 | | Police Say There´s Evidence Linking Sharon to $3 Million Bribe
The police say they know of evidence linking PM Ariel Sharon to the receipt of a $3 million bribe. So reported Channel 10 Tuesday night, causing a storm of reaction and calls for Sharon to resign.
Full Story Below |
| | | 
Buy medication direct from Israel and save!Why spend so much money unnecessarily on medication? Do you take high blood pressure or heart medication? No insurance and tired of paying such high prices for medication? Save up to 70% on both Brand name and generics. Have your prescription filled by a registered pharmacist in a licensed Israeli pharmacy.
Click Here | |
 | Rent a Cellphone from Arutz Sheva
Don't miss any calls when you visit Israel! Arutz Sheva will provide you with an Israeli cellphone at the best price! Delivery in USA and Israel. Call 1-646-432-4542 in the USA and 02-652-2353 in Israel.
More Details |  | | Editor: Hillel Fendel
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
4 Tevet 5766
 |
| | | 1. Police Say There´s Evidence Linking Sharon to $3 Million Bribe
|  | | By Hillel Fendel
The police say they know of evidence linking PM Ariel Sharon to the receipt of a $3 million bribe. So reported Channel 10 Tuesday night, causing a storm of reaction and calls for Sharon to resign.
| The investigation of the money trail to Sharon has been underway for over three years, and in fact was first publicized before the last national election, in 2003. The case is known as the Cyril Kern affair, named for the South African friend of Sharon who served as a conduit for the money. The source of the cash, however, has long been suspected to be Austrian millionaire and Jericho casino owner Martin Schlaff. The police say the money was used partially to help Sharon pay back campaign contributions that he had received illegally in 1999, and partly for the Sharon family's private use.
Because of the suspicions hanging over him, Schlaff has refrained from visiting Israel of late. His brother James, however, came for a visit two weeks ago - and the police jumped at the opportunity. They raided his parents' home in Israel, and confiscated documents and two laptop computers. However, the police were not permitted to extricate the information on the computers without James' permission - which he refused to give.
Schlaff's refusal aroused the suspicion of the police, which turned urgently to the courts and said that the computer files will show that the $3 million was in fact passed as a bribe to Ariel Sharon or his sons. The police therefore say that it is imperative for them to be allowed to enter the computers in order to extricate vital evidence in the Kern-Sharon affair.
Aware of the developments, James Schlaff has since given his permission for the police to peruse his computer files.
The Schlaffs' lawyer, Atty. Navot Tel-Tzur, said there was actually nothing new in the case "except for the fact that there is a small computer involved." He expressed anger at the leak. Kadima party officials similarly downplayed the news.
The senior Austrian judicial investigator in the case feels that Sharon had likely been bribed. Israel asked Austria in August 2004 for assistance in the investigation of what was thought to be a loan, which originated in the Vienna-based BAWAG bank. The prosecutor, Gerhard Jarosch, said there was "no plausible reason, other than bribery, that so much money should go to the Sharon family. The reasons given by the Sharons were meager and insufficient."
Martin Schlaff is a major shareholder in the Oasis Casino in Jericho. Police suspect that he gave Sharon the money in the hope that the casino would be re-opened. The casino was closed in late 2000 following the outbreak of the Oslo War. It had often reported a daily turnover of close to a million dollars.
With national elections only 12 weeks away, the news against Sharon - founder of the front-running Kadima Party - takes on particular public urgency. Outgoing MK Yossi Sarid (Meretz) said, "Ariel Sharon is the big apple. When he becomes rotten, there goes the whole crate." He called on Sharon to resign.
Labor MK Yuli Tamir: "If the reports are true, the Prime Minister must suspend himself. It's time to detach the bonds between political power and money."
Likud MK Michael Eitan: "The Prime Minister must stand before the public and either deny the charges, or clarify how he received the money."
Kadima MK Roni Bar-on stood steadfastly behind Sharon: "This is merely a last-ditch effort to revive a dying investigation."
National Religious Party leader MK Zevulun Orlev said, "We can't hold an election campaign when such a heavy cloud of bribery is hovering over the Prime Minister's head... The Attorney General must decide without delay whether to indict Sharon or not."
Likud MK Ayoub Kara attacked the corruption of the Sharon family, and said, "The public demands total transparency from the Prime Minister - and not just regarding his physical health."
 Comment on this story
| | 2. Violence in Gaza, PA Elections Uncertain
|  | | By Hillel Fendel
Three weeks before the scheduled Palestinian Authority elections, nothing is certain in Gaza except for its continuing violence and unrest. The U.S. added to the uncertainty with its statements.
| The United States added to the uncertainty on Tuesday by releasing unclear statements regarding its position on whether Jerusalem residents should be able to vote and where. Though Israel, supported by the Oslo Accords, remains steadfast - so far - in refusing to allow voting in Jerusalem, it was reported today that U.S. President George Bush favors the PA's demand to allow Jerusalem ballots.
Does this mean that Arab residents of Jerusalem should vote in Jerusalem, or rather in nearby Ramallah, or possibly by mail? A Reuters story reported, in the name of a White House official, that Bush "thinks Palestinians should be allowed to vote in East Jerusalem." Several Israeli media reported the same.
However, State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said otherwise. In his Tuesday press briefing, McCormack said only that Israel and the PA should be able to "work out accommodations" to allow the Jerusalem residents to vote. He was referring to the type of accommodations in effect in the only other PA election, held in 1996, which enabled a small number of Arabs to vote in Jerusalem post offices and the remainder to vote by mail or in Ramallah.
The Oslo Accords, signed in 1993, state that PLO/PA political activities are prohibited in Jerusalem. Similarly, parties, such as Hamas that do not recognize Israel's right to exist are outlawed and may not take part in the PA. Despite this, the U.S. has not taken a stand against Hamas participation in the elections, and Israel has said only that it will not help facilitate elections in which Hamas takes part.
PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) said on Monday that he might postpone the elections, currently set for Jan. 25, altogether. He said it was because of Israel's policy on the Jerusalem balloting, but it is well-known that Abbas - head of Fatah - is looking for an excuse to push off the elections because of the great electoral support enjoyed by Hamas.
Eyad Sarraj, a PA political analyst and an election candidate, told the Christian Science Monitor that the PA's lack of law enforcement in Gaza and the talk about voting problems in eastern Jerusalem are calculated moves by Abbas to provide "excuses" to delay elections in which he knows Fatah will fair poorly.
Chief PA negotiator and spokesman Saeb Erekat said, that if Israel provides the same voting access as in 1996, the elections should be held as planned. Erekat also acknowledged that there was much violence on Gaza streets, saying that while "every effort is being made to contain" it, the PA is not sure who is responsible for the rash of shootings and government office takeovers by masked gunmen.
Four foreigners have been kidnapped and released by Arab gunmen in Gaza over the past week. "It's impossible to say who has guns in Gaza anymore," Erekat said. "The ballots are the only thing that can stop the violence at this point."
Israeli police blocked two PA Arabs from electioneering in eastern Jerusalem on Tuesday. They were briefly arrested, questioned, and released on bail for having taken part in what the Oslo Accords term illegal Palestinian Authority activity in Jerusalem.
Two State Department officials, Assistant Secretary David Welch and the National Security Council's Elliot Abrams, will arrive in Israel and will hold talks on Thursday with Israeli and PA officials regarding the elections and the planned "free passage" from Gaza to Judea and Samaria.
Comment on this story
| |
 | A New CD Lights from the Darkness
The wonderful people that were expelled from their homes taught us something new - in their darkest hour - they sang! The Disk includes a video of the last days and 12 songs which were sung in the Batei Knesset in Gush Katif.
Buy Now at the Arutz Sheva Mall | | 3. Diskin: Hamas Victory in PA Poll Spells Deep Trouble for Israel
|  | | By Scott Shiloh
The head of the Shin Bet (GSS), Israel’s undercover security agency, told a Knesset committee that a victory for Hamas in January’s PA election would mean “deep trouble” for Israel.
| “Israel will be in deep trouble if Hamas wins the elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council or if it scores a significant achievement," said Diskin.
He told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that an electoral victory for Hamas will allow them to “penetrate [Palestinian Authority] goverment offices and strengthen their grip on the territory." In such an eventuality, Diskin said, the PA would make no effort at all to stop terrorists from attacking Israel from PA-controlled territory.
Under the 1993 Oslo Accords, the Palestinian Authority controls huge swaths of land in Judea and Samaria, much of it bordering Jerusalem and Israel’s heavily populated coastal plain. Moreover, since the disengagment last August, the entire Gaza district has been ruled by the PA.
Recent polls show that Hamas, a terrorist organization dedicated to Israel’s destruction, will receive at least 30% of the PA vote. Hamas terrorists have killed hundreds of Israelis since the signing of the Oslo Accords.
The Committee Chairman, MK Yuval Shteinitz (Likud), was deeply disturbed by Diskin’s prognosis. He said Israel would be facing a new, unpleasant political reality if a group calling for Israel’s destruction wins the PA election or becomes a significant force in the PA parliament.
Comment on this story
| | 4. Netanyahu: "Pre-Disengagement Warnings are Coming True"
|  | | By Hillel Fendel
The IDF bombed 8 access routes to rocket launch sites in Gaza, in response to the firing of several Kassam rockets towards Sderot over night. Netanyahu says rockets must be fought methodically.
| No one was hurt by the Arab rocket attacks, though one of the rockets landed dangerously near a city gas station.
The IDF announced this morning that as a result of the continuing Kassam attacks, it aerially attacked eight access routes in the northern Gaza Strip. The objective was to prevent the passage of terrorists to the areas from which they fire rockets at Israel, and to disrupt their rocket activities in general.
News of one of the rocket attacks reached the Mayor of Sderot, Eli Moyal, as he was listening to Likud Chairman Binyamin Netanyahu tell an audience of party activists how to fight Kassams. Speaking at a gathering of Likud activists in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said, "There are a thousand ways to deal with Kassam rockets."
"We cannot fight rockets with a 'bang-bang-and-it's-over' approach," Netanyahu told the Likud supporters in the Knesset Tower Hotel. "We have to fight terrorism methodically. If [Sderot Mayor] Eli Moyal is unable to sleep at night [because of the rockets], then neither will the residents of Gaza be able to sleep."
The gathering was organized by Likud Knesset candidate Shmuel Slavin, a former Director-General of the Ministries of Labor and Finance. MK Ehud Yatom was also in attendance.
"We see how the warnings that were talked about before the disengagement are coming true," Netanyahu said. "It encouraged terrorism, the Kassams are reaching Ashkelon, the Hamas is getting stronger, Abu Mazen is getting weaker, and the Philadelphi Route [between Gaza and Egypt] is full of holes. The nation must choose between blindness and waking up."
The former Prime Minister also said, "There have been many periods in history when the nation did not identify the dangers in time. It's not enough to be strong; we must see the danger and act sensibly. Common sense dictates that you fight terrorism and not give in to it. The attempt to appease terrorism and to respond to some of its demands merely encourages more terrorism."
Comment on this story
| |
 | Menshenables Judaica
Fun name, Fun-ky Judaica. Unique gifts and ritual items for every simcha and holiday.
Click Here! | | 5. Kadima Attracts New Members, Leads in Polls
|  | | By Hillel Fendel
Otniel Shneller, a former General Secretary of the Yesha Council, has joined the Kadima Party. The party hopes to thus attract right-wing voters. And in other Kadima news...
| Shneller is a resident of Maaleh Michmash, between Jerusalem and Jericho. He has long been associated with the left-wing of the Yesha (Judea and Samaria) public, having once publicized a withdrawal plan in conjunction with Oslo architect Ya'ir Hirschfeld. Denying reports in mid-2004 that he had been offered the post of Disengagement Authority head, he refused to say he would not accept the job if offered.
Shneller has also come out in favor of a voluntary evacuation of "isolated" communities in Judea and Samaria - a categorization that could well apply to his own hometown.
Asked to explain his decision to join Kadima, Shneller told Arutz-7, "I have set as my goal to be the connector between our time-honored values of settlement in the Land of Israel, and the existing constraints... If the nationalist camp is smart enough to realize that we should work with the government on these issues, taking into account all the constraints, then there's a chance of achieving more."
Arutz-7's Amatzia HaEitan asked if was not concerned that Kadima is merely a party of one man - a man who has proven in the past that he has no trouble overriding his party's positions. "It's not just one man," Shneller said, "but rather many people who represent all sorts of things... What happened [in the Likud] was that because the situation changed, he changed his policy; this is the power of leadership."
In a follow-up interview, Shneller denied media reports that he had been assigned slot #32 on the party's list of Knesset candidates. Asked how he feels about the fact that one man has the power to name a large part of the Knesset, and that the new MKs appointed in this fashion are not likely to have much influence, Shneller said, "True, it's a party in formation, and things run differently at first... You say that I won't have influence; let's see if you're right."
Arutz-7 has asked new Kadima members Shai Hermesh and Lior Carmel similar questions.
Asked about the constantly developing news of Sharon family corruption, Shneller said he's certain of one thing: "If and when I enter the Knesset, I will make sure that everything I do is honest and above-board."
In other Kadima Party news, criticism has been heard of Finance Minister Ehud Olmert for his campaign strategy. It is a well-known secret that Olmert is one of the few leading Kadima figures allowed by the party campaign team to speak publicly; others, such as former Labor MKs Dalia Itzik and Chaim Ramon, are considered too left-wing. However, now even Olmert's steps are being restricted, Israel Radio reports.
Olmert visited a soup kitchen on Monday, showing solidarity with the financial woes of those who frequent it. At a campaign strategy meeting afterwards, however, campaign manager Reuven Adler said that such visits are not advisable, and that the socio-economic issues should be left for Netanyahu and Amir Peretz of Labor to fight out.
It has also been learned that Kadima has a shortage of manpower, and that it will not be able to man all the balloting stations. Criticism was sounded at the meeting regarding the intention to pay bonuses to activists working at the polling booths that achieve the best results for Kadima.
A phone survey of 622 Israeli adults this week, commissioned by Haaretz and Channel 10, found that Kadima continues to attract wide support. The poll shows that Kadima would win 42 seats, Labor - 19, and the Likud -14.
Ariel Sharon, Prime Minister and leader of Kadima, is scheduled to undergo a catheterization tomorrow (Thursday). He will turn 78 next month and currently weighs 118 kilograms (260 lbs.) He will be totally anesthetized for three hours so that doctors can plug a small hole in his heart - a birth defect - that may have contributed to the mini-stroke he suffered on Dec. 18. Sharon will be hospitalized for 24 hours, and Ehud Olmert will serve officially as Acting Prime Minister during his anesthetization.
Comment on this story
| | 6. New Deans for Yeshivat Har Etzion
|  | | By Hillel Fendel
On the last night of Chanukah, two new Roshei Yeshiva were installed in the hesder yeshiva in Alon Shvut. Rabbis Yaakov Medan and Baruch Gigi replace retiring Rabbi Yehuda Amital.
| The two new rabbis will serve alongside Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein, who has served as co-Rosh Yeshiva since 1971.
Rabbi Medan, 55, is a leading figure in the religious-Zionist rabbinic world, and a renowned expert in Bible studies. In 1968, he joined the first class at Yeshivat Har Etzion, served later in the IDF in the Armored Corps in the Hesder Program, and returned afterwards to the Yeshiva as a rabbi/teacher. He earned his rabbinical ordination from the Yeshiva, a Bachelor of Education degree from Michlala in Jerusalem, and an M.A. from Touro College. In 2000, he served as a board member of the Ne'eman Committee school of conversion, and thus became involved, together with Prof. Ruth Gavison, in composing a renewed pact for religious-secular relations, for which he was awarded the Avichai Prize.
Rabbi Gigi came to Israel from Morocco at the age of 11, and joined Yeshivat Har Etzion in 1975. He earned his rabbinical ordination at the Yeshiva, and a Bachelor of Education degree from Herzog College. From1983-1988, Rabbi Gigi served as a senior lecturer at the Maalot Hesder Yeshiva in the north, and since 1988, he has been a lecturer at Yeshivat Har Etzion. He is the Rabbi of the Sephardic Synagogue in Alon Shvut, and teaches in several institutions.
Asked earlier this year about those who proposed suspending Independence Day celebrations because of the expulsion, Rabbi Medan told Arutz-7, "The State is not Omri Sharon, and Independence Day is not just a day of barbecues. We must continue to thank G-d on this day and to recite the Hallel prayer of thanksgiving and praise. This is a day of making an accounting and of thanking G-d for the great miracles He has done for us and continues to do for us."
However, in an interview with Haaretz shortly afterwards, Rabbi Medan said that the religious-Zionist camp had erred in preferring the secular camp over the hareidi-religious: "In order to forge an alliance with the secular elites, we neglected our more natural alliance with the hareidi public. Today I think that was a mistake. In the future we will behave differently. In the past, with all the disagreements, I thought there was also something we could learn from the secular elite. After I saw the secular elite stick a knife in my back and turn away from its own values - democracy and human rights - I have no more to learn from them. After all, from the standpoint of democracy, what happened here is a disgrace; and what happened here from the viewpoint of the judicial system’s protection of human rights is a shame. The courts, the press, the research institutes - no one heard us. No one heard our outcry. But it is not just us. The democratic elite did not remain loyal to the values in the name of which it spoke all these years. Therefore there are no positive values I can get from them. I have a serious problem with them.”
Concerning the 34-year relationship of Rabbis Amital and Lichtenstein, the yeshiva's website states, "The special atmosphere of the Yeshiva has been created by the continuity of leadership of Rav Yehuda Amital and Rav Aharon Lichtenstein, who merge the best traditions of Judaic studies with a pragmatic grasp of the modern world. These two Roshei Yeshiva – very different in background, temperament, and approach – provide a shining example of successful joint leadership built on mutual respect. This model serves to guide and elevate the personal and professional lives of the alumni, long after they have left the Yeshiva."
Comment on this story
| |
| 7. Zoning Committee Approves 56-km Promenade Around Kinneret
|  | | By Scott Shiloh
A national zoning committee has approved construction of a 56-kilometer walkway along the banks of the Kinneret, Israel’s large fresh water lake and tourist attraction in the Galilee.
| The idea of encompassing the lake with a comfortable path for pedestrians was originally proposed by the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel. Behind the proposal was a report by the State Comptroller severely criticizing the increasingly numerous illegal fences and roped off areas that block public access to the Kinneret’s shores.
Numerous unauthorized private groups have closed off many of the lake’s beaches, permitting access only to those willing to pay a fee. In many instances, the fee is collected in exchange for access to a parking lot near the beach.
An official from the nature society, Nir Papai, said the pedestrian pathway would “provide a solution for the absurd situation in which there is no single pedestrian walkway along the entire Kinneret shoreline.”
Young volunteers from around the country have already been hard at work clearing and marking 35 kilometers of the 56-kilometer route.
Papei said the biggest obstacle up till now has been coordinating among the myriad government agencies responsible for supervising the lake, which makes up Israel’s largest fresh water reservoir and is one of the country’s most popular tourist attractions.
The idea still has a number of hurdles to overcome before becoming an officially sanctioned project. A number of local zoning committees must still approve the proposal over the next 60 days. If they do, the national committee must give it final approval and then submit it to the cabinet for the approval of the government.
Related articles:
"Kinneret Beachfronts Closed to the Public"
Comment on this story
| | 8. On A7radio: Who is the Messiah?
|  | | A7 Radio's "The Woman of Valor - Eyshet Chayil Show" with Malkah Fleisher
| Malkah reveals the criteria for the Messiah as laid out by the Torah. With warnings for missionaries and tips for Jews who have to deal with them. Special section on Jews for Jesus - a controversial, don't-miss show!
Listen Now -or- Download*
RSS feed
For more A7 Radio visit www.IsraelNationalRadio.com.
Comment on this story
| |
 | Wide Range of Judaica Items
In www.mirrys-artglass.com you will see a wide range of judaica ( mezzuzot ; menoras; kiddush cups; havdalla sets; choshen;) and other items made from glass and copper with a silver or gold plated finish.
Click Here! | | |
| | Today on IsraelNN.com: |  |  | Scandal Surfaces Again For Sharon
|   | | |  | |  | Theater of the Absurd, Middle-Eastern Style
When the assistant to Ahmed Qurei was asked if he was excited about the possibility of voting in an election, he was actually heard to say (I kid you not), "We voted once, why do we need to vote again?"
|  | | | | |  | Mashiach-ben-Yosef and Mashiach-ben-David
Just as Joseph was wise and insightful, and successful in everything he did, and just as he engaged in saving Egypt economically, so, too, our generation is one whose chief preoccupation is ensuring our survival and our economic welfare. Yet, this is just the first stage in Israel's rebirth.
|  | | | | |  |
Exchange Rates
| | Updated: Jan 4, 04:00 | | | Currency basket | 5.0943 | | US $ | 4.5770 | | Euro | 5.5302 | | Pound | 8.0429 | | Can. $ | 3.9753 | | 100 Yen | 3.9418 | | Swiss Franc | 3.5652 | | Australian $ | 3.4032 | | S. Africa Rand | 0.7410 |
| Weather | | Night/Thursday | | Jerusalem
10°C / 50°F |  | | | | Tel Aviv
16°C / 60°F | | | | | Haifa
11°C / 51°F | | | | | Golan
10°C / 50°F | | | | | The Plains
13°C / 55°F | | | | | Galilee
10°C / 50°F | | | | | Jericho
12°C / 53°F | | | | | Beer Sheva
13°C / 55°F |  | | | | Dead Sea
16°C / 60°F | | | | | Eilat
13°C / 55°F | | | | |
| Israel Related | Genesis 2000
2006 is your time to visit Israel with Genesis 2000
Rotem Judaica
Unique Designs by Israeli Artists
Cookie Connection
connect with family and friends in Israel
Shavei Israel
The starting point for anyone with Jewish roots or ancestry yearning to return to the Jewish people.
Talk N Save
Going to Israel? Phone Rental - 69 cents per day!
|
| Jewish Books | Jerusalem Collection
The Most Exquisite Selection of Chanukah Gifts
Sivan Club
Pesach and Ski in Mont Tremblant. Chanuka Special!
Free Bottle of Wine!
Special offer from KosherWine.com. Click for details.
IsraBay Sale
Israeli Leading Brands! AHAVA, Premier, Hazorfim, Naot, T-Shirts, Jewelry!
Zion Judaica
The leading source of Chanukah Judaica and Chanukah supplies!
|
| |
 | | |
 | Arutz Sheva´s
IsraelNationalRadio
Live Political Analysis, Social Commentary,
Hourly News Reports, and much more. |
 | Arutz Sheva´s
Fundamentally Freund
Michael Freund tackles Politics and Media
with hard-hitting commentary. |
A7-IsraelNationalNews Educational Sites: a project of Beit El Institutions
ARUTZ SHEVA ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Questions, comments, and advice? Simply reply to this email, or email: feedback@israelnationalnews.com.
Advertise with IsraelNationalNews Unsubscribe or Modify your subscription (including placing a vacation hold)
This newsletter can also be received in the following formats:
Printer Friendly Version - Perfect for distribution, and reading on the go.
Plain Text Version - Without HTML code. Ideal for palm pilots, blackberries, and simple email clients.
Subscribe to this free newsletter.
You are receiving Arutz Sheva's Fully Enriched HTML Daily Email News Report. | |
| |
Click here to print this Page
To remove yourself from the mailing list please 
No comments:
Post a Comment