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TENSIONS GROW IN ISRAEL - PERES LIKELY TO RESIGN
MID-EAST REALITIES � - MER - www.MiddleEast.Org - Washington - 10/02:
The situation is now so tense in Israel in dealing with the "Palestinian Authority" --
which it should be remembered the Israelis themselves created just a few years ago --
that Shimon Peres is getting more and more desperate. By going public in this
extraordinary way he is clearly trying to save Yasser Arafat from the fate others in
the Sharon Government have in store for him -- especially now in the "you are either
with us or against us" world that has emerged from the events of 11 September. It
may be in fact that Peres actually knows of some specific plot to do Arafat in --
probably through some covert operation making it appear others did it, something the
Israelis have special expertise in as Peres certainly knows very well -- and thus has
gone public in order to try to undermine such from being actualized. Plus of course
it's rather obvious to those who know the sordid and twisted personal history of
Shimon Peres that he is one again manuevering to try to salvage his personal
reputation, which is in this case is closely tied to the Apartheid Peace Process,
which in turn is closely tied to Arafat and his regime...hoping that somehow if and
when the Sharon Government falls he will get one more chance to finally become an
elected Prime Minister and work his will on history.
ARMY WANTS TO KILL ARAFAT, SAYS PERES
By Inigo Gilmore in Jerusalem
[The Daily Telegraph - UK - 10/02:
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.
Shimon Peres: accuses the army of mud-slinging
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".
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