17. Labor chooses

HA'ARETZ 1/11/99: "...Meanwhile, tension ran high again yesterday in the Labor Party as party leader MK Ehud Barak, won another internal victory when the party's standing committee decided - contrary to the wishes of several senior MKs from the Knesset faction - to allow him to "reserve" four places for candidates of his choice on the party's list of candidates in the May elections.

Two of the four will be in the top ten - with one slot going to former prime minister Shimon Peres. The third open position will be in the second ten, and the fourth in the third. The committee also gave Barak the go-ahead to negotiate with various individuals and groups on their possible integration into the umbrella list he plans to form called "One Israel."

This could result in additional places being "reserved." Barak's wish-list includes Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai, currently in the Likud; Gesher party head MK David Levy; centrist candidate Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, should he decided to abandon his campaign for prime minister; and a well-known religious personality.

Some senior party figures said after the vote - which Barak won handily, by a margin of 152 to 42, after declaring that he would consider it an "expression of confidence" in his leadership - that they might leave the party if the convention gives its final approval to the decision when it meets Wednesday night.

Two ranking MKs cited in this connection were Uzi Baram and Hagai Merom. They and others said that the implication of the decision was that "the Labor Party will be shunted out of the Labor list."

Barak said his plan was to offset the scheme of the centrist party to siphon off members of Labor by bringing in top people who might otherwise end up in the center party..."

18. Syria’s Assad chooses

HA'ARETZ 1/11/99: "Syrian President Hafez Assad is planning to appoint his son and heir apparent Bashar to a senior post in the Syrian government, just two weeks after Bashar's promotion to the rank of colonel in the Syrian army, the international Arab daily Al Hayat reported yesterday.

Assad senior will be reelected to a fifth seven-year term next month, and is expected to announce his son's post then. The Syrian president began grooming Bashar as his successor about five years ago, when his oldest son Basil was killed in a car accident.

As of today, Bashar, 34, does not occupy any official political post. Al Hayat cited Arab diplomats in Cairo and Beirut as saying the Syrian president intends to open his fifth term with a reshuffling of the senior posts in his government.

Lebanese officials who are close to Syria's leadership reportedly said Bashar would likely be assigned a high-ranking post - particularly in light of his plans to get Syria involved in information technology..."

19. Security memo

HA'ARETZ 1/12/99: "A secret meeting was recently held in Cairo between American and Egyptian representatives in the context of what is commonly termed the "strategic dialogue" between the two nations. The Egyptians were curious about the security memorandum signed by U.S. President Bill Clinton and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the wake of the Wye conference.

Even here there are many people who do not know what precisely lies behind the memorandum, which was hastily signed in Jerusalem by Netanyahu in the presence of American Ambassador Ned Walker.

There are those who attach great importance to what is supposed to develop under the aegis of this memorandum, while there are those who say that the memorandum represents nothing new in the American-Israeli strategic relationship, which has long since become a fixture of the ties between the two countries.

Behind the scenes, in both Jerusalem and Washington, a lot of energy is being spent on the new memorandum. The memorandum was initiated by the prime minister and the team that worked with him included his adviser on the peace process, Uzi Arad; our ambassador in Washington, Zalman Shoval; and our ambassador at the United Nations, Dore Gold.

The defense establishment was not represented on this team. But both Defense Minister Yitzhak Mordechai and Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon saw a draft at Wye, so neither can claim to be surprised.

The head of the Israeli team will be Major General (Res.) David Ivri, the former air force commander who spent ten years as director general of the defense minister and has already played a leading role in the strategic dialogue with the U.S.

His team will be small, and include senior representatives from the Prime Minister's Office, from the Foreign Ministry and from the Atomic Energy Commission. Ivri left this week for Washington for the start of the talks on the memorandum.

The U.S. side will be led by Undersecretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Martin Indyk, whose team will include representatives from the White House's National Security Council, and the Pentagon.

Because the discussions deal with the non-conventional weapons threat posed by both Iran and Iraq, some of the Americans opposed from the very beginning Israel's requests for concessions and for turning a blind eye to the non-conventional deterrent devices in Israel's own hands.

The new group is dubbed the Joint Strategic Planning Committee (JSPC). From now on, there will in effect be two separate tracks for the conduct of the strategic dialogue between Israel and the U.S. The first track, which has been operating since the 1970s, is the Joint Political Military Group (JPMG), which convenes twice a year.

The second track is meant to deal with issues like ground-to-ground missiles and deterrents to meet the threat of non-conventional weaponry. If the second track operates effectively, it would likely become the more senior and more confidential of the two.

The first track, under the auspices of the Pentagon and the Israeli defense ministry, would focus on situational assessments and on the planning of joint military exercises.

But unconventional weaponry in the Middle East is closely connected with Russia, North Korea and China and the discussions will inevitably lead to talks on international conventions, such as the one calling for the termination of the production of fissionable materials.

Israel, it should be noted, harbors considerable suspicions regarding these conventions. Israel is interested in a better deterrent "umbrella" in the face of the double threat of non-conventional weaponry and long-range missiles.

But it's reasonable to believe that Washington will not want to focus only on those topics that Israel considers urgent but also that the discussions include the peace process and Israel's contribution to America's strategic interests in the region."

20. Free speech against Peres sent home by the judge

HA'ARETZ 1/12/99: "A Tel Aviv magistate yesterday criticized the police for arresting a woman who called Shimon Peres a "carcass" during a question and answer session on Sunday at a conference organized by his peace center.

The police sought to have Iris Cohen detained for another five days so that she could undergo psychiatric observation. Magistrate Judge Hanan Efrati rejected the request, criticizing the police and maintaining that Cohen was simply exercising her freedom of speech. It is not clear whether the Peres Center for Peace event was open to Cohen, 34, or whether she crashed the party.

The police said the incident began when Cohen asked the center's Director General Uri Savir what kind of peace agreement allows Palestinian students to attack an IDF soldier. Police said Cohen was told her question was inappropriate.

She then cursed Peres and called him a "carcass." Security officers removed Cohen from the hall, and police arrived at the scene of the putative crime shortly afterward. Police say Cohen called officers "corrupt" when they tried to detain her, and say she also added, "Peres, my ass."

A police investigator said Cohen's actions "give rise to the suspicion she may be psychologically unstable." But Cohen's lawyer called it a "flagrant attempt to gag free speech." The judge sent the woman home."

21. Radio regs

HA'ARETZ 1/12/99: "The ministerial committee appointed to regulate special-interest radio stations, including Arutz Sheva, met for the first time in three months yesterday and decided to draft an amendment to the law governing the Channel Two radio and television broadcasting authority.

The proposal calls for designating national, special-interest radio stations by tender. The bill will be based on a proposal by the committee's chairman, Education Minister Yitzhak Levy, and is expected to be presented to the government for approval within a month.

The stations would be commercial ventures, funded through advertisements.In addition to Education Minister Levy, the ministerial committee includes Justice Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, Labor Minister Eliyahu Suissa, and representatives of Communications Minister Limor Livnat and Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein.

Suissa asked that two radio stations be allocated for the Haredi sector. The bill will be formulated by the legal advisors of the various ministries. The ministers hope to bring the bill to a vote before the 14th Knesset disbands in May.

A proposal to form a Channel Three broadcast authority to solve the Arutz Sheva issue was proposed several months ago and was opposed by the attorney general and defense minister."

22. Peres Center

THE JERUSALEM POST 1/12/99: "Seeking to convince themselves and others that the peace process can be resuscitated, the architects of the Oslo agreement and an array of international luminaries came together yesterday for a peace gathering in Ramallah that rapidly became a show of support for Palestinian statehood.

Labor MK Shimon Peres, in the first address by an Israeli to the Palestinian Legislative Council, told its members and more than a hundred international figures affiliated with the Peres Center for Peace that "it is our deep hope not only that the Palestinian people will gain independence, but it is our common interest to see a Palestinian state take place as a result of an agreement - a state that lives democratically and flourishes economically."

The wording appeared to be a nudge to the Palestinian Authority not to declare statehood unilaterally on May 4, a step that would likely boost Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu two weeks before the elections. Government officials said in response that it is "customary in a democratic country that security and foreign policy are discussed only at home."

They further said that it is "unthinkable for a member of the opposition to criticize the standing government outside the state."

In a coup for both Peres and the PA, former Soviet premier Mikhail Gorbachev also made a speech. Former South African president F.W. de Klerk and Archbishop Desmond Tutu also attended.

PA Chairman Yasser Arafat met later with the dignitaries, criticizing Israel for expanding West Bank settlements and not proceeding with troop redeployments as specified in the Wye agreements.

He shed little light on what would happen on May 4. "We cannot let the day pass simply because one of the partners wants to hold it hostage to its narrow, internal calculations," he said.

Some Palestinian legislators predicted little would come of yesterday's gathering and said that several of the visitors, including Peres, became enthusiasts of Palestinian statehood only after they left office..."

23. Japan & Lebanon

THE JERUSALEM POST 1/12/99: "Visiting Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, launching a Japanese mediation effort in this region, presented Israel yesterday with a four-point plan for withdrawal from Lebanon.

The plan, which sets out the need for Israeli forces to redeploy from southern Lebanon as a step towards a comprehensive peace in the region, does not mention assurances for security of the North.

It does suggest that the "parties should discuss" the withdrawal, albeit "without any preconditions." Masaki Okada, a spokesman for Komura, said that both Syrian President Hafez Assad and Lebanese Prime Minister Selim Hoss have seen the plan, and although it is not completely acceptable to them, they both encouraged the Japanese to go forward with their efforts to advance it.

Okada added, however, that in the meeting with Assad, the Syrian leader said that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had "sabotaged," the Syrian-Israeli tract, and that nothing could move forward as long as he is prime minister.

Asked if Assad related to the upcoming elections in this country, Okada said that he had, but would not relay what had been said. In addition, while Komura tried to convince Assad to get back to the negotiation table without preconditions, Assad stuck by his position that talks could resume from the point at which they were cut off three years ago, Okada said.

Israel maintains that while any earlier understanding "will be taken into account," there are to be no preconditions. Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon, who both met with Komura yesterday in Jerusalem expressed interest in the Japanese four point plan.

"I was very impressed by Foreign Minister Komura's suggestions in regard to a solution in Lebanon. There is no doubt that we have great interest in his proposals, and I suggested to Mr. Komura that if he has the time...we would be willing and would be happy for Japan's mediation in our attempts to reach an agreement in Lebanon," said Sharon..."

24. Lauder for Prez

THE JERUSALEM POST 1/12/99: "Billionaire businessman- philanthropist Ronald Lauder, who managed to convince American Jewish leaders that he did not underwrite Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's 1996 election campaign, has been nominated as the next chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.

Lauder impressed the nominating committee with his multi-million-dollar humanitarian projects in Central and Eastern Europe, a former chairman, Leon Levy, said yesterday.

Neither Netanyahu nor Malcolm Hoenlein, executive director of the Presidents' Conference, influenced the committee, one source said. Some of the members of the committee said privately that they are concerned about Lauder's cozy relationship with Netanyahu, and noted that it was Lauder who connected the prime minister with Republican media consultant Arthur Finkelstein...

Lauder, a former US envoy to Austria, became head of the Jewish National Fund two years ago, and is an official of the World Jewish Congress. He is the single largest benefactor of Jewish schools and youth programs in Central and Eastern Europe, where he also has substantial media and other business interests.

His company, Central European Media Enterprises, has broadcast licenses in virtually every state in the region. "A mix of American reruns, soft porn, hard-hitting tabloid news, and an overall slick image has made it the leading station in nearly every market," according to The International Herald Tribune.