Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has told Newsweek that "it would be easier" if Palestinian President Yasser Arafat were no longer around, and that it was only a matter of time before Israel "responds" to Palestinian attacks.
Sharon's comments came in the July 2 edition of Newsweek magazine, quoted by Haaretz newspaper on Sunday.
"Arafat is playing with terror. It won't take too long before Israel will have to take steps. It's impossible to continue this way," said the premier.
Asked whether Israel was better off with or without Arafat, Sharon replied: "If he were not here, it would be easier. Israel should not take steps [against Arafat personally]; it is not up to us to decide who leads the Palestinians. But more and more of our intelligence people believe he is an obstacle to peace...I think Arafat is an obstacle."
Sharon also told Newsweek he had not detected "even the slightest sign" that Arafat intended to implement the ceasefire brokered by CIA director George Tenet.
The situation, he said, "has become worse. Although he has full control, Arafat has not given instructions to stop incitement or to re-arrest terrorists engaged in planning attacks. Since Arafat accepted the Tenet document...we have suffered 230 terrorist attacks...Israel is showing restraint, but people cannot accept it. We are not going to move forward [with the peace plan of the commission headed by former US senator George Mitchell], which we accepted, unless there is a full cessation of hostilities."
Asked whether Arafat was a partner for peace, Sharon was quoted as telling the magazine that Arafat "rules a coalition of terror. His security organizations are involved in terror," he said.
"Some of them, including the presidential guard, are now coordinating with Hizbollah, which has started to operate inside Israel."
On different occasions, Sharon has labeled Arafat as a liar, murderer and a virtual clone of Osama bin Laden, the Saudi dissident suspected by the US of masterminding twin bombings in Kenya and Tanzania, targeting US embassies in which 213 people, including 12 Americans, were killed.
If the Palestinians honored the ceasefire, Sharon said, he would be prepared to "freeze settlement construction beyond existing built-up areas."
But Sharon, who referred to the Oslo agreement as a "terrible mistake," said there would first have to be quiet before there could be any movement, said Haaretz.
"Nothing will move forward until that point," he said. "Arafat knows it, [but] he still thinks that he can manipulate us. But I know Arafat, and Arafat knows me. He will not be able to do it. For Arafat, the fact that I managed to form a national-unity government is something he hates. He would like to play between Jews."
The hawkish general begins a US visit Monday for talks with President George W. Bush, the second visit to Washington since he became prime minister in February - Albawaba.com
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