Israel Line 6/13/00
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Tuesday, June 13, 2000
*SHAS QUITS GOVERNMENT
*ISRAELI, PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATORS BEGIN TALKS TODAY
*ISRAELI ARABS ATTEND ASSAD'S FUNERAL
*UN NEEDS MORE TIME TO MARK BORDER
*JORDANIANS COMPLETE HEBREW COURSE
*ECONOMIC BRIEFS
SHAS QUITS GOVERNMENT
The ministers and deputy ministers of Shas were ordered today by the Shas
Council of Torah Sages to submit their resignations during the Government's
next meeting, slated to be held on Sunday, HA'ARETZ reported.
At the close of the Council's two hour meeting, Secretary Rabbi Refael
Pinhasi read a written statement saying that following the council's
briefing by Shas Chairman Eli Yishai and Pinhasi himself, the Council
decided to pull out of the coalition because it felt that Shas was not
being treated as a full member of the Government.
In a press conference following the meeting, Yishai told reporters that
Shas's decision was final. Pinhasi added that the finality of the decision
did not undermine Shas' determination to conclude negotiations aimed at
ending the coalition crisis.
ISRAELI, PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATORS BEGIN TALKS TODAY
Talks between Israeli and Palestinian delegations will begin today in
Washington, D.C. in an effort to formulate a framework agreement on
permanent status, HA'ARETZ reported. U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine
Albright set up the meetings during her visit to the Middle East last week
as part of an intensified U.S. effort to reach an agreement on the
Palestinian track in the coming weeks.
According to U.S. officials, holding the meetings at an isolated site,
absent media, is an essential element to their success. As a result, there
is a complete black out on the talks. The meetings will be held at Andrews
and Bolling air force bases near Washington, where the negotiating teams
will also stay.
One issue to be addressed by negotiators id the third redeployment.
According to a senior Israeli source, Israel would like to avoid a
disagreement on the extent of the redeployment and hinted that Israel's
actions will be based on Palestinian reciprocity. "It is factually true that
we are committed to a withdrawal, and they are committed to promises they
have not fulfilled, such as the disarming of the Tanzim."
Barak recommends that the withdrawal be postponed until a framework
agreement is reached where final borders are delineated. He said that under
such circumstances "Israel will be much more generous."
Meanwhile, a senior U.S. government official said on Monday that there
have been major improvements in the relations between the Palestinian police
and Israeli security forces, following exchanges of fire in May between
Palestinian police and IDF troops. The official noted substantial advances
in coordination between the two sides and said, "we hope that the incidents
such as those [of May] will not repeat themselves."
At that time, Prime Minister Ehud Barak responded to the exchange of fire
by warning that they endanger the support of the Israeli public to the peace
process with the Palestinians and by freezing the transfer to the PA of the
villages of Abu Dis, Azzariye and Suwahara.
ISRAELI ARABS ATTEND ASSAD'S FUNERAL
A delegation of 16 Israeli Arabs, headed by member of Knesset Azmi Bashara
(Balad), traveled to Damascus for the funeral of the late Syrian President
Hafez al-Assad, HA'ARETZ reported.
The funeral procession headed toward a hilltop palace where foreign
dignitaries paid their last respects to Assad. Assad's son and successor
Bashar Assad met with dignitaries today from around the world including U.S.
Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser
Arafat and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Albright, accompanied by U.S.
Middle East peace envoy Dennis Ross and Reverend Jesse Jackson, spoke with
Bashar for approximately 15 minutes.
According to Israel Radio, KOL YISRAEL, Arafat arrived in Damascus with PA
official Farouk Kadoumi and leader of the Democratic Front for the
Liberation of Palestine Nawef Hawatmeh. Arafat saluted Assad's coffin twice
and met with Bashar in a side room. He was introduced as head of the
Palestine Liberation Organization as Syria does not officially recognize the
PA. Secretary-General of the Hizbullah Sheik Hassan Nassrallah also visited
the Damascus palace accompanied by Hizbullah members.
UN NEEDS MORE TIME TO MARK BORDER
UN officials said today that they will need two or three additional days
to complete the demarcation of the border between Israel and Lebanon, Israel
Radio, KOL YISRAEL, reported. They said that work on the border was being
hampered by mines in the area.
According to THE JERUSALEM POST, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan issued a
statement on Monday saying that he expected the process of demarcating the
border to be complete within 24 hours. In an interview with Qatar's
Al-Jazeera television, Annan said, "we have finished the verification with
the Israelis. We are now working on the Lebanese side and I regret to say
that this is going very slowly." Annan is slated to arrive in Israel on June
21 to verify the withdrawal. While in the region, he is also scheduled to
visit Lebanon.
HATZOFEH reported that Lebanon agreed to deploy troops in the south after
receiving pressure from the United States and the international community.
Meanwhile, according to MA'ARIV, military courts in Beirut sentenced five
South Lebanon Army soldiers to 7-15 years imprisonment coupled with fines.
An additional 37 SLA soldiers were sentenced on Friday to serve prison terms
ranging from one month to seven years.
JORDANIANS COMPLETE HEBREW COURSE
Twenty Jordanian academics and intellectuals completed a Hebrew course
last week in the Jordanian capital Rabat, HATZOFEH reported. The course,
consisting of 40 academic hours of basic Hebrew instruction, was initiated
by the Israeli embassy in Jordan and was designed to ease psychological
barriers between Jordanians and Israelis. Course participants expressed the
desire to continue their study of Hebrew at more advanced levels.
Minister of Foreign Affairs David Levy is slated to leave today for
Luxembourg for a series of meetings with European Union officials to upgrade
Israel's relations with the EU, HATZOFEH reported. Levy will also
participate in a ceremony marking the new association agreement between
Israel and the European Union.
ECONOMIC BRIEFS
* Hi-tech magazine WIRED ranked Israel as the fourth most influential
hi-tech hub in the world in its July issue, THE JERUSALEM POST reported.
It referred to Israel as "one of the fastest growing hi-tech centers in the
world, boasting a $99 billion economy and managing $1 billion in venture
capital last year." Israel and Stockholm were the only non-American centers
ranked in the top five; first place went to Silicon Valley, California.
* Component manufacturer Texas Instruments officially announced on Sunday
that it has completed the development of "Bluetooth," a component developed
by Texas Instruments Israel (formerly the Israeli company Betterplay),
HA'ARETZ reported. Systems integrated with Bluetooth will be demonstrated at
the Bluetooth conference that opened on Monday in Monaco. Bluetooth is the
international standard for short-range wireless communication between
electronic devices and facilitates the use of wireless headphones for
cellular telephones, cableless connections between computers and printers
and other systems.
Today's Israel Line was prepared by Batsheva Genut and Liel Leibovitz 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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