Israel-Syria talks in Virginia?

HA'ARETZ 9/16/99: "The influential London Arabic daily Al Hayat yesterday quoted U.S. sources as saying that Israeli-Syrian negotiations would take place "somewhere in Virginia." The newspaper's sources also said that Syria's delegation will be headed by Riad Daoudi, one of Damascus's most senior and experienced diplomats.

They are quoted as saying that they expect the Israeli delegation to be headed by General (ret.) Uri Saguy, a former commander-in-chief of the IDF's Intelligence Corps. Saguy was a senior member of the Israeli delegation that conducted the previous round of talks with the Syrians at the Wye River Plantation.

The newspaper also quoted other Washington sources as saying that Walid Mualem, Syria's ambassador to Washington, is slated to replace Foreign Minister Farouk al Shara, who is expected to be Syria's next prime minister..."

     

PA's list of Police force

HA'ARETZ 9/16/99: "The PA yesterday handed over to Israel a list of all personnel serving in the Palestinian police force. The list of 30,000 names was supposed to be handed over as part of the Wye accords. The PA reaffirmed its commitment to hand over the list in the Sharm accord.

Israeli sources say the list is important, to make sure that the PA police force does not exceed the number agreed upon at Oslo, and to make sure that it does not contain negative elements. Israel has to be able to ensure that Arafat's police force does not somehow end up becoming an armyÓ, one source said...."

     

NAM resolutions hard on Israel

ISRAEL LINE 9/13/99: "The Non-Aligned Movement at the United Nations, which consists of over 100 states mostly in Africa and the Middle East, has formulated a set of guidelines for Middle Eastern issues that reflect a harsh policy towards Israel, HA'ARETZ reported. The Group intends to implement this policy in the upcoming UN General Assembly.

The leaders of the Group intend to introduce a draft resolution providing that Israel's membership credentials in the UN be subject to geographical constraints. Should this resolution be accepted, the West Bank and Gaza Strip would be removed from Israeli jurisdiction..."

     

Barak hid Labour Party

HA'ARETZ 9/14/99: "Barak hid the Labor party from the public during the past national elections and because of this, the party lost eight seats in the Knesset, a report prepared by the Labor claimed.

The report, prepared by former government minister Moshe Shahal after a request from General Secretary Ra'anan Cohen, states that the public were only exposed to Labor's ballot label letters "Aleph-Mem-Tav" (spelling the Hebrew word emet, or truth) one week before the elections. Before that, they claim, there was no mention of the party whatsoever.

In a party meeting held yesterday, suggestions were made for a possible new name. Shahal suggestion, "The New Labor Party - for the sake of one Israel," was rejected by General Secretary Cohen since he wants no link whatsoever to the "One Israel" party. The suggestion of "The Renewing Labor Party" was eventually chosen.

United Kibbutz Movement representative Amos Gershoni said that the movement is furious at Barak for not appointing a Kibbutz Movement member to the government and warned that the Labor party is losing their support..."

     

Israel-USA Extradition talks

HA"ARETZ 9/15/99: "A senior U.S. Justice Department delegation arrived yesterday in Israel and had its first meeting with its Israeli counterparts to discuss changes to the policy on extradition treaties between the two countries following the Sheinbein affair.

U.S. law enforcement officials are furious over the plea bargain struck between Israeli prosecution authorities and American teenager Samuel Sheinbein, who fled to Israel after being charged with murder in Maryland and was not extradited to the U.S. because he was able to claim Israeli citizenship.

Following prolonged negotiations with U.S. authorities, it was agreed that Sheinbein would be tried in Israel. In a plea bargain, he agreed to be sentenced to 24 years in jail, which was seen as a severe sentence by local standards but which outraged U.S. authorities, since under Maryland law Sheinbein could have received the death penalty.

Israeli officials also have grievances against U.S. law enforcement authorities. Over the past two years only five of the 27 extradition requests made by Israel were approved. Until recently, Israeli citizens wanted overseas were not extradited, and instead were tried and served their sentences in Israel for crimes committed overseas.

The Begin amendment (1978) forbade the extradition of Israeli citizens. It was recently amended to allow extradition of Israeli nationals, but at the time Sheinbein entered the country it was still in force."

     

Histadrut scandals

HA'ARETZ 9/15/99: "While the power of the Histadrut Labor Union is shrinking, the number of scandalous affairs perpetrated within its walls just keeps on growing.

This week it came to light that there is indeed a basis for the suspicion that six months ago, during Menahem Cohen's term as secretary-general, the civil servants' union used funds from a bank account belonging to the Association for the Professional Advancement of Civil Servants, which is a totally separate body.

About NIS 350 thousand was withdrawn from the account for purposes which are hopelessly unconnected to realizing the purpose for which the association was founded - to finance the three-day civil servants' strike last March. The funds were withdrawn right under the noses of the association's management. In fact, the whole matter seems to be an offense which warrants a thorough police investigation.

Two other affairs have recently developed in connection with the pension funds of the Histadrut in Mivtachim: last July the Chairman of the Trade Unions Branch of the Histadrut, Shlomo Shani, and the secretaries general of most of the trade unions, allowed themselves to be wined and dined at one of Mivtachim's hotels together with their wives for three full days, with all the perks, for a pittance.

This week it turned out that Histadrut Chair Amir Peretz and Mivtachim CEO Doron Shorer concluded a dubious transaction two weeks ago, under which Mivtachim will lend NIS 700,000 to the cash-starved Histadrut. Transactions of the like, namely between a pension fund and a body on the brink of collapse, endanger the savings of the fund's members.

These ignominies are joined by the questions surrounding events revealed two years ago, and which have again come to the fore, regarding irregular sales in 1996 by Housing & Construction Holding Company, the giant Histadrut real estate company, to businessman Ted Arison..."

     

Terrorist policemen

ZOA PRESS RELASE 9/15/99: "Yasir Arafat's Palestinian Authority has recruited into its security forces all of the 199 terrorist prisoners released by Israel last week.

The Oslo accords [Cairo Agreement, May 1994, Annex I, Article 3, par.4-b) require Arafat to submit lists of potential police officers to Israel for approval before hiring them, so that Israel can screen out any >known terrorists. Arafat has repeatedly ignored this Oslo requirement.

According to Middle East Newsline correspondent Mohammed Najib (Sept. 14, 1999), "Palestinian sources said all of the 199 released Palestinian prisoners on Thursday were absorbed in PA security forces and were handed weapons 'in order to protect themselves', a PA source said. On Tuesday, PA Radio confirmed the report."

Morton A. Klein, National President of the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) urged the Clinton administration to demand that Arafat "stop rewarding murderers with positions in the Palestinian Authority security forces."

General Security Services [Shin Bet] chief Ami Ayalon told the Israeli Cabinet on June 6, 1999, that "many fugitives had been given posts in the PA police and security forces," and that "some of these posts include senior commands."

     

Bibi queried

ARUTZ7 9/16/99: "The interrogations of former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his wife Sarah last night, each of which lasted seven-hours, have left the police with no clear evidence that the Netanyahus bribed a Jerusalem contractor or that they misused public funds.

Netanyahu's attorney Yaakov Weinrot is expected to publicize the couple's version of the events this evening. The media storm surrounding the Netanyahus began with a Yediot Acharonot article on Tuesday of this week and preoccupied the radio and television news on Wednesday.

On last night's prime-time news broadcasts, reporters on Channel One and privately-owned Channel Two TV gave minute-by-minute reports of the interrogations while they were being conducted. Opposition MKs today issued harsh criticism of the police behavior in the affair, citing the steady flow of detailed leaks by police to reporters.

Likud MK Uzi Landau, for instance, blasted the police department, calling it "a rotten organization that is undermining justice" in Israel. Referring to the fact that the police investigation began less than a day after Yediot Acharonot's "scoop," Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert said that there was "something fishy" about the relationship between the police and two main journalists associated with the affair.

An Israel police spokesman rebuffed allegations of police-media coordination, insisting that "the investigators faithfully carried out their responsibilities." Justice Minister Yossi Beilin labeled the criticism of police "a deliberate attempt to undermine the state's legal and law enforcement agencies."...

     

Shas schools

THE JERUSALEM POST 9/17/99: "Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef will remove Ma'ayan Hahinuch Hatorani school system director-general Ya'acov Hemed immediately after Yom Kippur, Channel 2 reported last night.

He accused Hemed of disobeying him by convening the system's board of directors against his express orders. Yosef personally intervened in the meeting and accused those in attendance of working behind his back, the report said. However, a spokesman for the school system denied the report and said, "Rabbi Yosef never said such a thing."

Hemed's dismissal would be in keeping with the demand by Attorney-General Elyakim Rubinstein Wednesday night that Hemed must be replaced or resign before the government could transfer any more funds to the Shas school system and would likely pave the way toward a quick resolution of the impasse, which has kept teachers in the system from receiving advances on their salaries.

Hemed became the focus of a power struggle within the party yesterday, with Yosef saying it doesn't matter who heads the system, so long as the world of Torah is strengthened...

Yosef also took time at the meeting to defend the new party chief, Labor and Social Affairs Minister Eli Yishai, accused by some in the party of having a hand in Rubinstein's move.

"Anyone who attacks Eli Yishai attacks me. I appointed Eli Yishai, and whoever isn't happy can leave," Yosef told a gathering of party officials, according to radio reports. "When Aryeh Deri is cleared, we will return him to the post of party chief."...

     

Investigation insights

HA'ARETZ 9/17/99: "Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ready to show the public everything - receipts, bills and demands for payment - submitted by contractor Avner Amedi for the work Amedi did for the Netanyahus.

Netanyahu agreed to do this in a conversation with the legal adviser to the Prime Minister's Office, Shimon Stein (a Netanyahu appointee). Stein told Ha'aretz that the law protecting individual privacy prevents him from making the documents public without Amedi's consent.

Stein has told Amedi that if he hears no objections from him within 21 days he will release the documents. Stein also said that he was the one who told reporters from Yedioth Ahronoth - who broke the story about Netanyahu's alleged bribe-taking - to hand over their findings to the police.

"Some time ago," Stein related, "reporters from Yedi-oth Ahronoth met with me while they were conducting their investigation and they asked me why I had not conveyed the material to the police. I told them that in my view there was no suspicion of criminal wrongdoing. They thought otherwise. I told them, 'If so, go to the police.'"

According to Stein, the reporters gave their findings to the police of their own volition. Mordechai Gilat, the chief Yedioth reporter in the investigation, declined to comment on Stein's remarks..."

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