Hmm…
Sources: Security cabinet to request plan for Arafat expulsion
The security cabinet will ask the Israel Defense Forces to draw up a plan for the expulsion of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat,
Israeli sources said Thursday.
The decision came during a meeting of the 11-minister strong security cabinet, convened by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to discuss Israel’s response to two suicide bombings in a Jerusalem cafe and outside an IDF base near Rishon Letzion on Tuesday, in which 15 people were killed.
Sharon had held consultations with the heads of the defense establishment upon his return Thursday morning from an official visit to
India, which was cut short due to the attacks.
According to senior Israeli official, the cabinet was to discuss Arafat’s role in the recent violence, saying he is viewed as “the one mainly responsible for the current situation.”
A number of cabinet ministers have in recent days called for the PA leader’s ouster, accusing him of orchestrating the violence, in
addition to what the cabinet source callled his responsibility for many years of “bloodshed and other acts of cruelty.”
The ministers were also expected to weigh other possible responses to Tuesday’s twin bombings. One proposal is to tighten Arafat’s isolation
at his West Bank headquarters by keeping out visitors and cutting off phones, and another idea is to reoccupy the Gaza Strip, where the
Hamas leadership is based.
The United States continues to oppose expulsion of the PA chairman, Israeli officials said, and it is unclear whether Sharon would override his
cabinet and block Arafat’s removal, despite growing public pressure in Israel for drastic action.
Eight of the 11 members of the security cabinet were in favor of expulsion and two are opposed, Israel Television said. Sharon has not made his view public.
Labor Party Chairman Shimon Peres expressed his opposition Thursday such a move, Army Radio said. Speaking during a meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington, Peres said that Israel must not force the Palestinian leader from the territories.
Arafat himself vowed Thursday to stay put, despite the IDF commandeering a building overlooking his compound in the West Bank city of Ramallah earlier in the day as a “message” to him and his PA.
“No one can kick me out,” Arafat said. Asked if he would leave of his own accord, he said, “definitely not.”
“This is my homeland. This is Terra Sancta. No one can kick me out,” he told reporters. “They can kill me. They have bombs,” he said.
Arafat called on the quartet of the United States, Russia, Europe and the United Nations to “move quickly to protect peace and the road
map” peace plan.
Sources within the prime minister’s entourage to India said Wednesday that Israel’s response to the attacks would be a severe one, which could
come as early as the weekend. Ahead of his departure from India, Sharon said that Israel “will do what needs to be done, we will take
every effort to put an end to terror.”
