Arafat has assured the U.S. that he will delay statehood unilaterally on May 4, 1999.. In return for agreeing not to use the date of expiry of the Oslo accords interim period to declare independence. He initially sought a public declaration from the U.S. of acceptance of the Palestinian right to self determination. .. It now seems that the U.S. will only commit itself to guaranteeing the eventual implementation of the Wye Plantation accord and to an intensification of cooperation in various joint American-Palestinian committees. Leaders of the U.S., the European Union and Egypt believe it would be counter-productive. It would also enhance Prime Minister Netanyahu's reelection. The election is set for May 17, 1999. (Jerusalem Report 3.1.99)
Yitzhak Mordechai, who leads the Centrist Party voted in favor of Orthodox control of religious councils in an effort to cultivate his ties and win their vote. The solution to the apparent differences among the party leadership on religious issues is to emphasize the need for dialogue between secular and religious Jews. "There must be changes in the religious status quo in favor of the secular majority in Israel. The means to get this accomplished is the establishment of a public body consisting of academics, intellectuals, rabbis and other public figures to work out a new, agreed social contract between the secular and the Orthodox. (Ibid., 3.1.99)
In her article "The Wrong Bedfellows", Anne Roiphe a novelist of New York wrote, "The Jewish neo-cons, in backing Ken Starr and the inquisitors of the right, bet on an unappealing absolutist moralist horse." "Jewish neo-cons urged us to support every tin-pot dictator South America could produce.., they urged us to supply the Contras with arms and to recognize Oliver North and Jerry Falwell as honorary Jews who would in a pinch stand with Israel.. The Christian right has done everything possible to drum up outrage over Bill Clinton's private behavior and the American public has seen through the sham.. Privacy rights in America are connected to Jewish safety and liberty. Jewish interests are not alien to America's interests. They are simply alien to a band of rigid grim-lipped Christian theologians... They lost their balance of an overdose of ideology. It happens to the best of people." (Ibid., 1.18.99) The pressure is on Ultra-Orthodox Jews by the Reform rabbis. 33 American men and women rabbis prayed together at the Western Wall which caused a confrontation with the Ultra-Orthodox. They protested and shouted: "Go back to America! We don't need you here!" In the scuffle with the police the black hats went flying. Orthodox tradition calls for men and women to pray separately at the Western Wall, a remnant of the second Jewish Temple that was destroyed in 70 A.D. by the Romans. The Reform rabbis wearing prayer shawls and skullcaps in purple, pink and blue stood in a circle in the Western Wall plaza as they sang and read from a Torah scroll. It was designed to challenge Orthodox control over the holy site, the Reform rabbis said. "We simply will not allow them to conquer Jerusalem from the rest of the Jewish world," said the Reform Rabbi Stephen Fuchs of West Hartford, Connecticut.
In light of the recent peaceful demonstrations in protest of the Justice Department of a quarter million Jews, a majority of Orthodox Israelis protested the proposed solution by the courts of Israel. Young, ultra-Orthodox men face-to-face with young secular men and women in jeans, sweatshirts and sneakers. Both sides shouted more than spoke about democracy, Judaism, pluralism, the draft. The camps that day in Jerusalem were expressing diametrically opposed visions... Both sides feel that they are losing ground.. Ultra-Orthodox political power is eating away at the state's democratic and plurastic fabric. Leading figures in the various camps, found all agree that ideological consensus is beyond reach.. Bribes are being discussed to get the ultra-Orthodox to give up. In example full exemption from the military draft. They believe it is the key to integrate them into society by finding them jobs and in turn having them contribute to society by exposing them to modern society.. A middle-of-the-road solution has to be found. " I have never seen them compromise, the national religious don't want to wipe us out, the ultra-Orthodox do," said Yekutieli. The ground is shifting toward an open Shabbat. The court and the Knesset will keep waiting for each other to act, and the Court will keep drawing fire. The conversion problem "who's a Jew" was quickly abandoned and seemed forgotten but like a case of malaria, the next bout was sure to come. The Reform and Conservative majority in the Diaspora was still being asked to support a Jewish state that scorns their rabbis and their form of Judaism. The Supreme Court has run out of ways to dodge the contradiction between democracy and having the state rule on theology. Jews who have immigrated from the ex-Soviet continent aren't Jews under their religious law. The Reform and Conservative party wants Jewish unity but the rabbis say it can't be done. As one solution offered by the media: "What's needed is for the courts, at last, to rule that neither law nor reason justifies letting the rabbinate decide who is a kosher convert," stated editor Gershom Gorenberg. (Ibid.,1.18.99) For Yitzhak Mordechai leaving the Likud was not a smart thing to do and it is unconscionable of him to remain as defense minister in Benjamin Netanyahu's government in whom he himself has lost faith. Prime Minister is recognized at this point not only as the smartest but the most ruthless politician and will stop at nothing to get re-elected. Netanyahu is also brilliant at sloganism, reducing the most complicated and serious issues to two-syllable, two-word, two-line catchy phrases that soon become a mantra to his audience. He is a master at manipulating the press. What will happen in the Knesset election is anyone's guess. There are 43 parties running for 120 seats which includes two green parties. Netanyahu has to fight on three fronts simultaneously, something even Napoleon could not do. (Ibid., Hirsh Goodman 2.15.99)
The Knesset members are unforgiving of Netanyahu for signing the Wye River Memorandum giving more territory to the Palestinians. Just before President Clinton visited Israel in December of 1998, Netanyahu fought off an attempt to topple his government over the signing of the Wye River peace accord to keep the ball rolling. 70 Palestinians protesters were injured in clashes with the police. The labor Party after hours of debate had 61 votes in the 120-member Knesset needed to pass the early election bill. Netanyahu has three options to win the reelection: to woo the right, form a national unity government or call an early election himself while he still has a majority of one or two votes.
To woo the right would mean goodbye to the Wye process motivated by President Clinton. A national unity is highly unlikely which leaves calling for an early election. Whether Israel will come out on top with him remains questionable. Israelis are hurting economically. Their real increase in Gross Domestic Product has gone down from 6.9% in 1994 to 1.6% in 1998 published by the Ministry of Finance. The question is now whether 2000 will be another lean year. 870,000 immigrants have come from the former Soviet Union which has increased Israel's population of 13% which brings the population to 6.7 million in Israel today. (Ibid., 1.4.99) In the battle to keep his job, one of Prime Minister Netanyahu's aces in the hole is his position and access to money and it was predicted that he would use it. On January 11, 1999 he dropped his opposition to the housing bill by giving them 10 billion shekels. He also dropped opposition to free education for age three and up by adding 750 million shekels to their coffer and dropped his opposition to canceling tax benefits on pensions which cost him 80 million shekels. In the works are drastic reductions in health charges to the public and huge investments in West Bank settlements. (Ibid., Hirsh Goodman, 2.1.99) On the other hand tension is building again, the atmosphere is one of impatience and violent friction between the Palestinians, the IDF and the settlers. There don't seem to be any solutions. In Washington, Ariel Sharon displayed readiness for a Palestinian state that would be limited to zones A and B, constituting some 42 percent of the West Bank, as well as in most of the Gaza strip. Arafat's mansion was pelted by rocks recently by Palestinians. Abu Ala, Arafat's principle negotiator told a delegation of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy that, in his view, it would be possible to draft a new "declaration of principles" or "peace framework" before the end of April. Arafat himself cautiously told the same delegation that "where there's a will, there's a way." (Ibid., 1.4.99) A new picture is emerging in the Mideast which fits the trend to a pluralistic society world-wide. Not only Israelis but Jordanians are alarmed and in shock about the abrupt unexpected change which put Crown Prince Abdullah into the throne vacated by his deceased father King Hussein. The British media was very active expressing their view to the people that Abdullah has an obligation to change into the new social order. He was educated in the West, but his loyalty to his father's throne remains to be seen. It hit the paper on the 5th of March, that he already purged many ministers loyal to his uncle, and swore in 23 Cabinet members and urged them to consolidate ties with Israel and work for a more open government and a freer press. He appointed mostly liberal politicians and technocrats as ministers. "We will continue to insist on the peace process, knowing for sure that the persisting will of the people for peace will eventually overcome all the obstacles," he said in a 16-page letter distributed by the state news agency, Petra. Looking at the hot spots of the rest of the world, leaders have little choice but to bow to the United Nations and the United States. (The Tampa Tribune 3.5.99) In News about Israel from Moza on Internet 2-26-99 it was reported that President Clinton will most likely withhold $1.2 billion of financing from Israel which is what they get approximately annually, if they don't comply to this agreement. Prime Minister Netanyahu has not complied. The Palestinian PLO received their $300 million aid promised in exchange for postponing the establishment of an independent Palestine. March 5, 1999 Ramallah, (Menl) Palestinian Authority officials said Thursday that the United States has quietly accepted the principle of an independent Palestinian state. Germany's aid to the PLO are investments in projects are continuing. President Clinton was also quietly negotiating with Israelis outside of Netanyahu at the recent funeral of King Hussein. The pressure is on to dethrone Netanyahu. Ehud Barak has a lead of over 10% in the poles. A summit in Washington D.C. is coming on March 23, 1999 which includes Arafat. World News - Moza - 2.27.99 stated that on 1.1.99 - 11 of 15 member nations of the European Union took the historic step toward a Federal State of Europe. By agreeing to surrender sovereignty over their own currency by creating the "Euro" managed by a new European Central Bank based in Frankfurt, Germany, they pooled a GDP of $6.8 trillion which is close to the U.S. $7.3 trillion. Their pooled government bond markets are already larger than that of the United States. Another interesting discussion going on right now is the death penalty. Germany does not have one and the state of Arizona does and convicted a German to the death penalty. Chancellor Schroeder was rejected when he appealed to stop the execution. He also appealed to the World Court in The Hague, Netherlands without results and they claim that the international law was broken and said that the position on the death penalty in the U.S. hurts European Union efforts to abolish capital punishment worldwide. Interesting that Germany is promoting the pope's agenda.
Rabbi David Rosen, director of the Anti-Defamation League's Israel office and one of the people who negotiated Israeli diplomatic ties with the Holy See, is confident that the pontiff is coming to Israel. And, Rosen says, it's crucial to seize the opportunity presented by Christian pilgrimage next year... "But even if the peace process were to regress, he'll come. He sees the visit as transcending local matters, as having universal significance.. Will he celebrate a public Mass in Jerusalem? "I anticipate he'll do so in Nazareth." Is Yasser Arafat trying to promote his own position as guardian of the Holy Land at Israel's expense? "Well of course. Who isn't here? That is why the PA is assuaging local Christian fears, assuring them that a papal visit will serve Palestinian interests. It could really serve everyone's interests. A basic point of Israeli - Palestinian relations is that we should see them as win-win. (The Jerusalem Report 3.15.99) The Rev. Jerry Falwell was spoken of as one of America's most prominent right-wing preachers, recently told a Tennessee pastor's conference that the Antichrist - the evil false savior whom Christians expect at the time of the Second Coming - is probably alive today and "he must be male and Jewish." I caught him saying that on Rivera's program on international satellite television. Mr. Rivera happens to be Jewish and got very upset and Rev. Falwell had to smooth that over. He is a frequent visitor on his show. Jewish leaders such as Anti-Defamation League head Abraham Foxman, said Falwell drew "from an especially vicious tradition of Christian theological anti-Judaism." Falwell cited previously that the end could come in 2000 with the Y2K bug "to humble us". Falwell angrily rejected criticism of his remarks and stressed that it was Biblical. When Falwell was asked: "Will the Antichrist be a religious Jew? A Jew by ancestry? Can he be a convert? His answer was that it could be either. We cannot be dogmatic about that. When Christ comes the second time, Evangelicals believe that the Christian Church will be "caught away" into heaven, we use the word "raptured" away into heaven. That means when the Antichrist appears on earth.. we will not be here [for him] to attack Christianity, because the church will not be here. He will.. do damage to Israel, to the Jewish people.
So this is not an anti-Semitic statement in any way, nor has it ever been for 2000 years. Most Jews who have contacted me have said they agreed with me... We take a strong stand against Yasser Arafat and the PLO, to our own hurt.. I have opposed the efforts of the State Department to force Israel to trade land for peace. Why? I believe that the Abrahamic covenant gave the land of Israel to the people of Israel. (Ibid., Gershom Gorenberg, 2.5.99)
Another development making Israelis nervous is the David Duke candidacy because he is a former Ku Klux Klan leader. He arrived in Washington D.C. around January 3, 1999 seeking donations from an audience sympathetic to his views that too many federal policies favor blacks, Jews and other minorities over whites. He has declared his candidacy to run for a seat in the House of Representatives, the seat vacated by Robert Livingston of Louisiana. Abraham Foxman calls him an unrepentant, racist, bigoted anti Semite and the fact that he dons a suit and tie every once in a while doesn't change this. "Duke is no longer trying to mask his views," said Mark Potok, the editor of the Intelligence Report of the Southern Poverty Law Center. "It's the same Klansman we saw 20 years ago in a white pointy hat.. Duke's views have been essentially the old canard that Jews own the media, politicians, and government and that Jews are using blacks as their pawns, as `crime puppets.'" The GOP wants to distance itself from Duke. "We cannot dictate to people what party they run under. Mr. Duke has chosen on his own to run as a Republican," said Becky Miller, executive director of the Louisiana GOP. (Ibid., 1.18.99) And finally what is happening toward the year 2000 and the proposed celebration of the two thousandth anniversary of the birth of Jesus? Hotels in Jerusalem are threatened with losing their kashrut licenses if they allow New Year's Eve parties on their premises. There has been no publicity of any sorts, no millennium package deals to Jerusalem. The building of hotels that were supposed to be under way is not happening and none of the plans outlined by the Tourism Ministry months ago have been implemented. One would have thought it was a once-in-a-thousand year opportunity to cash in. The motto is, let's keep Jerusalem off the spiritual map of Christians. We have enough problems with the Muslims as it is. That the Holy Sepulcher, the Via Dolorosa, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Mount of Olives happen to be in Jerusalem will hopefully be overlooked by the millions of pilgrims to arrive for the turn of the millennium. It's obvious that Jerusalem is going to be flooded with tourists.
The rabbis are the anti-millennium-in-Jerusalem movement. They put pressure on the government to take Jerusalem off the map. Israel's formal policy is that it recognizes the spiritual rights of all religions who hold Jerusalem holy and guarantees freedom of worship. To try to deny the world Christian community that right precisely at so significant a time is wrong. Israel and the Jews should feel secure enough about their inviolable right to Jerusalem to be able to share it with others. (Ibid., Hirsh Goodman -12.21.98)
"According to reliable sources, the number of Christians of all denominations today in Israel (including Jerusalem), the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip is in the neighbourhood of 150,000. Christians in Jerusalem number around seven thousand. Between 1947 and 1967, the Christian population dropped from over forty-five thousand in the Old City and its environs to twenty-eight thousand. The trend is clearly towards an emptying out of the city's dwindling Christian population.. they feel rejected by the two larger communities." (First Things, 1.1999, p.11)