Sharon decides to hold off military response to bus attack (BETRAYAL ALERT)

The Jerusalem Post ^ | 8/20/2002 | The Jerusalem Post stuff

[eclectic]

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz decided Wednesday to hold off on a military response to Tuesday's deadly bus attack in Jerusalem, giving the Palestinian Authority more time to attempt to dismantle the terror infrastructure.

A plan to deport Yasser Arafat and take over his Muqata headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah has been ruled out for now, officials told Israel Radio.

Sharon and top defense officials decided Wednesday to give Palestinian security chief Mohammed Dahlan some time to begin cracking down on the militants, a security official said. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said Israel expected to see some action already Wednesday.

Israel is expected to intensify its hunt for wanted militants if the Palestinian security forces do not take action, but a major military strike, on par with last year's offensives in response to bombings of a similar scale, is not being considered, the defense official said.

Immediately following the attack, Israel froze all contacts with the Palestinian Authority and canceled the planned handover of two West Bank towns to Palestinian control, a move that had been expected later this week.

"The prime minister spoke to [Defense Minister Shaul] Mofaz and they've agreed to halt all gestures to the Palestinians and to halt the communications at the moment," a source in the Prime Minister's Office said Tuesday.

In addition, the army imposed a general closure on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio reported.

Earlier in the day Internal Security Minister Tzahi Hanegbi said that Arafat's time was up. He said that intelligence officials had information detailing Arafat's direct involvement in trying to torpedo any diplomatic advancement between Israel and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.

[eclectic]

Sharon and Mofaz should resign!

[Moose4]

Abbas needs to have one chance to show that he means business against Islamic Jihad and Hamas. But ONLY one chance. If he can't bring them to heel, or at least make significant progress quickly, then it's time for Israel to take the steps needed to ensure its own security. It's their prerogative and right as an independent nation.

Giving Abbas time to deliver the goods isn't necessarily a bad thing. But he's got to know that if he can't handle things, Israel will, once and for all. And that's the problem--the PA keeps getting too many last final chances. This has to be it. No more. If the PA can't get a handle on the extremists in its midst, then it's proven that it cannot handle any Palestinian state anyway and should be swept aside for good.

}:-)4

[LarryM]

If there is any doubt that Sharon needs to go, this dispels it. A leader unwilling to defend his citizens is unsuitable for office.

[TomGuy]

How many buses does this make since Sharon has been PM? Does he have stock in bus manufacturing?

[eclectic]

that's the problem--the PA keeps getting too many last final chances

[palmer]

The bomber is dead, the thousands of future bombers would be mostly unaffected by a "military" response. A better response is to plan a permanent voluntary transfer of those who don't want to abide by Israeli law. We in the U.S. can provide the funds to help motivate those who will leave the W.B.

[angkor]

giving the Palestinian Authority more time to attempt to dismantle the terror infrastructure.

Well, Abbas did say yesterday that he's going to "start an investigation" into who's responsible (not sure whether this was before or after Hamas and IJ began competing for credit). /sarcasm

[truthandlife]

Big change from Sharon's attitude in 2002. He is spineless right now. <>

Sharon 'sorry' Arafat not killed in '82 (February 1, 2002)

[eclectic]

We in the U.S. can provide the funds to help motivate those who will leave the W.B.

Very generous of you. Detached from reality, but generous. BTW, where do you want to relocate them? Palestine, TX?

[Blood of Tyrants]

Weakness alert!

[Piranha]

All palestinian arabs who are living in refugee camps in Judea and Samaria should be relocated to Jordan, the arab palestinian state.

All palestinian arabs remaining in Judea and Samaria who refuse to recognize the existence of Israel should be relocated to Jordan, the arab palestinian state.

All palestinian arabs remaining in Judea and Samaria who do recognize the existence of Israel should be permitted to remain with citizenship granted by Jordan, the arab palestinian state.

[palmer]

I think a majority would be willing to live by the rules where they end up. Palestine TX could probably take a few, we can all chip in a little. For the rest there's mastercard (more aid to Jordan).

[eclectic]

Nice plan. But there is a caveat: Jordan itself has to be occupied first for this plan to work. Which makes the whole thing quite pointless.

[TexasRepublic]

Palestine TX could probably take a few

No way, Jose.

[Piranha]

Jordan (Palestine) already is occupied, with more than 70% of its citizens self-identified as Palestinians.

To be sure, the monarchy wouldn't want this to occur. However, I suspect that the populace would object only because it would mean the end of palestinian arab attempts to destroy Israel. And if the foreign aid that is pouring into the PA/PLO were diverted to Jordan/Palestine, this could have an amazingly healing effect.

The only problem is, do you want a bunch of palestinian arabs running around Jordan/Palestine without military supervision when it share such a large border with Iraq, which we are busily trying to stabilize?

[xm177e2]

Sharon and Mofaz should resign!

Puh-leaze. He needs to prove Abbas won't do it before he can have the political cover to do it himself.

[yonif]

Sharon is more interested in what the Americans think of his government, then what the Israeli citizens think about his government.