To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com
From: Arutz-7 Editor <feedback@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Sunday, July 22, 2001
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Sunday, July 22, 2001 / Av 2, 5761
------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. G-8 PROVIDES ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PALESTINIAN TERRORISM
2. IS ARAFAT A MARKED MAN?
3. NETANYAHU VS. SHARON
1. G-8 PROVIDES ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PALESTINIAN TERRORISM
Official Palestinian Authority security organs issued a call last night for
their terrorist-operatives in the field to cease all violence, saying that
a ceasefire now is in the "Palestinian national interest." However,
Israeli security sources predicted that the call would fall on deaf ears,
following yesterday's announcement by the G-8 countries in favor of
agreed-upon international observers. The Israelis feel that the G-8's call
merely "whetted" the Palestinians' appetite for more gains, and that they
will resume intense violence when the G-8 conference adjourns.
(Foreign Minister Shimon Peres explained to incoming US Ambassador to
Israel Dan Kurtzer that the UNIFIL international observer in southern
Lebanon never succeeded in preventing attacks, and that Hamas would in any
event not allow monitoring forces into areas where bombs and suicide
bombers are prepared.)
Terrorism and violence have in fact not abated. Mortar shells were fired
at Netzarim in Gaza this afternoon, although they fell short and landed in
an area under PA control. Earlier, terrorists attempted to murder several
Jews when they fired at their cars outside Netzarim; one car was hit, but
no one was hurt. Arabs shot at Israeli soldiers today on the approach road
to Mount Eval north of Shechem. There were no injuries, and the soldiers
returned fire. This morning's attacks included an attempted Arabs bombing
of a schoolbus in the Mount Gilboa region, east of the PA city of Jenin,
Palestinian gunfire at an Israeli motorist on a Shechem bypass road; and
the light wounding of a soldier in a grenade attack in southern Gaza near
the Rafiach Crossing to Egypt - soldiers returned fire.
Arabs threw four grenades during the course of last night at the IDF
Southern District Coordinating Office in Gaza near N'vei Dekalim. A Border
Guard base near Bethlehem was similarly attacked. In both cases, no one
was hurt, and soldiers returned fire. Palestinians also attacked near Tul
Karem, and two armed terrorists near Netzarim, in Gaza, were engaged in
battle with Israeli forces before they fled.
2. IS ARAFAT A MARKED MAN?
A full-page ad in the weekly Makor Rishon newspaper is the latest subject
of radio talk-shows, political condemnations, and even criminal
charges. The ad, signed by Moshe Feiglin and other leaders of Zo Artzeinu
- the "This is Our Land" protest organization established in 1995 against
the Oslo policies of the Rabin government - called for nothing less than
the murder of Yasser Arafat. "In these days of bloodshed," it reads, "at
least one Jew a day is sacrificed on the Moloch altar of peace and
restraint, by direct order of arch-murderer Arafat, may his name be blotted
out. The government of Israel, instead of crushing the head of the snake,
and preventing vital supplies from reaching the leadership of the murderous
terrorist organization that he established, allows him in practice to
murder us at will. We call upon everyone within whom the spirit of justice
and integrity still flows, and finds himself with the opportunity, to kill
Arafat." Feiglin and the other signatories write that they expect to be
put on trial for their call, and that whoever heeds their call will as
well, but "we are turning to the courageous of spirit amongst us."
Feiglin told Arutz-7's Shai Ben-Tekoa today that he expects to be tried and
not exonerated: "It's true that Prof. Ze'ev Sternhall, writing in
Ha'aretz, gave advice to the Palestinians not to commit terrorism in
pre-1967 Israel, and only to kill settlers in Judea and Samaria, and it's
true that he will not be made to stand trial, but with us it will certainly
be different; this is Israel, what can we do... We are in a situation
where, ever since Oslo, everything is completely mixed-up, and as Isaiah
said, people think that good is bad, and bitter is sweet, and Arafat is our
ally, and the settlers are our enemies... At one point or another, there
has to be someone who will get up and say that the King is naked..."
Boaz Heinemann, the youngest member of the Israeli underground of the
1980's, was asked by Israel Radio today what he thought of the call to
murder Arafat. His response: "The IDF instructions clearly state that if
one sees a man engaged in terrorist activities, you may open fire. Arafat
is the man behind the constant terrorist activities against Jews, so I
don't see the problem." He admitted, however, that it would be better if
Arafat would be killed in an official operation, rather than by a private
citizen.
3. NETANYAHU VS. SHARON
The Likud Central Committee will convene tonight, and despite the drama
that the media are drumming up, a major clash between the Sharon and
Netanyahu camps does not appear to be in the offing. The two camps have
already come to an agreement on some of the major issues regarding
tonight's scheduling, such as the fact that former Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu will speak at 7:30 PM, and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will speak
at 8 PM; both of them will receive television coverage from both major
channels. The Likud Director-General evaluated that on a scale of 0
disturbances to 10 (=the event blows up), it will probably be about 3. He
said that the real political struggle would only be in 2003, when the party
is to choose its leader and Prime Ministerial candidate.
*********************************************************************
To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com
From: Arutz-7 Editor <feedback@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Monday, July 23, 2001
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Monday, July 23, 2001 / Av 3, 5761
------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. ISRAEL IS CONSIDERING INCREASED CIA PRESENCE
***SPECIAL INSERT: "Ha'aretz, the Lie of the Land"
1. ISRAEL IS CONSIDERING INCREASED CIA PRESENCE
It's still unclear whether Israel does or does not agree to an
increased CIA presence to oversee security measures. In light of
greater pressure for international observers, as expressed at the G-8
conference, some reports last night and this morning were that Israel
had agreed "in principle" to the idea advanced by Egyptian President
Mubarak, and that the proposal now awaits the consent of the
Americans. The CIA was originally assigned to oversee the
implementation of security aspects of the Wye Agreement of 1998.
However, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told the Knesset Foreign Affairs
& Defense Committee today that such reports were nothing more than
"rumors and speculation." He said that a formal proposal had not yet
been presented to the government, adding that he would not reject such
a plan outright. Sharon emphasized again that he remains adamantly
opposed to an international observer force in Judea and Samaria.
Sharon said today, following yesterday's Likud Central Committee
session at which Binyamin Netanyahu's anti-restraint policies received
a much warmer welcome than did Sharon's pro-restraint line, that he
will "not take the nation to an unnecessary war because some people
yelled and shouted." Last night, as well, in response to shouts of
opposition during his speech, Sharon responded angrily, "You scream,
I'll fight terrorism." He said that his plan contains three elements:
Immediate, short-range responses to attacks; active defense in
Israeli-controlled areas, especially of roads; and active thwarting of
terrorists and attacks. He explained that his policy is based on
military and diplomatic considerations, noting that "nothing is more
important than unity for Israel's security." However, analysts
continue to surmise that a major "successful" terrorist attack - such
as the one that was prevented in Haifa yesterday - could lead to a
major Israeli offensive.
Dr. Daniel Pipes, director of the Philadelphia-based Middle East
Forum, has some suggestions for Sharon that fall somewhat short of war
- and other that don't. Pipes, editor of the Middle East Quarterly,
wrote in The Jerusalem Post last week that Israel must take more
active steps, such as: "Bury suicide bombers in potter's fields
rather than deliver their bodies to relatives (who turn their funerals
into frenzied demonstrations). Freeze the financial assets of
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, the PLO, and the PA.
Prevent PA officials (including Arafat) from returning to the PA.
Permit no transportation of people or goods beyond basic necessities.
Shut off utilities to the PA." Pipes continued with another list to
follow this one: "Implement the death penalty against murderers.
Seize weapons from the PA and make sure no new ones reach it.
Re-occupy areas from which gunfire or mortars are shot. Raze the PA's
illegal offices in Jerusalem, its security infrastructure and villages
from which attacks are launched. Capture or otherwise dispose of the
PA leadership. Destroy the PA. Reach separate deals with each
Palestinian town or village."
SPECIAL INSERT:
Excerpts from "Ha'aretz, the Lie of the Land"
by Andrea Levin, Executive Director of CAMERA
(Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America)
<www.camera.org>
In a familiar syndrome, many otherwise impartial American journalists
newly posted in Israel slip quickly in their reporting into
unmistakably hostile views of the country. Why?
One factor is their sources in the Israeli media. As Eric Weiner,
former Jerusalem bureau chief for National Public Radio, told a
Palestinian media symposium, every working day began with scanning
local papers for stories. He relied especially on what he termed the
"very respectable [Israeli] newspaper" Ha'aretz. Like NPR, countless
other media cite Ha'aretz writers regularly, while a global audience
reads the paper's English Internet edition online.
Although Ha'aretz bills itself as "an independent newspaper with a
broadly liberal outlook," many of the opinion writers and some
reporters espouse views of the extreme far left, and factual accuracy
is often sacrificed to their political predilections. Reporter Amira
Hass, for example, has just been ordered by the Jerusalem Magistrate's
Court to pay $60,000 in damages to the Jewish community of Hebron for
her false and incendiary report that Jewish residents there had abused
the corpse of a dead Arab shot by Israeli Border police in a violent
incident. The allegations were disproved by multiple televised
accounts of the event. [Her] stories, replete with distorted and
inaccurate charges that Israel is an "apartheid" state, steals
Palestinian water, callously targets Palestinians over the age of 12
with sniper-fire, and generally subjugates Arabs out of sheer
viciousness, are posted on countless anti-Israel websites. So also is
the commentary of a score of other Ha'aretz writers (Gideon Samet,
Gideon Levy, Akiva Eldar, Baruch Kimmerling, Ze'ev Sternhell, Joseph
Algazy, Danny Rubenstein, Moshe Reinfeld and many more), in the
company of other favorites of such websites like Noam Chomsky, Hanan
Ashrawi and Edward Said... Indeed, a look at such sites and the
content of the Ha'aretz articles posted suggests that Ha'aretz writers
are in the vanguard of those making the Palestinian case against
Israel.
Hass and the extreme among her colleagues are also eagerly quoted by
the most virulent anti-Israel commentators in the American media [such
as The Orlando Sentinel's Charley Reese and Connecticut's Hartford
Courant's Amy Pagnozzi]...
Another Israeli journalist based at a different newspaper, Yediot
Ahronot's Nahum Barnea, wrote in November 2000... that there are
Israeli reporters who do not pass the "lynch test." These are
journalists who could not bring themselves to criticize the
Palestinians even when two Israelis were savagely murdered by a
Palestinian mob in Ramallah. Which journalists? Gideon Levy, Amira
Hass and Akiva Eldar of Ha'aretz... The ultimate political effects of
prestigious Israeli media disseminating continuous and often
inflammatory anti-Israel misinformation in English in the era of the
Internet should not be underestimated.
(With thanks to IMRA - www.imra.org.il - which notes that the Hebrew
edition of Ha'aretz frequently includes material unfavorable to the
Palestinians that does not make it into the English edition. At times
the deletions of only a sentence or two are critical.).
*****************************************************************
To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com
From: Arutz-7 Editor <feedback@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Tuesday, July 24, 2001
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Tuesday, July 24, 2001 / Av 4, 5761
------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. TEMPLE MOUNT LONGINGS
2. P.A. IGNORES OBLIGATIONS TO ARREST TERRORISTS, BUT DEMANDS
RECIPROCITY
3. IN BRIEF
1. TEMPLE MOUNT LONGINGS
The Temple Mount Faithful have once again petitioned the Supreme Court
for permission to hold a Tisha B'Av prayer service alongside the gates
of the holy site. The day of Tisha B'Av, this coming Sunday, is one
of national mourning for the destruction of the two Holy Temples on
that very site, 2,000 and 2,500 years ago respectively. The police
object to the service, in fear of strong Arab reactions. In early
April, the Supreme Court rejected a more grandiose request by the
Temple Mount Faithful to be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount during
the upcoming Passover holiday. The judges at the time accepted the
government position that riots could result if such permission were
granted to the Jews. The Prime Minister's Office announced at the
time that Sharon had instructed the security forces to "find the way
to allow Jews to enter the site."
2. P.A. IGNORES OBLIGATIONS TO ARREST TERRORISTS, BUT DEMANDS
RECIPROCITY
Two of Israel's highest-ranked security figures - Defense
Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Sha'ul
Mofaz - both acknowledged today that there is no ceasefire, and that
the Palestinians are continuing their campaign of violence apace.
When asked today about the involvement of Force 17 forces in terrorist
attacks, Mofaz replied that it has been known for some time that
members of various PA security forces are responsible for perpetrating
terror attacks. Ben-Eliezer, talking to reporters about the most
recent terrorist in Pisgat Ze'ev last night, said, "There is no
ceasefire, nor is there anything that comes close to a ceasefire."
The Palestinian Authority reportedly plans to submit a list of 50
"Israeli right-wing extremists" and demands that Israel arrest them
for their "barbaric crimes against the Palestinians." The Palestinian
Authority demands "reciprocity," saying that just as Israel has
submitted to the PA a list of wanted terrorists, the PA has similar
demands. However, senior Israeli security sources said today that
Israel's GSS head Avi Dichter will refuse to accept the list, saying
that it is just a "gimmick with which Israel has no plans to
cooperate."
Ynet published six of the list's names today: Hevron Jewish Community
spokesman Noam Arnon, Hevron activists Noam Federman and Baruch
Marzel, Arutz-7 Editor Haggai Segal, Hevron rabbi Uzi Sharbaf, and
Education Minister Limor Livnat's brother Noam Livnat. Some of them
were members of the famous "Jewish underground" of the 1980's.
Reactions:
MK Michael Kleiner: "This is a threat to murder. The government must
supply them with personal protection, just as it does with MK Ahmed
Tibi after he makes one of his statements."
MK Tzvi Hendel (National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu): "The list does not
deserve any reaction, except for the liquidation of the Palestinian
Authority."
Haggai Segal: "The PA never would have dreamed of publicizing a list
like this if the government had treated it like the terrorist
organization it is. This treatment will not bring quiet, but in the
end will lead to the placing of Arik Sharon himself on lists like
these."
Noam Federman: "We also have lists, and some PA heads have already
felt it... The security sources did not advise me as to how to be
more cautious, and because of their recommendation, I don't have
weapons with which to protect myself. I think they'll be happy if the
Arabs kill us..."
Noam Arnon: "Sometimes dangerous dogs walk free. The ones who should
be blamed are not the dogs, but rather whoever brought them here and
let them go free - namely, Peres and Beilin. Sharon, too, is also to
blame for allowing them to continue to talk. I don't have any demands
or expectations from the terrorists; they are monsters."
The Yesha Council: "Every Israeli citizen is on the Palestinian list.
If the government thinks that this list is serious, we demand that
they be afforded protection."
3. IN BRIEF
The number of tourists coming to Israel in June of this year was
97,400 - a 55% drop compared to June of last year. People in transit totaled
3,500 - an 89% increase. In the nine months of the Oslo War, from
Oct. 2000 until June 2001, the number of air tourists fell 46%
compared to the monthly average the year before - from 186,000 to
101,000. In the first six months of 2001, 690,000 tourists came
(including 12,500 in transit), 53 percent less than in the first half
of 2000...
************************************************************
To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com
From: Arutz-7 Editor <feedback@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Wednesday, July 25, 2001
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Wednesday, July 25, 2001 / Av 5, 5761
------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. ISRAEL KILLS HAMAS LEADER
2. P.A. TO DEMAND ISRAELI ARRESTS
3. TEMPLE MOUNT TO BE REMEMBERED FROM AFAR
4. SHARON WOOS EITAM
1. ISRAEL KILLS HAMAS LEADER
PA sources report that Hamas terrorist leader Salah Darwazeh was
killed this afternoon when the IDF fired six rockets at his BMW car in
the Biblical city of Shechem (often known by its Latin name of
Nablus). Darwazeh, 37, considered one of the leaders of Hamas there,
was very active in preparing several of the large terrorist attacks of
the past few months, including the suicide killings in Netanya on
March 4 and May 18. Eight Israelis were killed in these attacks, and
130 were injured. He was also a central figure in the attempted
suicide attack at the French Hill junction in March; no one was killed
in that incident. Hamas leaders said they would "cause pain to the
Zionist enemy" in response to the killing.
2. P.A. TO DEMAND ISRAELI ARRESTS
Palestinian Authority officials will submit to Israel today the list
of "wanted Jews" whose arrest they demand. Israel will apparently
refuse to accept it, saying that it is merely a gimmick to cover up
for the PA's refusal to arrest its own terrorists. Possibly in
reaction to this, a PA security source said that the Palestinians
would submit the list to the Americans, and not to the Israelis.
Six names on the list are known as of now: Hevron Jewish Community
spokesman Noam Arnon, Hevron activists Noam Federman and Baruch
Marzel, Arutz-7 Editor Haggai Segal, Hevron rabbi Uzi Sharbaf, and
Education Minister Limor Livnat's brother Noam Livnat. Some of them
were members of the famous "Jewish underground" of the 1980's. The
Yesha Council calls upon Prime Minister Sharon to call off tonight's
scheduled security meeting with Palestinian leaders. Beit El Mayor
Uri Ariel said today that no self-respecting country would sit with
terrorist organization leaders who send their men to kill children in
Pisgat Ze'ev and Haifa.
MK Ahmed Tibi told a Jordanian newspaper that if the PA avenges the
deaths of the three members of the Tamizi family, "I will not condemn
it." He was referring to the killing this past Thursday night outside
the Arab village of Idna - even though it is not clear whether the
murderers were Jews or Arabs. No Israeli officials have seen the
bodies, and the only eyewitnesses to the crime were Arabs. The Tamizi
family was known to have had connections with Israeli security
sources; Arabs killed one of the family in Hevron, and another Tamizi
also had had run-ins with terrorists.
3. TEMPLE MOUNT TO BE REMEMBERED FROM AFAR
Members of the Temple Mount Faithful were not surprised this morning
when the Supreme Court rejected their petition for permission to pray
on the Temple Mount this coming Tisha B'Av (Sunday). Supreme Court
Chief Justice Aharon Barak, together with Justices Dalia Dorner and
Tova Strassberg-Cohen, accepted the position of the police that the
"sensitive security situation" does not permit Jewish entry to the
Mount at this time. The police will permit the group to march around
Jerusalem with a symbolic "foundation stone." Barak told the
movement's chairman Gershon Solomon, "Our heart is with you, but we
cannot help you."
4. SHARON WOOS EITAM
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon met yesterday with Brig.-Gen. (res) Effie
Eitam, and the two discussed various issues related to Zionist
settlement, education, and Land of Israel values. The Prime Minister
expressed his solidarity with, and great appreciation for, the
residents of Judea and Samaria, and reiterated the government's
commitment both to the residents' peace and security and to the
strengthening of the settlement enterprise. On the political level,
Sharon asked Eitam to join the Likud.
A former Galilee Formation Commander, Eitam resigned from the army
late last year after he a) was widely criticized for having called
Arafat an "arch-terrorist," and b) was passed over for promotion to
the rank of Maj.-Gen. in a move widely assumed to have been connected
with the yarmulke on his head and his political beliefs. Eitam has
been rumored to be interested in either starting a new party, heading
the National Religious Party, or starting a large educational
institution.
****************************************************************
To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, arutz-7b@israelnationalnews.com
From: Arutz-7 Editor <feedback@israelnationalnews.com>
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Thursday, July 26, 2001
Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Thursday, July 26, 2001 / Av 6, 5761
------------------------------------------------
TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. BEN-AMI: THE WEST HAS A "JEWISH COMPLEX"
2. PALESTINIANS DEMAND END TO LIQUIDATIONS
3. LIKUD IN ARIEL
1. BEN-AMI: THE WEST HAS A "JEWISH COMPLEX"
Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak agreed to the principle that 100% of
Yesha was a Palestinian prerogative, and was in fact willing to
transfer Israeli territory to the PA in exchange for the three
settlement blocs that were to remain Israeli. Former Foreign Minister
Shlomo Ben-Ami confirmed this two days ago in a closed forum of both
right and left-wing members in Jerusalem. Ben-Ami said that when even
this offer was rejected, he became convinced that there was no chance
for a final-status agreement between the sides, and that the only
arrangement possible would be one forced upon them by the
international community.
Other excerpts from Ben-Ami's remarks:
"The dispute between us is also about values and existential
principles... The West and Europe have a complex with the Jews, one
that influences how they look at the situation here... This is
manifest in the media. Hundreds of people die in conflicts all over
the world, and no one pays any attention. But when one Palestinian is
killed, immediately CNN breaks into its regular broadcasts for news
flashes - once when the death occurs, and again for the funeral...
"We have a religious conflict also with the Christians; it is very
deep and will remain open even after we solve the problems with the
Moslems..
"Ever since Oslo, Arafat has been preparing the PA for war against
Israel. On an area of only 500 square kilometers, what does he need
11 security agencies for? He told me personally that he was greatly
encouraged by the success of only 500 Hizbullah fighters in evicting
Israel from southern Lebanon. If we unilaterally withdraw from Yesha,
it will leave us with a hostile state on our doorstep. If we remain
in Yesha, this will also cost us. Israel must decide which price it
wants to pay."
2. PALESTINIANS DEMAND END TO LIQUIDATIONS
Last night's security cooperation meeting in Tel Aviv between Israel
and the PA was stopped after 90 minutes, when it became clear that no
progress was being made. Palestinian negotiators later announced that
they would hold no further such meetings until Israel ends its policy
of targeting and killing wanted Arab terrorists. The Palestinians did
not present their list of wanted Israelis to Israel, as they had
threatened; a PA source said that they gave a list of 30 such figures
to the CIA officials there, but Israeli officials said that the
subject was not raised at all. Israeli officials had stated that they
would not accept such a list, which they said was designed only as a
gimmick to draw attention away from the PA's refusal to fulfill its
commitment to arrest a few dozen wanted terrorists.
3. LIKUD IN ARIEL
Likud Knesset Members made a day-long visit to Ariel today, one of the
two cities in Yesha (the other is Ma'aleh Adumim). The MKs met with
settlement leaders, heard security briefings, and held a
political-diplomatic discussion. Prime Minister Sharon said there
that the Americans have their own interests in the Middle East. "They
want to increase their activity against Iraq," he said, "and they
therefore want the Arab nations with them. I see this as a warning
light." Regarding the security meetings with the Palestinians, Sharon
said that they serve a healthy purpose of preventing clashes between
the sides.
Yesha Council leaders met with Prime Minister Sharon on Tuesday night,
in what was described as a "difficult atmosphere." Sharon accused his
competitor, former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, of trying to
drag him into a war.
***************************************************************