Posted on 02/11/2008 7:53:15 AM PST by BGHater
Shas will leave the government if the Jerusalem Post report which revealed that Palestinian and Israeli negotiating teams were conducting secret talks on the future of Jerusalem turns out to be true, Trade and Labor Minister and Shas Chairman Eli Yishai told the Post on Monday.
"We will check your story and if it is true, Shas will leave the government," Yishai said.
On Sunday, the Post quoted a senior Palestinian Authority official in Ramallah as saying that the Palestinian negotiating team headed by former PA prime minister Ahmed Qurei had been holding "secret talks" with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and other government officials over the past few weeks.
"There are public meetings and there are secret ones," the PA official explained. "The main progress has been achieved during the secret talks, particularly on the issue of Jerusalem. Today we can say that Israel is prepared to withdraw from almost all the Arab neighborhoods and villages in Jerusalem. Israel is prepared to redivide Jerusalem, and this is a positive development."
Livni's associates declined to comment on the story, saying that the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams had decided not to respond to reports about what was taking place behind closed doors during the negotiations.
An Israeli official familiar with the talks said that until now they had focused on procedural matters and that the more serious issues on substance still lay ahead.
The PA confirmed Sunday that Jerusalem was being discussed with Israel. Nimer Hammad, political adviser to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, said the PA had sensed readiness on Israel's part to talk about the future of Jerusalem.
"The negotiations [with Israel] are not easy," Qurei said Sunday. "The topics which we're negotiating about are also not simple. These are the most difficult issues, and they include Jerusalem, the refugees, the borders and the settlements."
A senior PA official added that "Jerusalem was of course on the table" and that "there is almost full understanding with Israel" regarding the creation of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
Shas officials initially responded to the story by reiterating the party's promise that it would not sit in a government that negotiated Jerusalem's fate and that they expected to be updated by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Livni if the issue were raised. But politicians on the Right said Shas could no longer explain remaining in the coalition.
"The cat is out of the bag," National Religious Party chairman Zevulun Orlev said. "The fact that the Olmert government is not telling the truth about the negotiations with the Palestinians has been revealed. Shas will no longer be able to say they didn't know. Even if the prime minister isn't telling them the truth, they can thank The Jerusalem Post for revealing it to them. I hope Shas keeps its promise and leaves the government that is dividing Jerusalem."
Likud faction chairman Gideon Sa'ar said the secret negotiations were intended to give the political establishment a fait accompli that would require Israel to withdraw to indefensible borders and divide Jerusalem.
"Shas should withdraw immediately from the coalition as it promised," Sa'ar said. "It's also time for the MKs in Kadima and the Pensioners Party who oppose such moves to wake up."
United Torah Judaism MK Avraham Ravitz criticized the negotiations, saying that if "the story was true, then Jerusalem's fate is being decided like a thief in the night. It cannot be that while Olmert is denying that there are any talks about Jerusalem at all, Livni is negotiating in back rooms with Abu Ala [Qurei] about the state of our capital."
Jerusalem municipal opposition leader Nir Barkat, who has led a public campaign against the proposed division of the capital, called on Livni to reveal any agreements reached during negotiations with the Palestinians.
"I demand that the foreign minister, who heads the negotiations with the Palestinians, publicly disclose all secretive and other agreements that the State of Israel has reached with the Palestinians," Barkat said.
"Any such agreement achieved on behalf of an Israeli official would constitute an absolute deviation from Kadima's basic principles and a violation of the Basic Law: Jerusalem. It would betray the trust of the voter and undermines the sovereign basis of the Knesset. The Palestinians must understand that neither the government of Israel, nor any other body on its behalf, has the right to promise to give up areas where Israeli law, governance and legislation have been implemented."
"There are public meetings and there are secret ones," the PA official explained. "The main progress has been achieved during the secret talks, particularly on the issue of Jerusalem. Today we can say that Israel is prepared to withdraw from almost all the Arab neighborhoods and villages in Jerusalem. Israel is prepared to redivide Jerusalem, and this is a positive development."
The Olmert cabinet has to collapse.
Yalla ya Shas, don’t dishonor Mizrahim. Make this cursed government fall.
G-d mave mercy on the USA as we now turn our back on Israel.
High volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel, WOT
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Dividing Jerusalem? Hope the idea falls faster than a lead balloon.
The destiny of the entire world is at stake over the Lord’s little piece of property in the Middle East as the scriptures proclaim. The Bible is always proved true and by man’s actions and decisions it appears we are approaching the creshendo unless the Lord intervens. I believe Daniel 7, Daniel 11:36-45 and Matthew 24 is not far off.
Shas will leave the government if the Jerusalem Post report which revealed that Palestinian and Israeli negotiating teams were conducting secret talks on the future of Jerusalem turns out to be true, Trade and Labor Minister and Shas Chairman Eli Yishai told the Post on Monday....in a related story, Shas threatens to leave the government about once a day. In another related story, the rest of the ruling coalition says, 'go right ahead'.
Tick Tock!!!
You said it! I wish Hunter, Tancredo, and Bolton were the GOP candidates. I’m writing in them or Lou Dobbs come November, or voting Constitution Party if it gets on the ballot in my state. Looks like there are three different shades of liberals for the sheeple to choose from, and I don’t have a dog in that fight. I’ll vote for conservative candidates for the House and Senate and pray for gridlock in ‘08.
The unfortunate thing about applying the ‘write in’ option is that in this age of electronic voting, I am willing to bet that write in ballots will be either a.) put at the bottom of the stack of ‘miscellaneous electoral data’ with the alleged intention of tabulating them ‘later’, b.) disqualified for any number of imagined ‘irregularities’ or c.) discarded out of hand.
The Republicrat machine has the game rigged, some might say it’s always been rigged but irregardless of that, it’s like any gaming establishment, the odds are always in favor of the house, not the player(s) and the only way NOT to be exploited and taken advantage of is not to play.
DON'T SAY THAT!!! Mythbusters proved that a lead balloon CAN fly!
Maybe someone can answer a question for me. I know that Jews were not allowed to worship at any Jewish Holy site while under arab control, and in fact, some acts of worship (such as blowing the Shofar) could get the person doing it murdered. Were Christians allowed to worship at the Christian Holy Sites while they were under the control of the Arabs?
Mark
As far as I recall, the Muzzies did permit the Christians to worship at Christian holoy sites when they controlled them. In modern times. One of the causes of the Crusades was muslim control of Jerusalem, harassment of Christian pilgrims, etc.
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