THE DETRO T J EWISH NEWS

group that Israel had come very
close to using "massive force" in
putting down last week's Pales-
tinian disturbances — and that
both he and Mr. Arafat had come
to a realization that it is important
to step back from the "abyss" of spi-
raling confrontation.
In the inner sanctums of the ad-
ministration, there was both anger
at Mr. Netanyahu for providing a
convenient lightening rod for
Palestinian discontent and strong
disappointment over Mr. Arafat's
role in instigating the violence, and
his inability to control the Pales-
tinian police forces that fired on Is-
rael troops.
But there was also a strong fear
that overt criticism of the Israeli
actions that triggered last week's
rioting could push the prime min-
ister even further from the peace
table. The administration chose
a middle course, stressing low-key
criticisms of Mr. Netanyahu's de-
cision to open the Temple Mount
tunnel, strong warnings to Mr.
Arafat to get his wayward police
under control, and frantic behind-
the-scenes efforts to arrange a face-
to-face meeting aimed at
preserving the unraveling peace
process.

Loose Cannons

Yassir Arafat has gained some prestigt, but it's a bloody,
dangerous gambit.

INA FRIEDMAN ISRAEL CORRESPONDENT

erusalem — Dining last
week's unprecedented ex-
changes of fire between
IDF troops and Palestin-
ian police, the haunting
question for many Is-
raelis was whether Yassir Arafat
can control his forces and what
will happen if he cannot.
Fortunately, the apocalyptic
early assessments were belied as
a semi-calm returned to the area.
Palestinian police prevented
demonstrators from reaching
"contact points" with Israeli
forces, exercising self-control and
the ability to push off protesters
without firing — when expressly
ordered to do so.
By mid-week, there seemed
consensus that Mr. Arafat did not
fail to properly manage his troops,
but the broader situation. "Arafat
wasn't looking for an armed con-

frontation; he was aiming for
strikes and massive demonstra-
tions," explained political scien-
tist Dr. Khalil Shikaki, director
of the Nablus-based Center for
Palestinian Research and Stud-
ies. "But once the escalation got
out of control, he was reluctant to
have the police use force against
the demonstrators, lest his flag-
ging public support drop even fur-
ther."
Mr. Netanyahu placed the full
onus for the violence on the Pales-
tine National Authority (PNA).
He implied that Mr. Arafat was
just waiting for a pretext. The
Palestinian leader, in an inter-
view with the Israeli daily Yediot
Ahronot retorted, "If you knew
that we are waiting for an oppor-
tunity [to incite violence], why did
you hand it to us?"
What really happened, of

course, depends on who is asked.
Dr. Ghassan el-Khatib, a lectur-
er at Bir Zeit University and di-
rector of the Jerusalem Media
and Communications Center,
watched a violent Ramallah clash
from his home.
Events erupted spontaneous-
ly, he says. Palestinian policemen
suddenly found themselves in the
middle of their own people being
shot. 'They exercised restraint,"
he added, "and it was only when
ambulances arrived, and mem-
bers of the medical teams were
wounded by Israel
fire, that the Palestinian policemen are
by civilians who
Palestinian police surrounded
react to the gunfire aimed at
began shooting Israeli troops.
back."
A similar sequence evidently
occurred by the Gaza Strip set-
tlement of Kfar Darom. An IDF
battalion commander told visit-

