For months now, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been convinced that the main problem in Israel\’s relations with the Palestinians is the president of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat.
While the world is not yet writing off Arafat, Israelis on all points of the political spectrum seem to feel it is both legitimate and practical to debate the prospect of Arafat\’s possible — and perhaps imminent — removal from power.
The flimsiest of cease-fires continued in name only last week, as Israelis absorbed two brutal terror attacks and struck back at the Palestinians Authority.
Israeli officials once again are debating whether Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat is losing control over his own people.
The analysts believe Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat\’s immediate aim is to use the \”religion card\” to convene yet another Arab summit meeting.
With a slight break in the action and a flurry of would-be peacemaking since the Tel Aviv discotheque bombing, a reality check on the Palestinians — the regular people, not the politicians — shows that a pall has come over them. They are deeply ensnared by a Catch-22.
After Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat\’s Fatah Party took credit for murdering two Israelis this week in drive-by shootings, Sharon found himself under intense pressure from his right wing to stop complying with Israel\’s end of the cease-fire and to unleash a punishing — perhaps even mortal — blow to Arafat\’s Palestinian Authority.
The attacks plumbed new depths In Hebron on Monday, when a Palestinian sniper shot dead a 10-month-old baby, Shalhevet Pass, as she was being wheeled by her parents through the West Bank city\’s Jewish neighborhood.
Arafat\’s media, schools and summer camps are teaching Palestinian Arabs, young and old alike, to hate.
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