Israel Line 6/30/00
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Friday, June 30, 2000
*CLINTON TO DECIDE ON SUMMIT IN COMING DAYS
*AG: UN RESOLUTION 242 DOES NOT APPLY TO TERRITORIES
*CONGRESS TO CLINTON: DEMAND DEIF EXTRADITION
*IRAN TO SENTENCE 13 JEWS ON SATURDAY
*CONFERENCE ON ISRAEL-VATICAN RELATIONS YIELDS RECOMMENDATIONS
*RABBIS TO RECONSIDER RELIGIOUS RULING BANNING JEWS FROM TEMPLE MOUNT
*ECONOMIC BRIEFS
CLINTON TO DECIDE ON SUMMIT IN COMING DAYS
U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright returned to Washington, DC on
Thursday and briefed President Bill Clinton on her discussions with Prime
Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, THE
JERUSALEM POST reported. Clinton is expected to announce in the coming days
when he will call the parties to Washington. Officials on all sides assessed
that it may still be too early for a three-way summit.
"This is not one of those deals where I am not ready to announce it. I
just don't know," Clinton said. "I am going to do whatever I can in the time
I have left to help them make peace, but whatever I do or don't do will be
based on my calculation that it will maximize the possibility of...ultimate
success."
Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reported that Minister in the Prime Minister’s
Office Responsible for Jerusalem Affairs Haim Ramon said that lower-level
negotiators will not be able to resolve the thorny disputes on the table,
such as borders, Jerusalem, Jewish settlements and Palestinian refugees.
"With all the risks that such a summit won't succeed, the alternative is the
certain failure of the negotiations," he said.
Meanwhile, according to YEDIOT AHARONOT, the United States is considering
recognizing a Palestinian state even if it is declared unilaterally. White
House officials are taking this possibility into account as they form
policies vis-a-vis Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The United States would
make its recognition of a Palestinian state contingent on several demands
including restrictions on the military and on relations with hostile
countries like Iraq and Iran. Despite this, the United States will exert all
efforts to prevent a unilateral declaration.
AG: UN RESOLUTION 242 DOES NOT APPLY TO TERRITORIES
Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein said on Thursday that UN Security
Council Resolution 242 does not apply to a withdrawal from the West Bank and
Gaza, HA’ARETZ reported.
He said there is no legal basis for comparing Israel’s situation with the
Palestinians to its situation with Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, or for
adopting comparable policies. Rubinstein emphasized that Resolution 242
refers to secure and recognized borders and that no such borders ever
existed with the Palestinians. In addition, he said that the West Bank is
fundamentally different from the Sinai Peninsula, because it was not under
the recognized sovereignty of any government at the time of the 1967 war.
CONGRESS TO CLINTON: DEMAND DEIF EXTRADITION
Twenty-five U.S. congressmen urged U.S. President Bill Clinton in a letter
this week to press the Palestinian Authority to extradite Hamas master
bombmaker Mohammed Deif to the United States, THE JERUSALEM POST reported.
Deif was captured by the PA in May.
Deif orchestrated terrorist attacks that killed at least 47 people,
including five Americans, and also participated in the 1994 abduction and
murder of American-Israeli soldier Nachshon Wachsman.
The letter to Clinton initiated by Congressman Matt Salmon (R-AZ.) said,
"We commend you for speaking out on the importance of capturing Deif, but
your words must be accompanied by action—the indictment and prosecution of
Deif in the United States."
Several years ago, the House unanimously passed a resolution calling for
the transfer and prosecution of Deif and other Palestinian terrorists. U.S.
officials, however, have said that the absence of an extradition agreement
between the United States and the PA makes such transfers unlikely.
The Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations sent a letter
to U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright two weeks ago stating that the
extradition of Deif has been one of its long-standing positions.
IRAN TO SENTENCE 13 JEWS ON SATURDAY
The Iranian revolutionary court in Shiraz is scheduled to hand down
sentences on Saturday to the 13 Iranian Jews charged with spying for Israel
and the United States, HA’ARETZ reported.
The 13 Jews were arrested in April 1999 and tried behind closed doors this
May. Eight suspects confessed, four denied charges and one admitted
collecting information, but denied transferring it to Israel. Four of the
defendants who confessed retracted their guilty pleas, saying that they were
made under duress and extreme pressure from Iranian authorities.
According to THE JERUSALEM POST, U.S. President Bill Clinton sent a letter
to the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish organizations last week
stating, "I fully share your strong concerns about the fate of the 13 Jews.
I continue to believe that they must receive justice, and the proceedings so
far—particularly the coerced confessions—have given me considerable concern.
I will remain actively engaged in this matter, and will continue to
make every effort on their behalf until we see justice done."
The thirteen suspects are: Hamid Dani Tefilin, Shahrokh Paknahad, Ramin
Nematizadeh, Levy Haim, Ramin Parzam, David Ben Yakov, Asher Zadmar, Farhad
Salakh, Farzad Kashi, Faramarz Kashi, Amin Tefilin, Nawid Balzada and
Nejatallah Borochimenzahad.
CONFERENCE ON ISRAEL-VATICAN RELATIONS YIELDS RECOMMENDATIONS
Officials at the Vatican proposed on Thursday establishing a permanent
mechanism for consultations between the Vatican and Israel to examine
decisions that might arouse emotional responses from either party, HA’ARETZ
reported. The proposal was made at a meeting of the Forum for
Inter-Religious Dialogue headed by Government Secretary Yitzhak Herzog.
The forum was set up following Pope John Paul II's visit to Israel in
March and convened on Thursday for the first time at the Jerusalem Van Leer
Institute. Among the participants was Papal Nuncio to Israel, Archbishop
Pietro Sambi.
The idea for the "hot line" like mechanism was proposed in the wake of
criticism expressed by Rabbi David Rosen, the Director of the
Anti-Defamation League in Israel, about the Pope's plan to beatify Pope Pius
IX, known for his role in the kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara, one of eight
children of a Jewish family, who was secretly baptized and raised as a
Christian.
Church officials stressed the need to bring Pope John Paul II's message of
reconciliation between Christianity and Judaism to all ranks of the church.
They said that meetings should be held in both Israel and in Rome for all
bishops involved in relations with Israel to discuss how to transform the
Pope's position into the attitude of the church as a whole.
RABBIS TO RECONSIDER RELIGIOUS RULING BANNING JEWS FROM TEMPLE MOUNT
The Council of the Chief Rabbinate will meet on Monday following a request
from rabbis and political figures to reconsider a Jewish legal ruling
prohibiting Jews from entering the Temple Mount area, HA’ARETZ reported.
The council ruled on the subject most recently in 1994 after the peace
agreement with Jordan was concluded. At that time, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi
Yisrael Lau stated that the religious law forbidding Jews from entering the
site could not be revised because of changed political circumstances.
Several rabbis in the West Bank, however, changed their views on this
issue a few years ago, allowing their students to enter the Temple Mount.
The El’Kana elementary school from Israel won on Thursday the world chess
championship for elementary schools held in New York, MA’ARIV reported. The
competition was sponsored by Gary Kasparov, the world champion chess player.
Consulate General of Israel in New York, Ambassador Shmuel Sisso, greeted
the students and musician Sting attended the award ceremony.
ECONOMIC BRIEFS
* Herzliya-based Carmel Ventures, a venture capital firm, announced that it
has raised more than $160 million for its first fund, THE JERUSALEM POST
reported. Investors participating in this round, in addition to substantial
investment by the management team and its affiliates, include Citigroup,
Siemens, America Online (AOL), Clal Israel Koor Industries, Bank Hapoalim,
Evergreen, and Leumi & Co.
* The Gross Domestic Product is expected to increase more than 4 percent in
2000, GLOBES reported. This emerges from forecasts presented to Prime
Minister Ehud Barak by Minister of Finance Avraham Shochat. A Finance
Ministry report issued this week stated that growth could reach 5-6 percent
if the deals for the sale of Chromatis to U.S. company Lucent are factored
into the GDP.
Today’s Israel Line was prepared by Riki Drori and Batsheva Genut at the
consulate general of Israel in New York.
Israel Line is a daily summary of major news items taken directly from the
Israeli media.
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