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The Battle for Jerusalem -- Israel News Digest
David Dolan, Christian Friends of Israel, Jerusalem
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was gasping for his political life during August as his government coalition continued to crumble following the failed Camp David peace summit. His disintegrating hold on the levers of power was embarrassingly evident as Shimon Peres, his party’s candidate for president, was rejected by the Israeli Knesset. Meanwhile, international attempts to rejuvenate the battered Oslo peace process made slow headway as Israeli and Palestinian security forces prepared for the possibility of renewed Arab rioting -- or worse. Several of Israel’s ancient biblical prophets foretold that the holy city of Jerusalem, the place the Creator chose for His resting place on earth, would be a major stumbling stone to the nations during the "last days" of history. Indeed, the status of Israel’s modern capital city -- coveted by the Palestinians as their official political center as well -- was the main obstacle at the unsuccessful July summit meeting between Barak, US President Bill Clinton and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. To the surprise of some, partial or complete agreements were reportedly forged on such forbidding issues as the fate of several million Palestinian refugees, Jewish settlements on land claimed by Arafat, and the establishment of a Palestinian state. But when it came to the future status of the world’s most sacred city, an accord was seemingly beyond the reach of mere mortal leaders, even if one of them rules the world’s current superpower. Exactly what was agreed upon before the protracted Camp David summit collapsed on July 25 remains sketchy since all participants vowed not to reveal any details. However, enough has leaked out to confirm that Barak -- under intense pressure from the lame-duck American president -- agreed to make unprecedented concessions on Jerusalem that went way beyond his 1999 campaign pledges. In fact, the city would be effectively divided once again. This was confirmed by Foreign Minister David Levy, who resigned his position on August 2 after charging that Barak’s concessions "take us back to the days when Jews would have to pass through Arab hands to get to the Western Wall." Noting that the Premier had repeatedly pledged to keep all of Jerusalem under Israeli rule, he added that such a "redivision of the Old City" was totally unacceptable to himself, to his Gesher faction and to a majority of Israelis. Reports said Barak not only agreed to cede sovereign control of east Jerusalem’s Arab neighborhoods to Arafat’s Palestinian Authority (PA), but also the Muslim and Christian quarters of the ancient walled Old City. In doing so, he was accepting a so-called "bridging proposal" put forth by the Americans. Most significantly, he also agreed to virtually abandon the hallowed Temple Mount to sole Arab control; allowing the Palestinian flag to be flown at the holy site while not officially recognizing Arab sovereignty there. According to Palestinian reports, Barak offered something he termed "vertical and horizontal sovereignty" in which Israel would retain legal title to everything inside the elevated Temple Mount, while the PA would be granted "exclusive control’ over everything above ground. Barak would only require that Jewish "tourists" be allowed access to the Mount -- Judaism’s holiest site on earth. Such unprecedented concessions -- unthinkable to many Israelis -- were later hailed by President Clinton. Still, they were obviously not enough for PLO chairman Arafat. As local Arab leaders did in 1947 in response to the United Nations Partition Plan, he held out at Camp David for all or nothing at all. The aging leader, who shocked UN delegates when he spoke at their headquarters in 1975 with a gun strapped to his waist, demanded that every part of the Old City be transferred to PA control including the Jewish Quarter. Despite being the weaker party to the negotiations, the only "concession" Arafat was prepared to make would be to let Jewish Quarter residents remain in their homes, and to allow Jews to pray at the venerated Western Wall. Holy Hill Realizing that he could never sell a majority of the Israeli public on a transfer of sovereignty over the entire Old City, and especially over the Temple Mount, Barak told Clinton there was no point in continuing the summit since Arafat obviously had no intention of forging a realistic compromise solution. He later publicly blamed the Palestinian leader for the breakdown, saying he was "afraid to take the necessary, historical responsibility at this moment to bring about an end of the conflict." More specifically, he acknowledged that "the positions of Arafat on Jerusalem were those that prevented the achievement of an agreement."Another suggestion that was reportedly broached at Camp David, and is still reportedly being discussed in ongoing meetings between Palestinian and Israeli negotiators, is the idea of declaring God as the sovereign authority over the contested Temple Mount (as He indeed is, along with the rest of the earth and universe). The proposal was first suggested by the late Jordanian King Hussein as a possible way to bypass, and thus indirectly satisfy, both Muslim and Jewish claims to the sacred site. Under this proposal, the Palestinians would be considered only as "caretakers" of the Muslim shrines on top of the ancient mound, while Israel would "look after" its renowned Western Wall. However, Arafat reacted coolly to the creative proposal, as he did when Hussein first suggested it. He reiterated instead that he wanted official, if not actual, control over every inch of eastern Jerusalem that was captured by Israel from Jordanian forces in 1967. To make the effective redivision of Jerusalem less offensive to religious Jews, Pre-sident Clinton reportedly proposed that a small synagogue be built either in a corner of the hallowed Temple Mount, or right next to it (the idea actually originated with the chief rabbi of Haifa). Although the potentially explosive proposal was scheduled to be discussed at a meeting of the Rabbinical Council in Jerusalem on August 7, a committee was appointed instead to "examine all the ways for us to realize our rights and sovereignty over the Temple Mount." Israel radio said that an unidentified government minister had asked the council to postpone the "sensitive" discussion in order to allow negotiations to resume with the Palestinians. Two days later, the Temple Mount compound was closed to the public by Israeli police. The action came after Arab Muslims, including senior Arafat advisor Ahmed Tibi, forcefully prevented a group of religious Jews from entering the site. The Jews, who included activists from the Temple Mount Faithful group which advocates the immediate building of a new temple on the mount, were attempting to mark the fast day of Tisha be’Av. The day commemorates the destruction of the first and second temples and other disasters that have befallen the Jewish people over the centuries. The compound -- a major Islamic source of tourist revenue -- was only allowed to reopen a few days later after Muslim authorities promised to let Jewish "tourists" back in as long as they were not coming to pray. On The Warpath Working hard to leave a rosy legacy behind him, President Clinton was not happy with Arafat’s stubborn refusal to budge even slightly on the core issue of Jerusalem. Speaking just after the summit collapsed, the American leader made a point of publicly praising Barak for his "particular courage, vision, and understanding of the historical importance of this moment." The only positive thing he could say about Arafat was that "he made clear that he too remains committed to the path of peace." Bill Clinton spoke more bluntly a few days later, telling Israel television that "in light of what has happened," he was considering moving the US embassy to Jerusalem before the end of this year. He again praised Barak for his "courageous stands" at Camp David, and warned Arafat that he would be "making a big mistake" if he unilaterally de-clares Palestinian statehood in the coming months.The unshaven PLO leader -- acclaimed by thousands of cheering Palestinians as their conquering hero when he returned home to the Gaza Strip with his unbending positions intact -- responded to the Israeli and American denunciations by taking to the air. Charging that Israeli officials were spreading "deliberate lies" about his Camp David positions (he dared not publicly point his finger at Clinton), Arafat announced that he would visit various world capitals to reveal his "true positions." His second goal in traveling abroad would be to drum up support for a unilateral Palestinian statehood declaration on September 13, when the preliminary Oslo peace accord officially runs out. Arafat’s first jaunt was to Europe’s most pro-Arab power, France, followed by stops in Libya (no doubt meant to warm the hearts of Col. Gaddafi’s close American friends), Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The Palestinian leader was upset when French President Jacques Chirac did not completely buy his "I am innocent" argument, but instead pointed out that no peace deal is possible without real compromise by both sides. On top of that, the French leader did not respond with great enthusiasm to Arafat’s unilateral statehood plan. Instead, Chirac urged him to continue negotiations with Israel until a "mutually-agreed solution" to the decades-old Mideast conflict is achieved. Arafat heard similar words during visits to Moscow, Berlin, London, Oslo and other European cities. However, he maintained that he had found more support for his position in Spain, Italy and at Vatican City (although local Roman and Greek Catholic leaders in Jerusalem’s Christian Quarter say off the record that they are not excited by the prospect of coming under Arafat’s autocratic rule). Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his country’s long-standing support for an independent Palestinian state, but said it should not be established unilaterally. His foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, spelled out that Russia "thinks it is extremely important now to keep the situation within the course of the negotiating process." The same sentiments were later repeated during Arafat’s Far East visits to China and Japan. Brothers In Arms? To his astonishment, the PLO chief was given virtually the same advice in the various Arab and Moslem countries that he visited, with most leaders seemingly wary of upsetting Bill Clinton during his last months in office. Besides Libya, the only Muslim country that offered him unqualified backing for a unilateral declaration was Iran -- even though supreme leader Ayatollah Khameini said last December that Arafat had betrayed Islam by signing onto the Oslo process in 1993. Arafat even failed in attempts to get his fellow leaders together at an official Arab League summit meeting. However, he did succeed in persuading the 16-nation Islamic Association to convene its Jerusalem Committee, chaired by Morocco, in order to back his demand for full sovereignty over the Temple Mount.During one of his last stops -- in the world’s largest Muslim country, Indonesia -- Arafat indicated that he was actually reconsidering his earlier bombastic pledges to declare a Palestinian state on September 13, with east Jerusalem as its capital, "whether Israel likes it or not." He announced that the PLO Executive Committee would meet a few days before that date to make a final decision on the matter. In true form, he added a few days later that if PLO leaders decide to approve an early unilateral statehood declaration, the Israeli government and public would just have to swallow it. Otherwise, they can "drink the waters of the Mediterranean and the Dead Sea." In clearer words, rejection of a one-sided declaration will lead to a violent holy war that will end with Israel’s complete annihilation. As this month’s News Digest goes to print, most Israeli and Palestinian political analysts are predicting that Arafat and associates will postpone a statehood proclamation until at least the middle of November, unless renewed peace talks break down completely before then. The predictions came after visiting US envoy Dennis Ross -- attempting to breath new life into the peace process -- succeeded in bringing the two sides back to the negotiating table. Unhappy that they were not invited to Camp David, Egyptian leaders -- who hosted Clinton in Cairo on August 28 -- are nevertheless playing a central role in the revived talks by devising revised proposals in cooperation with Palestinians and Israeli negotiators. Actually, the main suggestion that appeared in the Egyptian press -- to divide the Old City between the two sides, and give the PA unofficial sovereignty over the Temple Mount while Israel keeps the Western Wall -- was nothing more than a rehash of Clinton’s Camp David proposal. However, Palestinian negotiators said it might be more palatable to Arafat coming from the leading country in the Arab world. The American diplomat’s attempts to get Arafat to modify his rigid positions were not helped by statements made by Hosni Mubarak on August 12 and 24. The Egyptian president warned that any Palestinian agreement to leave Islamic shrines under Israeli control would lead to "an eruption of endless Muslim violence throughout the Middle East." He added that "No single person in the Arab or Islamic world can squander east Jerusalem, or the Al-Aksa mosque, and not even Arafat would dare to sign a deal giving up these Muslim shrines." Of course, the Temple Mount has not been under actual Islamic sovereign control for over 33 years, as illustrated by the Israeli police closure of the site in early August. State Of Anxiety Yasser Arafat has a very practical reason for putting off a unilateral statehood declaration. American legislators said they would probably vote to suspend all US financial assistance to his Palestinian Authority if he goes ahead with a one-sided proclamation. A suspension of aid under those circumstances was supported by no less than Hillary Clinton -- locked in a tight race for senator in New York. With the state’s substantial Jewish vote undoubtedly in mind, she told reporters that it must be made clear to Arafat that "a unilateral statehood declaration would be entirely unacceptable, and should be met with a cutoff of US assistance." European Union and Japanese leaders also indicated that they might reduce economic aid should Arafat proclaim a state outside of the negotiating process.Another reason that the Palestinian leader must think twice is the potential Israeli response. Barak and several of his senior cabinet colleagues have warned that they will move to annex much of the disputed territories if Arafat violates the Oslo peace framework. It is a fact that his PA controls over 40% of the West Bank and most of the Gaza Strip, including almost all Arab residents of the two areas. But that still leaves around half the land in Israeli hands. Barak would certainly annex many Jewish settlements, especially those around Jerusalem. He would also extend permanent Israeli rule to much of the Jordan Valley, despite having reportedly agreed to hand most of the area over to Arafat at Camp David. (This was an astonishing offer that stunned Jewish residents of the arid valley, who voted overwhelmingly for Barak because he assured them such a transfer would never take place under his watch). Arafat reacted to the possibility of Israeli countermoves by warning that such actions would ignite "an explosion" in the Middle East. He seemed to be unable to grasp that it is his threat to declare unilateral statehood that constitutes the real time bomb that could tear apart the troubled region. Palestinian leaders issued additional war threats during August. Typical was this statement by PA Security Services chief Mohammed Dahlan in an interview with a London Arabic newspaper: "The potential for resistance and steadfastness is now much greater than it was when the Palestinian leadership was in exile. Now, we have the necessary mechanisms and institutions in place to fully resist the Israelis. We have the ability, and also the will to resist them." In other words, the armed PA police force that was established with Israeli aid and approval as a sign of goodwill at the start of the Oslo process will rapidly become a defensive and/or offensive army if the Palestinian leadership -- returned from "exile" by the same Oslo process -- deems it advantageous or necessary. So much for sincere and trustworthy peace partners. To underscore their latest threats of violent confrontation, PA officials allowed foreign journalists to witness military maneuvers taking place at PA and Islamic-run "summer camps" for Palestinian teenagers. Israelis were shocked to read reports from the New York Times and other newspapers that described in detail various military tactics being taught during the summer school break to tens of thousands of Palestinian youths. The reports also quoted some of the harsh anti-Israel dogma fed to the receptive teenagers. Israeli political and military leaders responded to the jihad threats with warnings of their own. PM Barak said Israel is "alert to the potential dangers lying before us." General Moshe Ya’alon, the outgoing head of Israel’s Central Command and incoming deputy chief of staff, told Israel television that "we haven’t used all our potential in the past, but if necessary we will, including tanks." He said he was sad to report that while the Palestinian police "sometimes act like our allies, they often still act like our foes, even our enemies." Palestinian officials have a new chance to prove their intentions after wanted Hamas terrorist Mahmoud Abu-Hanoud fled into the PA-controlled town of Nablus on August 27. He did so during a fierce and chaotic firefight between an elite Israeli army unit and Hamas gunmen in a West Bank village near Nablus. Three soldiers were killed in the shoot-out, possibly by friendly fire. Abu-Hanoud -- suspected of plotting two 1997 suicide bombings in Jerusalem that killed more than 20 people -- was said to be planning another attack in an attempt to derail the peace process. A few days before the firefight, Israeli security officials revealed that 23 Islamic militants have been arrested in the past few months by both Israeli and PA forces. The suspects -- said to have links to notorious Saudi terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden -- were planning to shoot missiles at settlements, blow up public buses and kidnap soldiers. Israeli troops continue to patiently endure daily verbal and physical attacks along the northern border with Lebanon. The assaults have been at their worst this summer during weekends, when hundreds of Hizbullah supporters gather at several points along the border to hurl abuse, stones, bottles and even the occasional petrol bomb at nearby troops guarding the border fence. Although some 1,000 Lebanese soldiers were deployed in south Lebanon during August, along with additional UN military personnel, Hizbullah continued to throw its weight around in the former Security Zone. Given Beirut’s feeble attempts to restore order in the area, and the timid response of UN "peacekeeping forces" to Hizbullah’s ongoing provocations, some Israeli analysts are warning of an outbreak of armed clashes once two-stage Lebanese parliamentary elections end in early September. With that in mind, another army leader -- ground forces commander Moshe Sukenik -- warned in late August that his men are ready and able to reenter south Lebanon if Hizbullah resumes cross-border rocket attacks. However, he added that such a move would only be "temporary" this time around. The Little Emperor If Ehud Barak was having a hard time getting Yasser Arafat to embrace him during August, he was equally scorned by a majority of Knesset members. First they rejected by 63 to 57 his party’s candidate for president, former Prime Minister Shimon Peres. More humiliating, Peres lost to Moshe Katsav, whose highest government positions until now were stints as a Likud minister of Labor, Tourism and Arab Affairs. Adding insult to injury, it was the first time ever that a Labor party candidate had failed to win the largely ceremonial, yet influential post.Born in Iran to parents who immigrated to the nascent Jewish State in 1951, Katsav was naturally thrilled with his upset victory. He is only the second non-Ashkenazi Jew to assume the esteemed post (the first being the late Yitzhak Navon). After being sworn into office, the 55-year-old Katsav -- who spent his first years here living in a crowded transit camp -- pledged to avoid partisan politics, unlike Ezer Weizman. Two days later, a majority of Knesset members -- 61 -- voted for a bill to dissolve the current legislative body and hold early elections. Although the legislation must be approved two more times before it becomes law, it was a severe blow to Barak. Among those voting yes was David Levy. The result produced panic in Barak’s ruling party, with many blaming his autocratic leadership style for the breakup of his coalition (now comprised of only 40 Knesset members out of 120) and the apparently looming elections. Such sentiments were echoed just a couple weeks later when Barak’s deputy bureau chief resigned his job, followed a few days la-ter by his immediate superior. Deputy chief Shimon Batat told journalists he quit because Barak ran his office -- and the country -- like "the leader of some banana republic." He added that the Premier "went too far" at Camp David. He said Barak insists on ma- king decisions entirely on his own, not bothering to consult with his staff or cabinet colleagues. It is interesting to recall that similar, although milder, charges were leveled against Binyamin Netanyahu. The embattled Israeli leader seemed to verify such claims when he went on a firing spree soon after Levy resigned. Barak sent orders to get rid of several Levy and Likud appointees, dismissing the ambassadors to France and several other countries. Then he called the Foreign Ministry Director General into his office and told him that he was finished. The official, Eitan Bentzur, appealed the abrupt firing to the Israeli Supreme Court. He pointed out that he was a lifelong bureaucrat and not a political appointee, and should not have been dismissed in such fashion. The high court agreed, reprimanding Barak for the way he handled the situation. It gave the state ten days to show cause why Bentzur should not be reinstated. Civil Action At the beginning of the month, Ehud Barak held no less than 11 ministerial portfolios in his hands, vacated by disgruntled former cronies. The unprecedented situation was slowly rectified during August with the appointment of a number of "temporary ministers." Shlomo Ben-Ami was named acting Foreign Minister. In fact, the popular Sephardic politician has in reality been acting as such for months, which is one of the reasons David Levy quit the post.Tel Aviv Mayor Roni Milo, who left the Likud party several years ago, was named acting Health Minister. Justice Minister Yossi Beilin became acting Religious Affairs Minister (an ironic position for the avow-ed secularist) and Haim Ramon -- a close Barak confidant who is becoming a frequent critic -- was named Interior Minister in place of Natan Sharansky. Three cabinet seats vacated by the left-wing Meretz party are still open while Barak tries to persuade the former ministers to return to his wobbly table. The embattled Israeli leader has apparently given up hope of bringing the religious Shas party back into his fractured coalition. This seemed evident as he unveiled plans on August 19 for what the Israeli media is calling a "secular revolution." Barak said he would propose legislation to enact a formal constitution, to legalize civil marriage, to make army or other state service compulsory for all young Israelis, including religious Jews and Arabs, and to abolish the Religious Affairs ministry. Shas leaders called the proposals "a declaration of holy war" against Orthodox Jews. Shas politicians were already on the defensive after their spiritual leader, Ovadia Yosef, said Jewish holocaust victims were reincarnated souls who deserved their pun-ishment. Predictably, the statement out- raged most Israelis, especially death camp survivors. Many Orthodox rabbis distanced themselves from the comment, noting that traditional Judaism does not even believe in the eastern concept of reincarnation. Shas leaders charged that the outraged response was part of ongoing efforts by the "Ashkenazi elite to suppress Israel’s growing Sephardic community." But several prominent Sephardic political and military leaders -- including President Katsav, Shlomo Ben-Ami and Armed Forces Chief Moshe Shofaz, whose senior roles seem to contradict the Shas contention -- denounced such talk as harmful to the Jewish nation. With the earthly battle for Jerusalem clearly at a crucial stage, may all lovers of Zion take to heart the scripture’s admonition to "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem... For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek your good." (Psalm 122: 6,9)
© 2000 Christian Friends of Israel. Used with permission. And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
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