From:
www.IsraelNationalNews.com
Sunday, July 30, 2000 / Tammuz 27, 5760
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. ONE FOOT OUT THE DOOR
2. GOVERNMENT WILL NOT FALL TOMORROW
3. CLINTON INSPIRED TO MOVE EMBASSY
4. HAREIDI PARTIES WILL DECIDE ON PRESIDENT
5. BARAK'S "NEW PRIORITIES"
6. ALBRIGHT TO MEET POPE
7. TERRORIST TRAINING IN LEBANON
8. CAUGHT IN THE ACT
9. PA CLAMPS DOWN ON OPPONENTS
10. FORMER JEWISH AGENCY OFFICIAL DIES
11. IN BRIEF
1. ONE FOOT OUT THE DOOR
Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced this afternoon from the
Knesset podium that he must "make peace or at least an interim
agreement with the opposition." The declaration comes after
Foreign Minister David Levy announced today that he is on the
verge of resigning his ministerial post. Levy met with Prime
Minister Barak this morning, who attempted to convince him to
stay in the government. In one of the many interviews he granted
over the past few days, Levy said that he joined the government
"on the basis of a completely different set of guidelines," and
that his tensions with Ehud Barak are "not merely ideological,
but also personal." Public Security Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami - who
is known for his strong left-wing political views - was
responsible for the secret Stockholm talks that served as the
basis for Israel's far-reaching concessions to the PA at the Camp
David summit. Levy implied that he feels that, as Foreign
Minister, he was unjustly excluded from the negotiations.
After meeting with Ehud Barak this morning, David Levy met for an
hour with Yisrael B'Aliyah leader and former Interior Minister
Natan Sharansky. Sharansky has been outspoken in his support for
a national unity government, and even set up a protest tent
during the Camp David talks to promote the move. Levy then met
again with Prime Minister Barak for an hour. At the conclusion of
the final meeting, Levy stated: "If efforts are not made in the
coming days to form a national unity government, I will resign as
Foreign Minister and will vote to disperse the Knesset on
Wednesday." Political commentators quickly noted the ambiguous
language in the announcement, which leaves open the possibility
that Levy will remain Foreign Minister even if no such government
is formed: To date, Likud leader MK Ariel Sharon has publicly
dismissed any option of a national unity government. Levy said
this afternoon that a symbolic call by Barak to a defiant Sharon
will not suffice as a "real effort."
Labor party Secretary-General Ra�anan Cohen today demanded that
David Levy's Gesher party immediately pay monies it owes the One
Israel umbrella party, of which Gesher is a part. Coalition whip
Ophir Pines-Paz is upset with Cohen, noting that timing the
monetary demand with the current crisis is not coincidental, and
is "tantamount to pouring lighter fluid" on the already tense
relations between Barak and Levy.
2. GOVERNMENT WILL NOT FALL TOMORROW
The no-confidence vote in the government, slated for tomorrow, is
bound to fail as Foreign Minister Levy's threat to vote to
disperse the Knesset on Wednesday, implies his support for the
government in tomorrow's no-confidence vote. The move has
significant political implications: If the opposition were to win
its no-confidence motion - which requires the votes of Levy and
his brother MK Maxim Levy - the government would fall instantly,
and the law would then require new elections within 90 days.
However, a passing of the bill to disperse the Knesset on
Wednesday must survive several more readings in the Knesset Law
Committee and the Knesset. Since the Knesset is about to take
its mid-summer recess, a final reading of the bill would only
take place some time in October. Voice of Israel commentator
Yaron Dekel said late this afternoon that this stretch of time
"provides Ehud Barak with more time to sign an agreement with the
Palestinians."
Speaking from Likud party headquarters this afternoon, Likud
leader MK Ariel Sharon was apparently disturbed by the political
developments. He said that after having met with Prime Minister
Barak last week, he became convinced that the Camp David summit
failure was orchestrated by Barak and US President Clinton.
Sharon claims that as the talks collapsed, Barak and Clinton
agreed that negotiations would continue into the fall, and would
conclude in October "just in time for the US elections."
3. CLINTON INSPIRED TO MOVE EMBASSY
"I have always wanted to do it. I've always thought it was the
right thing to do. But I didn't want to do anything to undermine
the peace process ... But it's something that I have taken under
review now because of the recent events." So says US President
Clinton, in an interview commissioned by Prime Minister Barak,
and broadcast on Israel's Channel One television.
Clinton's declaration is a positive development, but late in
coming, says Israel's former ambassador to the United States,
Zalman Shoval. Speaking with Arutz-7 today, Shoval said: "We, as
Israelis - and all Jews, for that matter - want the US to rectify
the injustice by finally moving the embassy to our capital. But
we are not so naive to think that this initiative is unrelated to
the latest political developments at Camp David... All US
ambassadors always came to Jerusalem, but Clinton said that he
was afraid that moving the embassy would have political
ramifications in the Arab and Catholic world. Many people have
forgotten that several years ago, Congress approved, by a huge
majority, an act mandating the US embassy move from Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem. The law, however, entitles the President to delay the
move for reasons of 'national security.' He's been pushing it off
for several years now..."
PA officials reacted strongly to the US President's statement.
Regarding this, Shoval said: "Though President Clinton has an
interest that the talks with the Palestinians end successfully,
he also has his eye on the senatorial race in New York....
Moreover, Clinton and his aides understand that the Palestinian
threats on the matter are empty. The PA is financially dependent
on the United States, and Arafat is the singularly most unpopular
person in the Congress. In short, Clinton is not too fazed by the
response..."
4. HAREIDI PARTIES WILL DECIDE ON PRESIDENT
Secret-ballot elections for President of the State of Israel will
take place tomorrow morning at 11:00 AM in the Knesset. The only
two candidates are Labor's Shimon Peres and the Likud's Moshe
Katzav. At approximately 12:45 PM, the President-Elect will be
informed of the results by the Knesset Speaker and his deputies.
On Tuesday evening at 6:30 PM a swearing-in ceremony of the new
President will be held in the Knesset.
The Shas Council of Torah Sages today decided to offer its
Knesset members the freedom to vote as they wish in the
presidential elections. Rabbis of the United Torah Judaism
party's Council of Sages have not yet announced their decision.
Together, the two hareidi parties boast 22 Knesset members, and
will be instrumental in determining the outcome of the contest.
Minister Shimon Peres handed in his letter of resignation from
the government today. This allows him to be sworn in as Israel's
new President on Tuesday, should he win tomorrow's elections. If
Peres loses, he will still be able to withdraw his letter of
resignation before it takes effect 48 hours from now.
5. BARAK'S "NEW PRIORITIES"
At today's weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Barak announced
that after the collapse of the Camp David talks, his government
would now concentrate on educational, health and welfare issues.
The Likud scoffed at the new government agenda, saying: "More
than one year after he was elected, Prime Minister Barak has just
remembered that the State of Israel has social problems, which
Barak completely ignored despite the fact that he was elected to
solve them." Likud MK Danny Naveh added, that in his party's
view, Prime Minister Barak is a "Serial Stumbler" in both the
diplomatic and domestic spheres.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met in Jericho this afternoon
to discuss further IDF withdrawals and the release of more
Palestinian Arab terrorists. Matters involving transportation,
water and environment, will be deliberated upon in the coming
days. Justice Minister (and Oslo Accord architect) Yossi Beilin
said today that Israel would never agree to a Palestinian "right
of return." He asserted: "If the Palestinians insist on striving
for a right of return [to 'Green Line' Israel] this will be the
end of the peace process."
6. ALBRIGHT TO MEET POPE
US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright plans to meet with the
Pope on the issue of Jerusalem. Albright, who is presently in
Japan, will soon depart for Rome. She told reporters that she
hopes the Palestinians, the Israelis and Arab leaders will
reconsider their respective positions following the Camp David
summit�s collapse, and will prepare for a new round of talks. In
Albright�s words, the United States "will help with a new round
of talks, and will even do it with greater determination than
before."
7. TERRORIST TRAINING IN LEBANON
Security sources in Jerusalem have learned that since the
withdrawal of the IDF from southern Lebanon, the Hizbullah terror
organization has joined forces with Palestinian groups with the
aim of planning and executing terrorist attacks in Israel. To
this end, Hizbullah is conducting joint training exercises with
Palestinian terrorist groups and under the guidance of Iran, is
developing new strategies for the kidnapping of IDF soldiers.
Over the past month, two Hizbullah terrorist cells have succeeded
in penetrating into Israel, in the Har Dov region. In both cases,
the terrorists returned to Lebanese territory without entering
into a confrontation with the IDF. Ha'aretz reports today that
some Israeli security officials believe that the terrorists did
not initially know they had crossed the border; others maintain
that Hizbullah acted deliberately and used the exercise to both
test the IDF's reaction and to gather intelligence information.
It has also been reported that, along the entire northern border,
Hizbullah soldiers are noticeably active, sometimes operating
from within outposts abandoned by the IDF in southern Lebanon.
Meanwhile, United Nations forces continue to deploy along the
northern border in southern Lebanon. All told, some 8,000 UNIFIL
troops are expected to take positions at eight points on the
border. Arutz-7 correspondent Kobi Finkler reports that Lebanese
villagers continue to hurl rocks at Israelis from the area of the
Fatma Gate. IDF troops regularly shoot warning shots in the air
to ward off Lebanese civilians who try to cross the border.
8. CAUGHT IN THE ACT
Antiquities thieves were caught red-handed late last week by
Antiquities Authority supervisors. The inspectors noticed three
Palestinian Arabs engaging in illegal diggings in 3,500 year-old
burial caves in the Judea region. The Arabs, prior to being
caught, had successfully recovered dozens of ancient vessels that
had been buried with the dead there. An Israeli police spokesman
announced that the group is the fourth such cell apprehended this
year from the same Arab village. In related news, a rare coin,
2000 years old, was confiscated by police today in a Jerusalem
antique store. The bronze coin bears the caption: "To redeem the
holy city of Jerusalem." The merchant caught with the coin
admitted that he had transgressed an Antiquities law that
obligates him to register the coin in his stock.
9. PA CLAMPS DOWN ON OPPONENTS
Palestinian Authority security forces yesterday arrested Hamas
terror organization senior, Abdul Aziz Rantisi. A Hamas spokesman
told the French news agency today that a group of Palestinian
paramilitary policemen arrived at Rantisi's house and arrested
him without offering an explanation as to why. A spokesman for
the PA police confirmed the Rantisi arrest, and said that the
action was taken given "the false accusations against the PA
spread by Rantisi in the media." Last week, Rantisi granted
interviews to television stations from various Arab countries,
during which he sounded harsh criticisms against the PA.
10. FORMER JEWISH AGENCY OFFICIAL DIES
Uri Gordon, long time head of Immigration and Absorption at the
Jewish Agency, died after a long illness at the age of 65. Gordon
was responsible for the transport to Israel of some 14,000
Ethiopian Jews in Operation Solomon. In addition, he was
intimately involved in the aliyah and absorption of nearly half a
million immigrants from Russia and other countries during his
tenure. While serving in the United States, Gordon worked towards
improving communications between Jews in Israel and their
brethren in the Diaspora. Gordon insisted that prospective
members of Telem, an organization that he founded, accept upon
themselves the obligation to make aliyah to Israel. Uri Gordon
will be buried in Ramat HaSharon tomorrow after a memorial
ceremony in Jerusalem.
11. IN BRIEF
A heat wave has hit Israel. Temperatures in Jerusalem
and the Judean Hills today reached 41 Celsius (105.8 Fahrenheit).
Tomorrow, a high of 44 Celsius (111.2 Fahrenheit) is expected in
the Arava and Eilat regions. Temperatures are expected to fall on
Tuesday of this week...
Voice of Israel radio reported this afternoon on a large
fire in the southern sector of the Golan Heights. The likely
cause is a downed electrical line. Officials of the National
Parks Authority are concerned that the fire will harm the
region's turtle population. A total of 200 dunams of natural
brush has so far been destroyed. The fire is presently spreading
to an area of minefields, left over from previous wars.
Representatives of the National Parks Authority and Jewish
National Fund are on hand, and special fire- extinguishing
helicopters are attempting to put out the blaze...
Israeli taxpayers spent more than 11 million shekels to
finance the Israel delegation's trip to Camp David this month.
According to an official Foreign Ministry document just made
public, prior to Camp David, another four million shekels had
been spent in the year 2000 for expenses entailed in the talks
with the Palestinians...
Hebrew News Editor: Effie Meir and Haggai Seri
English News Editor: Ron Meir
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Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day.
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