Yasser Arafat, although his cabinet still sees him "the obstacle to peace," The Jerusalem Post newspaper reported Friday, October 17.
The announcement came barely a month after his own ministers did not rule out that removal could even mean the assassination of the man they held responsible for ongoing suicide bombings.
In an interview with the daily, Sharon blamed Arafat for decades of violence and terror as well as the deaths of thousands of Israelis and called him "the number one enemy of peace." Asked if there can be progress before Arafat is dead, the prime minister said: "I didn’t say dead, but in my opinion, as long as he is in control, the chance for progress is nonexistent."
"NOT GOOD IDEA"
However he stressed that Israeli intelligence analysts had confirmed that expelling Arafat "would not be a good idea" as they would likely harm because of his security guards and the human chain of supporters, which also include some Israelis.
But Sharon added he did not expect a diplomatic breakthrough as long as Arafat is in power. He defended a controversial security fence Israel is building along and in the West Bank, which Palestinian officials have compared to the former Berlin Wall that separated East and West Germany under Communism.
Sharon denied the charges of creating an apartheid state, saying the fence is necessary to stave off terrorist attacks and "to limit the flow of Palestinians," who he added were are moving into Arab towns within Israel.
LEAVING OUT PALESTINIANS
He said the fence would include as many Israeli towns as possible inside its perimeter and leave out as many Palestinians as possible.
Although the United States has condemned the move, Sharon repeated an earlier statement that "Israel will not back down since its own security is at stake," even if the United States should decide to withhold financial assistance over the issue.
The prime minister also defended Israel’s air strike against what it said was a terrorist training camp in Syria earlier this month. He stressed the operation not intended to inflict casualties, but rather to send a clear warning to Syria.
CONDEMNATION OF STRIKE
However the international community has condemned the strike, saying it could widen the Middle East conflict amid reports that Syria has not ruled out military action of its its own against neighboring Israel.
Syria had denied it supports terrorism and says the Palestinian groups in Syria are not terrorists, but legitimate freedom fighters, VOA and other media reported.
