Israel government refrains from supporting NATO attacks

JERUSALEM [MENL] -- The government of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has refused to support NATO strikes against Yugoslavia and has called for a resumption of negotiations between Belgrade and Kosovo separatists.

The position differs with that of the Labor Party opposition, which has called for unreserved support for the NATO bombing raids.

Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday refused to support NATO attacks on Yugoslavia and said Islamic terrorist groups support Kosova separatists in the fight for independence from Serbia.

In the first detailed Israeli response to the NATO campaign against Belgrade, Sharon said both Serbia and Kosovo have been victims of violence. He said prior to the current Yugoslav campaign against Kosovo Albanians, Serbians were the targets of attacks in the Kosovo province.

Israel and Yugoslavia have what is termed as a warm, albeit muted, friendship that has not weakened during the last 10 years of war in the Balkans.

The foreign minister said Kosovo separatists, in reference to the Kosovo Liberation Army, receive support from Iranian-backed Islamic militants who routinely attack the Jewish state.

"Today, there are terrible things being done to the Albanians and before that terrible things were done to the Serbians," Sharon said. "Everybody is fighting everybody. It's a very delicate situation. We have to understand that in this area there are Islamic elements there. You can find Hizbullah elements among the Albanians. There are mujahadeen [who fought for an Islamic state in Afghanistan] and [Osama] Bin Laden. It is very complex."

Sharon's assertion of the involvement of Islamic militants in the KLA echoed that of Western defense sources, who said Iran wants to create a Muslim sphere of influence that would extend from Greece in the east to Germany in the west. Bin Laden's involvement in the KLA was reported by the U.S. Defense Department in early 1998.

"We have not been asked to support [NATO attacks]," Sharon added. "Israel has a clear policy. We are against aggressive actions. We are against hurting innocent people. I hope that the sides will return to the negotiating table as soon as possible."

Labor Party chairman Ehud Barak, who is running for prime minister, called on Israel to unconditionally support NATO strikes on Yugoslavia. He said Israel and the Jewish people cannot remain silent in the face of the atrocities reported in Kosovo.

"The Israeli government, in the name of the Jewish people," Barak said in a statement, "must steadfastly back the Western democracies who are acting with determination and diligence to put an end to the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Albanian Moslems in Kosovo."

Officials said Israel has obtained permission from Albanian and Macedonia to provide medical assistance and other humanitarian aid to the victims of the fighting. Knesset member Yossi Sarid said he is willing to lead such a mission. Sarid had led missions to Rwanda and Bosnia.

"In Kosovo these days the murder of nation is being carried out," Sarid said. "I don't think there is anybody in Israel who doesn't want to help."

Sarid said Israel should establish a large field hospital on the Kosovo-Albanian border as well as a tent camp to provide humanitarian relief. "Israel has much experience in this area," he said.

But former parliamentarian Elyakim Haetzni said the Serbs should be the first to recieve Israeli aid. "There are our traditional friends," he told Israel Radio.

Israel evacuated its embassy in Belgrade over the weekend, with the last one to leave being ambassador David Sasson. About 250 Jews from Belgrade have arrived in Budapest and are being hosted by that city's Jewish community.