News and Observations from Israel 16.8.96

[im...@netvision.net.il]

News and Observations from Israel

Aaron Lerner 16 August, 1996

*** MASSIVE ARRESTS AS PA PUTS DOWN ATTEMPTED COUP
Senior Israeli security officials told "Haaretz" military
correspondent, Eitan Rabin, that the Palestinians Authority (PA)
carried out widespread arrests on Thursday among senior PA
officials. Among those detained are members of Arafat's elite
Force 17, which is responsible for Arafat's security. According to
information reaching Israeli security officials, the arrests are in
response to an attempted coup against Arafat.
("Haaretz" 16 August, 1996)

*** ISRAEL TO US: WE WON'T HONOR RABIN'S UNDERSTANDING OVER SYRIA
The government of Israel advised the United States that Israel will
not honor a "non-paper" which set that after an Israeli withdrawal
from the Golan the parties would decide on security arrangements on
the basis of reciprocity. The Syrians interpreted "reciprocity" to
"symmetry", with the size of the demilitarized zone in Israel being
equal to the demilitarized area within Syria - the Syrian area
including the Golan. In some meetings the Syrians said verbally
that they would accept a 6:10 ratio between the parties but no
interpretation of the concept of "reciprocity" appears in the
actual document.

The "non-paper" was the result of long negotiations between Israel
and Syria, through America. There is a legal debate among jurists
as to whether the unsigned "non-paper" represents a formal
commitment of the Israeli government and, as such, must be honored
by the Netanyahu government. While the Netanyahu government
maintains that the "non-paper" is not a commitment, opponents of
this position argue that the agreements reached between the parties
after Operation Accountability and Grapes of Wrath were also
unsigned agreements.
("Haaretz" 16 August, 1996)

*** ISRAEL TAKES INITIATIVE IN LEBANON
Since the Netanyahu administration came into power the IDF has
taken the initiative in Lebanon. In the last six weeks, 4
terrorist cells were destroyed - killing 11 to 14 terrorists, while
one IDF soldier was killed.
("Haaretz" 16 August, 1996)

*** DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NETANYAHU AND MORDECHAI ON PA NEGOTIATIONS
While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu states that Israel will not
allow any progress in negotiations with the Palestinian Authority
(PA) until the PA removes illegal offices from Jerusalem, Minister
of Defense, Yitzhak Mordechai, announced the resumption of talks
despite the fact that the PA has not removed the offices.
("Haaretz" 16 August, 1996)

*** FOREIGN MINISTRY NEGOTIATED WITH PA OVER JERUSALEM RULES
Acting Foreign Minister Director Eitan Bentzur negotiated with Saeb
Erekat of the Palestinian Authority (PA) over a written document
which would set what was permissible PA activity within Jerusalem.
The negotiations were at the initiative of the Foreign Ministry and
were slammed by the Prime Minister's Office when they found out
about them. "Even the previous government never took such a
serious step regarding Jerusalem," complained a senior authority in
Netanyahu's office, "this is such a serious move and such a mistake
that it is no surprise that the Prime Minister was not quiet about
the performance of the Foreign Ministry. This is a considerably
more serious matter than the leaking of the secret meeting between
Netanyahu and [Jordan King] Hussein in London."
("Haaretz" 16 August, 1996)

*** 6 PALESTINIANS CHARGED WITH SMUGGLING ARMS FROM JORDAN
Six Palestinians, residents of the West Bank and Jerusalem, were
charged by Israel with smuggling assault rifles and guns for the
past month from Jordan into Israel and from there to the Autonomy.
They smuggled the weapons in a rubber boat which crossed the Dead
Sea near Ein Golan. Senior Palestinian officials, among them
Jibril Rajoub, the head of the Palestinian Authority's (PA)
Preventive Security force, were involved in the smuggling. Israeli
security officials noted that the untraceable weapons could be used
by the PA to kill people without Israel being able to track the
murders back to the PA. Among those in the smuggling ring is a
former "collaborator" who was "rehabilitated" by the PA.
("Haaretz" 16 August, 1996)

*** CENTRAL COMMAND ENDS LIMITS ON 5 WEST BANK VILLAGES
Uzi Dayan, Commander of the Central Command, dropped the limits
placed on 5 villages in the West Bank out of concern that the
restrictions would not be upheld by the Supreme Court. The
restrictions were originally placed after terrorists originated
from them.
("Haaretz" 12 August, 1996)

*** SUPREME COURT APPROVES CLOSING HAMAS FUND OFFICE IN NAZARETH
The Supreme Court upheld the closing of the office of the Committee
for Islamic Relief in the Israeli Arab city of Nazareth on the
grounds that it serves as part of the economic base of Hamas.
("Haaretz" 12 August, 1996)

*** NETANYAHU: OSLO PUTS NO LIMITS ON SETTLEMENT CONSTRUCTION
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to advise Yasser Arafat
that the Oslo Agreements have no passage or reference to the
question of settlement activity and that this is an internal
Israeli matter.
("Haaretz" 11 August, 1996)

*** PEACE NOW DEMONSTRATES IN HEBRON
50 members of Peace Now demonstrated in front of Beit Hadassah in
Hebron calling for both the redeployment of the IDF in Hebron and
the removal of settlers from the city. The Oslo II Agreement
provides for a redeployment of IDF forces to the areas of Jewish
settlement in Hebron and includes no provision relating to the
Jewish settlers.
("Haaretz" 11 August, 1996)

*** ISRAELI ARAB PARTICIPATES AS OBSERVER AT FATAH MEETING
Abu Nasser, a Christian Arab from Haifa who is a lecturer in
political science at Tel Aviv University, participated as an
observer in a session of the Fatah Central Committee in Cairo.
This is the first known time that an Israeli Arab participated in
such a meeting. In the past he advised Arafat regarding the Labor
Party.
("Haaretz" 111 August, 1996)

*** MOSHAV YONATAN INVESTS IN MANGO PACKING HOUSE
Moshav Yonatan in the Golan is invested NIS 500,000 in building a
mango packing house. It will pack 500 tons of mangos and 60 tons
of other fruit. Golan mangos have special properties - both color
and taste - which make them the preferred mango in the Israeli
market.
("Haaretz" 11 August, 1996)

*** PA AIRPORT CAN HANDLE 747 JUMBO
The airport built by the Palestinian Authority (PA) near Rafiah
now has a 3.2 kilometer runway instead of 1.5 kilometers as
originally agreed. The runway is now long enough to permit the
landing of a 747 Jumbo jet. The PA Jamil Tarifi, the PA minister
on the Civil Affairs Coordination and Cooperation Committee (CAC)
met with his Israeli counterpart, Gen. Uri Shachor, at the airport
on Thursday and agreed to Israeli demands that the PA honor the
terms of the Oslo Agreements which give Israel ultimate security
authority in the airport despite its location in Area A, and that
the same procedures followed at the international passages will be
carried out at the airport.
("Haaretz" 14 & 16 August, 1996)

*** JORDAN DROPS BREAD SUBSIDY
Jordan raised the price of bread from 0.085 Dinar to 0.250 Dinar a
kilo after dropping the subsidy which contributed $211 million to
the 1996 budget gap.
("Haaretz" 11 August, 1996)

*** PA REFUSES TO PERMIT GRADUATION CEREMONY AT AL QUDS UNIVERSITY
The Palestinian Authority (PA) denied permission for a graduation
ceremony slated to be held at Al Quds University which is located
in Area B. The students association complained that Israeli
authorities never required such a permit and that this reflects the
PA's fear that Islamic elements in the University will use the
ceremony as a platform to oppose the PA.
("Haaretz" 14 August, 1996)

*** PA LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLYMEN MEET IN DEFIANCE OF ARAFAT
Member of the Legislative Council of the Palestinian Authority (PA)
met in Nablus in defiance of orders from Yasser Arafat that the
meeting not be held. The meeting took place in a restaurant in the
presence of 300 people. IT was originally supposed to take place
in the Chambers of Commerce but the local PA governor denied access
on security grounds. Legislators discussed recent incidents during
which PA security forces killed Palestinians. Rafik A Nattshe
(Fatah - Hebron) complained that there is no law in the autonomy
and that many of the decisions of the Legislative Council regarding
the release of prisoners and a halt to torture have been ignored by
the PA. Dr. Abd A Shafi called the meeting a victory because it
demonstrated that the public wants a democratic and "not military"
society.
("Haaretz" 14 August, 1996)

*** HUMANS RIGHTS ACTIVIST DETAINED BY PA
The Palestinian Authority detained human rights activist Mohammed
Dahman. Dahman is the Executive Director of the Gaza branch of the
Adameer organization. He was detained after Adameer issued a
statement that detainee Naher Dahlan had died on August 11 during
interrogation by the PA intelligence service and calling for an
investigation. The PA claims that he had committed suicide.
Palestinians and international human rights groups called for
Dahman's immediate release.
("Haaretz" 14 August, 1996)

*** MOST SETTLER REQUESTS FOR CARAVAN PERMITS DENIED BY MORDECHAI
Minister of Defense, Yitzchak Mordechai denied requests for permits
for all but 300 of the 1,600 caravans for settlements which are
needed for construction, housing and study. The caravans permitted
are to be used primarily for instruction. The American government
is sending teams to photograph and monitor settlement activity.
("Haaretz" 14 August, 1996)

*** TURKEY-IRAN MILITARY COOPERATION - PAN ARAB/TURKEY SUMMIT CALL
Turkey and Iran announced that they plan military cooperation in
order to suppress Kurdish activity against each country on the
Iran-Turkish border. The Prime Minister of Turkey called for a
summit of Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkey "in order to stop the United
States and Israel." The Foreign Minister of Turkey strongly
opposed the call for a summit and it is believed that if the idea
is not dropped that it may lead to the break down of the
government. The daily "Iran News" reported that Iran would oppose
the participation of Iraq in the proposed summit.
("Haaretz" 12 & 13 & 14 August, 1996)

*** 5 ARAB STATES TO UNIFY ELECTRIC GRID
Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Turkey and Jordan signed an agreement to unify
their electrical grid. It is expected that $2 billion will be
saved annually by the efficient trade of electricity between the
countries.
("Haaretz" 14 August, 1996)

*** US CONTRIBUTES $ 15.6 TO REDUCE EGYPTIAN BIRTH RATE
The United States has agreed to contributed $15.6 million to
promote family planning in Egypt, bringing to $60.6 million the
total American contribution to Egyptian population control in the
last 20 years. The birth rate in Egypt was 7.2% in the seventies,
and is now 3.6%. Use of birth control was 10% 20 years ago as
compared to 50% today.
("Haaretz" 15 August, 1996)

*** JUDEA REGIONAL COUNCIL PLANS ISRAELI-PALESTINIANS INDUSTRIAL
AREA
The Judea Regional Council is planning an Israeli-Palestinian
industrial area by the Green Line near Hebron. Plans are to
involve Palestinian, Israeli and other investors. According to
Council head, Meir Weisel, the Lands Authority and the Ministry of
Industry and Trade agreed to establish the area already under the
Labor government.
("Haaretz" 15 August, 1996)

***+ PLANS FOR NEW SETTLEMENT NEAR GREEN LINE
The Land Authority met to review plans to establish a new community
settlement, Chapurit, which will be located near the Green Line.
The settlement of 250 families will be based on research and
development in computers.
("Haaretz" 15 August, 1996)

*** PREVIOUS GOVERNMENT PREVENTED SALE OF 3,549 APARTMENTS
According to a period report of Amana, the settlement movement,
3,549 completed apartments in the territories were not sold to the
public under orders of the previous government. Of these, 1,156
were moved into by squatters. In response, Deputy Minister of
Housing, Meir Porush, announced that his ministry plans to sell the
remaining apartments to the public and reach a settlement with the
squatters.
("Haaretz" 15 August, 1996)

*** MINISTRY OF HOUSING CANCELS TENDER FOR 1,000 APARTMENTS
The Ministry of Housing has canceled 9 tenders in recent months for
the construction of 1,000 apartments because of the severe shortage
of financing in the housing market.
("Haaretz" 15 August, 1996)

*** ISRAEL TO ISRAELI OWNERS OF PACKING HOUSE - SUE THE PA
The Israeli government's representative argued in a written
response to a lawsuit that the government is not liable to
compensates Daliah and Yizhak Karni for their loss of a packing
house which was handed over to the Palestinians Authority (PA).
The packing house ceased operations after the murder of Ami
Saltzman and his son by terrorists in 1992. Karni stopped paying
land leasing fees to the government when the packing house ceased
operations.

The government argues that even if the lease by Israel to Karni
remains in force, the lease is now between Karni and the PA since
Israel gave the PA all rights and responsibilities to the area in
question. While the government concedes that the government
originally promised to insure them against political risk, in the
1970's this guarantee was replaced by an insurance program and
Karni did not pay for the insurance and hence have nothing coming
to them.
("Haaretz" 15 August, 1996)

*** 35% OF ISRAELIS DO NOT HAVE EMERGENCY SHELTER
According to Shmuel Arad, Commander of the Home Front the IDF, 35%
of Israelis do not have a bomb shelter or special security room
which they can use in the event of an emergency. He also noted
that 400,000 Israelis do not have proper gas masks.
("Haaretz" 12 August, 1996)

*** LABOR PARTY DROPS STATEMENT IN DEFENSE OF NATIONALIST RELIGIOUS
The original statement prepared by the Labor Party regarding three
teenager girls who thought that Yigal Amir was "cute" included a
statement that "most of the nationalist religious camp objects to
such obnoxious things". The passage was dropped by the Party.
("Haaretz" 12 August, 1996)

*** 6 NONRELIGIOUS CHARGED WITH SEXUAL ASSAULT OF 2 YESHIVA
STUDENTS
Six nonreligious from Kiryat Malachi, among them two minors, have
been charged with assaulting two yeshiva students. According to
the charges, late in the evening of July 20, the six were swimming
at the city pool. They saw two 16 year old yeshiva students , beat
them, searched their bodies and took a watch and cigarettes from
them by force. They then forced the two boys to dance in front of
them and threw them into the water. When the two yeshiva students
came out of the water, the nonreligious group continued to beat
them and refused to allow them to leave. At this point they began
to "interrogate" the boys and forced them to put their heads into
a garbage can. They then forced the yeshiva boys to take off
their clothes and forced the two to engage in sodomy. The 6
continued to beat the yeshiva boys and ordered them to dress
quickly and threatened them not to reveal to anyone what had
happened. The prosecutor called for the defendants to be held in
custody until the completion of legal procedures against them,
pointing out that the some of the defendants had already admitted
to all charges and tied in those who had not yet admitted to the
charges. There was no reaction to the story from the Israeli
political community.
("Haaretz" 15 August, 1996)

*** LABOR PARTY TO MOVE FROM YARKON HEADQUARTERS
In a move to cover its NIS 60-70 million deficit, the Labor Party
will reduce its staff to 60 people and move its offices from its
headquarters on Yarkon Street in Tel Aviv to a new building on
Rakevet Street in another half a year.
("Haaretz" 12 August, 1996)

*** DORE GOLD TO RETAIN US CITIZENSHIP
Dr. Dore Gold, senior advisor to PM Benjamin Netanyahu, has no
plans to give up his dual American citizenship. Under Israeli law,
judges, ministers and MKs must give up foreign citizenship before
taking their position.
("Haaretz" 14 August, 1996)

*** KIBBUTZ YOUTH LESS MOTIVATED THEN BEFORE TO SERVE IN ARMY
Kibbutz youth today are less apt to take officer training courses
and sign on for regular army service than before. According to
Ariel Yehudai, Chairman of the Security Committee of the Kibbutz
Movement, the reason for the change in attitude goes beyond the
effects of the intafada and other explanations which serve to
support the political beliefs of the kibbutz members. He cites the
economic and social crisis on the kibbutzim and the movement
towards privatization on kibbutzim, both of which leads towards an
attitude that "patsies sign on for regular army".
("Haaretz" 13 August, 1996)

*** 75% OF ISRAELIS VERY HAPPY WITH THEIR LIVES
A survey of 1,002 Israelis aged 18 and over carried out in May by
Teleseker found that 75% of Israelis says that they are "very happy
with their lives". This compares with 64% of Americans and 30% of
Japanese in similar surveys.
("Haaretz" 12 August, 1996)

*** 6 SETTLEMENTS SLATED FOR NEGEV
The Deputy Minister of Housing, Meir Porush, announced that 5,000
dunam would be allocated for the building of 6 settlements in the
Negev. The exact locations have not yet been set.
("Haaretz" 14 August, 1996)

*** AMERICAN INVESTMENT CONTINUES DESPITE CHANGE IN GOVERNMENT
A survey of American investment in Israel carried out at the
initiative of the Economic Counsel at the Israeli Embassy in
Washington found that after the election of Netanyahu that there
was a short halt in investment activity but that activity quickly
resumed.
(Haaretz" 14 August, 1996)

Dr. Aaron Lerner
IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-904719/Fax 972-9-911645
INTERNET ADDRESS: im...@netvision.net.il
pager 03-6750750 subscriber 4811

Dr. Aaron Lerner
IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-904719/Fax 972-9-911645
INTERNET ADDRESS: im...@netvision.net.il
pager 03-6750750 subscriber 4811

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Associate
IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-904719/Fax 972-9-911645
INTERNET ADDRESS: im...@netvision.net.il
pager 03-6750750 subscriber 4811

To subscribe:
A) Regular subscription via Virtual Jerusalem
http://www.virtual.co.il/city_services/lists/imra-l
B) For free fax subscription, please send request to
im...@netvision.net.il
Fax service limited to: American area codes 212, 313, 503, 514
(Montreal), 541, 718, 813 (Tampa) as well as Athens(+30 1), Lisbon
(+351-1), Croatia (+385), Zagreb (+385-1), United Kingdom (+44),
Sweden (+46), Australia (+61 - Melbourne, Canberra, Sydney,
Darwin), Seoul (+82-2), Hong Kong (+852)