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Newsletter : 9fax0202.txt
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>Israel Faxx
>JN Feb. 2, 1999, Vol. 7, No. 22
Netanyahu Slogan is Compared to Fascist Slogan
By David Gollust (VOA-Jerusalem)
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is coming under political fire
for a campaign slogan his detractors say is reminiscent of fascism.
Netanyahu, who is seeking reelection in Israel's May 17 voting,
calls such a notion absurd.
The Netanyahu slogan -- "A strong leader for a strong people" --
was unveiled by the prime minister's Likud party on Sunday and is
to be posted on thousands of signs and billboards all over Israel.
But it has generated unexpected criticism from opponents who are
comparing it to Nazi-era propaganda.
Opposition Labor party Knesset candidate Avraham Burg says the
Netanyahu slogan is out of character with Israel's political
tradition and evokes only strength, violence and aggression.
He says the semi-governmental Jewish Agency, which he runs, has
been deluged by scores of calls and faxes from survivors of the
Nazi Holocaust who are troubled by the slogan.
Other Labor politicians and some historians have also attacked
the campaign theme. But Likud Knesset member Ruvi Rivlin says
that to compare the Netanyahu campaign to the Nazis takes Israeli
politics to a new low:
"To raise fascism or to raise the Holocaust in order to attack the
Likud people is a real blasphemy from every point of view. This is
a slogan that shows that the people of Israel are strong and can
stand against any pressure from outside."
Netanyahu himself told Israel Radio the comparison with Nazism is
absurd and that the "One Israel" theme of his Labor party rival
Ehud Barak could similarly be compared to the Hitler slogan "One
People, One Leader."
The controversy -- which is dominating radio talk shows and
editorial pages here -- underscores the intensity of the campaign,
which is largely being fought over how to conduct the peace process
with the Palestinians.
Netanyahu is under criticism from his main rivals -- Barak and Centrist leader Yitzhak Mordechai -- for suspending the US-brokered Wye River agreement. He counters that his rivals are overly inclined to make concessions over Israel's vital interests.
Opinion polls suggest a close race in the May 17 voting for prime
minister and a June 1 run-off between Netanyahu and one of his
main challengers is considered likely.
Palestinians Blamed for Breakdown of Peace Process
By David Gollust (VOA-Jerusalem)
Israel is blaming the Palestinians for the breakdown of the
regional peace process in advance of Thursday's meeting in
Washington between President Clinton and Palestinian leader Yasir
Arafat.
Officials close to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu say they are
irritated over the invitation to Arafat to attend the congressional
prayer breakfast in Washington.
Arafat has made clear he intends to use the visit to try to
generate US pressure on Israel to carry out the West Bank troop
withdrawals it was supposed to make under the Wye River Peace
Accords.
But Netanyahu adviser David bar-Ilan says the Palestinian side is
in "total disregard" of its commitments under the Wye deal to crack
down on anti-Israel militants.
The Netanyahu adviser says that while the Clinton administration
should have joined Israel in protesting the prisoner releases, it
has instead made pronouncements that the Palestinians are making
an effort toward compliance while urging more Israeli withdrawals.
The Palestinian Authority, for its part, denies that the prisoners
it has released were involved in terror attacks and accuses Israel
of trying to torpedo the Clinton-Arafat meeting.
Bar-Ilan says there is no such intention, but that Netanyahu did
dispatch two senior officials to Washington over the weekend to
make Israel's case in meetings with members of Congress and US
Jewish groups.
Rabin and Arafat to Read from Bible and Koran
By IsraelWire
Leah Rabin, widow of former prime minister Yitzchak Rabin, has been asked to read Psalm 23 and selections from Deuteronomy in a large event of the American Congress in Washington. At the same event, Yasir Arafat will read a chapter from the Koran, and a Christian leader will read from the New Testament. Rabin stated that the selections she will read emphasize the Jewish belief in one God. She will be attending the annual congressional breakfast, along with President Bill Clinton, members of the Senate and Congress, the diplomatic corps, religious leaders, and other world leaders.
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