Reporter's
it
No
Clinton and Barak
play games, stay up
late and eat well.
Washington
Clinton's Plaything'
President Bill Clinton set off a
storm of protest among Israeli com-
mentators when he told Democratic
donors on the eve of Ehud Barak's
visit that he was as happy as "a kid
with a new toy" as he awaited the
prime minister's visit.
Israeli media reported what they
termed a "patronizing" remark and
at the first news conference of
Barak's visit, an Israeli journalist
asked Clinton, "What kind of
game do you want to play with
Mr. Barak?"
After offering an answer that
clearly indicated the president did
not understand the question,
CNN's Wolf Blitzer stepped in to
explain the flap to Clinton who
explained to the media, If I were
taking a trip to Hawaii, I might
say, 'I am excited as a kid with a
new toy:' it doesn't mean I think
Hawaii is a plaything." Clinton
thanked Blitzer for helping "me
make peace with the press and the
people of Israel,"
Later in the news conference,
when answering a question on
whether he would meet with Syrian
President Hafez Assad, Barak said,
"It takes two to tango" and turning
to Clinton said, "Maybe the danc-
ing instructor is ready."
Clinton jumped in to make sure
that the media understood that
Barak's comment was not a
"patronizing remark toward
President Assad as the prime minis-
ter's dancing partner."
-
Doves Or Night Birds?
Barak became only the third for-
eign leader that Clinton has taken
to Camp David during his presi-
dency, joining the prime ministers
of Britain and Brazil in the exclu-
sive club.
The two night birds met until
1:45 a.m. after viewing President
Jimmy Carter's handwritten notes
7/23
1999
24 Detroit Jewish News
The Endless Struggle
Religious-secular strife awaits Barak when he comes back home.
DAVID LANDAU
Jewish. Telegraphic Agency
Mr
Jerusalem
bile Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Barak
was busily engaged in
high-profile diplomacy
in the United States, religious-secular
disputes brewing back home may
force him to use his diplomatic skills
on his own coalition partners.
Barak said in New York last week-
end that synagogue-and-state issues
in Israel would be kept off center
stage while he focuses on the resumed
peace process.
Barak called for unity among the
Jewish people, adding that he wanted
to be seen as the premier of all Jews,
regardless of past political disputes or
diverse religious or ideological affilia-
tions.
Controversial religious questions
in Israel would be frozen, he said,
committing himself for the time
being
b
b to maintaining b the religious
status quo, which gives the Orthodox
Chief Rabbinate control over reli-
gious affairs in the Jewish state.
As he spoke, however, his coalition
partners and the heterogeneous sec-
tors of the community that they rep-
resent were making it clear that they
have their own plans — and that syn-
agogue-and-state issues, far from
being shunted to the side, will be
front and center.
Shabbat observance, an endlessly
fertile source of strife, served as a cat-
alyst for the resumption of long-
standing hostilities on two battle-
fields.
At Kibbutz Gan Shmuel, Druze
inspectors dispatched by the Ministry
of Labor and Social Affairs handed
out tickets and fines last Saturday to
shop owners and salespeople at one of
the numerous mini-malls around the
country operating on kibbutz land
and doing their best business on the
Sabbath.
In Jerusalem on the same day,
members of the fervently Orthodox,
or haredi, community held the latest
in a series of demonstrations against
allowing traffic through their
Jerusalem neighborhood on the
Sabbath. Nine protesters were arrest-
ed for assaulting police and throwing
rocks.
The protests were held even
though an arrangement, endorsed by
the High Court of Justice, has already
Palestinian Freed After Six Years
Jerusalem (JT A) —
Israel's High Court
of Justice ordered the
release of Osama
Barham, a
Palestinian who had
been held nearly six
years without trial.
He was arrested in
1993 for member-
ship in the militant
Islamic Jihad organi-
zation but charges
and evidence against
him have been kept
classified for security Osama Barham is hugged by his mother, Wagiha Barham,
following his release from an Israeli prison Sunday
reasons. Under the
terms for his release,
Barham, 35, promised not to use violence against Israel.
A day later, Israel's new justice minister said he would restrict the practice
of jailing Arab prisoners without bringing charges against them.
Administrative detentions, which have been denounced by human rights
groups, should be used "only in cases of real danger" to the Jewish state,
Yossi Beilin told Israel Army Radio.
been reached under which Bar-Ilan
Street, a major artery in the north of
the capital, is shut to traffic during
Sabbath services and opened at other
times.
Along with the Sabbath-related
disputes, another source of long- sim-
mering tensions surfaced when an
Orthodox member of Barak's coali-
tion wrote legislation that would give
the Orthodox Chief Rabbinate com-
plete control over conversions.
Moshe Gafni, a member of the
United Torah Judaism bloc, has craft-
ed a bill stating that "legal standing
will not be given to a conversion per-
formed inside or outside of Israel
unless approved by the Chief
Rabbinate."
The issue of conversions, which
until now focused only on those per-
formed in Israel, has been a major
source of contention among Reform
and Conservative Jews.
While the bill may never come to
a Knesset vote and may reflect inter-
nal squabbling within UTJ, it
nonetheless underscores the fact that
Barak may be unable to keep reli-
gious questions off his agenda in the
months ahead.
While the Gan Shmuel raid
MISSION from page 23
don of a pro-Israel initiative is once
again changing.
A series of initiatives critical of the
Palestinians are making their way
through Congress. The U.S. House of
Representative voted Monday to try to
force the United States to seek
Palestinian compensation for American
victims of terrorism. The measure is
part of legislation, expected to pass the
full Congress
- later this week, that also
requires the State Department to
report to Congress every six months on
the status of U.S. efforts to extradite
Palestinian terrorists suspected of
involvement in attacks since 1993 that
killed American citizens.
And already, some groups opposed
to Israeli territorial concessions on the
Golan Heights have begun to drum
up congressional opposition to
American participation if a peacekeep-
ing force is parr of an agreement.
At the meeting with 30 of the 34
_Jewish lawmakers, Barak asked them