From: "Hebraic.Heritage.Newsgroup@sol.wwwnexus.com"
<Hebraic.Heritage.Newsgroup@sol.wwwnexus.com>
To: Arutz-7 List <heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>, Israel News List
<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: April 25-29, 1999
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1999 17:22:20 -0800
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@a7.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Sunday, April 25, 1999

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Sunday, April 25, 1999 / Iyar 9, 5759 - Day 24 of the Omer
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. LIKUD PLATFORM: STRONG REACTION TO PA DECLARATION
2. LIKUD (CON'T): NO SPECIFIC OBJECTIONS TO GOLAN WITHDRAWAL
3. NATIONAL UNION: UP THE DOWN ESCALATOR
4. ARAFAT NOT UPSET WITH ORIENT HOUSE DECISION
5. AMERICAN JEWS RALLY FOR JERUSALEM

1. LIKUD PLATFORM: STRONG REACTION TO PA DECLARATION
"If the Palestinians unilaterally declare a state, the Oslo accords will
automatically become null and void." Thus states the Likud party platform,
revealed this morning by party officials. The platform says that the
government will take "strong measures" against any such Palestinian
declaration - but does not elaborate.

The Central Committee of the PLO will convene this week to discuss whether
or not to unilaterally declare an independent Palestinian state. The
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine [PFLP], a terrorist
organization headed by George Habash, plans to boycott the meeting, in
protest of any consideration of a delay in the declaration of a state. The
PFLP says that initial steps towards the establishment of a Palestinian
state should begin immediately.

Arutz-7 spoke today with Dr. Yuval Shteinitz, #20 on the Likud's list of
Knesset candidates, and one of the authors of the Likud platform.
Regarding the platform's promise that the Oslo and Wye agreements would be
considered nullified by a unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state,
Shteinitz was asked, "Don't you fear that such a policy will cause rioting
and world-wide condemnation?" His response: "You're right, this may be
the reaction any time Israel insists on its rights. But I do think that
Netanyahu and the Likud have shown a remarkable ability to withstand these
pressures over the past three years. They've shown their strength by
curbing Palestinian incitement, by the significant reduction of terrorism,
and by successfully limiting the size of the Oslo withdrawals." Shteinitz
lambasted the Labor party for "having the nerve not to draft any platform
at all for the upcoming elections. All they've put out is a page of
pictures, which they are calling the Barak Plan," he said.

2. LIKUD (CON'T): NO SPECIFIC OBJECTIONS TO GOLAN WITHDRAWAL
One issue conspicuous in its absence from the Likud party platform is that
of a withdrawal from the Golan Heights. The platform merely states that
the party supports Israeli sovereignty over the area. When asked about
this issue today by Arutz-7, platform-author Dr. Yuval Shteinitz said, "A
clause objecting to a withdrawal from the Golan also did not appear in the
1996 platform. What does appear, however, is a very clear affirmation of
the Knesset decision to [recognize Israeli] sovereignty over the Golan."
News Editor Ariel Kahane asked, "Does this then mean that the Likud will
not make any territorial compromises in the Golan?" Shteinitz responded,
"It means exactly what it says, and I think it is very clear. On the one
hand, it says that the Golan is an integral part of the State of Israel,
and that we will act to strengthen the settlements there. It also talks
about Syria, that we are prepared to enter into negotiations with Syria
without any pre-conditions... If we wrote that Haifa was an integral part
of the State of Israel, would you ask me if the Likud was prepared to
withdraw from Haifa?"

3. NATIONAL UNION: UP THE DOWN ESCALATOR
The Prime Minister's Office is pressuring National Union members to
continue to actively campaign for Benny Begin for Prime Minister.
Netanyahu's staffers have figures that show that the Prime Minister's
chances in the second round are greater than in the first round. National
Union MK Benny Elon explained today that one of the reasons for this is
that less Arabs are expected to vote in the second round than in the first,
while pro-Netanyahu hareidim will come out in large numbers in the second
round. It is also felt, according to other commentators, that the desire
of many right-wing voters to "punish" Netanyahu will be less in the second
round than in the first. The thinking is that if Begin withdraws his
candidacy, so will Mordechai, thus giving Barak a better chance of winning
in the first round.

National Union leader MK Benny Begin said today that after the first round
of the Prime Ministerial race, he will not instruct his voters whom to
support for Prime Minister. Begin says that his voters are smart enough to
know for whom to vote. Begin also had harsh words for the timing of
Netanyahu's decision to close the Orient House: "For three years, he made
peace with the situation, and now, three weeks before the election, he
decides to close the building." He compared his party to a man going up
the down-escalator: "We always say the truth, even against the popular
stream of thought."

4. ARAFAT NOT UPSET WITH ORIENT HOUSE DECISION
Yasser Arafat is pleased with the Netanyahu government's decision to close
the Orient House in eastern Jerusalem, reports Arutz-7 correspondent Haggai
Huberman. "Arafat is furious that Feisal Husseini has dragged him into a
dispute that he [Arafat] doesn't want at this time," Huberman explained.
"Arafat believes that flaunting Palestinian activity in the capital prior
to the elections will only play into Netanyahu's hands. There haven't been
any [Palestinian] riots in response to the decision to close the Orient
House, and for good reason: Arafat is not prepared to harm his friendly
relations with the Clinton administration over this issue. And anyone
searching for strong words in the official Palestinian Authority newspaper,
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, over the decision won't find them. Friday's front page
contained only a tiny article which reported 'opposition throughout the
world to the closing of the Orient House.'"

Huberman added that the conflict between Arafat and Husseini should be
viewed against the backdrop of the long-standing dispute between the two as
to which of their respective families is the true leader of Jerusalem
Arabs. "Arafat has so far been unsuccessful in getting Husseini - who has
a stronger hold of the Palestinian turf in Jerusalem - to stop his
activities at the Orient House," Huberman said. "There have been leaks
recently from the PA to the effect that 'Husseini does not hold the
Jerusalem portfolio in the PA.' This is technically correct; Husseini is
responsible for Jerusalem on behalf of the PLO, while Ziyad Abu-Ziyad is
his counterpart in the Palestinian Authority... Arafat is also reportedly
cutting back funds to the Orient House as a way of pressuring Husseini [to
stop his activities.]"

5. AMERICAN JEWS RALLY FOR JERUSALEM
American Jews will demonstrate this afternoon in a giant rally across from
the White House in Washington, D.C. in support of American recognition of
Israeli sovereignty over Jerusalem. Helen Freedman, Director of Americans
for a Safe Israel (AFSI), says that the failure of the Clinton
administration to take practical steps for the enactment of the Jerusalem
Embassy Relocation Act of 1995 is one of the rally's central themes. "The
law states that every country has the right to designate its own capital,
and Israel has so designated Jerusalem, the spiritual center of Judaism,"
said Freedman. "In addition, it says that Jerusalem should be recognized as
the capital of the State of Israel, that it should remain an undivided
city, and that the U.S. Embassy in Israel should be established there no
later than May 31, 1999." Joint sponsors of the rally include AFSI,
American Friends of Women In Green, the National Unity Coalition for
Israel, and the Washington-based DESHA organization - an acronym for the
principles of Din (justice), Emet (truth) and Shalom (peace).

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

To: arutz-7@a7.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@a7.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Monday, April 26, 1999

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Monday, April 26, 1999 / Iyar 10, 5759
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. POLITICAL LEANINGS
2. ONE ROUND OR TWO?

1. POLITICAL LEANINGS
The Labor party is backtracking from the anti-hareidi slant it
conveyed at the start of the election campaign. During a visit to
Bnei Brak yesterday, Labor MK Shlomo Ben-Ami said that his party's
original demand to change national priorities by channeling funds from
settlers and hareidim to development towns is "total nonsense."
Deputy Housing Minister Meir Porush of the United Torah Judaism party
reacted, "Barak's position regarding the hareidim is well-known.
Ben-Ami's attempts to soften them up are an insult to our
intelligence."

The National Religious Party now officially endorses Binyamin
Netanyahu for Prime Minister. Nachum Langental, #6 on the party's
Knesset list, told Arutz-7 today that the decision to do so is both
ideological and political.
"Ideologically, Netanyahu is the closest to us - not exactly like us,
but the closest. Politically, our motivation is to show that we would
like to be a part of his government, and that we are sorry that the
current government ended its term earlier than scheduled." News
Editor Haggai Segal asked, "Maybe you're trying to sharpen the
differences between yourselves and the National Union party, to remind
voters who toppled the present government." Langental responded,
"This is one of our goals, yes. Those who want a right-wing government
next time around shouldn't vote for the National Union, because we in
the NRP will be part of the government, while the National Union
members were responsible for toppling the previous one. But another of
our goals is to reach Likud supporters, and tell them that they can
vote for Netanyahu and the NRP at the same time - that the NRP is
concerned about issues that are not on the Likud agenda, such as
religious education and the promotion of family values." Langental
said that if Barak wins the election, "the NRP would negotiate with
him, just like we did with Rabin in 1992. If we feel we can join his
government, we will, but if Barak crosses our red lines, we will
remain in the opposition, just as we did with Rabin."

2. ONE ROUND OR TWO?
Ma'ariv reports today that despite yet another denial by Yitzchak
Mordechai that he plans to drop out of the Prime Ministerial race,
Netanyahu's office is preparing for the eventuality that this will not
be the case. If Mordechai drops out, it is likely that either Barak
or Netanyahu will receive more than 50% of the vote, thus eliminating
the need for a second round. Dr. Aharon Fein, of the public survey
institute Tatzpit, said today that both the Centrist and One Israel
parties have reached the conclusion that a one-round election would
favor Barak, and are working to ensure that this will happen. "The
main difference is that the second-round turnout of Arabs - who would
overwhelmingly support Barak - would be much smaller than in the first
round," explained Fein. Asked for his prediction of the final
results, Fein said, "Because of the composition of the country, we
feel that Netanyahu will continue to serve as Prime Minister after the
elections, and that he would have to form a national-unity government.
This could change if there is only one round, but not significantly."

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

To: arutz-7@a7.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@a7.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Tuesday, April 27, 1999

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Tuesday, April 27, 1999 / Iyar 11, 5759 - Day 26 of the Omer
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. LABOR'S ANTI-SETTLER CAMPAIGN REVIVES ITSELF, SETTLERS
2. DEFENSE MINISTER GOES SHOPPING
3. ORIENT HOUSE RALLY: "DEATH TO BIBI"

1. LABOR'S ANTI-SETTLER CAMPAIGN REVIVES ITSELF, SETTLERS
The election campaign: All the political parties appear to be quite
pleased with the campaign commercials they each aired last night. The
One Israel Party says that its commercials were superior to all
others, though it admits off the record that Binyamin Netanyahu's
performance was more impressive than that of Barak. Likud sources
accuse Ehud Barak's One Israel of slanderous comments and incitement
against entire sectors of Israeli society - most notably, the settlers
of Yesha.

It's now official: The Labor party line, according to its ads aired
on national television last night, is that "Only Ehud Barak has the
strength to give equal treatment to everybody and not to be subject to
political extortion. Only Barak has the strength to say 'money for
education' instead of for new settlements, to say 'more jobs' instead
of preference to the hareidim..." This, despite hints over the past
weeks that the anti-hareidi and anti-settler direction of the party
would be played down. On Sunday, for instance, Labor MK Shlomo Ben-Ami
visited the largely-hareidi city of Bnei Brak, where he termed "total
nonsense" the idea of changing priorities by channeling money from the
hareidim to public education. Labor MK and former Finance Minister
Avraham Baige-Shochat told Arutz-7 today, "Listen, I'm not an analyst
of Shlomo Ben-Ami, and I'm not going to try to relate to a possible
contradiction between a statement of his - that was said in a
particular place - and what appears on the party ads. I agree with
the position expressed on the ads."

"Ehud Barak has succeeded in doing in three minutes what the Prime
Minister hasn't been able to do in many months: namely, bringing Yesha
residents out to the streets." This was the Yesha Council reaction to
One Israel's campaign ads against the Yesha settlements.
Secretary-General of the Yesha Council Aharon Domb says that as a
result of the ads, it has now been decided by the Council to send
hundreds of volunteers to intersections around the country in support
of Binyamin Netanyahu.

2. DEFENSE MINISTER GOES SHOPPING
Defense Minister Moshe Arens is in the United States. He visited the
Lockheed-Martin plant in Texas yesterday, and tomorrow will be a guest
of Boeing in St. Louis. The visits will assist him in deciding which
company will supply the Israel Air Force's new fighter jets. Arens is
leaning towards Lockheed-Martin's F-16 jets.

3. ORIENT HOUSE RALLY: "DEATH TO BIBI"
The Jerusalem Police have a video of a Palestinian rally last night
outside the Orient House, in which demonstrators are seen shouting,
"Death to Bibi!" A complaint has been submitted to the police against
the instigators by Noam Federman, who noted that Israel TV cameramen
filmed the event, but it was not reported on the TV news. Left-wing
Israeli groups arrived at the Orient House in the late afternoon to
demonstrate their support for the Palestinian Authority's presence
there.

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

To: arutz-7@a7.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@a7.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Wednesday, April 28, 1999
Reply-to: netnews@a7.org

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Wednesday, April 28, 1999 / Iyar 12, 5759 - Day 27 of the Omer
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. PALESTINIANS NOT HAPPY WITH CLINTON LETTER
2. P.A. RELIES ON U.N. FOR PARTITION, REFUGEES
3. WEIZMAN BREAKS JEWISH LAW IN CHINA
4. GOV'T MINISTERS AND JERUSALEM
5. OPTIMISM IN THE NATIONAL UNION AND NRP

1. PALESTINIANS NOT HAPPY WITH CLINTON LETTER
Despite the official Palestinian announcements of satisfaction with
the letter written them by U.S. President Clinton this week, internal
Palestinian discussions reveal a different story. Arutz-7
correspondent Haggai Huberman reports that the Arabs are disappointed
that Clinton did not include a commitment to support a Palestinian
state in the future, nor does the letter employ the term
"self-determination." Another fault in the letter from the
Palestinian standpoint is the lack of a deadline therein for the end
of the negotiations, but rather a general recommendation to conclude
them within a year. The full text of the letter has not been
released.

Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon sees the Clinton letter as an
"achievement for the government." He said that the Netanyahu
government's unambiguous stand insisting that a Palestinian
declaration would violate the Oslo accords was that which led Arafat
to look for a way to back-track from his threats to declare a state.
Prime Minister Netanyahu's senior foreign press aide, David Bar-Illan,
also praised the Clinton letter. Opposition leader Ehud Barak,
however, claimed that the American message to Arafat promising that
the Palestinians will "one day be a free people in their own land" was
a "Balfour declaration for the Palestinians."

Correspondent Huberman added that senior Palestinian official Nabil
Shaath is working diligently to create a de-facto state, even if it is
not formally declared. For instance, passports will soon be issued
bearing the title "State of Palestine," and the minting of a
Palestinian coin is planned. Yasser Arafat has also toured Europe
extensively this past month, receiving assurances from many European
leaders that they would be willing to recognize their PLO embassies as
official embassies of 'Palestine.' "But all of this European support
is worth nothing to Arafat without the support of Washington,"
Huberman said. "Despite the strategic agreement between the Clinton
administration and Arafat, his letter reconfirmed that America's
traditional opposition to a Palestinian state has not changed, and
this worries the Palestinians."

2. P.A. RELIES ON U.N. FOR PARTITION, REFUGEES
The Palestinian Legislative Council essentially decided yesterday to
delay the date of the Palestinian state's formal declaration, probably
until after a visit to Israel by the Pope next year. Significantly,
however, the PLC defined the borders of the future state as based on
United Nations resolution #181 of the year 1947 - thus including
Tzfat, Be'er Sheva, Jaffa, Nahariyah, Ashkelon and dozens of other
Israeli localities within the Palestinian entity. Furthermore, as
David Bedein of the Israel Resource Review reports, the PLC affirmed
that the future Palestinian state would demand the enforcement of UN
resolution #194, calling for the repatriation of three million Arab
refugees to the villages they left in 1948.

Simultaneously, the UN Human Rights Commission passed a resolution in
Geneva yesterday, calling for the same things: Palestinian
self-determination on the basis of the UN partition resolution #181
and refugee-return resolution #194. Israeli Ambassador to the UN Dore
Gold said in response, "In the past, 181 and 194 have been referred to
in UN resolutions, but there has generally [also] been reference to
.. a general commitment to the peace process. This time it is 181
and 194 alone. We see this as part of an orchestrated campaign by the
Palestinians to press [the old partition plan]."

3. WEIZMAN BREAKS JEWISH LAW IN CHINA
President Ezer Weizman will eat a non-kosher meal tonight in the
framework of his official visit to China. The President's office
apparently refused to arrange for a kosher meal, and proposals by
Chabad representatives to obtain kosher food were ignored also by the
Israeli embassy in Hong Kong. It has also been reported that the
President will desecrate the Sabbath while inaugurating the Israeli
booth in the international flower exhibition in Hong Kong. Hebrew
University law professor Eliav Shochatman told an Arutz-7
correspondent today that though there is no specific Israeli law
forbidding national figures from publicly violating Jewish law, "it is
an issue of long-standing tradition, possibly dating from the
establishment of the State of Israel, for high-ranking official
figures to publicly adhere to halachic norms." Article 20a of
"Israel's Basic Law: State President" permits the Knesset to remove
the President from his position if it finds that he acts in a way
"unbefitting his post."

4. GOV'T MINISTERS AND JERUSALEM
Media reports of tensions and disagreements between Prime Minister
Netanyahu and Public Security Minister Avigdor Kahalani are very
exaggerated, Kahalani said today. "We both agree that the Orient House
offices must be closed," he said, "but it has to be done both
according to law and intelligently." It has been reported that, for
electoral considerations, Netanyahu is in favor of a quicker closure.
Labor MK Yossi Beilin scorned Netanyahu's decision to close the
offices, saying that he promised to do so three years ago, "and
suddenly now, two weeks before the election, he wakes up and remembers
that he didn't keep his promise." When asked if the timing of the
closure is not "suspicious," Kahalani responded, "We didn't choose the
timing - Feisal Husseini did, when on Israel's Independence Day, he
invited foreign consuls to the Orient House and announced that
Jerusalem was the capital of a new Palestinian state."

Deputy Minister Michael Eitan admitted today that he held meetings
with Feisal Husseini, responsible for Jerusalem affairs on behalf of
the PLO. Eitan said, however, that they did not deal with the
final-status arrangement, nor with the future of Jerusalem. "They were
meant only to calm the tensions, and dealt with municipal matters," he
said today. Speaking with Arutz-7, Eitan said that there has been no
change in the Likud policy regarding Jerusalem.

5. OPTIMISM IN THE NATIONAL UNION AND NRP
Ron Verber, chief campaign strategist for the National Union party,
told Arutz-7 today that a telephone survey following Monday night's
television campaign ads indicates that the National Religious Party's
attack on MK Chanan Porat (#3 on the National Union list) fell on
deaf ears. The NRP ad featured a tape of Porat dating back to 1992, in
which he explained why he could not work with Moledet party leader
Rechavam Ze'evi, whose party is now one of the three comprising the
National Union. "The clip they used even did us a service," said
Verber. "It showed a younger, vibrant Chanan, and this apparently
stirred up positive associations that voters who are now disgruntled
with the NRP feel towards him."

He added that last night's National Union ad featuring Porat was not
specifically filmed in response to the NRP piece of the previous
night. "It was prepared ten days earlier. But if it was understood as
a reaction to their commercial, then so be it," said Verber. In last
night's clip, Porat is seen talking to a group of religious youth,
reassuring them that the NRP agenda will be transferred to the
National Union: "[We will] continue to build, to plant roots. The
National Union will take on the responsibility for the enterprises and
Torah institutions of the national religious camp. We are renewing
the covenant between the religious and non-religious sectors, based on
the belief that the Land of Israel does not divide [the Jewish people]
but rather unites."

News Editor Ariel Kahane then inquired as to why Benny Begin's Prime
Ministerial bid was not more prominently featured in the party's ads.
"It's no secret that the goal of the National Union is to be the
largest and strongest right-wing party in the next Knesset," Verber
explained. "The weak Likud-NRP coalition simply can't provide the
strong support Netanyahu needs when engaging in international
negotiations, and therefore actually weakens him. The party's goal is
to become strong enough to provide the Prime Minister with the
necessary backing. Benny Begin, on the other hand, announced his
personal candidacy for Prime Minister before the National Union was
formed. Some people within our party are unsure as to whether it is
wise for him to run, and may vote for Netanyahu instead. Begin
himself will decide whether to continue or not, but this is really not
connected with the party as a party. This question will be solved
eventually, and is really a non-issue."

The NRP said today that "objective journalists" such as Razi Barkai of
Army Radio and Nachum Barne'a of Yediot Acharanot had positive
reactions to the party's ads last night. Meanwhile, the Yesha Council
has intensified its campaign on behalf of Binyamin Netanyahu. The
Council has hired 25 large trucks to tour the country bearing signs
that read "Only Netanyahu." This was in reaction to the continued
campaign by Ehud Barak and One Israel, which released a statement
today against the planned construction of the hareidi city Ofarim.
The statement says that the Ofarim plan "is the continuation of a
distorted policy of a stuck government, and another example of Bibi's
insensitivity, who continues to give in to extremist hareidi
settlers."

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

To: arutz-7@a7.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@a7.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Thursday, April 29, 1999
Reply-to: netnews@a7.org

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.a7.org>
Thursday, April 29, 1999 / Iyar 13, 5759 - Day 28 of the Omer
------------------------------------------------
Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday
--- See below for subscription instructions ---

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. AUTONOMY "TOO SMALL" FOR STATE
2. JEWISH LEADERSHIP ENTERS THE MEDIA FRAY

1. AUTONOMY "TOO SMALL" FOR STATE
It's now official: The PLO Central Committee decided this morning to
postpone for at least two months its decision on whether to declare a
Palestinian state. Senior Palestinian sources in Gaza admit that
Arafat has not seriously entertained the idea of declaring a state for
several months now, as the halting of the Wye withdrawals left him
with too little territory for a viable state. MKs of the National
Union say that it was they who caused the delay of the Wye agreement,
thus thwarting Arafat's intention to declare a state next week.
Arafat is now waiting for the results of the Israeli elections before
he decides his next move.

2. JEWISH LEADERSHIP ENTERS THE MEDIA FRAY
The One Israel and Meretz parties are claiming today that the Likud is
behind yesterday's campaign ad of the Manhigut Yehudit (Jewish
Leadership) party. The Manhigut party used its air time last night
for a satirical look at the aborted declaration of a Palestinian
state. In the clip, a puppet of Arafat-confidante Dr. Ahmed Tibi - a
gynecologist by profession - is seen presiding over the 'birth' of the
Palestinian state, instructing a 'laboring' Yasser Arafat to take deep
breaths. Suddenly the telephone rings, and an anxious Labor MK Yossi
Beilin is heard asking when he can officially congratulate Chairman
Arafat on the 'birth.' At that point, One Israel leader Ehud Barak
cuts in and urges Arafat to hold back and not give birth quite yet:
"Mr. Chairman, you must not declare the state until after the
elections. If you declare now, Bibi will be elected!" Arafat then
begins breathing more slowly, trying to stop the 'labor,' saying
happily, "What's good for Barak - is good for Arafat!"

Moti Karpel, #1 on the Jewish Leadership Knesset list, denied today
that his party was simply serving as a mouthpiece for the Likud.
Speaking with Arutz-7 today, he said, "Believe me, I have no contact
with anyone in the Likud." News Editor Haggai Segal asked the obvious
question: "Your movement has spoken for some time now of how Israel's
real problem is not a Palestinian state and not any of the other
specific political problems, but rather the lack of authentic Jewish
leadership. Why then have you now entered the fray with this petty
political message?"

Karpel explained that television is not the proper medium for his
movement's complex message: "On our radio spots, we have been able to
explain our message to some extent. But as we all know, we have been
trying for the past three years to get our message across, with only
limited success. We therefore decided to use television for a sharp,
biting, negative message against a Palestinian state and against the
left. Based on the reactions so far, we appear to have succeeded in
having many more people know that we exist." Other members of Jewish
Leadership expressed the "confident hope" that future ads would
include more of the movement's basic message.

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