Meretz Party

THE JERUSALEM POST 5/18/99: "Meretz jockeyed to be the second largest party in the coalition last night, as party leader MK Yossi Sarid revealed that Meretz and One Israel led a "coordinated campaign," and that Meretz would not sit with Shas in a coalition.

Despite early results predicting Meretz received nine seats - the same number they had in the previous Knesset - Meretz MKs called their showing a tremendous victory.[ZINC ED. NOTE: They received 10 seats.]

"People thought we would lose seats, and we gained because we started with eight," Sarid said, referring to MK Avraham Poraz's departure to Shinui. "We also overcame many challenges, such as the competition of other left-wing parties."

MKs and activists celebrated last night in a lot outside Meretz headquarters in south Tel Aviv. Music and dancing broke out when the results for prime minister were announced. A joyous Sarid, who arrived at the celebrations just as outgoing Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu announced his resignation, called it one of the happiest days of his life.

"Though we cannot revive [former prime minister] Yitzhak Rabin, we can revive his mission and that's the first thing we'll do." Sarid said that Meretz and One Israel activists worked extremely closely together to bring about the victory.

Though he hadn't yet spoken to Prime Minister-elect Ehud Barak, Sarid was confident they would be the first choice for coalition partners. "I would not sit with Shas under any circumstances," Sarid said.

"There is a historical opportunity to create a government without the pressure or aggressiveness of the haredim." Sarid said they had no problem sitting with Tommy Lapid's Shinui Party.

Other MKs, like MK Anat Maor, expressed regret that Shinui funneled votes away from Meretz, but said, "what can we do? We will work with them."...

Center Party

THE JERUSALEM POST 5/18/99: "Center Party leader Yitzhak Mordechai last night expressed delight that most of his party's aims have been achieved, including "overturning the regime."

He said he had warned for months that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu would lose his job as a result of his behavior, but added: "I think he acted correctly and with dignity tonight." Mordechai said he had telephoned One Israel leader Ehud Barak to congratulate him, but they had not yet discussed his role or that of the Center Party in the new government.

One of the first visitors to the party's office in Tel Aviv was former prime minister Shimon Peres, who thanked Mordechai for his decision to step down and told reporters that the Center Party leader would be offered a senior position in the government.

Leading party members said they had kept their promise to establish a strong force in the center of Israeli politics.

"We must celebrate the fact that [Netanyahu] is no longer prime minister, and we contributed a great deal to that," said party No. 5 Uri Savir...

The party's attention will now turn immediately to negotiations with Barak with a view to receiving as many key portfolios as possible. Had Mordechai quit the premiership competition several weeks ago, when the party was predicted to win some 15 seats, there would have been four ministerial positions secured, one for each of the party's founders.

However, Mordechai's late withdrawal means he will come to the negotiations with a far weaker hand. Party sources said their first mission in the new Knesset will be to ensure there is no deterioration in relations between religious and secular.

"In a country where [Shinui leader] Tommy Lapid wins six seats and Shas 15 it's going to be very complex to work things out," said Savir."

Likud Party

HA'ARETZ 5/18/99: "...Likud MKs seemed to be in shock from the party's stunning defeat last night - a defeat that, according to exit polls, left the party with only 18-19 seats. [ZINC ED NOTE: 19 seats.]...

"This is a very difficult night," said outgoing Communications Minister Limor Livnat, who was a senior figure in the Likud's campaign, and considered a possible contender for the party leadership.

Livnat tried to put a brave face on the loss, saying that in her years with the party, she had seen it rise from a small opposition party to capture control of the government. "This is not the end," she insisted.

Outgoing Science Minister Silvan Shalom also appeared stunned. "There is no doubt that this is a very difficult outcome for the Likud and the national camp," he said. Like Livnat, however, he tried to look forward, calling on those who had left the Likud to "come home."

"All those who left [the party] must remember that the Likud was and remains their home," he said. Publicly, the upper echelon of the Likud refused to blame Netanyahu. "This is not the time to start pointing fingers at anyone," said Livnat.

"I advise everyone not to think only of the personal dimension, which has so ruled us until lately, but in deeper terms," added Deputy Minister Michael Eitan.

Both Shalom and Livnat also insisted that this was not the time to discuss the Likud succession. By party rules, the primaries for chairman must take place within a year, though activists worried over a possible Sharon-Netanyahu coup were privately saying they would do whatever necessary to hold the elections earlier..."

Katyusha

ARUTZ7 5/18/99: "Six volleys of some 70 katyusha rockets fell in or near Kiryat Shemonah and in the western Galilee during the night. Nine people have reportedly been wounded, and one of them is hospitalized.

Significant property damage to at least four homes has also been reported. Commentators see this as Hizbullah's "welcome" to Barak, who had promised to withdraw Israeli troops from Lebanon "within a year."

The residents of Kiryat Shemonah and the north were instructed to enter their bomb shelters in the middle of the night. In Israel army spokesman said today that the IDF "views with gravity" the Hizbullah's violations of its mutual understandings with Israel; IDF artillery pounded the sources of Hizbullah fire this morning.

The supervisory committee formed after the establisment of the 1996 "Grapes of Wrath" understandings will meet today to deliberate on Israel's eleven complaints against Hizbullah violations."

PA and Iran

Gaza's AL HAYAH AL JADIDA 5/11/99--Interview with Shaykh Yusuf Salamah, Deputy Minister of Awqaf and Religious Affairs in the Palestinian National Authority:

[Abu-Rizq, the interviewer] You have recently headed an official Palestinian delegation to the conference of Dialogue Among Civilizations. What is the signifance of this conference in relation to the Palestinian issue?

[Salamah] The conference came at the invitation of Iranian President Muhammad Khatami to President Yasir 'Arafat. The Palestinian instructed us on the importance of participating in this conference that debated the dialogue among civilizations and Islam as a religion and a faith with deep roots in civilization.

We spoke about the importance of dialogue among civilizations and gave the example of what is happening in Palestine. We explained to the audience the "Pledge of 'Umar" that was signed by the late 'Umar Bin-al-Khattab, may God accept him in Paradise, and the Greek Orthodox patriarch in year 15 of the Hegira [approximately 1640 A.D.] This pledge was a model of good relations among the monotheistic faiths.

Islam respected the other monotheistic believers [Jews and Christians] and did not harm them...This nation must support the Palestinian people and the people of holy Jerusalem because they stand for the defense of the holy sites of the Muslims in Palestine.

The stance of those attending the conference was a good one. Right in front of the audience and the press and the electronic media outlets, Dr. Muhammad Zarif, the chairman of the conference, proclaimed that the conferees, the Islamic Revolution in Iran, and the representatives of the Organization of Islamic Conference [OIC] support the Palestinian people in their quest to liberate their land and establish their independent state with holy Jerusalem as its capital.

[Abu-Rizq] Did the conference recommend any financial support to the city of Jerusalem that is being threatened with Judaization?

[Salamah] Actually, this was the first Palestinian delegation visiting Iran for a long time. The president also visited Iran during the conference of the Islamic summit conference. About one month ago, Faruq Qaddumi, the head of the PLO Political Department, also visited Tehran.

Our participation in this conference was a good omen, particularly regarding contacts with religious and political officials. Our contacts were not confined only to politicians, but they also included meetings with those occupying senior religious positions, such as Dr. Muhammad Khatami, the president of the Islamic Revolution, and Foreign Minister Dr. Kamal Kharazi.

I also met with Dr. 'Atallah Mahajarani, the minister of culture and religious guidance and the official government spokesman. After we explained the Islamic activities, we agreed that he would invite the Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs to participate in the celebrations marking the advent of the Islamic revolution in Iran...

[Abu-Rizq] What about financial support?

[Salamah] We seized the opportunity and met with OIC Secretary General Dr. 'Izz-al-Din al-'Iraqi, who has visited Palestine, and his assistant Ibrahim 'Awn. We explained to them the measures to which the Palestinian lands, especially the city of Jerusalem, is being subjected.

The most recent of these measures has been the closure of institutions operating in the city. In his speech at the conference, Dr. al-'Iraqi recommended that, through the OIC, the necessary financial support should be extended to champion and support the Palestinian people.

This was a clear Palestinian request. We made it clear that our people do not want statements or speeches; they want real support and assistance because Jerusalem is being Judaized on a daily basis.

[Abu-Rizq] What about the Israeli protest pertaining to the development of relations with Tehran in recent months?

[Salamah] Actually, Palestinian Arab, Islamic, and international relations are excellent. Perhaps you know that President 'Arafat has launched many attempts to reconcile among many countries and to defuse tension in many parts of the world.

Palestinian- Iranian relations are good; but they sometimes suffer some blemishes or, to be more exact, some summer clouds...A summit meeting may perhaps be held soon between [Syrian] President al-Asad and President 'Arafat.

We look forward to such a meeting because we are part of the Arab nation and we want the Arab nation to be united...As for Iran, we have a relationship and a history with this country.

The Palestinian revolution supported the Iranian revolution and the Palestinian military camps in Lebanon embraced and trained the Iranian mojahedin. For instance, the brother of Muhammad Sadiq al-Husayni, the adviser of the Culture Minister, was martyred with the Palestinian revolution in Lebanon.

All this means that we have a joint history. Although sometimes some matters crop up here or there, I am confident that the near future will witness a brilliant page in Iranian-Palestinian relations, God willing.

[Abu-Rizq] Does this mean that a meeting will soon be held between President 'Arafat and the Iranian president and between President 'Arafat and the Syrian president?

[Salamah] I do not rule it out.

[Abu-Rizq] What do you think will be the Israeli reaction to such relations?

[Salamah] Israel interferes all over the world. Even in Kosovo, Israel is helping and killing, helping the rebels in southern Sudan, interfering in Eritrea, in Kenya, and in all the countries of the world. Israel fights whom it wants and holds peace with whom it wants.

Look at Netanyahu. He has set Washington on fire, to use his own words, and he fabricated a scandal for the President of the United States. We the Palestinians will not allow the Israeli Government to interfere in our affairs and our decision-making process.

The Palestinian National Authority is a state that has the right to act on its own. It knows where its interests lie and it does not need a mediator or a referee to steer it toward its interests and goals."

Rubbish!

IDF RADIO 5/12/99--Telephone interview with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu by Mikha Friedman:

[Friedman] The Foreign Report, a very respectable British newspaper which cannot be suspected of being manipulated by the Israeli left, says that you recently asked Mosad chief Efrayim Halevi to operate against terrorist targets throughout the world, including Usamah Bin-Ladin.

It also reported that you asked the chief of staff to pinpoint grandiose targets in Lebanon, but that he refused and was prepared to bomb only Ba'labakk.

[Netanyahu] In one word, rubbish. Simply rubbish."

UN Resolution 181

Cairo's MIDDLE EAST NEWS AGENCY 5/12/99: "Arab League Secretary General Dr. 'Ismat 'Abd-al-Majid has urged that UN General Assembly Resolution 181 be implemented.

The resolution provides for the establishment of an Arab state in Palestine alongside Israel, the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and lands, and financial compensation for those who do not wish to return. 'Abd-al-Majid was talking to reporters on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of UN General Assembly Resolution 273 of 1949, which granted UN membership to Israel.

He said that the Arab League, which regards it as one of its priorities to defend the Palestinian people's right, under their wise leadership,to establish an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital, wishes to remind the international community, represented by the United Nations, that it should make Israel comply with UN resolutions, particularly Security Council Resolutions 242, 338, and 425, which call for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from all occupied Arab territories in Palestine, the Golan Heights, and south Lebanon.

'Abd-al-Majid added that the Arab League wishes to remind the United Nations of its permanent historical responsibility to the Palestinian issue and the Palestinian people and urges it to carry out its role in establishing a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East and forcing Israel to fulfill the commitments and promises on the strength of which it was accepted as a UN member.

He pointed out that Resolution 273 of 1949 was complementary to Resolution 181 of 29 November, 1947, which is considered the birth certificate of Israel. He noted that, hence, any attempt to cast doubts on this resolution and the commitments and promises it entails brings into question Israel's legal right to exist."

Hamas' Yassin

HA'ARETZ 5/18/99: "...[I]n an interview published in USA Today yesterday, Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin hinted for the first time that he is willing to recognize Israel within the 1967 borders.

He told USA Today, "We have to be realistic. We are talking about a homeland that was stolen a long time ago in 1948 and again in 1967. My generation today is telling the Israelis: