Date: Fri, 04 Jun 2004 14:43:09 +0200
To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, dailyreport@israelnationalnews.com
Subject: Arutz-7 News Brief: Friday, June 4, 2004
From: Arutz-7 Editor <feedback@israelnationalnews.com>

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Friday, June 4, 2004 / Sivan 15, 5764
------------------------------------------------

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. LIEBERMAN: SHARON FIRED ME BECAUSE I DISAGREED WITH HIM
2. NRP EXPECTED TO QUIT
3. THE THREE SCENARIOS
4. OTHER REACTIONS

1. LIEBERMAN: SHARON FIRED ME BECAUSE I DISAGREED WITH HIM

Transportation Minister Avigdor Lieberman received his letter of dismissal
around 11 AM today, while his colleague Tourism Minister Benny Elon, as of
noon, had not yet received his. The dismissals of the National Union party
ministers are to come into effect immediately before Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon presents his withdrawal/expulsion plan for a Cabinet vote.

Sharon said last night that he was going to fire the two, in the knowledge
that this was the only way his plan would pass a Cabinet vote. With their
firing, 11 ministers now support the plan - Sharon himself, as well as
Olmert, Mofaz, Livni, Sheetrit, Ezra and the five Shinui Party ministers -
while 10 object: Netanyahu, Livnat, Shalom, Naveh, HaNegbi, Sharansky,
Landau, Katz, and the two NRP ministers.

Sharon's disengagement plan includes a unilateral retreat from Gaza and the
northern Shomron, the expulsion of over 8,000 Jews from their homes, and
the abandonment of the areas to terrorist control. Sharon insists that the
plan provides the only hope for Israel's future security.

Within the Likud, eight ministers oppose the plan, while only six support
it. Minister Lieberman noted that it was peculiar that Sharon had chosen
to fire ministers of another party, "when actually the problem is within
his own party."

"This will be the first time," Lieberman said today, "that a minister is
fired not because he didn't do his job, and not because he acted in
opposition to the government - but only because he doesn't agree with the
Prime Minister! Is a minister not allowed to express his opinion? This
shows Sharon's weakness and his inability to persuade his own
ministers. And then he tries to shrug off his failures on to the National
Union party, which shows his lack of ability to make correct decisions. He
has made mistake after mistake, including in the diplomatic sphere: first
the Road Map, which failed; then he tried to build on Abu Mazen, and this
failed; then the Tenenbaum deal, with all its weird results; then the Likud
referendum; then this plan, where he failed to receive a majority in the
Cabinet. Instead of accepting the fact that he was unable to convince his
government, he goes and fires ministers in order to obtain an artificial
majority!"

Housing Minister Effie Eitam of the National Religious Party said that
Sharon's firing of Elon and Lieberman is an "immoral and undemocratic act."

2. NRP EXPECTED TO QUIT

Last-minute contacts have already begun in an effort to find a compromise
that will enable Prime Minister Sharon to withdraw his dismissal letters to
the National Union ministers. If these efforts fail, however, the NRP is
expected to resign from the government very soon after the Cabinet vote.

Over the course of the past two days, several government ministers met
intensively to try to draft a compromise - and progress was admittedly very
slow, if at all. Welfare Minister Zevulun Orlev led those within the NRP
who supported the compromise proposal that might have enabled the NRP to
remain within the government. Suddenly last night, however, the efforts
were circumvented by Sharon's refusal to accept the continued transfer of
some funding to the Jewish towns in Gaza. Sharon then declared on
television that he planned to fire Elon and Lieberman. Orlev said
afterwards that he feels that Sharon tricked him, and that the "carpet was
removed from under my feet." He is still not certain that the NRP must
quit the coalition, however.

MK Sha'ul Yahalom (NRP) told Voice of Israel today, "We are approaching a
situation that is closer to a dictatorship than to a democracy. To fire
ministers because they don't agree with him is totally
non-democratic! Let's imagine, for instance, that Sharon would decide to
declare war on Afghanistan, and finds, in a secret poll of the ministers,
that he has the support of only three. Is it conceivable that he would
then fire the other 20 ministers and say that the Government of Israel
voted to go to war on Afghanistan?!"

Yahalom explained what was the "final straw" that caused the compromise
negotiations to blow up yesterday: "We demanded the removal of the clause
freezing all funding to the Gaza towns, because what's the difference
whether a bulldozer tears down the town or if the town is choked to death
by not providing it with money for kindergartens, schools and municipal
salaries?"

3. THE THREE SCENARIOS

Assuming the Cabinet passes the withdrawal/expulsion plan on Sunday or
Monday, and assuming that the NRP quits soon afterwards, three scenarios
present themselves: Labor joins the government; new elections; Netanyahu
replaces Sharon.

The Labor Party is divided over whether to join a Sharon-led
government. Party leader Shimon Peres, as well as MKs Binyamin Ben-Eliezer
and Chaim Ramon are in favor, while MKs Amram Mitzna, Avraham Burg and
Ophir Pines have expressed opposition. Many in the Likud object to Labor's
inclusion in the coalition, and will vote against it, thus that this option
is unlikely, at least in the short term.

Prime Minister Sharon can also ask the Knesset to vote to dissolve itself,
thus leading to new elections in three months' time. In such a case, it is
possible that the Likud will break up into two parties, one of which Sharon
might take with him to form a new secular-centrist party. However, most
commentators assume that it is not likely that a majority of Knesset
Members, many of whom are in their first term in office, will vote to give
up their chairs.

A third possibility is that Sharon will be toppled in a no-confidence
motion, thus forcing his resignation. This can only occur if 61 MKs of the
religious and/or right-wing parties decide to support Netanyahu to take his
place.

4. OTHER REACTIONS

Former Labor Party leader MK Amram Mitzna - who was defeated by Sharon in
the last election largely for proposing the same Gaza withdrawal plan that
Sharon is now promoting - remains opposed to joining the government
coalition. Mitzna said today that by firing the National Union ministers,
Prime Minister Sharon has boxed himself into a corner with no way
out. Like other Labor MKs, however, Mitzna says that Labor should provide
Sharon with a "security net" and not vote no-confidence in him - on
condition that the disengagement plan is not watered down.

Likud MK Yuli Edelstein said that firing the two ministers was a "grave
error" that will result in significant hardships in maintaining a viable
functioning coalition. He said that it could force the nation into early
elections.

MK Ya'ir Peretz (Shas) stated that Sharon's firing of the ministers was
done with the knowledge that Labor leader Peres favors entering the
government. He added that Shas will wait and watch developments. Peretz
believes that Sharon would not want a coalition without at least one
Sabbath-observant party, and that Shas will be first on line if the NRP leaves.

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Date: Mon, 07 Jun 2004 16:13:34 +0200
To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, dailyreport@israelnationalnews.com
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Monday, June 7, 2004
From: Arutz-7 Editor <feedback@israelnationalnews.com>

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Monday, June 7, 2004 / Sivan 18, 5764
------------------------------------------------

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TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. THE GOVERNMENT VOTED: ISRAEL INTENDS TO UPROOT 25 JEWISH
COMMUNITIES
2. ANALYZING THE AGREEMENT
3. THE DAY THE CABINET VOTED TO LEAVE GUSH KATIF AND NORTHERN SHOMRON
4. SEARING QUESTIONS FACE NRP

1. THE GOVERNMENT VOTED: ISRAEL INTENDS TO UPROOT 25 JEWISH
COMMUNITIES

Yesterday's political drama ended somewhat
anti-climactically, with the Cabinet approving a watered-down version
of the disengagement plan. Although the withdrawal is not scheduled
to be voted on before March 2005, the Prime Minister said yesterday,
"The disengagement process has begun. Today, the Government decided
that it is Israel's intention to relocate all Israeli settlements in
the Gaza Strip and four settlements in Samaria by the end of 2005."

Under the terms of the compromise proposal patiently hammered out by
Minister Tzippy Livny, the Cabinet confirmed an amended disengagement
plan, specifying, "this does not include the dismantling of Jewish
communities." The next several months will be marked by "preparatory
work," as detailed in "Appendix III." After this work is completed,
the government will "again convene to decide on whether or not to
dismantle communities, which ones and at what rate, depending on the
circumstances at the time." The 25 communities will be divided into
four groups, and separate votes are to be held on each group,
assumedly at separate times.

Appendix III states that during the "preparations period," all
municipal and other services in the communities slated for destruction
will continue in the communities as before, except that no new
building permits will be issued. An exceptions committee will be
established that will be "authorized to unfreeze frozen plans and to
freeze construction that has already been started - each case
according to its own merits and the standards that will be
determined." The committee will be headed by the Director of the Prime
Minister's Bureau, with the participation of the Directors of the
Finance and Justice Ministries.

Ministers Netanyahu, Livnat and Shalom agreed to vote for the plan
because of several "improvements" that were inserted. It does not
state that the government "is obligated" to evacuate the Jewish towns,
but rather "intends" to do so; it does not include specific dates; and
the "letters of understanding" exchanged between Sharon and US
President Bush - which refer to the destruction of all 25 communities
(21 in Gaza and four in northern Shomron) at once, as opposed to in
four phases - are not "included" in the plan but are rather
"exhibited."

Voting in favor were: Sharon, Netanyahu, Livnat, Shalom, Mofaz,
Olmert, Livny, Sheetrit, Ezra and the five Shinui Party ministers.

Among the seven who voted against were the two NRP ministers, as well
as five of the Likud: Minister without Portfolio Uzi Landau, Health
Minister Naveh, Public Security Minister HaNegbi, Diaspora Affairs
Minister Sharansky, and Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz. Landau was
rumored to be considering resigning this afternoon, but later said
that this was not true.

After the vote, many ministers showed visible signs of relief and even
joy, and some of them even embraced. This sparked an outburst by
Minister Eitam of the NRP: "The government is decreeing the fate of
thousands of Jews, and the ministers are not embarrassed to rejoice?!
... This plan leads directly to the expulsion of thousands of Jews,
and the creation of a Hamas state on a platter of Jewish blood," he
declared.

2. ANALYZING THE AGREEMENT

The "compromise" nature of the newly approved disengagement plan
enables all the sides to read into it their own interpretations.
Arutz-7's Yosef Meiri notes that this is apparently why several
apparently conflicting declarations in the Cabinet resolution don't
appear to bother either side. The reference is to the opening
declaration that the "government hereby approves an amended
disengagement plan," followed by, "This decision does not indicate the
dismantling of communities."

Neither is either of the above seen to be contradicted by Clause 3.1,
which states, "The State of Israel will evacuate the communities in
the Gaza Strip, and will redeploy outside the area of the Strip." In
this vein, Clause 3.2 states, "The State of Israel will evacuate an
area in the northern Shomron (Ganim, Kadim, Sa-Nur and Chomesh), and
will redeploy outside this area" - and 3.3 reads, "The intention is to
complete the planned evacuation process by the end of 2005."

Arutz-7's Haggai Huberman notes, however, that some of the more
practical clauses are somewhat more unambiguous. "Government programs
for construction and development that have not yet been undertaken
will not be started" means, for instance, that if an extra
kindergarten or classroom is needed, it will not be built. "Is there
a clearer sign of the suffocation of a town than that?" Huberman asks.

He notes that although an "exceptions committee" will be formed, "it
will work both ways. It is empowered not only to enable not-yet
started buildings to be built, but also to stop buildings in the
middle. The committee is headed by Sharon's man, and one of its other
two is a representative of Tommy Lapid - so it's not hard to imagine
how its decisions will go."

The current plan is an improvement, Meiri adds, in the following two
points: The original version called for a ban on all construction
permits, whereas now only government-funded projects are automatically
banned. In addition, the "exceptions committee" was originally slated
to deal only with freezing building starts already underway, whereas
now its mandate is also to unfreeze some projects that have not yet
started.

3. THE DAY THE CABINET VOTED TO LEAVE GUSH KATIF AND NORTHERN SHOMRON

Yesterday's Cabinet decision was accompanied by three separate, but
related, dramatic controversies that unfolded in the course of the
day. The first was the firing of the two National Union ministers,
Benny Elon and Avigdor Lieberman. Lieberman received his letter on
Friday, such that by Sunday morning he was no longer a Cabinet member.
Elon, however, did not accept his until Saturday night - he spent the
Sabbath at a secret location - and therefore claimed throughout the
day that he was still a minister and eligible to vote. "I will do
everything I can to make it harder for Sharon to pass this evil plan,"
Elon said. "I am ashamed that we have reached this stage, that a
democratic country acts like a non-democratic country - firing an
entire party just to create an artificial majority. And if he still
doesn't have a majority, what will he do, fire three more ministers?
... My vote could be the deciding one, and many voters chose me for
this specific and critical moment."

During the course of the day, four petitions were submitted to the
Supreme Court against the dismissals, and Supreme Court Chief Justice
Edmond Levy even proposed that Sharon postpone the Cabinet session in
order to head off the "humiliation" of a restraining order against
him. "What was the logic in firing these ministers in such a panic?"
Judge Levy asked. Sharon, however, called his bluff, and Levy in fact
backed down, refusing to order a restraining order and instead setting
a hearing for a later date. Once Elon saw that the Supreme Court had
not provided him with "legal relief," he acknowledged that he was
fired, and set off for his Tourism Ministry office to remove his
belongings.

At the same time, intensive efforts were underway to find a compromise
disengagement proposal that Ministers Netanyahu, Shalom and Livnat
could agree to. At stake was the "unity of the Likud," according to
some of the ministers involved - implying that if Sharon were to
propose a full disengagement proposal, the three would vote against
it, likely leading to a full-fledged anti-Sharon revolution within the
Likud. In the end, the compromise was found, and it passed by a very
comfortable 14-7 margin. Ironically, the dismissal of Elon and
Lieberman turned out to be unnecessary, as their votes would not have
made a difference - and in any event, they would likely have resigned
on their own after the vote.

The third drama continues today as well, and it concerns the position
of - and possible split in - the National Religious Party; see
separate story below.

4. SEARING QUESTIONS FACE NRP

The National Religious Party faces a dramatic and difficult decision
this week: whether to remain in or leave the government coalition.
Party leader Housing Minister Effie Eitam and Welfare Minister Zevulun
Orlev are on opposing sides of the issue. Both voted against the plan
in the Cabinet yesterday, of course, but there their paths parted.

Minister Eitam says, in accordance with the position of Rabbis Shapira
and Eliyahu, that a party that stands for Torah ideals cannot remain
in a government that is headed to uproot Jewish communities from the
Land of Israel. MK Yitzchak Levy and possibly MK Nissan Slomiansky
agree with him. Minister Orlev, however, says that a decision must be
made from the "head, not from the gut," and that a) there remain many
months before even one community is to be dismantled, if at all, and
b) the NRP has other battles to fight, such as religion and state,
funding for religious education, preventing the formation of a
left-wing secular government, and the like. MKs Sha'ul Yahalom and
Gila Finkelstein agree with Orlev.

At stake is the future of the current coalition. If the NRP leaves,
Sharon will remain with the support of only 55 MKs - 40 of the Likud
and 15 of Shinui. He will then turn to Labor, which is divided over
the issue of whether to join, and the entry of which will turn many
Likud MKs against Sharon. His first test will come later this
afternoon, with the proposal of several no-confidence motions in the
government. Labor - except for its new Am Echad faction - has
announced that it will not vote against the government, while the NRP
is wavering.

MK Levy said today that the NRP will not have genuine power within the
government - "Sharon will throw us out like he did with the National
Union and replace us with Labor the moment we make him too much
trouble" - and must therefore quit now: "Sharon does everything
without the government - he went to Bush without the government,
Weisglass exchanged letters with Bush without the government, and then
when he finally needed the government and he didn't have a majority,
he threw out the National Union. He'll do the same now: for nine
months he'll do what he wants, and when it comes up for a Cabinet
vote, he'll throw us out."

MK Yahalom said, "The stupidest thing we can do now is to leave,
because the minute we do, Labor will crawl in, and that will be the
end of Gush Katif. In a month from now, if we see that this plan is
really taking shape, we can leave then... Nine months from now [when
the plan is scheduled to be executed] is an eternity in Israeli
politics. Anything can happen."

The six MKs convened yesterday, and again today, to try and resolve
the issue. They met with Rabbis Eliyahu and Shapira, who suggested
that they continue to discuss the issue among themselves, and then
return to consult with them [the rabbis] later. It is far from clear
if all the MKs will see themselves as bound by whatever decision is
reached. MK Levy said that it could be that the party will leave the
coalition in "two stages."

Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, anxious to ensure that the NRP
remains in the government so as not to pave the way for Labor's entry,
is meeting this afternoon with Rabbis Eliyahu and Shapira in the
latter's home. He is trying to convince the rabbis of the importance
of keeping the NRP in the government coalition.

The final decision must be made, or ratified, by the party's Central
Committee.

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

Date: Tue, 08 Jun 2004 16:16:54 +0200
To: arutz-7@israelnationalnews.com, dailyreport@israelnationalnews.com
Subject: Arutz-7 News: Tuesday, June 8, 2004
From: Arutz-7 Editor <feedback@israelnationalnews.com>

Arutz Sheva News Service
<http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com>
Tuesday, June 8, 2004 / Sivan 19, 5764
------------------------------------------------

TODAY'S HEADLINES:
1. EITAM AND LEVY TO QUIT GOVERNMENT
2. THE NRP'S BIBI: OUT NOW!
3. PM SURVIVES YESTERDAY AND TODAY, BUT FACES ANOTHER CHALLENGE ON
THURSDAY

1. EITAM AND LEVY TO QUIT GOVERNMENT
Following a long and stormy session of MKs and leading figures of the
National Religious Party today, party leader Housing Minister Effie
Eitam and Deputy Minister Yitzchak Levy decided to quit the government
coalition. Welfare Minister Zevulun Orlev and the other three MKs
hope to remain in the coalition, at least for the near future.

Under the terms of a tense compromise worked out this afternoon, Eitam
and Levy will resign - but will not immediately join the opposition.
Party leaders will continue to convene over the course of the next few
days to try to find a way to prevent a split in the party.

Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu wrote a personal letter this morning to Eitam
and Rabbi Levy - the two who specifically asked for his opinion -
instructing them to quit the coalition immediately. Rabbi Eliyahu and
Rabbi Avraham Shapira, who served together as Israel's Chief Rabbis
between 1983 and 1993, are considered the NRP's leading spiritual
authorities.

Rabbi Eliyahu wrote today,

"In response to your [plural] question, I hereby express
'Torah opinion' that no person has the right - neither the Prime Minister nor
the government itself - to uproot a Jewish settlement in the Land of
Israel, and most certainly not to give away any portion of the Land to
a foreign element. Following the resolution of Sivan 17, 5763, in
which the government declares that in any final-status arrangement,
communities will be uprooted and Gush Katif will be 'clean of Jews,'
one must not remain partners in such a government, and I hereby
instruct you to resign at once from the government and the
coalition...

Fears of a split in the NRP were palpable throughout the day, and are
now closer than ever to coming true. MK Nissan Slomiansky, the
party's Knesset faction whip, proposed a compromise yesterday
according to which the NRP would remain in the government for another
three months, in order to monitor Sharon's intentions vis-a-vis the
withdrawal from Gaza.

Eitam and Levy did not accept this wait-and-see approach, and are of
the opinion that withdrawal preparations will continue apace despite
the NRP's objections. They were apparently vindicated by Trade
Minister Ehud Olmert's announcement today that he would evacuate all
the Israeli factories and plants in the Erez Crossing in northern
Gaza, and relocate them in cities in the Negev.

Minister Orlev and MK Slomiansky were visibly upset by the results of
the meeting, while MK Yahalom would better be described as enraged:
"Whoever leaves the government now depletes our party's strength in
the government, and we will not be able to fight against the decision
to uproot the settlements. This is a stab in the back of the
settlement enterprise." (See ex-MK Yigal Bibi's response below)

Welfare Minister Orlev said, "I am greatly saddened by this decision,
but I have not given up hope of trying to find a way to maintain party
unity. We have called a time-out until this coming Monday, in an
attempt to bridge over the differences."

The three or four remaining MKs of the NRP - Slomiansky is still
unsure - will try to remain in the coalition, at least for the short
term - if Prime Minister Sharon allows them.

The National Religious Party suffered a mini-split in its ranks in
1997 when then-MK Chanan Porat and MK Tzvi Hendel quit the party to
help form Tekumah, one of the components of the National Union party.
Porat, who said today that he is a "loyal son of the Religious Zionist
movement," recommends that the NRP quit the government immediately.
Asked if he does not fear the immediate entry of Labor into the
government in place of the NRP, Porat said,

"On the contrary: the NRP's departure will lead to unrest within
the Likud and will hasten the crumbling of this unfortunate
government."

Dr. Amnon Shapira of the NRP's Central Committee represents those in
the NRP who feel that rabbis should not make critical political
decisions. He feels that the party should not quit the government
until "there is no longer a reasonable chance that we can have an
influence on the events."

Likud leaders such as Finance Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and
coalition whip MK Gideon Saar have made efforts to prevent the NRP
from leaving the coalition. Many Likud MKs fear the Labor Party's
entry into the coalition in place of the NRP.

2. THE NRP'S BIBI: OUT NOW!

Yigal Bibi, a former MK of the National Religious Party, told Arutz-7
last night that it his opinion that the party must leave the
government. "In general, the rabbis do not intervene in the party's
day-to-day affairs," Bibi said, "but the current matter of dismantling
communities is a very serious and weighty affair, one that requires
the wisdom and impartiality of Torah scholars... At our Knesset
faction meeting yesterday, I said that if we ask the rabbis, we must
adhere to their ruling - and if we don't listen, this can explain why
we only have six Knesset seats..."

"The truth is," Mr. Bibi continued, "that if it were only this issue,
then maybe we could have lived with it. But the fact is that the NRP
should have quit a while ago, as all the religious services in Israel
have been ruined, salaries aren't being paid to the yeshiva rabbis,
the yeshivot are in deep financial straits..."

Arutz-7's Amatzia HaEitan said, "The other side in the NRP says that
Labor would love nothing better than to get the NRP out of the
government, and that if the NRP leaves, it will not be able to do
anything in the matter of Gush Katif, yeshivot or anything else
against the left-wing secular government that will be formed."

Bibi responded, "There is something to be said for this position, but
in my 15 years of Knesset experience, I don't think that a coalition
of 61 MKs will have much of a chance to survive... So what will
happen is that we will prop up Sharon for a few months while he
prepares to carry out the withdrawal, and then when we and some Likud
MKs object, he'll bring Labor in to help him finish off the process.
If we leave now, however, I am convinced that this government will
fall..."

3. PM SURVIVES YESTERDAY AND TODAY, BUT FACES ANOTHER CHALLENGE ON
THURSDAY

The government of Ariel Sharon survived a no-confidence vote
yesterday, as Labor decided to abstain. The vote was 46 in favor and
31 against; 61 MKs are required in order to pass a no-confidence
motion, a number that would have been obtained had the 15 abstaining
Labor MKs voted in favor. By abstaining, Labor, the leader of the
opposition camp, signaled not only its satisfaction with the
disengagement plan the Cabinet passed on Sunday, but also its apparent
hopes of joining the government sometime in the future.

In protest of this non-oppositionary behavior, the smaller opposition
parties, led by Shas, withdrew their signatures from a Labor-initiated
demand that Sharon deliver a diplomatic address today. The speech
would have had to be voted on, thus that the Prime Minister was saved
from a potentially embarrassing incident in which some of his own
Likud party colleagues might have voted against him.

In the meantime, the Knesset will vote on Wednesday on an Arab
party-initiated bill to dissolve the Knesset. On paper, the
opposition numbers only 59 MKs at present, such that the Knesset is
expected to survive the vote, but last-minute changes are possible.

The anti-withdrawal forces in the Likud Party convened yesterday in
the office of Minister Uzi Landau. Among the participants were
Minister Natan Sharansky, Deputy Minister Michael Ratzon, and MKs
David Levy, Ehud Yatom, Yuli Edelstein, Moshe Kachlon, Michael
Gorolovsky, Ayoub Kara, and Yechiel Chazan. Other Likud MKs are known
to object to the withdrawal as well.

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