Despite U.S. opposition, Israel says it will remove Arafat

AP | 9/12/03 | MARK LAVIE

[kattracks]

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Over strong U.S. objections, Israel insisted Friday it will remove Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as an obstacle to peace, and one Cabinet minister said Israel "doesn't take orders" from Washington.

Israeli leaders, however, left their statements intentionally vague and put off immediate action to avoid a direct clash with the United States, leave their options open and keep the Palestinian chief wary and guessing.

The 74-year-old Palestinian leader was defiant, declaring that no one will "kick me out," after thousands of Palestinians poured into streets throughout the West Bank and Gaza to support him. The Israeli threats only seemed to bolster Arafat, who has been trapped in his office for a year and a half by Israel.

Reacting to two Palestinian suicide bombings that killed 15 Israelis this week in a Jerusalem cafe and outside an army base near Tel Aviv, Israel's security Cabinet on Thursday declared Arafat "a complete obstacle" to peace, blaming him for the violence. It added that "Israel will work to remove this obstacle in the manner, at the time, and in the ways that will be decided on separately."

That wording makes room for several options: deporting Arafat, capturing him or killing him. The Haaretz daily, however, reported that when Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz talked of killing Arafat during the Cabinet meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon asked him not to use that language.

U.S. Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer met with Mofaz on Friday and was expected to relay stiff U.S. opposition. Speaking to reporters before the meeting -- and with Kurtzer at his side -- Mofaz insisted Israel would act against Arafat, who he said has sabotaged peace efforts.

"The security Cabinet decided last night that Israel will act to remove the obstacle Arafat at the time and in the manner that will be decided on separately," Mofaz said. "I am convinced the state of Israel has in the past made a historic mistake by not taking this decision earlier."

Kurtzer said that the United States had not changed its position and the issue would continue to be discussed "quietly" with Israel.

On Thursday, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher reiterated the longstanding U.S. view, saying, "We think that it would not be helpful to expel (Arafat) because it would just give him another stage to play on." Along with Israel, the United States has boycotted Arafat and called him a failed leader who has a hand in terrorism.

Israel believes Arafat is at least indirectly to blame for militant attacks over the last three years of fighting and charges that he's done nothing with the security forces under his control to stop bomb attacks on Israelis.

Education Minister Limor Livnat said that despite the U.S. objections, Arafat -- whom she compared to Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden -- was no longer immune.

"Israel is an independent and sovereign state and though it has a close and friendly important relationship with America, it doesn't take orders from America," Livnat said Friday.

A poll published in a newspaper Friday, showed 60 percent of Israelis would like to see Arafat killed or exiled.

The telephone survey conducted Thursday evening by the Dahaf Institute asked a representative sample of 503 Israeli adults what should be done with Arafat. Thirty-seven percent favored assassination, 23 percent said Israel should expel him and 21 percent said he should continue to be isolated at his West Bank headquarters. Published in the Yediot Ahronot daily, the survey had a margin of error of 4.4 percentage points.

The immediate effect of the Israeli decision was an outpouring of Palestinian support for the embattled leader and Palestinian officials warned that an expulsion would wreck all chances for peace.

In Ramallah, Arafat appeared at the doorway of his sandbagged office building at his headquarters complex that was all but destroyed by Israeli tank fire and bulldozers during the last year.

Carried aloft by bodyguards, Arafat grinned broadly and flashed "V for victory" signs with his fingers at thousands of backers who rushed to the headquarters to protect him from what they feared would be an immediate Israeli move to seize him.

"We will die and you will live, old man," the crowd chanted.

Using a bullhorn, Arafat recited a passage from the Quran, the Muslim holy book, about being steadfast in the face of an oppressor. He also said: "My brothers, my loved ones, this round (of fighting) that the brave peoples are living through tells the world that this people is not afraid and will not kneel."

The Israeli decision meant that Sharon and Mofaz could decide on expelling Arafat without reconvening the Cabinet. Security officials said the army has already begun preparations for Arafat's quick ouster.

The Israeli decision came as Palestinian premier-designate Ahmed Qureia was putting together a Cabinet. Arafat picked Qureia to replace Mahmoud Abbas, who resigned Saturday. Qureia said expelling Arafat would "eliminate any possibility for me to form a Palestinian government."

"We call upon all wise people in the world to stop this crazy decision," he said.

[ovrtaxt]

Unfortunately, good analogies to Arafat are hard to come by.

LOL! The truly accurate analogies will get your comment pulled by the Admin.

[Just mythoughts]

So then why don't they just do it and stop making it a big deal?

Doesn't seem that grandstanding about such a move is a wise decision. Broadcasting such a move will only attract unwanted attention if the plan is just to remove him.

There seems to be more here than just removing him, seems like something else is going on.

[TomGuy]

While I agree that there's some bad blood between the Bushes and the Saudis, I must disagree with your sorry, weak opportunistic rant. As far as Israel is concerned, ARAFAT IS THE PROBLEM.

This from another article just posted:

The Americans contacted Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz on Wednesday night to demand that they must not expel Arafat.

U.S. blocks cabinet move to exile Arafat

[Diogenesis]

Who will protect the murderers?
Who will make certain innocents continue to die?
Who will protect the butchers of Jews, Christians and Americans?

Who? Who will protect the killers to murder again? Who?

Up in the sky. Is it a bird? Is it a plane?
Is it a locomotive?
No. It's Colin-The-Terrorist-Protector, his Bank of State Dept.quisling Terroristophiles,
and their devious Saudi Masters. [ /sarcasm we wish ]

---

In other news, the State Dept has now formally adopted voodoo
as the Deptartment's Official religion, and has ordered tens of thousands
of chicken heads to obtain enough blood and chicken heads to satisfy
Powell and the Department's Clinton hold-overs.

[KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle]

If having "terrorist mass murderers protected" truly bothers you so terribly as all of that... then, logically: you should be the first to applaud the (welcome) extinction of Arafat.

Perhaps it's simply that you don't equate "terrorism" or "mass murder" with ghoulish atrocities committed versus certain... oh... types of people, shall we say...?

Back to DU with you, laddie-buck.

[tcostell]

Larry, the middle east is a chess game not checkers so you have to try to think a few moves ahead. Everything that happens there has a subtext which we may or may not be seeing so you have to examine the motives of the players.

Saying "Bush is a liar and he's just after the oil so he can get rich" is childish nonsense because he has no motive to do so. What is much more likely is that Bush wants to apply pressure to the Saudis but can't do so directly because he knows if the Saudi's cut off the oil, unemployment in the US will skyrocket. (This isn't opinion, it's economic fact.) So what CAN Bush do?

Well he can depose a scumbag dictator who is on the Saudi border and move in a substantial military presence. Then he can stop direct military support of the current Saudi rulers. Then he can loosen the leash on the Israelis. He would have to do this last bit un-officially of course because otherwise it would be too direct a confrontation, but he could do it.

Then the Saudi's can either clean their own house or we can credibly threaten to clean it for them.

Any reasonable person can see that this is a much more likely scenario than all the nonsense that is being spewed up by the left.

[niteowl77]

Any reasonable person can see that this is a much more likely scenario than all the nonsense that is being spewed up by the left.

As well as the right that is so far to the right it abuts the left.

[Diogenesis]

Pres. Bush is violating the Golden Rule, and letting his
appointee serially create new crematoria and crime scenes
filled with dead Americans and American allies.

[rambo316]

Suggestion to Israel: Don't stop at arafat, dispose of all the palestinians and knock them into submission (Remembeer what U.S. did to Japan in WWII with the atomic bomb). And then we should take a lesson from that and then do the same to the whole middle east (excluding Israel of course) and make them civilized. Pinpointing hits is not going to do the trick. We have to take them all out and then say, "You either live civily amongst yourselves and embrace Israel's way (seeing that Israel is the only successful free society in that region)or you will go the way of your terrorist leaders.

[OldFriend]

Blood ran in the streets of Amman Jordan when the Palestinians tried to take over that country. They were expelled and be assured they will NOT be welcome back to Jordan under any circumstances.

Arafat is welcome no where. Much as the Saudi's paid off OBL to leave them alone, the arab countries paid off Arafat to stay out of their country.

[OldFriend]

Go back to DU, we're patriots here.

[tcostell]

Let me guess... there is going to be a silent black helicopter in this story somewhere right?

[flamefront]

Arafat is welcome at the State Dept.

Powell Saves Arafat

Israel Government's IBA TV and IBA Radio reported within minutes of the Israeli cabinet decision that US Secretary of State Colin Powell intervened to veto any IDF action against Arafat.

[Marauder]

This terrorist needs to be removed, dead or alive.

I don't see Arafat's survival as a viable option, frankly. He'd only continue to direct terroristic attacks against Israel from another location, wherever that might be, and Israel would then have a more difficult time correcting the error of allowing this mutt to live.

[kinghorse]

Yeah woohoo. really big woofrickinghoo.

[shrinkermd]

The Israelis made a big mistake in talking rather than acting. They needed no public approbation to protect their citizens. Sometimes doing what is necessary is doing what is right regardless of public opinion. If you want prior approval from the international community, then you lack the moral conviction to act. Love and public approval is, after all, more often than not transitory and fickle.

[LarryM]

I don't buy this line. On April 8, Bush stood atop the world as a victor in two wars. As the victor it was up to him to impose terms on our enemies.

Instead, he went on an appeasement drive to appease virtually every bad guy in the ME. He acted as Arafat's protector and negotiated with Hamas through Egypt.

In a few months, he has gone from victor to loser due to his innate weakness. Bush is not Reagan; he does not stand up for his principles come hell or high water; he tries to appease his enemies thinking he can outsmart them. The end result is that he ends up looking like a fool.

Many of the Bushbots on this board tell me to go back to DU; my critique of Bush comes from the right. It just shows how stupid they are.

[adam_az]

The Israelis made a big mistake in talking rather than acting.

The klill/exile arafat stuff could be their intention but also made public for other reasons:

weaken arafat, foment a coup

Deception to distract from buildup for Gaza invasion to battle Hamas, or some other operation.

exhaust arafat - i'm sure he isn't sleeping too much now. the guy is 74, that's hard on your health. he might just have a stroke and die on his own.

Introduce a new bargaining chip - Arafat's life

See who Arafat meets with/talks to now that he's on the ropes... in other words, draw out the terrorists.

The public threat brings ALL these things into play and rather than closing options, it actually opens them. Sharon is a brilliant general who ourflanked Egypt and took the canal, outflanked his political opponents, and i think is about to outflank the terrorists in a major way.

[tcostell]

I'm not accusing you of being from DU but I am accusing you of offering no substantive arguments at all (which is kind of the calling card of a liberal). You paint this colorful imagery of Bush going from "Glorious victor" to "bumbling appeaser" but you don't talk about any facts. The change you describe happened only in your mind.

[FreepForever]

Call me crazy, but I'd rather have AraRAT dead and buried than wary and guessing.

Call me crazy too. Removing him in exile to a third county is just relocating the problem, not eliminating it.