This Week Shakespearean Debate this scenario that Sharon made the decision to expel Arafat. President Bush, who declared after his White House meeting with Sharon on Monday that real and deep reform must precede a peace process, may have allayed - some of Sharon's concern on this score. In addition, Bush was non-committal when asked directly whether he was for or against Arafat's expul- sion, and Sharon might have taken his silence as tacit acquiescence. However, shortly after the president had spoken, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer repeated the official American position that reform and peace- making should proceed in parallel. That could reopen the door for the kind of Palestinian duplicity, stage-managed by Arafat, that Sharon fears and seeks to prevent. In what appears to be a calculated attempt to pre- pare public opinion, the Prime Minister's Office has been leaking information since early June on Sharon's intentions regarding Arafat. Unqualified support for the prime minister's posi- tion came in an editorial in the Ma'ariv newspaper, which argued that Israel has nothing to fear from expelling Arafat. "We have long been warned that his absence would create a dangerous anarchy in the territories, with Israel the prime loser. But what's happening there now, under his leadership?" the paper asked. "We must not panic at the idea of expelling Arafat," it said. "The sky won't fall on us, and it will teach the Palestinians, the world and ourselves that an arch-terrorist like him cannot be let off the hook." The IDF's June 7 strike at Arafat's Muqata'a head- quarters, in which a shell penetrated the Palestinian leader's bathroom, was meant to show Arafat how vulnerable he is and to prepare world opinion for the next step. As one Western diplomat put it, by going further each time, Sharon is "making the unthinkable banal." To exile or not to exile? With Arafat, that seems to be Israers question. LESLIE SUSSER Jewish Telegraphic Agency Jerusalem S ince the intifada began, Israeli officials have declared Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat "irrelevant," a "terrorist," an "enemy," and a "pathological liar." Now, after more than 20 months of relentless Palestinian terror, Israeli Prime Minster Ariel Sharon is said to have made up his mind to expel Arafat . from the Palestinian territories. Sources close to Sharon say the prime minister is just waiting for an opportune moment, perhaps a "mega-terror" attack of the kind Israeli security officials warn the Palestinians are preparing. "One more big suicide bombing and" Arafat "is out of here," an Israeli official close to Sharon declared in early June, after a massive bus bombing that killed 17 Israelis. For months, Sharon has been encouraged by the Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, Lt. General Shaul Mofaz. During Operation Protective Wall in April, Mofaz was caught on camera whispering to the prime minister, "We must throw him out." Labor party leaders and some top intelligence offi- cials are staunchly opposed. The heads of the Mossad, military intelligence and the General Security Service all have warned the government of dangerous local, regional and inter- national repercussions if Arafat is exiled. Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, the Labor Party leader who was one of the first to suggest cir- ANA LYSIS Leslie Susser is the diplomatic correspondent for the Jerusalem Report. 1 cumventing the Palestinian leader, maintains that expelling him would do more harm than good. Transport Minister Ephraim Sneh, a close associ- ate of Ben-Eliezer's and one of the more hawkish Labor leaders, also says exiling Arafat "would solve nothing." Sharon, however, is said to be convinced that as long as Arafat is around the vio- lence will continue, reform of the Palestinian Authority will be a sham and there will be no chance for the long-term process of accommodation between Israel and the Palestinians that Sharon envisages. Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat shows the damage to his headquarters to Japan's Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi after their meeting in Ramallah on June 8. Arafat Subversion Close aides concede that Sharon is particularly wor- ried about Arafat's abusing two essentially positive developments to rehabilitate himself internationally: the demand for reforms in the Palestinian Authority and the renewed peace process the United States is trying to launch. Sharon fears that Arafat will pretend to carry out reforms, fool those members of the international community who want to be fooled and then enter an American-sponsored peace process as a seemingly legitimate partner. According to his aides, it was partly to preempt ALL NEW 2002 C70 CONVERTIBLE The Great Debate Backing Sharon's expulsion plan, General Mofaz argues that Arafat is the driving force behind Palestinian terror. If Arafat were removed from the scene, the chief of staff says, the level of violence probably would drop. Likud Party legislators such as Yuval Steinitz con- tend that Arafat's international standing limits MICHIGAN'S #1 VOLVO SPRING TIME IMMEDIATE DELIVERY 200 NEW 39 MONTH LEASE $ 19 MO. 6 / 1 4 2002 22 '39,000 miles, 20( per mile for overage. 5575 .00 refundable security deposit. Plus tax, title & license. $1 ,645 due at delivery. MSRP 545,350. Offel ends 5131/02. DWYER • S80s • S40s ANDSO NS VOLVO 248-624-0400 On maple Rd., West of Haggerty - OPEN SATURDAY 10 4 - - www.dwyerandsons.corn