Coaltion crisis: Shas to withdraw

THE JERUSALEM POST 12/27/99 (update): "The ultra-Orthodox Shas party suddenly announced today that it intends to withdraw from the government due to an ongoing dispute over funding allocations for Shas educational institutions in the year 2000 budget, Israel Radio reported.

"Rabbi Ovadia Yosef has ordered Shas to withdraw from the coalition," announced Shas Minister of Labor and Social Welfare Eli Yishai in a dramatic announcement just before the Knesset was to begin debating the budget in a full plenum. But Shas ministers also said that the actual letters of withdrawal would be delayed for another day or two to leave time for a settlement of the funding issues.

Shas leaders later went into a conference with President Ezer Weizman over the political crisis. Weizman said that he wanted the ultra-Orthodox party to remain in the government in order to facilitate the forward movement in the peace process.

"They (Shas) made a very serious announcement," added Labor MK Ophir Pines, leader of the government-led coalition in the Knesset in an interview with Israel Radio. "But we don't accept it. We're trying to reach an understanding and I hope we can find the happy medium where their (educational) network can get back on course and they can also remain in the government."

Prime Minister Ehud Barak has promised to redirect hundreds of millions of shekels into education, welfare and health care as part of an adjusted buget plan - without exceeding the currently planned level of overall spending or taxes. In order to fund the budget increases, about a billion shekels will be cut from the defense budget, Barak has said.

Shas is demanding another NIS 100 million ($23.8 million) for its financially troubled educational network along with hundreds of millions of shekels in new allocations for the Minister of Labor and Social Welfare. [ZINC EDITOR'S NOTE: See other budget article later in ZINC.]

     

Esther Pollard interview

IDF RADIO 12/26/99 via IMRA:

Yael Dan [interviewer]: Esther Pollard, shalom!
Esther Pollard: Shalom, Yael!
Yael Dan: How are you Esther? You're back in the country?
Esther Pollard: Yes, Yael, I 'm back.
Yael Dan: Why? What brought you to us now?
Esther Pollard: There are several reasons. First of all the Supreme Court is about to hear the petition that my husband files against Ehud Barak. That is is the first reason.

Yael Dan: His petition against Ehud Barak which accuses Barak of abandoning him? You know that sounds really strange. After all, according to recent media reports, your husband's case in particular is the subject of secret ne gotiations - according to what has been published- between Israel and United States, throughout the process of negotiations with Syria.

Esther Pollard: I am very sorry to disappoint you Yael, but there is no basis in fact for any of these stories in the media. I must also tell you Yael, that not very long ago Ehud Barak accused Bibi Netanyahu of exploiting Pollard to make noise in the media to further his own political interests, while doing real damage to Pollard's chances for freedom.

The truth is, this is not what Bibi was doing this back then. On the contrary, this is exactly what Ehud Barak is now doing. He is making lots of noise in the media about Jonathan so as to give the impression that he is doing something for him, when in fact there is no substance to it at all.

Yael Dan: How do you know this? How do you know that Barak is not holding secret meetings. After all he has always claimed that things should be done for Pollard secretly, and he has all these secret contacts... perhaps what he is doing is so secret that you just don't know about it.

Esther Pollard: First of all, people must understand that this whole business of secret negotiations is false - nothing but smoke and mirrors. Bill Clinton is able to grant clemency - according to the powers bestowed upon him by the American Constitution - to whomever he wishes, whenever he wishes, for whatever reason he deems appropriate, without limitation.

So if he really wants to free Jonathan, and if Barak is as close with Clinton as he claims to be, all Barak has to do is to ask and Bill will do. -Exactly as he recently did for 14 FALN terrorists responsible for bombings throughout the United States and for the deaths and injuries of scores of Americans.

All of Clinton's government agencies and advisors were opposed to their release, but Clinton simply said, " It is my constitutional right to free them." Period.

Yael Dan: It is possible Esther, that contacts are being made and negotiations are going on (for Jonathan's release.) Esther Pollard: No. Wait a minute. No!

Yael Dan: No? Why not?

Esther Pollard: No. Not just that we know so from our own high-level sources in Washington. But there are a couple of other reasons as well. Even the Israeli Embassy in Washington has stated clearly that there is no new Israeli initiative for Pollard's release currently in the United States.

The Embassy also stated that the visit of an Israeli Defense Ministry official to Washington regarding Pollard was simply a "get acquainted" meeting and that - and I am quoting now - that it "did not signal any new initiative on the part of Israel."

If indeed - Yael, it is so important that people understand - when you start to hear noise in the media about Pollard (before you first see it), you should know that there is nothing to it. No substance. The minute that Barak really wants Pollard home, he will first be here, then you will hear the noise in the media. When the noise in the media comes first, you know that it is not going to happen - it is just posturing.

Yael Dan: How is your husband doing?

Esther Pollard: He is very disappointed. He says... Look, tomorrow is my birthday. It is another birthday that we won't be spending together. No anniversaries. No birthdays. No holidays. Every important date passes and is just one more landmark in time that we won't be together. We are never able to celebrate together -ever - because we are still in a battling for our life, and who are we battling ? The Israeli Government - which abandoned Jonathan!

Yael Dan: Tell us how you are. We understand that you have not been well.

Esther Pollard: I went back to Canada for medical treatment. We do not receive any support from the Government - not financial, and not medical, not for Jonathan and not for myself. We are in a very very dire straits. And it is even harder on us Yael, to know that they are (falsely) exploiting Jonathan's situation to soften domestic opposition to a withdrawal from the Golan Heights - as if Jonathan were a part of the plan- and it is nothing but a lie!

Yael Dan: Esther Pollard, I thank you very much. Thank you so much. Esther Pollard: Yael, thank you."

     

Yugoslavia & Israel

Belgrade's TANJUG NEWS SERVICE 12/21/99: "Federal Foreign Trade Minister Borislav Vukovic today received Abraham Neman, honorary FRY counselor to Israel, who is running the recently founded Yugoslav-Israeli business center in Tel Aviv. Neman informed Minister Vukovic of the Center's intentions to promote the Yugoslav economy in Israel and assist in establishing ties between potential business partners in the two countries.

He especially emphasized Israeli companies' interest in investing in our country. Borislav Vukovic emphasized the importance of establishing this center, which will make it possible for Yugoslav businessmen to get better acquainted with the structure of the Israeli market and cooperation possibilities.

The Minister said that he expects that Israeli partners will thus also be able to obtain more information on events in the Yugoslav economic field, especially about the forthcoming privatization and concession possibilities, the Federal Information Ministry said."

     

Arafat healthy?

JORDAN TIMES 12/22/99: "Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on Tuesday wound up a two-day visit to Jordan during which he held talks with His Majesty King Abdullah and high-ranking officials on peace negotiations with Israel and means to boost bilateral ties.

In remarks to the press following his talks with Prime Minister Abdur-Ra'uf S. Rawabdeh, Arafat lambasted Israel for failing to honour peace agreements with the Palestinian National Authority. "There is nothing new so far with regards to our negotiations with Israel," Arafat told reporters. "The negotiations did not yield any results...

The Palestinian president labelled his talks with King Abdullah and senior Jordanian officials as "very positive, important and productive." In his talks with Arafat, His Majesty stressed that the resumption of Syrian-Israeli negotiations should "support and complement" the peace process on all tracks.

Palestinian sources said on Tuesday that Arafat wanted King Abdullah to use his good offices with the Syrian leadership in an attempt to improve relations and initiate coordination between Damascus and the PNA. "The Palestinians are seeking the minimum level of inter-Arab coordination in order to secure their minimum rights," one official told the Jordan Times.

He said the PNA was in favour of holding a five-party summit grouping the leaders of Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and the PNA. Syrian President Hafez Assad, at odds with Arafat over many issues, is scheduled to meet his Egyptian counterpart soon.

During their talks at the prime ministry, Arafat and Rawabdeh decided to hold a meeting next week of Jordanian and Palestinian officials to discuss the prospects of boosting bilateral relations in the fields of trade, transport and telecommunications...

During his stay in Amman, Arafat underwent "routine" medical check-ups by his private physician, former health minister Ashraf Kurdi. Kurdi gave Arafat a clean bill of health. "Arafat enjoys very good health and the tremor in his lips is subsiding," he said.

The physician added that "apart from the lip tremor, which is subsiding, I found Arafat to be in a very good health condition." Arafat, 70, undergoes routine physicals on almost all his visits to Jordan. In his remarks to the press after his talks with Rawabdeh, Arafat explained that Kurdi had "insisted on checking my health and I told him go ahead."

     

Territories' Forum

HATZOFEH 12/21/99: "Prime Minister Ehud Baraq has appointed deputy Defense Minister Efrayim Sneh chairman of the Territories Forum. The forum was set up about 10 years ago by the late Yitzhaq Rabin (when he served as defense minister in the Shamir government) and includes the Central Command, the Southern Command, the Shin Bet, the coordinator of government activities in the territories, etc.

Until now the defense minister has headed the forum, and that was also the case when Rabin was both prime minister and defense minister. However Baraq prefers that his deputy stand at the head of the forum.

Last Thursday, the forum convened for the first time under Sneh, and another meeting is due to take place tomorrow. Our correspondent notes that while serving as chairman of the Territories Forum, Baraq put Sneh in charge of construction in Judaea and Samaria.

Yesterday, Sne approved 21 of the 26 requests and plans placed on his desk and ordered the remaining five deferred for further discussion. The aforementioned requests are not for the expansion of master plans but rather for housing improvements inside existing neighborhoods that stem from the residents' daily needs.

As for the master plans, Sne held talks with settler leaders in Judaea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip in which he spoke about a new system for approving such plans. Construction plans for less than 50 housing units will receive immediate approval.

Plans encompassing over 50 housing units will not be approved at this stage; however, Sne has recommended the continued formulation of such plans since they may be approved at some point in the future."

     

PLO denounces UN resolution

Ramallah's AL AYYAM 12/20/99: "The PLO factions have denounced UN Security Council Resolution 1284 on Iraq which was issued last Friday and considered it "disappointing." In a statement they issued yesterday, these factions said: We had hoped that the resolution would come up with a solution to the Iraqis' tragedy, which has been continuing for nine years. We had also hoped that the resolution issued by the Security Council--the highest international institution--would stop the wheel of death which is claiming the lives of the sons of Iraq.

So far, more than 1.5 million Iraqis, most of them children, have died due to the lack of food and medicine as a result of the sinful blockade on Iraq. The PLO factions have strongly condemned this resolution "which has come to abort the state of public sympathy [with the Iraqi people] that has spread even inside the United States and Britain."

The factions lauded the position of the countries that abstained from voting. They added: We had hoped that one of the Security Council permanent member states would exercise the veto to block the resolution.

The PLO factions have warned that the resolution could be "a justification for a new aggression against Iraq by the United States and Britain under the pretext of not implementing international resolutions." The statement was signed by the Fatah Movement, the Popular Front [for the Liberation of Palestine], the Democratic Front [for the Liberation of Palestine], the Palestinian Democratic Union (FIDA), the People's Party, the Popular Struggle Front, the Arab Liberation Front, and the Palestine Liberation Front..."

     

Lebanon redeployment

THE JERUSALEM POST 12/27/99: "With the prime minister's approval under its belt, the IDF plans to begin its redeployment from south Lebanon in February, with the troops out by early July "at the latest," a senior security source said.

The plan, dubbed Ofek Hadash (New Horizon) calls for erecting a new electronic border fence, dismantling most of the IDF outposts in the security zone, moving others, and building new ones, the source said. Initial estimates put the cost of the plan at NIS 1 billion, he said, and will also include beefing up the security of about 20 border settlements. The move will eventually lead to a reduction in the IDF's presence along the Lebanese border.

The navy and Military Intelligence will also modify their deployment regarding Lebanon. The IDF is working on the basic assumption that the withdrawal will be within the framework of a peace agreement and linked to the peace negotiations with Syria. The plan was approved on Friday by Prime Minister Ehud Barak. The senior security source said that the funding for the withdrawal plan would not come from the defense budget, which is already facing a cut of nearly NIS 1 billion.

The IDF demands that the withdrawal to the Israeli border be accompanied by a cessation of all hostile activity against it from Hizbullah and other in Lebanon. The final plan calls for the dismantling of all terrorist infrastructures and for another force to be present in the former security zone to keep the peace.

The IDF envisions the Lebanese Army deploying in the areas it vacates, but it does not rule out other observer forces being there at the initial stages. The IDF also wants to maintain the open fence policy, to allow residents in south Lebanon to continue crossing into Israel to work, the source said. The humanitarian aid that Israel has extended to the residents of the security zone would also not be suspended, the source added.

According to the source, settlements close to the border will receive a "protection package" that would include security fences, lighting, electric gates, and guard posts. Some will have new approach routes paved so they are not exposed to the border.

"We are not going to turn these settlements into fortified outposts," the source said. Over the years the border fence has been moved, sometimes into Lebanon, along more easily defensible venues. The new fence will demarcate the exact border. Bypass roads will be abandoned. The Defense Ministry is expected to issue tenders for the work next month. "I hope we will be able to start work in February," the source said.

Regarding the militiamen of the Israeli-financed and armed South Lebanese Army, the source repeated the condition that any agreement include arrangements for the SLA's protection. He said, however, that it is still too early to say whether they would be offered sanctuary in Israel. "Our goal is to get a secure future for them, too," the source said."

     

Terrorists released

AP 12/26/99: "Israel released five Lebanese Shiite Muslim guerrillas on Sunday in an apparent goodwill gesture ahead of a new round of peace talks with Syria. Also Sunday, an official in the prime minister's office said Israel will release 24 more Palestinian prisoners as part of an accord reached with the Palestinians in September.

The official declined to be named. Another official close to the impending release said that for the first time in the six-year peace process, the release will include Palestinians who killed Israelis.

The two releases come as Israel is moving ahead with peace talks on two fronts, trying to negotiate a final agreement with the Palestinians, while also resuming discussions with Syria, the power-broker in Lebanon, after a four-year hiatus. The five released Shiite guerillas arrived at Beirut airport early Monday to hugs and cheers from awaiting relatives.

Hisham Fahs, Ahmed Obeid, Ahmed Srour, Kamal Rizk and Hussein Tleis, arrived aboard a Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt, Germany, where they were flown from Tel Aviv earlier Sunday. Germany mediated the release. They were greeted by Naim Kassem, Hezbollah's deputy secretary-general, Mohammed Raad, head of the group's politburo and Hezbollah legislator Ammar Musawi...

The five guerrillas had been held for years as bargaining chips in hopes of securing the return of missing Israeli servicemen. Previous releases have been in the context of exchange deals with Hezbollah. But in Lebanon, a Hezbollah guerrilla official said the release was unconditional. The official, who declined to be identified, said the release included guerrillas kidnapped by Israeli troops more than 10 years ago.

Israel relaunched peace talks with Syria last week, and Lebanon and Israel have said they will resume talks soon after a 4-year hiatus. Barak has asked Syria to contain Hezbollah as part of the renewed talks. Freeing Hezbollah guerrillas could help calm the guerrilla movement. Israeli Finance Minister Avraham Shohat said the release decision came in light of the renewal of the peace talks with Syria, which are slated to continue in Washington on Jan. 3.

"There is an atmosphere of talks, there is an atmosphere of compromise, there is an attempt to reach a peace agreement," Shohat told Israel TV. Hezbollah legislator Ammar Musawi, however, denied a connection between the release and peace talks with Syria. In a television interview, he said the timing was coincidental.

In the Palestinian prisoner release, an Israeli official said the releases will fulfill Israel's prisoner obligations under the latest accord. The official said two of the Palestinians to be released had been involved in killing Israelis. It would be the third and final prisoner release under the most recent accord, signed in September.

In the two earlier releases, 350 Palestinians convicted of anti-Israel offenses were set free. Barak's office would not publicly confirm the release, but the prime minister, delivering Christmas wishes to Israel's Greek Orthodox Christians, referred to the "painful" decision to release those who "plucked the lives of others."

Barak won elections in May campaigning to revive the frozen peace process. He had angrily denied that he would release Palestinians who had killed Israelis, and swore never to do so.

News of the planned release immediately drew opposition fire. The Council of Jewish Settlements, traditionally critical of the peace process, issued a statement saying the release "stood in absolute contrast" to Barak's commitments and demonstrated that the prime minister "was incapable of standing up to Palestinian demands."

Despite the concessions, the Palestinian Authority also was unhappy. Palestinian leaders insisted that 50 prisoners be included in the release. "We were shocked by this decision because it is not enough at all," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said. Close to 2,000 Palestinians remain in Israeli jails. Their fate is to be decided in a final status agreement to be in place by next September..."

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