Questioning Strategy

Sharon has Arafat on defensive, but Israelis worry long-term.

imminent, however, criticism is growing
tions.
of the way Sharon is handling the
In the past, Sharon tried unsuccessful-
Palestinian intifada (uprising).
ly to build up alternate Palestinian lead-
Jerusalem
The most significant criticism came
ers to the PLO. The "Village Leagues"
from the heart of the military establish-
ust when Ariel Sharon seems
prior to the Lebanon War were designed
ment, when Deputy Defense Minister
prepared to give Yasser Arafat
to replace the PLO as the main political
Dalia Rabin-Pelossof came out last week
the coup de grace, the Israeli
force in the West Bank, but they were
left stands in his way.
against the Karmi killing.
quickly wiped off the political map.
First came Knesset Speaker Avraham
Karmi was a terror ringleader who
Sharon also failed in his scheme to
Burg, who said he is determined to
boasted of killing Israelis, and Israeli offi- place Lebanese Maronite leader Bashir
speak before Palestinian legislators in
cials said taking him out had saved
Gemayel at the head of a pro-Israeli gov-
Ramallah despite the fervent
untold lives.
ernment following the Israeli invasion of
opposition of the Israeli right.
Yet his slaying also led to a
Lebanon in June 1982. Though
Then, last weekend, 50
renewed wave of suicide bomb- Gemayel was elected president of
reserve soldiers and officers pub-
ings and shooting attacks that
Lebanon, he was assassinated before he
lished an open letter declaring
killed more Israelis.
took office.
they would no longer serve in
Critics, like opposition chair-
When some Israeli officials hint that
the West Bank and Gaza Strip
man Yossi Sarid, of the Meretz
Palestinian security chiefs Mohammad
and would not fight a "war for
Party, said 10 Israelis had paid
Dahlan in Gaza and Jibril Rajoub in the
the peace of the settlements."
with their lives for Karmi's
West Bank could be more moderate
This comes after Israeli Prime Ariel Sh aron
assassination.
partners than Arafat, some wonder if
Minister Sharon seemed to haVe
Last weekend, the daily Yediot
Sharon is reprising old plans.
Achronot published a public opinion poll
gathered an unprecedented coalition of
Despite reportedly widespread dis-
anti-Arafat forces, ranging from the set-
showing that though the right still
pleasure with Arafat's leadership, no
tlers through Defense Minister
enjoys a solid majority — 65 of 120
Palestinian or Arab leader gives any pub-
Benjamin Ben-Eliezer all the way to
Knesset seats if elections were held today lic indication that he should be replaced.
President Bush in Washington.
— 48 percent of the population sees a
In fact, the more Sharon tries to
That coalition made Sharon believe
similarity between the situation in the
humiliate Arafat, the more Palestinians
nothing could prevent making
West Bank and Gan and the situation
rally to his side. Last weekend, Hamas,
Palestinian Authority leader Arafat "irrel- Israel faced in Lebanon, from which it
Islamic Jihad and Fatah supporters ral-
evant" — not only in the eyes of the
eventually withdrew after years of
lied in massive demonstrations of soli-
Israeli government but also in the
Hezbollah attacks.
darity with Arafat.
Palestinian, Arab and international con-
In addition, 58 percent of respondents
"Never before, even during the days of
text.
oppose the destruction of the Palestinian
the siege on Beirut, has Arafat enjoyed
Critics say that not even the relative
Authority through the temporary recon-
such wide public support," said far-left
lull in Palestinian violence, which lasted
quest of the West Bank.
activist Uri Avnery, who met
from an Arafat speech on Dec. 16 until
According to the poll, the
with Arafat last week in
the assassination of terrorist Raed Karmi
public is split on the question
Ramallah.
in Tulkarm two weeks ago, could con-
of whether Sharon's government
That leaves Israel in a
vince Sharon otherwise.
is heading toward all-out war
quandary. Defense Minister
with the Palestinians.
Sharon and Ben-Eliezer argued that
Ben-Eliezer insists that Israel
there was no real lull in Palestinian ter-
Sharon enjoys unprecedented
must pursue its present course
ror. Pointing to the Karine A ship, cap-
support from the Bush adminis-
until "the Palestinian Authority
tured Jan. 3 as it was transporting 50
tration, however, as well as the
understands that it must stop
Yasser A rafat
tons of weapons to the Palestinian
loyalty of the Israeli military
the violence." Yet the more
establishment.
Authority, they argued that the apparent
pressure Israel applies, the more
calm was only a cover for the
As Israelis adjust to a situation in
Arafat digs in his heels.
Palestinians to regroup and again attack.
which massive terrorist attacks take place
Left to his own devices, Arafat does
So, too, they seized on the exposure of every few days, a new alignment of
little to counter terrorism, and in many
a Hamas bomb factory in Nablus two
forces is emerging.
cases his bodyguards or his party loyalists
weeks ago and intelligence reports that
Sharon seems to enjoy carte blanche
are the actual terrorists. Yet when Sharon
Hamas had made and deployed rockets
— from President Bush, Ben-Eliezer,
tries to pressure Arafat into cracking
close to the border between Israel and
even Foreign Minister Shimon Peres —
down — for example, by confining him
the West Bank, threatening Jerusalem
for a policy of gradually eroding the
to Ramallah until he arrests the
and other cities in the heart of Israel.
Palestinian Authority.
Palestinians who assassinated Tourism
That provided the justification for
Moreover, the Arab world, led by
Minister Rehavam Ze'evi in October —
Israel's renewed wave of assassinations,
Egypt, seems unwilling to help Arafat
the world asks how Arafat can arrest
which began with Karmi and continued
with anything more than words. A
militants while he is under virtual house
with a number of Hamas members in
meeting of an Islamic committee for
arrest. The question for Sharon — and
Nablus and the Gaza Strip.
Jerusalem, held last weekend in
for all Israelis — is: Could the alterna-
With military escalation seemingly
Morocco, drew only low-level delega-
tive to Arafat be any worse? ❑

GIL SEDAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Redrawing
The Lines

Analysts see Bush
rejection of Arafat
as major shift

JAMES D. BESSER
Washington Correspondent

Washington
or Yasser Arafat, the diplo-
matic news couldn't get
much worse.
Only two years ago, the
Palestinian leader was feted in capitals
around the world, including
Washington; today, he remains under
virtual house arrest by Israeli forces —
with Washington's blessing.
And he is on the receiving end of a
brutal and unprecedented barrage of
official U.S. criticism, including the
blunt assessment by top leaders that he
is a habitual liar.
What was a steady increase in U.S.
pressure on Arafat took a quantum
leap in recent days, Mideast observers
say.
"The administration has
crossed the Rubicon," said
Abraham Foxman, nation-
al director of the Anti-
Defamation League. "The
time for 'reassessment' (of
U.S.-Palestinian relations)
is over; we're now starting
to see the results."
Foxman said that Arafat
is now facing something more pro-
found than just another U.S. tactic
aimed at_prodding him back to the
negotiating table.
"The president has had some very
strong things to say — and the secre-
tary of state has made no—effort to
soften it," he said. "That's a real
change."
Other observers say that thanks to
Arafat's unwillingness to relinquish
terrorism, the Israeli-Palestinian con-
flict has been redefined according to
the evolving parameters of the U.S.
war against terrorism.
And seen through that lens, Arafat
looks more like part of the problem
than part of the solution.
The administration tilt toward Israel
has been dramatic, but it was anything
but abrupt.
"It's been building over a period of
months," said Jess Hordes, ADL:s

REDRAWING THE LINES

on page 25

2/1
2002

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