action to evade responsibility. Is-
raeli intelligence officers had de-
tected a relaxation of Mr. Arafat's
war on terror before the carnage.
They had passed it on as a warn-
ing to their political leaders and
to their media friends.
Ahmed Tibi, Mr. Arafat's Is-
raeli Arab adviser, denied that
he had indeed given a green light.
In Washington, Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright also said
there was no proof, adding that
the Palestinian leader was mak-
ing "a 100 percent effort to fight
terror."
Israeli professionals are con-
vinced that their Palestinian
counterparts — hard-nosed vet-
erans like Amin el-Hindi,
Muhammad Dahlan and Jibril
Rajoub — are capable of reining
in the bombers and the gunmen.
With arrests, threats and a sys-
tematic offensive to weaken
Hamas influence in the mosques
and the schools, they had kept
the terrorists quiet for the past
year. At the same time, they
shared information and coordi-
nated tactics with Israel's Shin
Bet internal security service.
For Israel, such cooperation
had become an increasing neces-
sity with each redeployment from
the Arab towns and villages of the
West Bank and Gaza Strip. The
Shin Bet's network of informers
has dried up, or been burned. Is-
rael no longer has the sticks and
carrots of licenses and permits for
trade, construction, vehicles and
foreign travel that were part of
everyday life under the occupa-
tion.
This does not mean that the
Shin Bet has given up trying.
Today, the Israelis still need the
cooperation of Palestinian intel-
ligence, but they now know that
it will not come free.
Arafat knows that he has ne-
gotiated from weakness ever
since the secret Oslo talks in
1992-93. Israel dominated the
Palestinians militarily and eco-
nomically. Territorial possession
was nine parts of the law. All the
Palestinians had was the upris-
ing or Intifada, a ragged, grass-
roots rebellion that denied Israel
the pleasure of enjoying its as-
sets.
After bulldozers started dig-
ging on Har Homa, a senior
American diplomat was asked by
the Jerusalem Post what message
it delivered to the Palestinians.
He replied, "Screw you!" Mr.
Arafat's message to Mr. Ne-
tanyahu sounds ominously sim-
ilar.
It is not the best of foundations
for another diplomatic salvage
mission. But since neither side
wants to go back, the attempt will
be made.
Eventually, Netanyahu and
Arafat will talk, but without the
warmth, trust and goodwill cru-
cial to the complex negotiating
process. ❑

74—
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