Israel would not have made a strike like this, deep into Syria, without the strategic comfort of U.S. forces in Iraq. The whole political landscape there has been changed and the dems want to give it all back.
When I read it, I was bewildered by it. I thought they would go after Arafat. They must have had good Intel on this camp and been ready to pull the trigger. I checked Haaretz, JPost, and Debka, and this is the best I could find.
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Last update - 13:50 05/10/2003
Sharon to consult security chiefs on whether to expel Arafat
By Amos Harel, Gideon Alon, Mazal Mualem and David Ratner, Haaretz Service and Agencies
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will consult security chiefs before deciding whether to expel Palestinian Authority Chairman Arafat in the wake of the suicide bombing in a Haifa restaurant that left 19 people dead, official sources said Saturday.
Sharon chose not to convene a meeting Saturday night of the small ministerial forum which has the authority, under an earlier government decision in principle, to decide in favor of Arafat's expulsion.
While Arafat's removal might "quench a thirst for revenge" felt by many Israelis, such a move would not help Israel, sources close to the prime minister said Saturday night.
Arafat's complete isolation, however, including the prevention of any foreign officials from visiting the Muqata, may "provide the goods," the sources said.
To prevent an attack on the Palestinian Chairman or his deportation, dozens of Israeli and foreign peace activists arrived Saturday night at Arafat's office in the West Bank town of Ramallah to act as human shields.
"We are here as human shields to protect President Arafat," peace activist Uri Avneri said. "We will stay here just in case Sharon carries out an action."
Earlier Saturday, leaders of all right-wing parties, including three government ministers, called on Sharon to forcibly remove the Palestinian leader from the territories.
Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Zevulun Orlev (National Religious Party) said the government should now carry out its previously stated policy intention and deport Arafat. Should Israel fail to do so, it would project weakness and thereby encourage more terror attacks, Orlev stated.
Minister of Science and Technology Eliezer Sandberg (Shinui) also supported Arafat's expulsion. Millions of Arabs and Jews in the region wanted to live quietly, Sandberg said, "whereas the terrorist, Arafat, derails any prospect for genuine peace."
Minister of Agriculture Yisrael Katz (Likud) also called for Arafat's immediate removal. Should Israel not take quick action against Arafat, and also against Hamas, Katz said, "it will lose credibility and its deterrence capability."
MK Yehiel Hazan (Likud), who heads the Judea and Samaria settlers' lobby in the Knesset, called on Sharon to carry out the government's policy declaration and remove both Arafat and the Hamas leadership.
MK Yuri Stern (National Union) said that not only Arafat, "but also all the other leaders of the monstrous Palestinian Authority that was created as a result of the Oslo accords," ought to be removed.
For his part, Minister of Tourism Binyamin Elon, a hard-line leader from the political right, said that he opposed Arafat's expulsion. Such a move would distract attention from the real problem, claimed Elon, explaining that immediate steps should be taken to "dismantle the Palestinian Authority and to establish a Palestinian state in Jordan."
Speaking shortly after the suicide bombing, Health Minister Dan Naveh said Israel should "seize this opportunity to get rid of Arafat."
The attack, Naveh added, was further evidence to those arguing over whether the Palestinian Authority chairman's presence in the region or his expulsion would cause greater damage, that Arafat's "presence is far more damaging."
Former Labor leader Amram Mitzna, who also served as Haifa mayor, disagreed, saying that removing Arafat would be like "looking for the solution in the wrong place." His removal, Mitzna said, would only increase the hatred and violence.
Labor MK Matan Vilnai also spoke out against expelling Arafat, saying in an interview to Channel One television that such a move would hand a victory to Islamic Jihad, which does not want the Palestinian leader in the territories.
Labor Secretary-General MK Ophir Pines-Paz said that the attack provided further proof of the costs of the mishandled security fence project.
Pines-Paz declared that "the fence should be built as soon as possible on the Green Line border." The government's politicized management of the fence project "causes civilians to feel like sitting ducks in a firing range," he said.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell in a recent telephone conversation that, according to intelligence gathered by Israel, Arafat is continuing to funnel money to terrorist organizations.
David Baker, an official in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office, said Israel demands that the Palestinian Authority take immediate steps against militant groups. "The bombing in Haifa is another indication that the Palestinian Authority continues to refuse to take even minimal steps against the terrorist infrastructure," he said.
The deadliness of the attack raised the question of whether the government would act on the decision by the security cabinet to "remove" Arafat. That decision was taken after 15 Israelis were killed in two suicide bombings on September 10 - in Tzrifin and in Jerusalem - in the space of a few hours.
At the time, the security cabinet did not say when or how Arafat would be "removed."
The United States, fearing the removal of Arafat could led to escalating violence in the region as it is engaged in a desperate effort to stabilize the situation in Iraq, has until now opposed any Israeli action against the Palestinian leader.
PM-designate Qureia condemns bombing
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister-designate Ahmed Qureia called Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav to express his sorrow over the bombing and to condemn it.
He also issued a statement condemning the bombing and also called on militant Palestinian groups to cease attacks on Israeli civilians.
"Mr. Qureia urged the Palestinian people and all its national and Islamic factions to practise self restraint and to fully halt these actions that target civilians and harm our legitimate and just national struggle," his office said in a statement.
It was Qureia's clearest call for an end to violence since he was nominated by Arafat last month after the resignation of Mahmoud Abbas.
Arafat and Qureia phoned the mayor of an Arab village in the Galilee on Saturday evening to offer their condolences on the "deaths of Jews and Arabs" in the Haifa suicide bombing. Two of the people killed in the attack apparently came from that village.
In his statement, Qureia also called on Israel to end the oppression of the Palestinian people and to cease its efforts to strike at the leaders of the various Palestinian groups.
Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat condemned the attack and appealed to the Quartet of international mediators - the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations - "to exert every possible effort in order to ensure de-escalation, and to maintain the road map" peace plan.
Israel and the international community have called repeatedly for the Palestinian Authority to crack down on groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but the Palestinian leadership has so far refused, saying such a move would precipitate civil war.
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