http://www.portal.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2001/10/01/wmid01.xml
Army wants to kill Arafat, says Peres
By Inigo Gilmore in Jerusalem
(Filed: 01/10/2001)
ISRAEL'S foreign minister, Shimon Peres, is accusing senior army officers of
plotting to kill the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat.
The extraordinary accusation is contained in an interview to be published today
in Yediot Ahronoth, a leading Israeli daily, excerpts of which were leaked
yesterday.
In the interview, Mr Peres, accuses the army of a mud-slinging campaign to
undermine him and said the deputy chief of staff, Maj-Gen Moshe Yaalon, does
not understand "Palestinian distress". He said Maj-Gen Yaalon would like
physically to eliminate Mr Arafat.
"Let's suppose we take him out, what will happen then?" Mr Peres is quoted as
saying. "Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hizbollah will come instead. Arafat accepts
Israel's existence. He wants to speak to us and wants to be accepted in the
West. They will want to establish a single state between Iraq and the
Mediterranean."
For some time now Mr Peres has privately accused the "trigger happy" Israeli
military of undermining his efforts to bring about a ceasefire with the
Palestinians and return to negotiations.
Mr Arafat has been more forthright. During a visit to Egypt yesterday he said
an agreement he reached with Mr Peres last week reaffirming a previous
ceasefire was being intentionally undermined by Israeli political and military
officials.
"Despite my political meeting with Peres, there is a deliberate escalation from
military leaders and some political leaders on all fronts," Mr Arafat said in
Cairo.
The increasingly acrimonious political dispute has erupted into open warfare as
Mr Peres, the cabinet's leading dove, attempts to appeal directly to the
Israeli public and America for support in securing a lasting ceasefire with the
Palestinians.
The latest row stems from Israeli military actions around the time of Mr
Peres's meeting with Mr Arafat and in the days since. At least 12 Palestinians
have been killed and more than 150 wounded since last Wednesday's talks.
The upsurge in violence has prompted angry criticism from American officials,
who have called on the Israelis to avoid "provocative" incursions into
Palestinian territory and other inflammatory actions.
"One gets the feeling that the army can't live with a ceasefire and is not
prepared to accept that control is in the political echelon's hands," a Foreign
Ministry official said.
The unusually strident language reflects broader tensions within the Israeli
cabinet over efforts to bring about a ceasefire in the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict a year since the latest Palestinian uprising began.
Right-wing ministers are attempting to create a broad-based front against Mr
Peres's "imaginary political initiatives", and supporters of the foreign
minister suggest that senior army generals have lined up behind them.
Palestinian leaders have complained that it is impossible to secure a ceasefire
because of "provocations" by the Israeli military. The killing of Palestinian
demonstrators since Wednesday has led to accusations from the Israeli Left that
the prime minister, Ariel Sharon, is not committed to the ceasefire.
"Otherwise it is impossible to explain the especially large number killed and
wounded on the Palestinian side," said Yossi Sarid, the opposition leader.
Yossi Melman, a leading military analyst, said: "In the past I would not
believe there was anything wrong with the military and they would act according
to political instructions. Now it seems there is room for interpretation and
maybe they have their own agenda to put obstacles in the way of Mr Peres.
"Since the ceasefire was called they should have been far more cautious."
The Americans have been exerting strong pressure on both sides to curb the
violence and restore calm as they attempt to win the co-operation of Arab
states in their war on terrorism.
Mr Sharon is caught between the hardline Right, the mainstay of his support,
who favour a military solution to the intifada, and appeasing America. Part of
the Israeli government sees the attacks in America as a chance to bury the
intifada, Mr Arafat's "terrorist" regime and perhaps the Palestinian leader as
well. Mr Sharon regularly compares Mr Arafat to Osama bin Laden.
The security cabinet has given the Palestinian Authority until Tuesday night to
prove that it is attempting to uphold the ceasefire. Officials said that if it
had not begun to take action against terrorism, the government would resume its
policy of "initiated actions".
At the cabinet meeting, Uzi Landau, a Right-wing hawk, said Mr Peres had caused
serious damage by meeting Mr Arafat. He said the meeting had "blurred the
distinction between the good guys and the bad guys" and had impaired the
defence forces' "preventative power".
