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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (59380)	12/1/2002 10:49:52 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

A little "Inside Politics" from Israel. Can Arik and Bibi find happiness together? [The Jerusalem Post Internet Edition] Sharon to test Netanyahu's loyalty Gil Hoffman Dec. 1, 2002 The next two months will serve as a test to see whether Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu can serve loyally under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a senior official close to the prime minister said Saturday night. The official said that although Sharon publicly promised to offer Netanyahu the Foreign Affairs portfolio in his next government, Netanyahu could still be offered a different position, such as a ministry-without-portfolio in charge of Israel's information effort. He said the prime minister will decide by the January 28 election whether Netanyahu has proved himself worthy of the top appointment in his cabinet, assuming the Likud forms the next government. "Netanyahu has two months to prove he is a team player," the official said. "The prime minister will work with the team he feels most comfortable with. He won't work with someone who will embitter his life. This is Sharon's last term in office, and he doesn't want to play games." The Likud convention decided two weeks ago that whoever finishes second in last Thursday's Likud leadership race would automatically be given the number two slot on the party's Knesset list. Associates of Sharon noted that Avraham Burg finished second in Labor Party primaries twice, but prime ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Ehud Barak did not offer him a portfolio. The official said he doubts Netanyahu will be able to sacrifice his pride and work loyally under Sharon. He warned that if Netanyahu fails the loyalty test, he will hurt himself politically, because a future competitor for the Likud leadership, such as Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert, could be given the Foreign Ministry instead. In Thursday's Likud leadership race, Sharon credited Olmert with helping him narrowly defeat Netanyahu in Jerusalem, which was considered a Netanyahu stronghold. Olmert phoned Sharon Thursday night to give him the Jerusalem results and received praise from the prime minister. Netanyahu adviser Ron Dermer said the real test lies with Sharon, who is obligated to keep his promise to offer Netanyahu the Foreign Ministry. Dermer said he is skeptical about whether Sharon will keep the promise, or find an excuse to not appoint Netanyahu for political reasons. "If he doesn't offer Bibi the Foreign Ministry, it is clearly Sharon who is the one playing games," Dermer said. "Everyone knows that no one in the country is more capable than Netanyahu to serve as foreign minister. Netanyahu will not act like a second prime minister. Bibi is a real democrat and he will accept the decision of the Likud voters." Dermer said that if Shimon Peres can serve as foreign minister under Sharon, Netanyahu definitely will be able to. He said the only two issues that would need to be ironed out between Sharon and Netanyahu are whether Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat should be expelled and the Palestinian state issue. Sharon has said publicly several times that he intends to form his next government according to the guidelines of the current government. A Palestinian state is not mentioned in the guidelines, making moot Netanyahu's statements that he would not serve in a government that calls for the establishment of such a state. An official in Sharon's campaign said that Netanyahu made the Likud primary a referendum on the Palestinian state issue, and Netanyahu lost. He said the issue may come up early on in the next government, because US President George W. Bush's "road map" calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state within three years. Dermer said Netanyahu would demand changes in the road map to be able to join Sharon's government. "If Sharon doesn't do something about the road map, I don't expect Bibi and Sharon to be able to work together," he said. Dermer ruled out Netanyahu requesting the Finance portfolio instead of the Foreign Ministry, because the prime minister sets the state's economic policy. Sharon and Netanyahu will both work to advance their supporters in the election for the Likud's Knesset list on December 8. The Likud convention will meet Sunday to discuss making changes in the system for electing the MKs. Several MKs intend to appeal a decision made at the last convention to prevent incumbent MKs from running for 15 realistic slots on the list reserved for regions and sectors. The effort is led by Druse MK Ayoub Kara, who would be forced to compete nationally after campaigning only among the Druse. According to official results released Friday morning Sharon defeated Netanyahu by 15 percent. Sharon received 55.88% of the vote, Netanyahu 40.08%, and Moshe Feiglin 3.46%. Voter turnout was 46%. Netanyahu supporter Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit told Channel 2 on Saturday night that he intends to run for Likud leader in the next party leadership race. jpost.com

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (59380)	12/1/2002 2:02:55 PM
From: Karen Lawrence	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Palestinian teen killed by Israelis By Nazir Majally, Arab News Staff www.arabnews.com GAZA CITY, 1 December 2002 — A 16-year-old Palestinian was killed yesterday by Israeli gunfire in Gaza City as troops claimed they arrested a long-sought commander of a group linked to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat after it announced it mounted an attack on an Israeli polling booth that killed six people. Hatem Al-Ajla was struck in the back by bullets, but no details were given on the circumstances of his death while the arrest of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades commander Majid Al-Masri near the West Bank city of Nablus followed a renewed pledge by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to hunt down those responsible for attacks on Israelis at home and abroad. The attack by the Brigades, an offshoot of Arafat’s Fatah movement, on the polling station in the northern Israeli town of Beit Shean was carried out on Thursday, hours after the bomb and missile attacks in Kenya that left three Israelis and nine Kenyans dead. Palestinian sources said troops caught Masri, the Brigades leader in Nablus and other northern West Bank cities, and his assistant in a safe house. “He told me by telephone that the Israelis were breaking down his door and then the line went dead,” a Brigades source told Reuters. Meanwhile, dozens of Israeli Army tanks, armored vehicles and bulldozers, supported by Apache helicopters, raided the northern Gaza Strip late Saturday, Palestinian witnesses said. On the diplomatic front, Israel faced a new row with the United Nations over a demand that Israeli troops be punished for killing a UN worker during a clash with gunmen last week. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan wrote to Sharon saying he “expected Israel to carry out a rigorous investigation of the incident, share its results with the United Nations and hold accountable those responsible”, a UN spokesman said on Friday. An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday that a probe into British aid worker Iain Hook’s killing in the West Bank city of Jenin was likely to end within the next few days.