From: Eddie Chumney
To:      heb_roots_chr@hebroots.org
Subject: Israel in the News

                          Israel in the News
                     June 21 to July 4, 1999

TEMPLE MOUNT

ANCIENT FACTORY DISCOVERED TODAY IN ISRAEL
Weekend News Today By Kelly Pagatpatan Source: (AP) Wed Jun 23,
1999

Archaeologists today discovered a 2000-year-old factory
underneath Jerusalem that was used to make tools for a Jewish
temple.  An archaeologist involved in the dig told Israel TV that
the factory was the largest series of ancient rooms discovered in
Israel.  ``In these rooms, dozens of people, expert stone
workers, designed tools, tables, and cups ...  from the raw
material we are sitting on,'' said Jon Zeligman of the
antiquities authority, pointing to soft rock.  Zeligman said the
vessels and tools were used for rituals in the nearby Temple,
which was built in the sixth century B.C.  When the temple, known
as the Jewish Temple, was destroyed in 70 A.D., the factory,
located on the edge of Jerusalem's walled Old City, was abandoned
and forgotten -- until its discovery Wednesday morning.

JERUSALEM

MESSIANIC AD IN JERUSALEM'S PAPERS
Religion Today June 22, 1999

Messianic Jews are spreading their beliefs in newspaper
advertisements.  Meno Kalisher, a leader in Jerusalem's Messianic
community for more than eight years, recently purchased
double-page ads in 14 Hebrew-language newspapers.  They feature
excerpts from Messianic prophecies in the second, seventh, and
ninth chapters of Daniel, as well as a historical timeline and
graphic of the statue in King Nebuchadnezzar's dream.  Kalisher
hopes that a rational presentation featuring biblical facts will
make Jews rethink what they've traditionally been taught about
the prophet's predictions of the Messiah.

"Jesus, too, would have used every available media that respects
the name of God," Kalisher told the magazine Israel Today.  The
ads included a phone number that readers could call to discuss
what they read and a website also offered further information.
Kalisher said the Jerusalem phone center logged more than 100
calls and the website recorded 5,550 visitors.

Response was slightly lower, but more positive, than expected.
None of the callers expressed anger over the ads and Orthodox
newspapers did not criticize the effort as they do most Messianic
missionary campaigns.  The advertisements are a "more neutral and
effective" way to evangelize than literature distribution,
Kalisher said, since Jews often are embarrassed to accept a New
Testament on the street.  He estimates that the $23,000 campaign
reached approximately 1 million readers.

JERUSALEM MUFTI SAYS ISRAEL IS FORCING JERUSALEM AWAY FROM ITS
ARAB IDENTITY

Weekend News Today By Andra Brack Source: Arabic News Wed Jun 23,
1999

Sheikh Ekrema Sabri, general Mufti of Jerusalem, warned against
Israel's attempts to Judaize the city of Jerusalem.  In press
statements to ArabicNews.com on the margin of the 11th conference
of the supreme council for Islamic affairs, currently underway in
Cairo, he said, "Jerusalem is besieged by Judaization and
Westernization in a studied plan to move it away from its Arab
Islamic roots that extend in history." He said, "Israel tries
subjecting Jerusalem by force to accept its civilization that
aims at canceling the past and imposing the fait accompli."

Sabri said in the 11th conference for the Supreme Council on
Islamic Affairs that expelling the inhabitants from their houses
under weak pretexts is not acceptable by any religion or law.  He
added that the current year has witnessed the withdrawal of the
identities of nearly 1,260 of Jerusalem's inhabitants, and that
tens of houses were destroyed at a time in which not hundreds but
thousands of settlement housing units are built for new Jewish
immigrants from all over the world.

BEILIN DRAWS FIRE ON JERUSALEM REMARK: One Israel MK's 'one
capital for two nations' statement raises a storm

By Aluf Benn, Joseph Algazy, Yossi Verter and Amnon Barzilai,
Ha'aretz Correspondents July 4, 1999

A coalition and a government headed by Barak is "committed to the
wholeness, unity and sovereignty of Jerusalem," sources in Prime
Minister-elect Ehud Barak's office said yesterday in response to
remarks by One Israel MK Yossi Beilin that Jerusalem would in
effect be the capital of both Israel and a Palestinian state.

In the final settlement on Jerusalem, Israel would accept the
Arab parts of Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital and Palestine
would acknowledge West Jerusalem as Israel's capital, Beilin
said.  In an interview published this weekend, Beilin also told
the Nazareth weekly Kol al Arab that he agrees to raising a
Palestinian flag in the area of the Muslim religious places in
Jerusalem.

The sources in Barak's office added that "the government headed
by Barak will work towards the development and prosperity of
Jerusalem and will continue building the city for the benefit of
all its residents, as is stated in the goverment's guidelines."
One Israel officials noted that in his response, Barak avoided
any direct confrontation with Beilin over the remarks.

Beilin reiterated that his position, which is known to all, has
been that "in a final settlement, Israel would ensure the
wholeness and unity of Jerusalem, but would also be sensitive and
understanding to the municipal needs and religious symbols of the
non-Jews living in Jerusalem." Beilin emphasized that this idea
was first published in his book "Touching Peace" two years ago
and also formed part of the Beilin-Abu Mazen understandings
dealing with Jerusalem.

"One possibility for an agreed solution which allows the full
realization of Israeli interests, is a compromise on the symbolic
level, in which Arab flags would be raised over the area of the
Muslim mosques in the Old City."

ISRAEL

BARAK'S `RAINBOW COALITION' NOT LIKELY TO GIVE HIM MUCH PEACE AT
HOME

July 4, 1999 By Ron Kampeas, Associated Press JERUSALEM (AP)

Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak has built the "rainbow
coalition'' he says he needs to back hard choices in peace talks
with the Arabs   but it's likely to give him very little peace at
home.  As he finished up dealmaking late last week and scheduled
meetings with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and President
Clinton, Barak's "rainbow'' was already showing signs of losing
its sheen.

"This silence of the lambs won't last forever,'' the newspaper
Maariv said Friday of increasing unrest among Barak's political
partners.  A fragile government could come unglued during
difficult negotiations with Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians.
Even before Barak takes office, probably Wednesday, some party
leaders are complaining he has reneged on agreements.

Natan Sharansky, a former Soviet dissident likely to be the next
interior minister, was furious when he learned Barak had assigned
him a deputy minister from the rival Shas party, Maariv reported
Friday.  Sharansky's Israel B'Aliya party, made up of former
Soviet immigrants, campaigned almost entirely on its pledge to
wrest the powerful Interior Ministry and its lucrative budget
from the ultra-Orthodox Shas.  Shas spiritual leaders contend
that half of the recent immigrants from the former Soviet Union
are not Jewish according to religious law.  Israel B'Aliya
accuses Shas, which has controlled the ministry much of the last
15 years, of singling out former Soviets for harassment.

Barak had promised the ideologically important Religions Ministry
to two competing parties, Shas and the National Religious Party.
Now, he is likely to keep it for himself, and assign the ministry
a deputy minister from each party, a watchdog status that thrills
neither party.

Another party with Shas problems is the liberal and secular
Meretz party, which has declared repeatedly it would not join any
government with Shas in it.  Meretz appears ready to cave in,
however, now that Barak has offered its leader, Yossi Sarid, the
influential Education Ministry.  That might keep Meretz happy
for now   but religious parties are unlikely to sit well with
Israel's most outspoken advocate of free will overseeing
curriculum.

Critics say Barak might have achieved greater stability if he had
kept the coalition smaller   with parties of closer outlooks.
In the 120-seat parliament, he has 75 lawmakers in his coalition
and can count on the votes of 18 more who support making
concessions for peace, but appearances could be deceiving.  The
National Religious Party and Israel B'Aliya both have
constituencies among Jewish settlers in disputed areas, and could
balk if Barak decided to dismantle settlements.

WATER SITUATION AT AN UNPRECEDENTED LOW LEVEL
IsraelWire-7/1

According to Israel water officials, the drought being
experienced in the region, particularly in Israel, is the worst
in the state's history.  According to Professor Moshe Inbar, the
head of the Department of Geography of Haifa University, the
current water situation is the worst since the establishment of
the state in 1948.  The professor stated the damages resulting
from the lack of water will reach in the NIS hundreds of millions
and will become one of the worst natural disasters to hit the
state.

Professor Inbar explained that since water levels began being
monitored in Kfar Blum fifty-five years ago, this is the lowest
level ever recorded with a total rainfall accumulation reaching
261 millimeters, about fifty percent of the average annual
rainfall.  The Kinneret has already hit an unprecedented low,
with the level expected to drop to the red line by the summer's
end.

The Haifa University experts add that if the coming winter is not
an exceptionally wet one, things in the region will become
drastically worse.  He explained that even if the rainfall is
slightly less than usual, the water related problems may mount.
Inbar called upon all Israelis to reduce water consumption in
every household by at least ten percent.

FORMER INTELLIGENCE CHIEF SAYS UNREALISTIC FOR ISRAEL TO HOPE TO
HOLD ON TO GOLAN
IsraelWire-7/4

Maj-Gen Uri Saguy, a former commander of IDF Intelligence, has
stated it was "unrealistic" for Israel to believe it may reach a
peace accord with Syria without forfeiting the Golan Heights.
The former commander's statements were part of an interview with
British journalist Patrick Seale in the London based Al Hayat.
Saguy did stress the importance however of Israel maintaining its
early warning abilities on Mount Hermon, explaining the country
never wants a repeat of the October 1973 Yom Kippur War.  He did
add however that in years to come, following a comprehensive
peace with Syria, the early warning stations may not be
necessary.

HAMAS PLANNED TO POISON ISRAELI WATER RESOURCES; ARMS FLOW
REPORTED
IsraelWire - 6/21

Hamas plotted to cause a national epidemic by poisoning the
drinking water in Israel with chemicals according to a report in
the Yediot Ahronot daily.  During Israel Defense Forces
interrogations, arrested military head Mohammed Abu Tir revealed
that Addle Awadalla, the chief commander of the military branch
of Hamas, was responsible for masterminding the plot.  Abu Tir
also told interrogators about a large shipment of weapon systems
from Iran which were transported to Israel through the Dead Sea.

Meanwhile, the daily Haaretz reported that IDF officers have
raised their concern over the recent wave of arms smuggling into
the PLO Authority (PA) autonomous city of Nablus in recent talks
with senior PA officials.  The PA officials responded they are
encountering difficulties in their attempts to stop the flow of
weapons, which include German MP-5 submachine guns, and that PA
Chief of Preventative Security, Jibril Rajoub, is working to curb
the activity.  "If even one percent of the weapons smuggled into
Nablus, and specifically the submachine guns, ends up in the
hands of Hamas, we will be in deep trouble," a military source
said.  (Israel Consulate- NY)

HIZBULLAH THREATENS TO LAUNCH ATTACKS FROM WITHIN ISRAEL
IsraelWire-7/4

In a statement released over the weekend by Sheik Hassan
Nasrallah, the leader of Hizbullah, the guerilla organization has
threatened to send 'fighters' inside Israel to launch attacks if
Israel continues it military operations against targets in
southern Lebanon.  Nasrallah called for an end to the presence of
"Israeli occupational forces".

During a Lebanese television interview, the Hizbullah leader
addressed the Katyusha attack against northern Israel communities
which claimed two lives, injured over one dozen persons and
caused NIS tens of millions in damages.  Nasrallah called the
Katyusha attacks against Israel a 'deterrent' aimed at dissuading
the continued Israeli presence in the security zone.

Nasrallah added that Israeli strikes against targets in Beirut
will do noting to provide security for Israel's northern border
and the Hizbullah leader promised that the attacks will be met
with continued Hizbullah attacks against Israeli targets.
Nasrallah added that the September 4, 1997 killing of one dozen
Israeli naval commandos in Tyre and the attack in which
Brig.-Gen.  Erez Gerstein was killed several months ago, was an
indicator that Hizbullah can penetrate Israel's intelligence
network and hit targets at will.

ISRAELI DIG FINDS TRACES OF LOST CITY OF ABRAHAM
by Matthew Kalman Hebron July 4, 1999 London Times

Archeologists believe they have found the heart of the ancient
city of Hebron, where Abraham, the Hebrew patriarch, lived 3,700
years ago.  On the site of an Israeli settlement, in territory
claimed by both Arabs and Jews, excavations have uncovered a
9ft-thick city wall and fortified tower that have been dated to
the middle bronze period, circa 1700BC.  Scholars say this is
about the time when, according to the biblical story, Abraham -
who was ordered by God to sacrifice his son Isaac as a test of
faith - came to the city.

Between the tower and the city wall, researchers have unearthed
two stone-walled rooms that they believe also date back to the
period of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, whose 12 sons became the
founders of the 12 tribes of ancient Israel.  Artefacts found in
the rooms include silver jewellery, bronze axeheads, two scarabs
and the handle of a dagger.

"You usually find such things in tombs because people were buried
with their belongings, but to find them here on the floor gives
us a more precise date," said Emanuel Eisenberg, in charge of the
work.  Royal seals from the period of the kings of Israel several
hundred years later were found in another layer, clearly
identifying the location as biblical Hebron.  "This is the
ancient city of Hebron - no doubt about it," said Eisenberg.

PEACE PROCESS

HAMAS OFFICIAL CALLS ON ARAFAT TO DECLARE OSLO'S FAILURE PUBLICLY
Occupied Jerusalem June 26, 1999 Hamas News

Hamas official Musa Abu Marzuk has called on Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yaser Arafat to "publicly declare the failure
of the Oslo Accords" in order to put an end to state of confusion
and despair among Palestinians.  Abu Marzuk was quoted by the
Ramallah-based daily al Ayyam as saying that the only way out of
the current deep predicament was by declaring the end of Oslo.
"Arafat should appear before the people and solemnly declare the
end of Oslo like saying 'I signed the Oslo Accords for the
interest of my people, and for the interest of my people I
declare the end of Oslo,' this would reunite the Palestinian
people and return all of us to the ABCs of the Palestinian
question."

Abu Marzuk dismissed the change of government in the Zionist
regime, saying the downfall of Netanyahu and the ascension of
Barak wouldn't lead to any genuine breakthrough in the peace
process.  The ideas of Netanyahu and Barak, Abu Marzuk said, were
very similar.  Abu Marzuk admitted that Hamas virtually froze its
military operations for political reason, adding however that the
movement would not abandon armed struggle under any
circumstances.  "If Hamas abandoned armed struggle, it wouldn't
be Hamas, it would be some other movement," he said.

CLINTON GIVES PALESTINIANS SUPPORT
By Barry Schweid AP Diplomatic Writer Washington (AP) July 01

Pledging new peacemaking efforts in the Middle East, President
Clinton offered broad support to Palestinians' aspirations
Thursday and said they should be free to live ``wherever they
like.'' Using a visit by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak as a
springboard, Clinton began to lay out U.S.  positions on a string
of touchy issues bound to confront Israel and the Arabs if they
resumed negotiations.  "We now have a real chance to move the
peace process forward in the Middle East,'' Clinton told
reporters after he and Mubarak met for more than two hours in the
Oval Office and over lunch in the White House residence.

Mubarak, for his part, offered to hold separate talks with
Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak, who is on the verge of
finally setting up a new government, Syrian President Hafez Assad
and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.  The Egyptian leader said
he was confident Israel's new prime minister would implement
accords reached with the Palestinians by two predecessors, the
late Yitzhak Rabin and Benjamin Netanyahu.  ``We remain most
willing and determined to do all we can,'' he said in asserting
the role of moderating force that Egypt assumed 20 years ago when
it became the first Arab state to make peace with Israel.  At the
same time, Mubarak called for a suspension of Israeli settlements
on the West Bank and in Gaza, where the Palestinians envision
having a state, and sharply criticized Israel for retaliating to
a Hezbollah rocket attack by bombing southern Lebanon.

"Such actions only poison the atmosphere in the region,'' he said
at a joint news conference with Clinton.  ``They create an
erosion of the people's confidence in the process at a time when
we are working hard to encourage the parties to take
confidence-building measures.''

Mubarak is likely to be followed here within a few weeks by Barak
in what Clinton and his senior advisers hope will initiate steps
by Israel to meet Arab demands.  Clinton said that he would
prefer waiting for the conclusion of that visit to make his own
views public and that terms of a settlement were up to the
parties to decide.  But responding to questions, the president
provided some insight into this thinking.

For the first time, Clinton spoke in support of Palestinian
refugees, who for generations have claimed they were expelled
from their homes with the establishment of Israel in 1948 and are
demanding a right to return.  "I would like it if the Palestinian
people felt free and were free to live wherever they like,
wherever they want to live,'' Clinton said.  Also, Clinton said a
settlement between Israel and Arafat's Palestinian Authority ``is
also the best way for Palestinians to shape their own future on
their own land.''

As for Israel, Clinton criticized settlements as ``unilateral
actions'' that should be deferred pending negotiations with the
Palestinians.  He said the land-for-security agreement Netanyahu
reached last year with Arafat should be carried out.  It would
give the Palestinians control of an additional 14.1 percent of
the West Bank.  After surrendering 2 percent, Netanyahu stopped,
saying Arafat had not done enough to uproot terrorist cells on
land already held by the Palestinians.

Clinton said "the best way for the Israelis to have lasting
security is a negotiated peace based on mutual respect.'' He also
said it was "the best way for Palestinians to shape their own
future on their own land.'' Clinton recalled his direct
involvement in the Middle East dispute for six years.  "No one
can accuse me of dodging Middle East questions.  I've been up to
my ears and eyeballs in this peace process since the day I took
office,'' he said.  "But if you just look at it as a practical
matter, the agreement that is made in the end, whether refugees
go home depends in part on how long they (the Palestinians) have
been away and whether they wish to go home.''

ISRAEL'S BARAK IN FIRST CLASH WITH CLINTON
Reuters July 2, 1999 Jerusalem

Israel's Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak Friday rejected remarks
by Clinton that he would like to see Palestinian refugees free to
live "wherever they like.'' "President Clinton's stance on the
matter of the right of return, as it might be understood from his
remarks yesterday in Washington, is unacceptable to Barak,'' said
a spokeswoman for Barak, who is due to become Israel's leader
next week.  "It's apparently a misunderstanding, and it would
have been appropriate for the administration to clarify and
correct it,'' spokeswoman Merav Parsi-Tzadok said in a statement.

ISRAEL'S BARAK PROMISES TO MEET ARAFAT, MAKE PEACE
Reuters July 2, 1999 Jerusalem

Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak and Palestinian President
Yasser Arafat agreed Friday to meet soon after Barak takes office
next week and together make peace, Barak's spokesman said.  It
would be the first Israeli-Palestinian summit in nearly seven
months.  Israel's rightist Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
froze peace moves with the Palestinians last December.  Barak's
spokesman gave no date for the forthcoming meeting.  "The prime
minister-elect said in the conversation that it's his intention
to continue along the path of (late prime minister) Yitzhak Rabin
and get the peace process moving in order to end the conflict,''
spokesman David Zisso said.  "The prime minister-elect and Arafat
agreed to arrange a meeting shortly after the government is
presented to the Knesset.''

MIDDLE EAST

U.S.[CFR] REPORT SAYS PALESTINIANS NEED PROFOUND PUBLIC REFORMS
June 28, 1999 By Samar Assad, Associated Press Ramallah, West
Bank (AP)

The Palestinian self-rule government needs a profound makeover to
become more democratic, including a stronger judiciary and
legislature, a U.S.-based task force said Monday.  Yasser
Arafat's Palestinian Authority welcomed the report by the Council
on Foreign Relations, saying it wants to carry out reforms ahead
of achieving statehood, as it hopes to do by 2000.  Arafat has
been criticized in the past by Palestinians and others for
concentrating too much power in his own hands, sidelining the
legislature and imposing little accountability on officials and
security forces.

Project director Henry Siegman said his group's report was meant
as a road map for more pluralistic, democratic institutions.  "We
have made it clear that not to reform is not an option,'' Siegman
told a news conference in the West Bank town of Ramallah.  The
New York-based Council on Foreign Relations is a group of retired
senior diplomats and public figures.

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