Barak & Hafez
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE 8/6/99: "Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak sent a peace
message to Syrian President Hafez-al-Assad two years ago when he was still in opposition,
his new deputy foreign minister, Nawaf Masalha, said Friday. Masalha said he himself
delivered the message to Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara when he visited Damascus
as part of a delegation of Israeli Arab MPs.
"In this message Mr. Barak assured Syria he would continue on the road to peace
begun by Labour Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin" who was assassinated in 1995, Masalha
told AFP. "I delivered this message in writing during a one-hour meeting I held with
Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara in Damascus," he said. "The message was
couched in general terms and did not go into the question of exactly what undertakings Mr.
Rabin did or did not give," he added..."
Secret base & PA phones
HATZOFE 8/6/99: "Is the Palestinian Authority [PA] trying to establish facts about
a Palestinian telecommunications infrastructure near the military base on the top of Jabal
'Aybal north of Nabulus, one of the most secret bases in Israel? A security officer who
visited Jabal 'Aybal last week for his work told our correspondent that he saw a car
bearing Israeli license plates and a sticker of Pal-Tel (the new PA cellular phone
company) and a few people working on an antenna of the Israeli firm Cellcom, which had
been installed a few weeks ago near the base's fence with the defense establishment's
approval.
When he asked them what they were doing -- he addressed them both in Arabic and Hebrew
-- they told him they were connecting the Palestinian infrastructure to the Israeli phone
network. Our correspondent points out that the base on Mount 'Aybal is considered one of
the IDF's [Israel Defense Forces] most secret, and only people with high security
clearance are allowed entry.
It is located in one of the most important command points in Judaea and Samaria. In the
defense establishment's map of security interests it is classified as a security interest
which must remain under Israeli control in all the redeployment phases.
Israeli security sources are anxious that the PA telecommunications infrastructure
might be followed by a Palestinian presence on the mountain. Replying to a question by
Hatzofe, Cellcom spokesperson 'Ofra Preuss denied that the company had allowed Pal-Tel to
use its antenna. Sources in the Civil Administration also told our correspondent that the
Palestinians were only given permission to install an antenna in the Muskand neighborhood
of Nabulus, in Area C territory under Israeli control, and not on the top of Jabal
'Aybal..."
Algerian secrets
Algiers' EL WATAN 8/8/99: "The meeting between [Algerian President Abdelaziz]
Bouteflika and the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak, was neither fortuitous nor a matter
of chance. It was envisaged. The Moroccan king's funeral - world leaders hold meetings in
such circumstances - made the meeting happen earlier than planned.
The go-betweens have been very efficient: Things had to be done quickly and well. The
media did the rest. One of the objectives of the meeting was to make secret contacts,
which have been going on for 10 years already, official and public! When Chadli Bendjedid
was president, between 1986 and 1988, a senior Algerian official [responsible for military
security who became ambassador and is said to have resumed work for Bouteflika] met the
then Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres on several occasions in Paris.
The Israeli ambassador in Paris, Ovadia Soffer, was the organizer of such meetings. Did
the Algerians take the initiative with the green light of the Palestinians or did they
want to catch up with the Moroccan offensive towards the Jewish state? Israel was
interested in continuing and deepening the contacts, while Algeria wanted Israel to
recognize the PLO first.
After the Madrid conference on the Middle East in 1991, contacts between the two
countries resumed, following their interruption in 1988. In 1994, an Israeli delegation
visited Algeria in almost total secrecy. The two foreign debt rescheduling carried out in
1993 and 1994 led Algeria to build up important hard currency reserves. For the Algerian
authorities, the 1993 Oslo accords could be used as justification to establish commercial
relations with the Jewish state.
Therefore and according to the correspondent of [the French daily newspaper] `Le Monde'
in Jerusalem, George Marion said on 1st and 2nd August that after the meeting with
Bouteflika [in Rabat], one of Ehud Barak's aide told him that a commercial agreement was
signed and implemented as early as 10th July 1994.
The two countries had to use the system of umbrella companies [to keep the agreement
secret]. One the companies was owned by Israel and was based in Morocco. It sold Algeria
medical equipment [used in pregnancy tests]; the "merchandise" was disguised as
a French product sent from Marseilles! The Algerian authorities were very keen on keeping
secret this trade which developed in the last five years in the field of health, including
field hospitals (for the National People's Army, ANP, within the framework of the fight
against terrorism?), services, training, etc..."
Indyk's influence
VESTI 8/5/99: "One month before the Likud elects its chairman in primaries, Ari'el
Sharon called a news conference for Russian-speaking media representatives. "Israel's
No. 1 general," as his media advisers refer to him to spite the incumbent prime
minister, knows perfectly well that this is almost certainly the last battle of his
political career.
Sharon says he does not understand why Baraq is constantly implying that the Wye
agreements, which were signed by Netanyahu, are problematic. "The Wye agreements are
a direct consequence of the accords signed by Yitzhaq Rabin in Oslo," Sharon says.
"In my view, the Oslo agreements are the problematic ones for our country, and yet we
had to abide by international commitments undertaken by a previous government.
Besides, the Wye agreement -- contrary to the Oslo accords -- was the first agreement
to specify phased reciprocal concessions. Israel was supposed to implement its share only
after the Palestinians implemented theirs and after that implementation was checked by us
and found to conform with the signed commitments.
"This stipulation prevented a situation where Israel honors its commitments while
'Arafat evades his. Moreover, let me remind you that the Palestinians, and not Israel,
were the ones to quit the negotiations. They were persuaded that by pursuing the
negotiations, they would be helping Netanyahu's second premiership bid."
[Moldavsky] Who advised the Palestinians to quit the negotiations?
[Sharon] There were more than enough advisers. First of all, the Israeli leftwingers
did their share. Second, Mubarak, as well as France. Another active influence on the
Palestinians was Martin Indyk.
[Moldavsky] Are you saying that the US State Department actually tried to be
instrumental in replacing the Israeli regime?
[Sharon] I don't know if Indyk was representing the State Department's stand or acting
privately in this matter. The fact is that the Palestinians abandoned the negotiating
table partially thanks to Martin Indyk's advice."
IDF Arabic shortage
MA'ARIV 8/5/99: "A severe shortage of Arabic speakers is threatening the IDF
[Israel Defense Forces] Intelligence Branch's [IB] ability to collect data and conduct
research. There has been a dearth of Arabic speakers for a number of years. Recently,
however, it has assumed proportions that pose a threat to the IB's functioning.
A senior IB officer says that the shortage is felt in both the collection and research
units, and is expected to worsen in future "unless the appropriate steps are
taken." The problem results from the small number of new recruits who speak Arabic at
home. In past generations, there were many new immigrants from Arab countries and children
born to parents from Arab countries who spoke their native language at home...
In an attempt to bridge the gap, the IB is operating a special Arabic studies program.
The IB selects high school graduates with particularly high potential and puts them
through an eight-month Arabic language course. Those graduating from the course are asked
to sign on for a fourth year of military service but afterwards most of them leave the IDF
"for the temptations of the civil sector."
The senior officer said that this "makes it difficult for the system to accumulate
knowledge and experience." He said that "because of the chronic shortage of
experienced officers, we are placing lieutenants in positions normally filled by
majors."
Arab villification
Beirut's AL NAHAR 8/5/99: "The vituperative words that Syrian Defense Minister
Gen. Mustafa Talas used (and denied) against President 'Arafat mark a step forward in the
hostile language between the Syrian and Palestinian leaders and in the expression of
differences among Arabs these days. These words are indeed in keeping with an old Arab
tradition of defamation, particularly political one. This attitude demonstrates the same
tribal trend that has characterized Arab divisions since the pre-Islamic era.
True, the use of vituperations is not new, nor is the casting of suspicion on origins.
But the latest vilification of a person on grounds of his origin is no longer familiar in
modern Arab times. The Arabs often vilify each other: Who can forget the vituperations
between Iraq and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia before and after the invasion of Kuwait?
Or between Egypt and Sudan; Yemen and Saudi Arabia, and so on and so forth? However,
all these vituperations focused on a stand or a principle. Perhaps the most notorious
vilification of the origin of a leader was the one made by Egypt against the late
Jordanian monarch during the Jamal 'Abd-al-Nasir era.
Some Arabs certainly raced ahead of others in concluding peace with Israel while others
held their ground. But since no one had any option other than the framework of the peace
process and since this peace is not at all the peace that the Arabs want, the Arabs
certainly cannot improve their position and hold good negotiations through vituperations.
Neither can they make peace among themselves through vilification as they proceed toward
peace with Israel."
Mustafa's return
IDF RADIO 8/5/99: "Last week Palestinian Authority [PA] Chairman Yasir 'Arafat
proposed -- with Israel's approval and knowledge -- to deputy PFLP [Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine] leader Abu-'Ali Mustafa to return to the territories and pursue
the dialogue between the PFLP and the PA.
According to a Palestinian source who was present at the meeting between 'Arafat and
Mustafa in Cairo earlier this week, Mustafa agreed to return to the territories even if
PFLP leader George Habash remains in Damascus. Our correspondent in the territories Tzvi
Yehezqeli reports that the PFLP leadership wants to return to the territories and be part
of the decisionmaking process."
Terror today
AP 8/10/99: "A Palestinian on an apparent suicide mission plowed into hitchhiking
Israeli soldiers during morning rush hour today, injuring nine before being shot to death
by Israeli troops. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the hit-and-run. The
Israeli police minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami, said he hoped the violence would not affect
Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking and called on the Palestinian Authority to restrain
militants.
The attack occurred at Nachson Junction, a major intersection 30 miles west of
Jerusalem. Witnesses said a Fiat with yellow Israeli license plates slammed into a group
of soldiers at the hitchhiking post and injured two soldiers before speeding away. Then,
witnesses said, the car suddenly made a sharp U-turn and drove toward the soldiers a
second time.
"I saw the car hit the soldiers again, including some who were already on the
ground,'' said Reuven Gvirts, 47, who was riding his bicycle nearby. Gvirtz said the car
dragged some of the injured and then crashed into a large flatbed truck. The deputy police
commander of the central district, Shimon Sharvit, said police and soldiers opened fire on
the Fiat when it approached the second time. Sharvit said the driver was killed before his
car hit the truck. Sharvit said the incident was "apparently a suicide terror
attack.''
Police sealed the area and searched the car for explosives, but found none. Ben-Ami
said the driver was a resident of the Palestinian town of Bethlehem in the West Bank. All
of the injured were soldiers and police, Sharvit said. Paramedics said one soldier
suffered serious injuries and the others were lightly hurt..."
Temple Mount construction
AP 8/9/99: "Israeli police sealed an opening in the outer wall of the Al Aqsa
Mosque compound before dawn Tuesday in a showdown with Muslim clerics over control of the
site sacred to both Muslims and Jews. Muslim leaders said the wall opening is part of
renovations carried out by the Islamic Trust and that Israeli authorities had no right to
interfere.
They accused the new government of moderate Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak of trying
to provoke a confrontation and warned that police action would spark violent Muslim
protests. The compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, or the site of the Jewish
Temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., is perhaps the most sensitive spot in the
Israeli-Arab conflict...
In recent years, the Islamic Trust, or Waqf, has carried out a number of renovations,
turning underground vaults into prayer areas. Israel has protested, but has not stopped
the work, apparently fearing a repeat of the 1996 riots [which occurred after Israel
opened an exit for the Western Wall tunnel archaeological excavation]. During the current
renovations, workers enlarged a window on the southern side of the compound's outer wall
into a door-sized opening.
The opening is near the Western Wall, the last remnant of the Jewish Temple and
Judaism's most sacred site. Israel's police minister, Shlomo Ben-Ami, said that enlarging
the opening was a violation of the unwritten agreement that neither side introduce changes
at the holy site...Adnan Husseini, the director of the Islamic Trust, said the Muslims
were within their rights in carrying out the renovations and that the work would not stop.
"Any interference of the police with this work will lead to violence," Husseini
said, speaking before police sealed the opening."
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the content and articles of this
website, do not necessarily express the opinions of the Zionist Organization of America,
nor the editor and creator of this website.