[iwar] [fc:Israel.Report.10/8/01]

From: Fred Cohen (fc@all.net)
Date: 2001-10-07 09:57:42
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Statement by Israeli Prime Minister Sharon (GPO 10/4/01)

Today, Israel suffered another heinous Palestinian terrorist attack,
which took a heavy toll - three dead and seven wounded.  All efforts to
reach a cease-fire ave been torpedoed by the Palestinians.  The fire did
not cease, not even for one day.  The Cabinet has therefore instructed
our security forces to take all necessary measures to bring full
security to the citizens of Israel.  We can rely only on ourselves. 

We are currently in the midst of a complex and difficult diplomatic
campaign, I call on the Western democracies, and primarily the leader of
the Free World - the United States: Do not repeat the dreadful mistake
of 1938, when enlightened European democracies decided to sacrifice
Czechoslovakia for a 'convenient temporary solution'. 

Do not try to appease the Arabs at our expense - this is unacceptable to
us.  Israel will not be Czechoslovakia.  Israel will fight terrorism. 

There is no 'good terrorism' and 'bad terrorism', just as there is no
'good murder' and 'bad murder'.  Terrorism, as we witnessed this week in
Alei Sinai, is worse than murder. 

We have been fighting terrorism for over 100 years.  Unfortunately,
there are no swift and immediate solutions.  But if, united we confront
this terrorism, we will be able to overcome it and bring peace. 

And we shall overcome. 

Sharon 'clarifies' appeasement remarks (Jerusalem Post 10/7/01)
Following sharp US criticism of his statement that Israel won't be an
appeasement sacrifice as Czechoslovakia was in 1938, Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon clarified it last night, saying he "regrets" if his
metaphor was not properly understood. 

The clarification followed two days of angry exchanges with the US
government over his remarks Thursday, in which Sharon warned the US and
the Western world against trying to appease the Arabs, in order to get
them to join the anti-terror coalition, by sacrificing Israel.  Sharon
had said this would be similar to what the British and French tried to
do in 1938 by giving Hitler the Sudetenland in the mistaken belief that
this would appease him. 

"To my regret the metaphor in my speech was not understood properly,"
Sharon said.  "And I regret it.  President Bush has made a courageous
decision to set as a goal the eradication of terrorism.  The government
of Israel welcomes this decision and will provide its full and
unwavering support to the success of this commitment of the president."

Sharon's clarification last night of his comment came after he received
numerous messages of disapproval from the administration."The president
believes that these remarks are unacceptable," White House spokesman Ari
Fleischer said at a news conference on Friday.  "Israel can have no
better or stronger friend than the United States." Fleischer's language
recalled more adversarial moments between the allies of a decade ago
when then prime minister Yitzhak Shamir sometimes tangled with the first
Bush administration. 

"President Bush is an especially close ally of Israel," Fleischer added. 
"The United States has been and will continue to work very hard to
secure peace in the Middle East, to press the parties to end the
violence and return to a political dialogue.  And that will continue to
be the goals and the policies of the United States."

A senior official in the Prime Minister's Office said last night that
Sharon made his remarks after getting the feeling that the West was
letting Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and Yasser Arafat off the hook regarding
terror against Israelis.  According to this official, Israel is
concerned that the Palestinians are picking up signals from the West
that it would tolerate Palestinian terror - the evidence being that in
the last two weeks Palestinian terror has increased, not decreased. 

"The point Sharon was trying to make by bringing up Czechoslovakia was
that Israel won't give up its right to self-defense when faced with
unmitigated violence," the official said.  "He was using it as a
metaphor, not a historical corollary.  He was warning of something that
may develop, and felt that it was better to say it now."

IDF RETURNS HEVRON HILLS TO ISRAELI CONTROL (Arutz-7 IsraelNational
News.com 10/6/01)

In an IDF operation last night, Israeli soldiers re-took control of
Shalhevet Hill (Abu Sneineh) and Harat el-Sheik, two areas used daily by
Arabs to launch attacks against Hevron’s Jewish community.The two hills
provide a commanding view of Hevron's Jewish neighborhoods below.On
March 26, an Arab sniper atop Shalhevet hill fired into a group of
Jewish children who were playing in a sandbox.The shots killed
10-month-old Shalhevet Pass and injured her father and another little
girl. 

IDF tanks, armored personnel carriers, and helicopters participated in
the reconquering of the hills which began at approximately 3:00 AM.The
PLO says that 5 Arabs were killed and 15 were injured in exchanges of
fire.No Israelis were injured.Commander of Forces in Judea and Samaria
Brig-Gen. 

Yitzhak Gershon clarified that all the casualties in the course of the
operation were armed terrorists who fired at Jewish homes.IDF officials
indicate that the troops will remain as long as deemed necessary to
ensure the security of Hevron’s Jewish community.Several buildings were
destroyed in the mission, and several were taken over and now serve as
IDF outposts.Hevron residents say that Israeli flags now fly over
several houses atop the hills.See pictures at <a
href="http://www.hebron.org.il/pics/flagfly.htmHevron">http://www.hebron.org.il/pics/flagfly.htmHevron>
Arabs have declared a day of mourning. 

Israel supplies US with Central Asia intelligence (Jerusalem Post
10/5/01)

Israel has been supplying the US with an extraordinary amount of
behind-the-scenes intelligence assistance and security advice since the
September 11 terrorist attacks, despite demands from Arab states that it
not be permitted to participate in a coalition against terrorism. 

Since the attacks, Israel has provided the US with information about the
suspected hijackers.  And the US has sought intelligence assistance from
Israel particularly regarding Central Asia, where Israel has a stronger
foothold.  Israel has better intelligence and stronger relations with
countries such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan, places that could prove
crucial in any offensive against Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network
based in Afghanistan.  Israel has absorbed large emigrant populations
from those countries.  And because of its proximity to enemies such as
Iran, Israel has devoted intelligence resources there, both human and
electronic.  A year ago the Uzbek government, in a sign of partnership,
appealed to Israel for aid in combating the rise of Islamic violence in
the region. 

On the security front, as the US grows ever more fearful of a possible
biological or chemical attack, US officials have been counseling with
their Israeli counterparts on how Israel secures its water and food
supplies against sabotage, sources familiar with the discussions say. 

And yesterday four security experts from El Al met quietly with
administration officials in Washington.  The experts were invited to
testify before the House Transportation and Senate Transportation
aviation subcommittees on Wednesday about El Al security measures. 

The committees are drafting versions of an aviation security bill that
are due to be presented next week, and participants in the meeting said
the committees would take the advice of the El Al representatives into
consideration when finalizing their bills. 

At El Al's request, the committee meetings were closed so that its
security techniques, widely lauded as a possible model for America's
airline industry, would not be jeopardized. 

El Al, with only 31 airplanes, operates on a much smaller scale than the
sprawling US airline industry, and even the security experts
acknowledged that for logistical and financial reasons not all
procedures would be adaptable.  But as the US weighs issues of whether
to mandate stronger cockpit doors and air marshals, routine in El Al
aircraft, legislators were keen to have input from security experts who
have been employing such measures for decades. 

"Ever since September 11, people have been pointing to El Al as the type
of airline the US should use as a model to improve airline security. 
They gave a very good briefing on how their flights operate as far as
security goes," said Steve Hansen, communications director for the House
Transportation Committee. 

During the hour-long meeting, legislators and staffers were particularly
interested in how El Al handles racial profiling, whether they believe
passenger screeners and baggage handlers should be federal workers, and
whether they believe pilots should be equipped with hand guns. 
Regarding guns, the El Al representatives said that a gun used to be
stored in a safe in every cockpit, but they were removed when
plain-clothes armed marshals started accompanying all flights. 

"With air marshals, you have people who are trained to act in moments of
crisis.  It's better to let the air marshals do the fighting and the
pilots do the flying," Hansen quoted the El Al representatives as
telling legislators. 

The bills being drafted are not expected to include a hand-gun
provision. 

Legislators were particularly impressed with the tough standards set for
screeners who interview passengers boarding El Al flights. 

The El Al officials said employees are immediately let go if they are
found to be lax on their job, and legislators expressed concern that if
airport security workers in the US are made civil servants, the federal
bureaucracy would preclude such flexibility in dismissals. 

Mekorot Pumps Water to Save Bezet River (Israeline 10/5/01)

In an effort to save the flora and fauna of Nahal Bezet, a river in
Upper Galilee, Mekorot began pumping water into the riverbed on
Thursday. 

The National Nature and Parks Service, which organized the Mekorot
emergency action, received permission from the Water Commission to pump
up to 4,000 cubic meters of water a day into the dried riverbed, in an
effort to keep it alive until it can be replenished by natural means. 

The river is usually supplied with water from natural springs, but the
lengthy drought and the diversion of some of the natural spring water
into pipes for home consumption caused the spring to dry up.  As a
result, almost all the wildlife has disappeared from the river, which is
a protected nature reserve. 

Other rivers have also been kept artificially damp due to the drought,
including the river in Ein Ofek, a nature reserve near Acre, and the
source of the Yarkon River, which has been supplemented by water pumped
in to preserve the fish and vegetation in the small park around the
source. 

IDF RESCUES TWO ISRAELIS FROM NEAR LYNCH (Arutz-7 Israel
NationalNews.com 10/5/01)

An IDF force entered the Arab village of Jaljulya, 45 minutes north of
Jerusalem, last night to extricate two residents from Tapuach who got
lost on a hike to Jerusalem and found themselves in the middle of an
Arab village under total PLO control.Arab villagers opened fire towards
the two, and they took cover in a house close to a mosque in the
village.According to the IDF spokesman, when a crowd of Arabs surrounded
the house and attempted to enter it, the two hikers took two hostages
and contacted the IDF. 

The two didn't know the name of the village they had entered, but IDF
commanders correctly figured out their location. 

After an IDF commander realized that PA security officials who had been
alerted were acting too slowly, the decision was made by IDF Chief of
Staff Lt.-Gen.  Shaul Mofaz, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer and
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to send in tanks and extricate the two from
the village. 

The mission ended without injury to IDF troops or the two Tapuach
residents.  Palestinian Authority officials were angered over the IDF
decision to move in and not rely on PA forces to intervene.Two Israeli
reservists were lynched in PLO-controlled Ramallah in Oct.  2000, when
they made a wrong turn. 

America first (Ze'ev Schiff, Ha’aretz 10/5/01)

It's hard to assume that Osama bin Laden is a fanatic idiot who is
waiting in his hiding place in Afghanistan for an American attack.  It
would take an intelligence miracle, something that didn't happen to the
Americans on September 11, for them to locate bin Laden and his men, and
to hit them directly.  It is a reasonable assumption that the terrorist
training camps in Afghanistan have long since emptied out.  The
anticipated American attack in Afghanistan will therefore be directed
more against the Taleban regime, which provides shelter to bin Laden and
provokes Washington.  It is also designed, in the event that it is
successful, to reinforce American's power of deterrence.  For reasons of
security, preference must be now given to a less prestigious move, which
involves infringement of individual rights, and that is the elimination
of the extensive and long-standing terror infrastructure of bin Laden
and other Islamic groups in the United States.  This infrastructure
includes safe houses, bank accounts, forgers of documents and other
accomplices in key positions. 

At the same time, in the guise of religious-social activity in the
mosques, such as campaigns to raise contributions for American
universities and institutes, terrorist cells were established.  The
American failure was expressed in the ongoing indifference of the
various government bodies, which for years allowed the activity of the
present leader of the Islamic Jihad, Ramadan Shalah, in Florida, and
that of the leader of the Hamas, Mussa Abu Marzouk, all over the U.S. 

The destruction of training camps in Afghanistan will be of only
marginal significance if the terrorist infrastructure in the U.S.  is
not destroyed soon, and if Germany, which has become a transit country
for terrorism, and from which the instructions for the actions in the
U.S.  went out, doesn't do a serious repair job at home. 

On this issue, Israel has in the past come with up-to-date information
for the Americans, but has usually been turned away.  In one case, the
former head of the Shin Bet security services, Yaakov Peri, met with the
heads of the FBI and the CIA, and with the U.S.  Secretary of Justice,
and informed them that terrorist cells were being established in the
U.S.  They looked at him forgivingly, and claimed that he was
exaggerating (a reaction similar to when Israel first gave the Americans
information about Iraqi nuclear activity).  The Americans rejected
Israel's request that the FBI eavesdrop on the conversations of
suspected terrorists.  When an Arab American carrying money for the
military wing of Hamas was arrested in Israel, Washington did not let up
on Israel during the entire course of the investigation.  Let's hope
that after the terrible terrorist attack in the U.S., the country has
truly turned over a new leaf.  Its conclusion that it needs the
assistance of the Muslim and Arab countries, some of which indirectly
support terrorism, in order to fight against Islamic and Arab terror,
has led Washington to the assessment that two harsh and ongoing
conflicts - the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that in Kashmir - are
likely to interfere with the coalition that it hopes to set up against
terrorism. 

Kashmir is also suffering from Islamic terrorism, and on the day when a
car bomb exploded in Jerusalem (with no casualties), 13 Indians were
killed by a car bomb activated by Muslim terrorists.  The supporters of
these terrorists in Pakistan, which Washington wants to bring into the
new coalition, said that it is not terrorism, but a movement for
liberation from India.  That is reminiscent of what many Arabs, as well
as Iran, say about Palestinian terrorism. 

Whoever leaves the Islamic Jihad, the Hamas and the Hezbollah, as well
as the terrorists active in Kashmir, off the list of terrorists, in a
bid to set up a broad coalition against bin Laden, will discover at the
end that he himself is undermining the basic principles in the war
against international terrorism. 

The Straw reasoning (Mark Heller, Jerusalem Post 10/5/01)

Once in a while, a European personality does something to resuscitate
the suspicion that Europe can, after all, play some positive role in the
resolution or at least the management of the Arab-Israeli conflict.  In
recent months, examples of this kind of involvement have included
participation in the proceedings of the Mitchell Commission by Javier
Solana, High Representative for the European Union's Common Foreign and
Security Policy, and some particularly timely and constructive
interventions by German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer.  But almost
every time such actions erode Israel's well-developed prejudice against
European involvement, some freshly minted statesman comes along and
provides new reasons to cling onto that prejudice for all it's worth. 

Solana's involvement, for example, was offset by the contribution of EU
External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten, who spoke out harshly
against Israeli mistreatment of Palestinians on several occasions in
recent months and then demonstrated his even-handed approach by also
gently criticizing Palestinian Authority mistreatment of Palestinians. 
It is true that Patten's impact on Israeli receptivity to European
involvement was muted because hardly anybody noticed his statements. 
But the same cannot be said of another newcomer to the scene, British
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. 

Last week, Straw paid a visit to Iran as part of a swing through the
Middle East aimed at lining up partners in the anti-terrorist coalition. 
Straw is apparently unaware that Iran sees the Sunni fundamentalists in
Afghanistan as sworn enemies or that the two countries were recently on
the brink of war.  Thus, he felt he had to offer the Iranians some
inducement to join in, in the form of a statement expressing
understanding that "one of the factors contributing to the growth of
terror is the anger of many people in the region about the incidents in
recent years in Palestine."

According to the British Foreign Office Web site, Straw was trained as a
lawyer and spent virtually his entire political career as a minister,
shadow minister, or opposition spokesman dealing with Home Office,
environment, education or local government affairs.  And he lists his
hobbies as walking, music and cooking puddings.  There is nothing in his
professional or personal background that would suggest a more profound
knowledge of the region, and until his appointment as foreign secretary
in June, he had neither need nor reason - apart from the tens of
thousands of Muslims in his Blackburn constituency - to know the
difference between a Sunni and a Sony. 

But events don't wait for neophyte foreign secretaries to learn the
ropes.  Straw needed to be seen and heard in order to play his part in
the Western crusade to convert terrorists into anti-terrorists.  And
there wasn't even time for Foreign Office professionals to bring him up
to speed. 

Not that the Foreign Office is a hotbed of unreconstructed Zionists. 
Its diagnosis, according to one senior official, is that "Sharon is the
cancer at the center of the crisis." But at least that senior official
had the good sense to remain anonymous.  And the mandarins of Whitehall,
whatever their personal inclinations, could at least be relied upon to
advise their new minister that rationalizing in public the terrorism
directed against Israel is unlikely to enhance Israeli receptivity to
British/European desires to play a more prominent role. 

It seems, however, that Straw was in a rush to get out there and show
the flag in the region before he had even completed the short course. 
This left him reliant on whatever bits and bobs he had picked up from
various sources, including the BBC, which tends to portray the whole of
the contemporary Middle East as a Palestinian passion play. 

There is, of course, a more charitable explanation for Straw's reference
to the "obvious need to understand the environment in which terrorism
breeds." It is that he is as cynical as the next politician and, wanting
something from his hosts, gave them in return a verbal double-standard
on terrorism, without really believing a word of it. 

If that is the case, then there is no place for mean-spirited Israelis
to understand the environment in which Irish terrorism breeds or to
express any appreciation for the struggle of the Republicans to defend
themselves against the descendents of the English settlers in Ireland
and remove the last remnants of English occupation in Area C of the
island.  Instead, Israelis can fall back on their own raison d'etat and
remind the parade of well-meaning intermediaries that greater European
involvement in the peace process (that's diplo-speak for European
pressure on Israel to accept Arab demands) is a Euro-Arab idea. 

Israel never requested, wanted or needed it, and if it agrees to let the
Europeans stay in the game, it, too, should get something in return -
even if it's just a verbal concession that among all those thousands of
nasty Saudis, Egyptians, Sudanese, Algerians, Yemenis, Pakistanis,
Afghans, Uzbeks, and Filipinos, there may also be one or two Palestinian
terrorists whose actions European statesmen do not "understand."

Ominous Opportunity (Hirsch Goodman, Jerusalem Report 10/8/01)

Some people now are saying, rather simplisticly, that with world
attention focused on the U.S.  and with international public opinion
toward the Palestinians dramatically changed, this is the time to strike
— the time to do all those things we should have done but have been
constrained from doing. 

Right now, Israel must do two things: use the window of opportunity that
has opened to continue judiciously taking out the operational levels of
the Palestinian terrorist infrastructure, and seize the chance to
strengthen its alliance with the United States, and particularly with
the Europeans.  If during the past year of war with the Palestinians,
Israel and liberal Europe found themselves on different sides of the
divide, today we share a common enemy.  That relationship has to be
fostered. 

Vis-â-vis the Palestinians, Israel should continue its policy of
targeted assassination of terror heads — including those, like PFLP head
Abu Ali Mustafa, killed on August 27, who walk a thin line between
political and terrorist activities.  It should seal off Palestinian
cities like Jenin, from which at least 10 suicide bombers were
dispatched in recent months — not to punish the inhabitants, but to
prevent terrorists from infiltrating into Israel.  And it should
continue its phased and careful policy of eroding the status of the
Palestinian Authority, with measures like the closing of Orient House,
the symbol of Palestinian sovereignty in Jerusalem, and the offices of
PA security organizations in the city. 

The first element, targeted assassination, sends a message that those
who send suicide bombers are, in fact, committing suicide themselves. 

The second, upgrading the level of the targets by killing Mustafa, tells
people like Tanzim boss Marwan Bargouti, until now immune because of
their political status, to stick to politics.  Mustafa was killed after
Israel’s security services uncovered a six-man East Jerusalem terrorist
cell, operating under his direct command, which had already managed to
plant several car and pipe bombs in Jerusalem and planned 20 more terror
attacks, with targets including several kindergartens and schools. 

And the third, the closure of high-profile Palestinian institutions,
tells Arafat that he can’t have Oslo and throw it down the drain at the
same time.  These institutions were born out of an agreement.  When that
agreement is in place again, we can speak about a tolerated Palestinian
presence in Jerusalem. 

In terms of strengthening our already-strong relations with the U.S.,
the path is clear.  Israel cannot be part of a coalition fighting in the
sands of Iraq, but in this new war Israel’s intelligence assets are
priceless.  Until now, according to former Mossad head Shabtai Shavit,
intelligence officials in the U.S.  rolled their eyes back in boredom
when Israelis tried to raise the problem of international Islamic
fundamentalism, specifically the issue of suicide bombers.  But Israel’s
cumulative experience in the field is, unfortunately, immense.  And,
while fighting in the sand is important, intelligence is critical.  The
gigantic failure that allowed September 11 to happen renders elaboration
of the point unnecessary.  Israel and the U.S.  do, as a matter of
course, share intelligence.  But there is sharing and there is sharing. 
This is the time to cement a relationship. 

There is no doubt that the September 11 massacre will make the Western
world more sympathetic to Israel’s cause.  The scenes of Palestinians
dancing in the streets in victory when the Twin Towers collapsed did not
enhance international empathy for their cause.  But this shift should
not be interpreted by Israel as carte blanche approval for the type of
military action against the Palestinians that some right-wing ministers
are calling for. 

Fundamentalist Islam has reared its ugly head in America, but that
should not drive Israel into self-defeating acts of militarism, like the
re-occupying of Palestinian-controlled territories.  The new climate
should be used to keep the lid on terror and, at the same time, maximize
the diplomatic advantages that have evolved to find a diplomatic
solution to end the current violence.  The Palestinians’ chance of
internationalizing the conflict, as they have tried to do from the
outset, has become slim indeed.  Arafat lost the battle when he tried to
turn the international community against Israel at the racism conference
in Durban.  And now that the Western world is united against the very
type of terror he and his regime typify, the level of international
support Arafat can muster is zero. 

Arafat, therefore, has to change his strategy.  He can either fold into
the camp of the Saddam Husseins and Bin Ladens of this world, or he can
take a last shot at joining the family of nations that care about the
future of their children.  He can either try and rebuild his relations
with the U.S.  and its allies in the fight against terror, or he can
continue his career as a two-bit terrorist who may be able to slightly
dent Israel, but never defeat it. 

Whatever choice he makes, Israel is well positioned to deal with the
consequences.  The events of September 11 have indeed presented a window
of opportunity.  What Israel does not want to do is jump out of it. 

The long road to firing a rabbi (Shahar Ilan, Ha’aretz 10/7/01)

Last week, Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein prevented Shas's
Religious Affairs Minister Asher Ohana from using a ministerial
directive to restore elections for two chief rabbis in a township. 
Rubinstein believes that the status quo created by an earlier directive
from former religious affairs minister Yossi Beilin should remain in
place.  That directive put the authority to decide whether a town should
have two chief rabbis into the hands of the city council, meaning the
representatives of the town's residents.  It's the residents, after all,
who have to pay for the astronomic salaries of the second rabbi, his
staff, and for his government car. 

The Religious Affairs Ministry believes that the attorney general
doesn't have the authority to cancel a ministerial directive, but it's
doubtful that they will go into outright battle with him.  As things
appear now, Beilin's directive will remain in place and a city that
wants to have only one rabbi will be able to do so.  Beilin and
Rubinstein can therefore chalk up an important achievement on the way to
getting rid of the disgraceful system of appointing rabbis according to
an ethnic formula. 

Beilin did not do very much in the ministry.  After he failed to
dismantle it, he lost interest.  His major achievement however was
issuing three directives that made important reforms in the religious
establishment.  When Shas entered the ministry, its leaders made clear
they planned to erase everything Beilin had accomplished.  But Ohana has
actually been much more moderate, and examined each issue on its merits. 

Indeed, the only directive he tried to erase, by order of Shas's
spiritual mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, was the one that allowed a town to
make do with only one chief rabbi.  And Ohana only acted after
controversy erupted when Tel Aviv decided it only needed one chief
rabbi. 

Another Beilin directive actually found favor with Rabbi Yosef.  It
determined that the religious affairs minister must fire any rabbi who
does not live in the township in which he serves.  The directive leaves
no latitude for the minister.  Shas explained that Rabbi Yosef also
believes that a rabbi who doesn't live in his congregation's town is not
worthy of the job. 

But it turns out the road to firing a rabbi is a long one.  Beilin fired
11, but Ohana decided to give them all a hearing.  The director-general
of his ministry, Moshe Shimoni, held those hearings and it appears that
he'll reinstate all the rabbis. 

It seems the minister and director-general may not be able to exercise
discretion in the case of a rabbi who doesn't live in the town where he
serves - but they can make a judgment about where the rabbi lives. 
Shimon says the rabbis proved they live in the cities where they worked. 
How did they prove it? They brought authorizations from the religious
council, city hall and Interior Ministry about their places of
residence.  It would make more sense to ask the rabbis to bring
authorizations about where their children go to school and where their
wives work. 

The ministry has a structural problem.  A religious minister or
director-general, even if he has the best intentions, can't fire a
rabbi.  It's more proof of the justice in Beilin's demand to dismantle
the ministry and distribute its various functions among other, relevant
ministries. 

Another Beilin directive was particularly broad.  It said that religious
council heads and their deputies would not be salaried.  That
revolutionized a system in which the salaries of the chairmen and their
deputies were linked to ministers' salaries, and they were paid huge
amounts.  But while one can argue about the amount they should be paid,
it's difficult to expect the chairman of a religious council to work as
a volunteer. 

About a month ago, new directives from Ohana were published and went
into effect.  From now on, religious council chairmen and their deputies
would be paid the same as a municipal department head, and the salaries
will be linked to the salaries of the town's director-general.  But the
directive also states that in towns of up to 30,000 residents, the
religious council chairman will be a part-time job.  Huge savings can be
expected.  But in all the major cities, the salaries won't change -
they're apparently too powerful to touch.  More problematic is the fact
that the new directives allow a limited number of deputies to be
appointed for the chairmen of religious councils in the major cities and
large towns.  If there's an unnecessary job in the civil service (almost
as unnecessary as a second chief rabbi) it's the deputy chairman of the
religious council.  Beilin wanted to eliminate the job and it's a shame
that Ohana wants to resurrect it. 


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