Our next issue will not appear for almost three weeks but the
world will not sit still on the interim, so we will try to
summarize the major stories as they are today -- now.
Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak is in Washington for talks
with Clinton that are said to be about the "Syrian track."
Prospects for progress with Syria are not bright, as Syrian
president Assad showed no flexibility at his last meeting
with U.S. President Clinton at their meeting two weeks ago in
Geneva. There are difficult problems over control of Lake
Kinneret which Israel insists must be theirs since it is a
major water source for them. There are also issues over
security including Israeli observers stationed on Mt. Hermon
to provide early information about Syrian moves.
Barak has committed himself to withdraw Israeli troops from
Lebanon with or without an agreement with Syria. This
prospect has unsettled all the involved parties, including
the government of Lebanon, Syria, the Christian South Lebanon
Army that is supported by Israel, and the residents of
Israel's northern communities many of whom will afterwards be
within rifle range of the border. Senior Army commanders have
also expressed reservations about the plan.
As to the Palestinians, there is a Barak-declared deadline of
reaching a framework agreement with them by May 13. The
Palestinians indicated clearly that they do not regard that
date as significant, but Barak has not abandoned hope.
Recently, however, he has been hinting about Palestinian
unwillingness to negotiate seriously. After Barak's talks in
Washington this week, Yasser Arafat is scheduled to hold
talks with President Clinton on April 20, the first day of
Pesach.
Neither Arafat not Assad seems willing to show flexibility at
this point. They seem to feel that the pressure is on the
Israeli and American side who have declared that they see a
special "window of opportunity" for an agreement. The Arabs
take this to mean that the other side is in a rush to
conclude something, and there is no reason for them to be
flexible.
Barak is in the midst of serious troubles in Israel as he
flies off to Washington. There are ongoing strikes of
doctors, hospital workers, as well as workers in 20
government offices.
The government coalition is shaky, as Barak failed to bring
about an agreement between Shas and Meretz before he left for
Washington. Though no side seems to want to bring down the
government as of yet, the unsettled conflict causes constant
crises and parliamentary difficulties. The Shas education
network is still not healthy, and Education Minister Sarid
seems determined to weaken it further.
On Tuesday the High Court, sitting with 11 justices, is to
hear arguments about a Reform conversion performed in Israel.
So far the Court has forced the government to recognize
Reform conversions performed outside of Israel, but not
within Israel where the Chief Rabbinate is the official body
with responsibility for determining valid conversions. Though
many of the conversions at issue were performed abroad, the
candidates studied in Israel and only went abroad for the
final conversion ceremony. Thus the Rabbinate maintained that
they did not have to recognize the foreign conversions which
were only done there to circumvent the law.
The verdict on Tuesday in the libel case of maverick British
historian David Irving brought against an American historian
who said that Irving denied the Holocaust against the Jews,
went against Irving. A colorful personality and speaker,
professional historians have found much to criticize in
Irving's historical work. Irving has indicated that he will
probably not appeal the result, but he has since filed other
libel cases.
More predictable than the world news is the upcoming Pesach
holiday. All over the world, the Jewish community is
feverishly preparing for the great yom tov that begins
next Thursday. That is a welcome opportunity to focus on
eternal truths and not passing events. Chag kosher
vesomayach!
