Posted on 07/26/2004 10:06:06 AM PDT by FlyLow
Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) - Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat is waiting out the U.S. presidential election in the hopes that George W. Bush will be voted out of office, the head of Israel's military intelligence said.
Faced with growing internal unrest in the PA and among members of his Fatah faction, Arafat has nevertheless refused to implement meaningful security reforms as demanded by Egypt and the Quartet - the U.S., European Union, United Nations, and Russia.
In remarks over the weekend, Arafat said there was no crisis in the PA. He said Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei, who tried to resign but was denied by Arafat, never asked for control of the security services - a key Quartet demand.
One cause of the growing turmoil within the PA is a decision by Arafat to "sit and do nothing" until after the U.S. elections, military intelligence chief Maj.-Gen. Aharon Ze'evi told cabinet ministers on Sunday.
"Arafat is now waiting for the month of November in the hope that President Bush will be defeated in the presidential election and turned out of his office," Ze'evi was quoted as saying.
Arafat also hopes that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will collapse, he added.
Sharon quipped that he didn't know Arafat was also waiting for his government to fold. "I thought only in Israel, people were waiting for my downfall," he was quoted as saying.
Arafat is already on his second U.S. president and fifth Israeli prime minister since he was elected to lead the Palestinian Authority in 1996 in the first and only elections held in the PA.
The most frequent guest at former President Bill Clinton's White House, Arafat has been snubbed by the Bush administration.
Bush was the first president ever to publicly call for the establishment of a Palestinian state, but he has been tough on Arafat in regards to terrorism.
Not only did the president refuse to honor Arafat with an invitation to the White House, but he also refused to even run into him "by chance" in the halls of the U.N. until Arafat makes an effort to end terrorism.
Bush's presumed opponent Sen. John Kerry has expressed strong backing of Israel. Kerry's brother and close advisor, Cameron Kerry, also visited Israel recently and met with Sharon and other Israeli officials but did not meet with Palestinian officials.
Kerry has said that he backs Bush's road map peace plan but has indicated that he would encourage more direct American involvement in the process.
The Clinton era, which was characterized by such involvement, was much more favorable to the Palestinians, even winning them a visit by the U.S. president to the parliament in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian legislators and PA-controlled Palestinian newspapers called on Arafat to make reforms last week. Some editorials in the government-controlled Arab press also called on Arafat to resign.
Israeli analysts cautioned last week that Arafat was not about to be pushed into making reforms nor giving up power.
Old news, Kerry already told us this.
And the onetime firm Democrat grip on the nation's Jewish voters just loosened a bit ...
Captain Obvious Alert!
how come this isnt under breaking news??!!!
Well duh! All of the terrorists want Bush to lose.
Arafat Wants Bush to Lose Election, Israeli Intelligence Claims
Arafat = Satan
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