
Barak for Prime Minister. MK Abdul Wahab Darawshe said yesterday, at
the signing of a surplus-votes agreement between Hadash and the Arab
Democratic Party, that the Palestinian Authority is "uncomfortable
with the prospect of continued Likud rule." He criticized Arab MK
Azmi Bishara for running for Prime Minister, claiming that it would
hurt Barak's chances. A PA representative was present at the signing
ceremony.

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