Trouble Is Brewing for Yasser Arafat

Israeli officials claim that they want to expel Arafat now Hamas has set up Yasser Arafat once again. The Palestinian leader has found himself in his own trap, so to speak. It stands to reason that Palestinian suicidal acts of terrorism clear the road to power for the right-wing forces of Israel. This is absolutely out of the question for Arafat.

Yasser Arafat could have hoped for the support of the Labor Party when the previous cabinet of ministers was ruling the country. Arafat was able to use the contradictions between the Labor and the Likud parties.

Israeli Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently gave a precise outline of Arafat’s political future. He claimed that if he becomes the prime minister of Israel, he will order Arafat to be expelled immediately. Another minister from the Likud Party, Reuven Rivlin, supports this idea as well. This official is closely connected with Ariel Sharon’s office. Rivlin stated that both Sharon himself and even former Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer are ready to extradite the Palestinian leader.

Yasser Arafat was not at all happy to learn about these plans. That is why he called a meeting between the two largest Palestinian organizations in Cairo. The meeting was held between Fatah, which is under Arafat’s command, and Hamas, which is absolutely independent on the Palestinian leader.

Arafat’s representatives tried to persuade Hamas revolutionaries to stop performing acts of terrorism on the territory of Israel, at least for a while. It was emphasized that suicide terrorists could help Israel’s extreme right-wing forces to come to power. Therefore, it was recommended to refrain from such actions, especially during the elections to the Israeli parliament. The elections are to take place on January 28, 2003.

Fatah representatives also called upon the Hamas movement to acknowledge the Palestinian national administration and its leader Yasser Arafat as the only power in the Palestinian autonomy. Fatah’s arguments did not have any influence on the people of Hamas. The members of this radical organization in the Palestinian autonomy pointed out the absolute necessity to continue using military force. Various Hamas representatives stated that violence is the only language that the Zionist invaders have ever understood.

In other words, there was no dialogue in Cairo. As observers noted, new acts of terrorism will occur in Israel very soon.

As analysts believe, if Islamic revolutionaries perform new acts of terrorism in Israeli towns, Israel will be forced to respond. The pre-election situation in the country dictates its rules as well. The majority of the Israelis say that they will only vote for a strong, reliable politician who will be able to provide them with a feeling of safety.

Dmitry Chirkin PRAVDA.Ru

Translated by Dmitry Sudakov