To: arutz-7@ArutzSheva.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@ArutzSheva.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News Brief: Friday, December 3,
1999
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.arutzsheva.org>
Friday, December 3, 1999 / Kislev 24, 5760
------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. ARAB CONSTRUCTION ON TEMPLE MOUNT BEMOANED
2. NATIONAL COUNCIL ON THE GOLAN
1. ARAB CONSTRUCTION ON TEMPLE MOUNT BEMOANED
The Temple Mount movements plan to petition the Supreme Court against the
illegal Moslem Waqf construction works on the Mount. They have already
demanded that the Attorney-General order the works frozen, and forbid
further construction materials and heavy equipment from being brought to
the site. Legal and other experts are of the assumption that the State
Prosecution will have trouble justifying its traditional stance against
government intervention, because the present situation is strong evidence
that the State is unsuccessful in supervising the Waqf's activities.
Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert has ordered a stop-work order on Waqf
activities in the Solomon's Stables area under the Temple Mount. He has
also instructed the city's District Attorney to begin proceedings against
the Waqf for the works it has already carried out.
"Now that the terrible crime, of which we have warned time and time again,
has been completed," states the Temple Mount Faithful Movement, "and its
grave dimensions are now clear, while our voice was like a lonely cry in
the wilderness, the Attorney-General wakes up and claims that 'the remnants
of Jewish history are being trampled and kicked on the Temple Mount.'
True, but too little, too late..." The organization plans to turn to the
United Nations to protest "its silence in the face of this destruction of
the most holy site to the People of Israel, while rushing to condemn Israel
for legal construction activities in its own capital city."
2. NATIONAL COUNCIL ON THE GOLAN
Hundreds of people took part last night in the founding convention of the
National Council for the Golan. The event was held in the Binyanei Ha'Umah
Convention Center in Jerusalem. The presidium of the Council includes
public figures from both the right and left of the political spectrum,
including Likud MK and former Defense Minister Moshe Arens, former Israel
Air Force Commander Herzl Budinger, former Labor party government Minister
Shlomo Hillel, and Gen. (res.) Yaakov Chisdai. They have decided to open
with an information campaign concentrating on the issues of water and
security.
********************************************************************
To: arutz-7@ArutzSheva.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@ArutzSheva.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Sunday, December 5, 1999
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.arutzsheva.org>
Sunday, December 5, 1999 / Kislev 26, 5760 - eve of the 3rd night of
Chanukah ------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. EFFORTS TO BLOCK WAQF
2. BARAK TO P.A.: YES OR NO?
1. EFFORTS TO BLOCK WAQF
The Waqf's construction works on the Temple Mount continued
uninterrupted over the weekend. The Jerusalem Municipality has begun
legal proceedings against the works, and sought a court order today to
block them. If the Moslem Waqf does not halt its activities there
within a week, the city will ask for police intervention. The Moslems
have recently opened a 12-meter wide opening in the Solomon's Stables
area under the southern area of the Temple Mount, and great damage to
Jewish archeological artifacts there is feared.
Prime Minister Barak refuses to hear criticism by Likud members of his
handling of the matter. "To hear criticism of our judgement from some
of the main players in the [Hasmonean] Tunnels fiasco," he said today,
"the ramifications of which we have made an effort to neutralize, but
which helped foster the friction between the Waqf and the police,
which has in turn brought about a situation whereby Waqf works are
occasionally carried out without being coordinated with the
Antiquities Authority - to hear criticism from those who were key
players in this fiasco, is... strange, and even absurd."
2. BARAK TO P.A.: YES OR NO?
"If there is a way to reach an agreement with the Palestinians, then
it's time to do so, but if there isn't - then we might as well know
that right now." So said Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Friday in a
meeting with newspaper editors in Tel Aviv. "The process has been
pushed along by Israel always giving, while the Palestinians only
take. If this continues, we will be left with no strategic assets for
the final-status agreement." Regarding a unilateral withdrawal from
Lebanon, Barak has decided that this option will be examined in depth
only five months from now, if talks with Syria have not been resumed
by then.
***********************************************************************
To: arutz-7@ArutzSheva.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@ArutzSheva.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Monday, December 6, 1999
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.arutzsheva.org>
Monday, December 6, 1999 / Kislev 27, 5760
------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. WAQF WORKS GO ON
2. ISRAELIS: P.A. CAUSES ARTIFICIAL CRISIS FOR ALBRIGHT
3. PALESTINIAN INCITEMENT: A DEEPER LEVEL
4. SHARON SETS CONDITIONS FOR LEBANON WITHDRAWAL
SPECIAL INSERT: Yehuda Etzion, head of Chai Vekayam
1. WAQF WORKS GO ON
Despite Jerusalem Affairs Minister Chaim Ramon's announcement today
that the Waqf construction works on the Temple Mount have ceased,
Knesset Members touring the site this morning learned that such is not
the case. Members of the Knesset Education Committee - responsible for
the Antiquities Authority - recounted afterwards that which they saw
today at the new entrance opened illegally by the Waqf: "We saw
extensive works being carried out, involving the opening-up of the
large arches there. Two of the arches have already been opened, and
the Moslems have broken through the third. The police are trying to
stop this, but the Moslems are continuing to work, and we saw trucks
and much activity going on."
Chairman Zevulun Orlev said, "There is no ethnic dispute here, it is a
dispute over sovereignty - does the State of Israel enforce its laws
on the Temple Mount or not?" Committee member MK Silvan Shalom
(Likud) disagreed:
"It is not just a question of violating the Antiquities Law, which is
an important issue in itself. There are also deep religious-political
ramifications: We heard from several sources that the reason the Waqf
is doing this is to prevent the Jews from being able to pray on the
only place on the Temple Mount where they are halakhically permitted
to do so."
Other reactions:
* Antiquities Authority Head Amir Drori: "The harm to the Jewish
artifacts on the Mount has been very great, and you don't have to be
an expert to see that. Those archaeologists who say otherwise have
not been here before, and I can't imagine what their motives might
be."
* Likud MK Limor Livnat: "The government knew about these activities
three months ago - after all, the police allowed the trucks in - and
yet it did nothing to stop it. The government is simply collapsing in
face of threats by the Waqf. This must be investigated."
* Labor MK Ophir Pines-Paz, head of the Archaeology Lobby in the
Knesset: "The damage to Jewish artifacts there is great... The Likud
has no right to speak, however - where were they for two years while
the largest mosque in the country was being built [during the Likud's
term in government] in the Solomon's Stables area?"
* Gershon Solomon, head of the Temple Mount Faithful: "We plan to
petition the Supreme Court tomorrow - this will be our second petition
on this matter. Until now, the Court has shown a tendency to justify
the Waqf positions and its right to act on the Temple Mount as if it
was its own. I'm a bit more optimistic regarding tomorrow's petition,
but the government will still claim - falsely - that the Waqf
activities were done with its consent."
* Yehuda Etzion, head of Chai Vekayam: "Over the past few days there
were two events: the Waqf's break-through of an entryway under the
Temple Mount, and on the other hand, a very inspiring and moving
ceremony last night of the unveiling of a kosher [Temple] Menorah...
The latter [event is clearly the more significant, as] I am certain
that the Jewish People will return to the Temple Mount and the Temple
will be rebuilt..." (Additional excerpts from Etzion's remarks are
included at the end of this report.)
2. ISRAELIS: P.A. CAUSES ARTIFICIAL CRISIS FOR ALBRIGHT
American emissary Dennis Ross has arrived in Israel, and met at length
with Prime Minister Barak last night. U.S. Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright will arrive in Israel tomorrow night. Aides to
Prime Minister Barak say that it is in anticipation of Albright's
visit that the Palestinians caused a crisis and walked out on today's
session of the final-status talks with Israel. PA negotiator Yasser
Abed Rabbo said that the PA's demand that Israel cease construction of
Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria has been ignored.
The Meretz party came to the PA's aid when it threatened to quit the
government coalition if the construction in Yesha is not halted.
Meretz leader Yossi Sarid strongly criticized the government's
decision not to allow Arabs to live in the IDF firing-range area near
Maon, where the Maon farm was recently dismantled.
3. PALESTINIAN INCITEMENT: A DEEPER LEVEL
A significant change of emphasis in Palestinian anti-Israel incitement
has been noted of late by observers of the situation. Itamar Marcus,
chairman of the Palestinian Media Watch, explained to Arutz-7 today:
"The government ministers, both in this and the previous
administrations, have a basic misconception in the way they view PA
incitement. They seem to think that incitement is merely a statement
here or there that may be anti-Israel. In truth, however, it's much
deeper than that. There is a general trend and desire on the part of
the Palestinian Authority to increase its people's hatred against
Israel. For example, Palestinian Television recently screened a
movie, in which an Israeli-Arab boy kills an Israeli soldier, then
dies a 'martyr's' death at the hands of other Israeli soldiers, and
with his last words, says, 'I killed a Zionist!' They simply want to
build hatred..."
Marcus added that there is a tendency among Israelis not to believe
the hatred expressed for them by Palestinians, because it is so
exaggerated. "People think that it obviously can't be as bad as it
sounds. But this is exactly what happened with the Nazis in World War
II, as well as before the Yom Kippur War. No one believed that our
enemies were actually planning what they said they were planning."
An interview in English with Itamar Marcus can be heard on Arutz-7's
website at <A
href="http://www.a7.org/engclips/061299/marcus-incitement.ram">
www.a7.org/engclips/061299/marcus-incitement.ram
</a>.
4. SHARON SETS CONDITIONS FOR LEBANON WITHDRAWAL
Likud leader MK Ariel Sharon granted a rare interview yesterday, and
outlined for Arutz-7's Ariel Kahane the Likud's position on a
withdrawal from Lebanon. "Israel has no interest in remaining in
Lebanon," Sharon said, "but one of the main conditions must be that
the Lebanon and Syria negotiating tracks must be conducted separately.
If not, and assuming that Syria does not get exactly what it wants
from Israel, the result will be greater pressure by Hizbullah and
other terror organizations, and our soldiers and our northern
communities will effectively be held hostage to the negotiations."
Sharon said that if Israel and Lebanon do not arrive at a mutually
agreeable withdrawal arrangement, "it must be made perfectly clear to
the Lebanese that Israel will react harshly if shots our fired on our
retreating forces, or if attacks of any type are made upon our
northern communities. Israel will take actions similar to those of
the U.S. in Yugoslavia. There will simply be no infrastructures left
in Lebanon! Syria has great interests in Lebanon, such that Syria will
have an interest in ensuring that quiet is maintained in the north."
SPECIAL INSERT:
Yehuda Etzion, head of the Chai Vekayam Temple organization, speaking
today on the broader aspects of the recent events on the Temple Mount:
"The Holy Temple is the central site around which all of our prayers
are concentrated, the meeting point between G-d and the Jewish people,
the central point of all of Judaism. Since the exile, however, there
has been a feeling of distance between us and G-d, as if He is only in
Heaven and we are below, separate. Our feelings of immediate
closeness with G-d have been lost. For some reason, we are not doing
enough to try to revive this connection. The leadership in this area
is not coming from the rabbis, unfortunately - except for a few
distinguished rabbis such as Rabbi Dov Lior and Rabbi Yisrael Ariel -
but rather from the public. But these actions are too few and far
between, and we all must ask ourselves what more we must do - go up to
the [Halakhically-permissible places] there, demand to pray there,
write about it, talk about it - we must get ourselves to feel that
something is missing. We must rise above the routine of daily life,
and be activated by strivings for completeness... Yes, it is very
frustrating to see the aggressiveness of the Moslems in making their
claim to the Mount, while we seem to be literally dragging our feet.
But we believe that it is never too late... There is a covenant
between the Jewish people and G-d, and I am sure that we will overcome
this situation...
"For instance, over the past few days there were two events: the
Waqf's break-through of an entryway under the Temple Mount, and on the
other hand, a very inspiring and moving ceremony last night of the
unveiling of a kosher Menorah that can be used - tomorrow, if need be-
in the Beit HaMikdash. If you ask me which of the two events is more
significant, the answer is clearly the latter one. This is because
the construction of the Menorah is part of the paving of the way for
our rebuilding of the Temple, while the Ishmaelites, who have taken
control over the Temple Mount, will fall. Their control will come to
an end - I don't know if it will be tomorrow, or if it will be very
soon, but I am certain that it will happen, and I am certain that the
Jewish People will return to the Temple Mount and the Temple will be
rebuilt. The question is how and when, and whether we are doing
enough to bring this - and the fact is that we are not doing enough,
and everyone must ask himself what he can do more in this direction."
***********************************************************************
To: arutz-7@arutzsheva.org
From: Arutz-7 Editor <neteditor@arutzsheva.org>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Tuesday, December 7, 1999
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.arutzsheva.org>
Tuesday, Dec.7, 1999 / Kislev 28, 5760 - 4th Day of Hanukkah
------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. BARAK CAPITULATES TO NEW PA-MERETZ DEMANDS
2. ALBRIGHT ARRIVES
3. CITY OF JERUSALEM TO BLOCK WAQF; TIBI THREATENS WAR
1. BARAK CAPITULATES TO NEW PA-MERETZ DEMANDS
Less than one day after the Palestinians stopped the final status
talks in response to construction in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza (Yesha),
Prime Minister Ehud Barak has announced that his government will not
issue any new building tenders for construction in Yesha communities.
Yesterday, the Palestinians initiated a crisis when they walked out on
a session of the final-status talks with Israel. PA negotiator Yasser
Abed Rabbo cited construction of Jewish towns in Judea and Samaria as
the reason for the walk-out.
In a conversation with senior Labor party activists last night, Barak
said, "the settlements are causing Israel great damage," and that he
would therefore not approve any new tenders while negotiations with
the Palestinians continue. This morning, Justice Minister Yossi
Beilin observed that there was no point in building in Yesha
communities "that would at any rate be transferred to the
Palestinians." Regarding those communities which - according to
Beilin - would not be uprooted, "construction may continue
unrestricted only after the consummation of a final-status deal."
Housing Minister Rabbi Yitzchak Levy (NRP) says that he knows of no
changes in Prime Minister Barak's construction policy. In an
interview with Arutz-7 today, Levy said that Barak's comments "were
likely misunderstood, since the reports of what he said are
inconsistent with government policy, according to which, to my sorrow,
new settlements will not be built, but existing ones are entitled to
develop." Levy suggested that Barak was "just discounting the issuing
of building tenders on the scale of 500 apartments at a time."
The Yesha Council expressed greater wariness of Barak's declaration,
and today demanded "clarifications" on the matter. Atty. Shlomo Filber
- Director-General of the Yesha Council - told Arutz-7's Kobi Sela
today: "It is becoming increasingly apparent that the people who are
directing our Yesha policy are none other than Yossi Beilin and Yossi
Sarid." Filber was hinting at the threat issued by Sarid's Meretz
party yesterday to quit the government if Yesha construction was not
halted. "If the report of a planned building freeze is true," Filber
added, "then the approaches of both Yesha residents and the Yesha
Council are bound to change radically... What happens in the weeks
ahead - whether tenders are issued in practice or not - will determine
our next steps."
2. ALBRIGHT ARRIVES
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited Damascus today.
Members of her entourage say that Syria is "still interested" in
renewing talks with Israel. Albright arrived in Jerusalem this
afternoon, where she met with Prime Minister Barak. She is slated to
meet Yasser Arafat in Ramallah tomorrow.
3. CITY OF JERUSALEM TO BLOCK WAQF; TIBI THREATENS WAR
The Temple Mount controversy took a new turn today when the legal
advisor of the Jerusalem municipality issued an order to halt Waqf
building activity on the Temple Mount. City officials also intend to
launch legal proceedings against all elements responsible for
violating the zoning and construction laws in the area. Prime Minister
Barak is hosting a "comprehensive deliberation" on the issue in his
office today. Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert - who reportedly has some
concrete proposals of how to handle the crisis - has also been invited
to attend the meeting.
Justice Minister Yossi Beilin is troubled by the new activism
emanating from the Jerusalem Municipality. "Ever since 1967, no
Israeli government has tried to fully exercise Israeli sovereignty
over the Temple Mount," Beilin said today. "The issue there is a
'very sensitive one..., and every Moslem home boasts a photograph of
the Al-Aksa Mosque." Jerusalem businessman Yisrael Goldberg has found
that Jewish Israelis are also fond of the Temple Mount. Speaking with
Arutz-7 today, Goldberg told of how he sold and distributed hundreds
of thousands of copies of a photo-montage of the Temple on the Temple
Mount. "People from all walks of Israeli life, religious Jews and
many who do not wear yarmulkas, common folk and politicians, and even
deputy mayors from all over the country - have mounted the picture in
prominent places in their homes and offices," he said.
The illegal Arab construction on the Temple Mount was also the central
issue of a popular Israeli talk show last night. One of the guests on
the show, Knesset member and former Arafat confidant Ahmed Tibi,
issued an on-air ultimatum to the Barak government. Following is an
excerpt from the interview:
Knesset Member Tibi: If the Israeli government and elements in the
right wing will not recognize -
Interviewer: Do you not identify with the Israeli side?
Knesset Member Tibi: No, not on this point..I am a Moslem, and I
identify with [the] Al-Aksa [Mosque]... If the Israeli government and
the Israeli side and people on the right refuse to recognize the
adminstrative authority of the Moslem Waqf, and continue to be
affected by the incitement coming from the right wing - then there
will be no 'Millenium' here, there will be an 'Apocalypse' here! If
someone has the nerve to contemplate closing the two entrances that
have been opened, I am saying to you, and this is a warning -
Interviewer: Are you saying this as a representative of Arafat or are
you expressing your own view?
Knesset Member Tibi: I know what will happen - if someone has the
nerve to close the entrances, he is declaring war on the Moselms!
In related news, two members of the Temple Mount Faithful movement
were permitted to enter the Temple Mount this afternoon. Police,
however, forbade the two to pray there or to carry any type of poster
or sign.
************************************************************************