The next time the Pals bomb a bus, bye, bye, Arafat! And the wall will go up.
September 14, 2003
Top Israeli Says Killing Arafat Is an Option
By GREG MYRE - NEW YORK TIMES
RAMALLAH, West Bank, Sept. 14 - Israel's vice prime minister said today that killing the Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat was one of several options now under government consideration. Meanwhile, a beaming Mr. Arafat soaked up the cheers of supporters who descended on his compound for a fourth successive day.
"Arafat can no longer be a factor in what happens here," Ehud Olmert, Israel's vice prime minister, told Israel radio.
"The question is: How are we going to do it?" he said. "Expulsion is certainly one of the options, and killing is also one of the options. In my eyes, from a moral point of view, this is no different than the eliminations of others who were involved in activating acts of terror."
Mr. Olmert said Israel could also leave Mr. Arafat confined to his West Bank office in Ramallah, but "cut him off from the world" by severing communications and barring visitors.
In the past three years of fighting, Israel has carried out dozens of targeted killings of Palestinian militants, including leaders who gave orders to launch the attacks, according to Israel.
Israel has given no indication of when, or if, it might act to oust Mr. Arafat. The decision by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government is facing blanket opposition from the international community, including the United States, Israel's strongest ally.
"The United States does not support either the elimination of him or the exile of Mr. Arafat," Secretary of State Colin L. Powell told "Fox News Sunday" in an interview from Baghdad. "I think you can anticipate that there would be rage throughout the Arab world, the Muslim world and in many other parts of the world."
Mr. Arafat's badly damaged compound has generally appeared listless and semi-deserted during his confinement over the past year-and-a-half. But since Israel announced Thursday night that it had decided in principle to remove Mr. Arafat, the complex has taken on a carnival atmosphere, with ordinary Palestinians filling the square outside Mr. Arafat's office.
Today, a marching band thundered and Palestinian folk dancers took to a stage set up on the blacktop just outside the sandbagged front steps of Mr. Arafat's three-story headquarters.
Dressed in his trademark checkered headdress and an olive military-style uniform, Mr. Arafat blew kisses and gave the victory sign to a crowd of about 2,000. They ranged from a white-haired woman who kissed him on both cheeks, to young children raised onto the shoulders of their fathers for a better view.
"We are the brave people and we will continue until we reach Jerusalem," said Mr. Arafat, referring to the Palestinian goal of a state with a capital in the eastern part of the city.
The music, the chanting and a whiny microphone drowned out most of Mr. Arafat's remarks, but a broad smile never left his face as he drank in the adulation for a half-hour, then retreated inside.
Amin Abbasi, a businessman, has visited the compound for each of the past four days, bringing his wife and four children, ages 4 to 12, at various times.
"You will find people here who don't support the policies of Mr. Arafat," said Mr. Abbasi, 44. "But as Palestinians, we feel we must defend our president and tell the world that nobody can force us to change our leader."
Mr. Sharon's government has shunned Mr. Arafat, saying he has encouraged violence against Israel and has refused to order his security forces to prevent attacks.
The Israeli government's call for tougher action followed a pair of Palestinian suicide bombings on Tuesday by the Islamic group Hamas that killed 15 Israelis. The days since then have been marked by increased tension and sporadic violence.
Today, Israeli forces shot to death a 14-year-old Palestinian boy who was among a group of youths who cut through a perimeter fence of an Israeli airstrip just outside Ramallah, Palestinian witnesses and hospital officials said. An Israeli military source said soldiers fired after a group of Palestinian infiltrators failed to heed warning shots.
The airstrip has not been used since the Palestinian uprising began in September 2000, but Israeli troops continue to guard it.
In the central Gaza Strip, Palestinians marched in support of Mr. Arafat and afterward threw stones at an Israeli military outpost near the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom.
After tear gas and warning shots failed to drive the crowd back, the Israeli troops fired on Palestinians, the army said. Several Palestinians were wounded, Palestinians added.
At an Israeli Cabinet meeting today, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz said the government had agreed to speed up work on a barrier that would separate Israel from the West Bank. However, the barrier has stirred controversy because it incorporates some Jewish settlements in the West Bank, and in the process, cuts into Palestinian areas.
One segment, which includes fencing, concrete walls, electronic sensors and trenches, has been built along the northern West Bank. However, the government has not announced the route along the central part of the West Bank. There are at least two proposals, with one placing the barrier fairly close to the West Bank boundary, and another sending it deep into the West Bank to include large Jewish settlements.
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