Israel has barred Palestinian President Yasser Arafat from making his Christmas pilgrimage to Bethlehem for the second straight year.
"He's going to stay put," Mr Raanan Gissin, a senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, said. "We're not going to let Arafat go to Bethlehem."
However, Mr Arafat said he would try to attend Christmas Eve mass in Bethlehem after Israel had prevented him from doing so last year, accusing him of failing to rein in militant violence.
"It's my duty to be there," Mr Arafat said. Until last year, he had celebrated Christmas in Bethlehem every year since it was turned over to Palestinian rule in 1995.
Mr Gissin said Mr Arafat would be barred from Bethlehem again because the Palestinian leader had not done enough to "halt terror" against Israelis.
Mr Arafat has repeatedly denied the accusations. Palestinian officials have said Palestinian security services have been severely weakened by Israeli strikes on their infrastructure.
Christmas preparations have already been off to a gloomy start. Bethlehem is among the West Bank cities and towns reoccupied by Israeli forces following a wave of suicide bombings in Israel during a two-year-old Palestinian uprising for independence.