Israeli minister says Arafat is not a target

Israeli Defence Minister Mr Binyamin Ben Eliezer today justified his government's policy of assassinating Palestinian activists…

Israeli Defence Minister Mr Binyamin Ben Eliezer today justified his government's policy of assassinating Palestinian activists but ruled out targeting Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat.

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I will not give my green light to an operation targeting Arafat
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Israeli Defence Minister Mr Binyamin Ben Eliezer

"I will not give my green light to an operation targeting Arafat. Not because he is not involved in terrorism, but because I am not convinced that this would solve the problem," he told the

Maariv

newspaper.

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"There are people, like Arafat for example, who should not be harmed, because it wouldn't serve any purpose and could on the contrary have a boomerang effect," the Labour minister said.

More than 50 Palestinians deemed a threat to the Jewish state have been killed since the uprising began 11 months ago.

AFP