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Newsletter : 0fax0105.txt
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>Israel Faxx
>JN Jan. 5, 2000, Vol. 8, No. 3
Orthodox Rabbis: Golan is Part of Land of Israel
By Israel Faxx
According to a group of National-Religious affiliated rabbis, the religious prohibition of uprooting communities in the Land of Israel is applicable also in the Golan. The group also expressed their opinion that withdrawing from the Golan would be a life-threatening move for the nation, because the current quiet on the Syrian border is due to Syrian concern about IDF proximity to Damascus. The rabbis also called for the public to take part in the upcoming demonstration in support of the Golan. The rabbis will also meet with Golan representatives, to publish a strongly worded plea against Golan withdrawal.
West Virginia Summit Continues
By the VOA's Nick Simeone in Shepherdstown, W. Va. & David Gollust at the White House
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq Al-Shara have held their first face to face negotiations at peace talks in West Virginia. U.S. officials mediating the discussions describe Tuesday's session as quite productive and say that after overcoming some initial procedural hurdles, negotiations between the two countries are now back on track.
For a second day, President Clinton returned here and this time was able to bring the Israeli and Syrian leaders together for an hour of talks that officials describe as rigorous discussions about where the peace process stands are where it needs to go. State Department spokesman James Rubin spoke to reporters through a telephone hookup from the site of the talks.
"The entire hour was taken up with face to face discussions between the Syrians and the Israelis, hosted by the United States, by President Clinton and Secretary Albright and they did not get into details but obviously they made clear the importance of solving the various problems."
The Syrian and Israeli leaders have been kept away from reporters, remaining secluded at a conference center in this small town far from their homelands, to tackle the full range of issues that have kept their countries in a state of war for more than 50 years. These discussions, which opened at the White House last month, are the first since Israeli/Syrian peace talks held in nearby Maryland broke down four years ago. Still, Rubin says they are not looking for any final peace agreement to emerge from this round of discussions. "We don't expect to have a core agreement on all the relevant issues completed."
Among those issues is Israel's offer to give back the Golan Heights - seized from Syria during the 1967 Middle East war - in exchange for peaceful relations with its northern neighbor. The Golan is home to 17,000 Israelis, and Israel maintains any hand over of land must be in exchange for security guarantees and rights to water.
Both sides have formed working groups that will now take up issues
such as water, security, and the normalization of ties. Officials
say they expect frequent intervention by Clinton but caution
against reading too much into his comings and goings.
Clinton says conclusion of a hoped-for peace accord between Israel and Syria will be necessity involve a large infusion of aid to the parties from the United States, and possibly other donor countries.
While declining to be specific about the amount of aid that might involved, Clinton is making clear that he expects that the United States will be called upon to underwrite a large portion of the costs of security arrangements for an Israeli-Syrian peace accord.
Israeli officials and Middle East experts have estimated that the cost of a deal under which the Golan Heights would be returned to Syria could be as much as $18 billion. This would include, among other things, replacing Israeli surveillance sites on the strategic plateau and relocating the Israeli settlers in the area.
Clinton had spoken in general terms about likelihood of new aid commitments to help complete in the regional peace process. But in a talk with reporters Tuesday at the White House, he said flatly that he supports such aid and thinks Congress would as well, if it would help insure a regional peace:
"We want to have a high probability of success. And I believe that in America, Americans of all political parties and all stripes desperately want us to see a comprehensive peace in the Middle East, and understand that in the next three or four months we have an unparalleled opportunity that we have to seize."
The President said the administration is trying to ascertain "the general outlines" of what the costs would be and said there would be "serious consultation" with the Congressional leadership.
He said an aid program would be a multi-year proposition and that U.S. allies in Europe and Asia might also be called upon to help finance an economic development plan for Israel and its Arab peace partners.
American aid to Syria is sharply limited because of that country's presence on the State Department's list of countries supporting terrorism. So unless Damascus can meet terms for its removal from the list, any financial reward might have to come from U.S. allies under the broader program suggested by the president.
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