US refuses to guarantee Arafat's well- being
Palestinian leader asks CIA for US guarantee that he will not suffer the same fate as Yasin, but he was rebuffed.
By Amir Rapoport - Maariv International
PA Chairman Yasser Arafat's request for a US guarantee that Israel will not target him as it did Hamas leader Sheikh Yassin has been denied.
The request was made following remarks by IDF CoS Maj. Gen. Moshe Ya'alon and other senior Israeli officials that Yassin's fate could be shared by other terrorist leaders. The message clearly reverberated loud and clear in Yasser Arafat’s office (proving the old Taludic adage that "the hat burns on the head of the thief"). Fearing a similar fate, the Palestinian Authority Chairman issued a discreet request via the CIA, but was rebufffed.
The Chief of Staff’s threat to the effect that targets for elimination could include Arafat and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, is part of Israel's policy of deliberate vagueness, designed to promote fear and uncertainty among terrorist leaders. In the framework of this policy, Israel does not intend to specify which terror leaders are targeted for future elimination, with the exception of Yassin’s successor, who has already been officially annointed by Israsel as living on borrowed time.
Arafat’s men are taking this policy seriously. During the course of the week security measures for Arafat’s protection in the Muqata in Ramallah were beefed up. Fearing those measures inadequate, Palestinians requested help from the CIA to intervene for Arafat’s protection. Simultaneously, the Palestinians also pursued other avenues of assistance in the US. According to American sources, the US has refused to give a commitment to Arafat’s men that Israel would not eliminate him too.
Israel has threatened to exile Arafat in the past, and even planned to assassinate him during the 1982 Lebanon War. The assassination was called off when American officials intervened on the Palestinian’s leader’s behalf.
Hezbollah is worried
Israel’s believes comments made by the Chief of Staff have also triggered concern within the Hezbollah leadership.
The assessment is that members of the organization have begun to consider the possibility that Israel will attempt to kill their leader Hassan Nasrallah, in the event of escalation on the Lebanese border. Despite the concerns in Ramallah and in Beirut, Maariv sources indicate that at this stage, no decision has been adopted to eliminate Nasrallah or Arafat. On the other hand, intensive efforts to eliminate senior Hamas leaders are underway. Rantisi and his comrades in Gaza have succeeded in surviving until now primarily as a result of having gone underground, or by ensuring that they are invariably surrounded by citizens.
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