Sharon vows war ‘to the bitter end’
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MSNBC NEWS SERVICES |
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| JERUSALEM, Oct. 17 — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon blamed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for Wednesday’s assassination of a Cabinet minister and vowed to wage “war to the bitter end” against terrorists. The possibility of stiff retaliation is likely to roil U.S. efforts to calm the region as it struggles to retain Arab support for its own war on terrorism following the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. | |||||
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ONE OR MORE gunmen shot and killed Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi with three bullets to the head and neck in Jerusalem hotel. A radical Palestinian faction said it carried out the assassination to avenge the killing of its leader by Israel two months ago. The killing of Zeevi, 75, who advocated the ouster of all Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, threatened to re-ignite the cycle of violence that has wracked the holy land for the last year. It came at a time when the U.S.-supported Sept. 26 cease-fire appeared to be holding in many areas and a day after Sharon outlined his position in future peace talks, saying he was willing to negotiate an accord that includes a Palestinian state, but would dictate strict limitations that Palestinians have already rejected. Following the attack, Sharon convened Cabinet ministers for urgent consultations. According to a government source quoted by Reuters, the prime minister equated the impact of the assassination to the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. |
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“From today everything has changed just as President Bush said after the 11th of September,” the source quoted Sharon as telling senior security and cabinet officials. DELICATE DIPLOMACY Following the hijacking attacks on New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, the United States declared a war on terrorism while announcing that Saudi exile Osama bin Laden was the prime suspect in the strikes that killed more than 5,000 people. On Oct. 7, U.S. forces launched airstrikes on Afghanistan, which has offered protection to bin Laden and his al-Qaida terrorist network. But the military campaign has required a delicate diplomatic dance by Washington as it needs support for a range of Muslim nations, most of whom are hostile to Israel. For example, President Bush said last week that Syria has expressed a desire to help with the anti-terror coalition and “we’ll give them an opportunity to do so.” But Syria is also the base of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s killing. Earlier this month, Sharon was forced to apologize after he expressed irritation about the U.S. courting of Arab nations, suggesting it was similiar to efforts to placate Germany before World War II. |
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 A.acollink { font-size: 10px/11px; font-family:arial; TEXT-DECORATION:NONE; } A.acollink:hover { color: cc0000 } a.yblnk {text-decoration:none;color:000099;font-family:arial;font-size:13px;} a:visited.yblnk {color:3366cc;} a:active.yblnk {color:000099;} a:hover.yblnk {color:cc0000;} .ybText {font-family:arial;font-size:13px;} .ybBulRed {color:cc0000;font-family:verdana;font-size:14px;vertical-align:top;width:10px;} .ybBulOly {color:ff6600;font-family:verdana;font-size:14px;vertical-align:middle;width:10px;} PFLP CLAIM In a first response to Zeevi’s assassination, Israel reimposed some travel restrictions in the West Bank it had lifted earlier this week as part of a Sept. 26 truce deal that had appeared to be taking hold in many areas. Arafat’s government said in a statement that it condemned the killing and remained committed to a truce with Israel. Palestinian security officials said Arafat has ordered the arrests of the suspected assailants. In the past year of fighting, Israel has killed more than 50 Palestinians, including several bystanders, in such attacks. |
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The highest-ranking target so far has been Mustafa Zibri, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who was killed Aug. 27 in an Israeli rocket attack on his office in the West Bank town of Ramallah. The PFLP on Wednesday said the killing of Zeevi was revenge for the death of its leader, widely known as Abu Ali Mustafa. “Sharon has to know that Palestinian blood is not cheap and that those who target the leaders of the Palestinian people are not safe from being targeted and assassinated themselves,” the PFLP said in a leaflet sent to news agencies. Sharon said earlier this week that he would not abandon the targeted killings, despite the truce and sharp U.S. condemnation of the practice. |
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| Israeli border police stand guard outside the Hyatt hotel in east Jerusalem following the assassination of Israel's Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi. |
 Zeevi was staying with his wife at the Hyatt Hotel in Jerusalem on Wednesday. At about 7 a.m., he was returning from the hotel restaurant to his eighth-floor room when he was attacked outside his room, police said. He was shot three times in the head and face. Zeevi’s wife, Yael, found him in the hallway, lying on his back in a pool of blood, witnesses said. A fellow hotel guest, Rev. David Hocking, said he rushed into the hall after hearing Mrs. Zeevi’s screams. “I saw her kneeling over him. He had obviously been shot. The blood was everywhere,” said Hocking, who is leading a Christian tour group from Orange County, Calif. Zeevi was clinically dead when he arrived at Hadassah Hospital, said Shmuel Shapira, the deputy director. Doctors managed to restore a heartbeat at one point, but after about three hours abandoned efforts to revive Zeevi. |
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At Ein el-Hilweh, Lebanon’s largest Palestinian refugee camp, about 40 PFLP supporters with guns and pictures of Zibri danced and distributed sweets after hearing about Zeevi’s shooting. Cheers intensified with the news that he had died. MEMORIAL SESSION Addressing a special session of parliament, Sharon pointed the finger at Arafat. “The responsibility is Arafat’s alone, as someone who has carried out and is carrying out acts of terrorism and never took steps against it,” he said. “We will carry out a war to the bitter end against the terrorists, those who help them and those who dispatch them,” the prime minister said. Sharon said that by providing a haven for “murderers,” Arafat’s Palestinian Authority showed that it seeks “the destruction of the state of Israel” and “opposes peace in the deepest sense.” Britain condemned Zeevi’s killing and called for intensified efforts to revive the Middle East peace process. “The murder this morning is absolutely appalling and it just refocuses the need to get the peace process moving again,” said a spokesman for Prime Minister Tony Blair. |
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INCONGRUOUS NICKNAME Zeevi, a retired army general, was widely respected, even by political opponents, for his distinguished war record, but his advocacy of what he called the “transfer” of Palestinians across the borders into neighboring Arab countries was condemned by many as racist. “I had enormous respect for him even though we didn’t agree on politics,” said Science Minister Matan Vilnai, also a retired general, who served under Zeevi in the paratroops. “His personal loyalty knew no bounds.” Born in Jerusalem, Zeevi served from 1974 to 1977 as adviser to then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on the war against terrorism. He opposed Israel’s 1979 peace treaty with Egypt and in 1988 founded the far-right Moledet Party that called for the “voluntary transfer” of Arabs from Israeli-controlled territory. Zeevi sparked controversy in July for referring to Palestinians working and living illegally in Israel as “lice” and a “cancer.” He was widely known by the incongruous nickname “Gandhi,” acquired because his youthful thinness reminded people of the pacifist Indian independence leader Mohandas K. Gandhi. |
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The exit of the National Union, which controls seven seats in the 120-member parliament, did not endanger Sharon’s coalition government. However, Sharon, a hard-liner, now becomes more dependent on the moderate Labor Party. |
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 "; var appBottom = ""; var ArafatsArmies = new Array(); ArafatsArmies[0] = "Fatah/Tanzim Leader: Marwan Barghouti, secretary-general of Fatah and commander of Tanzim Influence: Fatah, Yasser Arafat’s political party, is an all-encompassing power in the Palestinian territories, and enjoys massive popular support. Tanzim, Arabic for "organization," is a political offshoot that has transformed into a militia Arafat uses to launch intifadas, or uprisings, to challenge Israeli forces. The increasingly militarized tanzim movement is responsible for much of the recent violence."; ArafatsArmies[1] = "Fatah/Tanzim Leader: Marwan Barghouti, secretary-general of Fatah and commander of Tanzim Influence: Fatah, Yasser Arafat’s political party, is an all-encompassing power in the Palestinian territories, and enjoys massive popular support. Tanzim, Arabic for "organization," is a political offshoot that has transformed into a militia Arafat uses to launch intifadas, or uprisings, to challenge Israeli forces. The increasingly militarized tanzim movement is responsible for much of the recent violence."; ArafatsArmies[2] = "Hamas Leader: Sheik Ahmed Yassin Influence: Hamas opposes the 1993 Oslo peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians and all subsequent agreements. It has tried to derail peacemaking with a spate of bomb attacks that killed scores of Israel. Yasser Arafat has jailed many Hamas members during the peace process, but sometimes releases them to give Israel the jitters - and push his independence agenda."; ArafatsArmies[3] = "Izzadin el-Kassim Leader: Mohammed Deff, most dreaded Hamas bomber Influence: The military wing of Hamas"; ArafatsArmies[4] = "Islamic Jihad Leader: Ayman al-Zawahiri Influence: The Egyptian Islamic Jihad has been active since the 1970s targeting high-level Egyptian Government officials and playing a role, U.S. officials believe, in the 1998 bombing of U.S. embassies in Tanzania and Kenya."; ArafatsArmies[5] = "General Intelligence services Leader: Amin el-Hindi and his deputy, Tawfik Tirawi Influence: The General Intelligence services carry out a wide range of duties for the Palestinian leader, including detentions of political rivals and making sure the Palestinian papers keep to a pro-Arafat line. El-Hindi, a top confident of Yasser Arafat, has been accused by some Israeli authorities of participating in the planning of the kidnapping and massacre of Israeli atheletes during the 1972 Munich Olympics."; ArafatsArmies[6] = "Amn Al Ri’asah (Force 17) Leader: Fasel Sharakh Influence: Force 17 is Yasser Arafat’s personal security detail and is free to dabble in any Palestinian security matters. When the Palestinian leader travels, Force 17 is always at his side."; ArafatsArmies[7] = "Palestinian Preventive Security Force Leader: Mohammed Dahlan (Gaza Strip) and Jibril Rajoub (West Bank) Influence: The Preventative Security Forces are split between the West Bank and Gaza, with 18,000 and 12,000 police, respectively. These are the forces agreed to in the 1993 Oslo accords, which allow the officers to be lightly armed. Arafat ostensibly uses the police for public and preventive security, as well as emergency services, although they have been known to serve as his henchmen. Dahlan, leader in the Gaza Strip, first rose to prominence serving the leader of pro-PLO Shabiba (youth movement) during the early days of the Intifadah. Before leading the West Bank branch, Rajoub was one of the original leaders of Fatah in the West Bank wing of the United National Leadership of the Uprising (UNLU). "; ArafatsArmies[8] = "Military Intelligence Leader: Moussa Arafat Influence: Another of Arafat’s security wings, Military Intelligence serves a number of functions similar to other security forces - and acts to balance rivalries between them."; // END editorial data if (bValidClient) { Poptext1("ArafatsArmies"); } //--> The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report. |
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 Complete coverage  Israeli government Web site Israeli Defense Forces Palestinian Authority Center for Palestine Research and Studies |
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Israeli tourism minister shot dead
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