ISRAEL: Israel has no intention of reversing its decision to "remove" Mr Yasser Arafat, and it might even have helped to sufficiently scare the Palestinian Authority president into reducing terror attacks, Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon told his ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting yesterday. From Peter Hirschberg in Jerusalem
Mr Sharon was responding to the UN General Assembly vote on Friday demanding that Israel reverse its decision, after 15 Israelis were killed in two suicide attacks on September 9th, to "remove" the Palestinian leader. The decision, which was intentionally vague and did not say when or how Israel might do this, sparked an avalanche of international criticism.
"We will not change our positions as a result of this or any other vote," Mr Sharon was reported as having told his ministers. The prime minister was responding to a request by Interior Minister Mr Avraham Poraz, of the centrist Shinui party, to review the decision on Mr Arafat, which he said had caused Israel diplomatic damage.
"There's no need to be alarmed by the criticism," Mr Sharon said. "There's no reason to debate the issue again. It appears that the lull in terror attacks stems from the fact that Arafat was alarmed by the threat, and is therefore acting to prevent terror attacks." Palestinian Authority officials expressed satisfaction with the UN vote - 133 countries voted in favour, four against and there were 15 abstentions - saying it was a slap in the face for Israel. Israel was joined in its "no" vote by the United States, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands.
An Israeli team, meanwhile, was in the US on Sunday to discuss the route of the controversial West Bank fence with Bush administration officials, as part of an effort to convince the Americans not to deduct the costs of the fence from $9 billion in loan guarantees that Israel is to receive.
The US, which has been persistently critical of the fence, is worried that the barrier will cut deep into the West Bank, blocking any chance of territorial contiguity for the Palestinians who hope to establish a future state on this land.
The Americans are opposed to the fence winding around Ariel, the second-largest Jewish settlement, which is in the heart of the West Bank. They have also expressed reservations over the fence cutting through the Al Quds University campus in East Jerusalem, leaving half of it on the "Israeli" side.
Israel argues that the fence is a vital security need and will prevent suicide bombers from infiltrating its cities.
Israeli officials, who will meet the National Security Advisor Ms Condoleezza Rice, will say that the fence is not a political border and can be moved in the future. With Mr Sharon also under pressure from settlers, who want the barrier to include as many settlements as possible, he is considering heading off a showdown both with them and the US by leaving a gap in the fence in the Ariel area, which will be patrolled by troops.
Palestinian prime minister-designate, Mr Ahmed Korei, was in Gaza yesterday meeting with various Palestinian factions in a bid to rally support for a new government he hopes to establish later this week. There has been talk that a representative of Hamas might be included in the new government, but the movement said yesterday it would have no part in the cabinet.
"We are at a sensitive and historical moment and it is essential to have a unified Palestinian stand or reach at least a minimal position of agreement," Mr Korei told reporters.