The UTJ party in the Knesset has asked for an urgent meeting
with Prime Minister Sharon to protest the disgraceful
Shabbos desecration which took place at the official meeting
between Peres and Arafat last Friday night in Portugal. The
meeting took place in the official residence of the
Portuguese Prime Minister, within the framework of the
conclave of the Socialist Internationale. Deputy Education
Minister Rabbi Avrohom Ravitz noted that there was no need
to hold the meeting specifically on Shabbos. The chairman of
the Internal Affairs Committee of the Knesset, Rabbi Moshe
Gafni, said that UTJ will demand that the issue be
clarified.
UTJ spokesman said they will demand that assurances be given
that such things will not recur, stressing that the official
trampling of Shabbos is deeply upsetting to millions of Jews
in Israel and throughout the world who are shomer
Shabbos.
The meeting between Peres and Arafat lasted three hours on
Shabbos, and in the end Peres noted that it helped him
understand a few points. Peres said: "There were no
negotiations and it was only a talk, but talks might help in
the clarification of a number of points."
Notwithstanding Peres' remarks, no critical political issues
were discussed at the meeting. Peres told Arafat that Israel
sincerely wants to realize the peace plan, but explained
that the first condition still hasn't been achieved: one
week without violence on the West Bank and in the Gaza
Strip. Arafat told Peres that the Palestinians are trying to
curb the violence. However, he added that they need Israel's
help in order to improve the lives of the Palestinians in
issues such as the removal of the blockades in the areas
under Palestinian control.
During the Shabbos, Peres and Arafat delivered speeches
within the framework of the Socialist Internationale, and
their remarks were widely quoted in the Israeli media,
amidst unprecedented Shabbos desecration. On Shabbos
afternoon, Peres and Arafat met separately with the
Portuguese president, Zhorzha Sempaiv.
UTJ's representatives in the Knesset strongly protested the
official meeting of the Foreign Affairs Minister on Shabbos.
Deputy Education Minister, Rabbi Avrohom Ravitz noted that
Barak's government began on the motif of "make your Shabbos
a weekday," and in the end it fell. He said that the meeting
on Shabbos was a very serious breach, and that very secular
governments never did anything like that. "We will complain
to the Prime Minister and weigh our steps," he said.
Rabbi Ravitz added that it is impossible to solve crises at
meetings which take place on Shabbosim. "Nothing will come
of a meeting which takes place amidst Shabbos desecration.
We are not a secular state like all of the other nations,
and it is unclear how such meetings took place on Shabbos,
out of blatant disregard of the feelings of more than a
million Shabbos observing citizens, No life-threatening
issues were at stake, and the meeting could have been
postponed."
The chairman of the Knesset's Interior Committee, Rabbi
Gafni noted said that certain figures in the political
system mock our sacred values before world leaders -- the
very values they, as Jews, are supposed to represent, while
other world leaders are careful not to undermine the values
of the nations they represent. "We will demand to
investigate why one who represents the State of Israel has
to undermine the sanctity of the Shabbos. We, as partners in
the coalition, will not enable such a situation to
continue," Rabbi Gafni stressed.
As was said, UTJ will hold an urgent deliberation on the
issue, and will demand to know why such desecration occurred
a second time in the current government, the first time
being that of the dispatching of a shipment of the
Electricity Company from the Haifa port to the Bat Shlomo
settlement near Yokne'am on Shabbos kodesh.
