Posted on 11/12/2002 1:44:02 PM PST by blam
Israel's Netanyahu Vows if Elected to Expel Arafat
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu , trying to outflank Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on the right, vowed Tuesday that if he were elected prime minister he would expel Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat .
The hawkish ex-premier, vying for leadership of the rightist Likud for a Jan. 28 election, told party members Arafat was "head of the murderers" behind a raid on a kibbutz that killed a woman, her two sons and two other Israelis.
A militant group linked to Arafat's Fatah movement claimed responsibility for the shooting attack in Kibbutz Metzer on Sunday night. The Palestinian president has condemned it.
"I as prime minister will expel Arafat," Netanyahu told a party convention in Tel Aviv in his most scathing attack on the Palestinian leader since being appointed last week after the collapse of Sharon's unity coalition.
Before joining the government, Netanyahu repeatedly called for Arafat's expulsion during two years of Israeli-Palestinian violence.
He had toned down his public remarks after accepting the foreign minister's post, though he said Monday it was only a matter of time before Arafat's administration was removed.
Sharon, who faces Netanyahu in a Nov. 28 Likud primary that will decide which of the two will be the party's prime ministerial candidate, has promised President Bush not to oust or harm Arafat.
Following Netanyahu to the podium, Sharon responded with what was widely seen as veiled criticism of his rival. "We will fight terror and defeat it, but security will not be achieved through slogans," he said.
"The Israeli nation wants responsible leadership, leadership that acts with discretion, and a leadership that prioritizes in every instance the national interest over the party or personal interest," he said.
Washington has asked Sharon to keep a lid on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to avoid inflaming the Arab world while the United States prepares for a possible war on Iraq.
Recent polls have given Sharon a commanding lead over the center-left Labor Party for the general election but with only a narrow lead over Netanyahu for the party leadership.
Here is an excerpt from the Statement of Rep. Eliot L. Engel on "The Syria Accountability Act" that was/is stalled by the State Department:
"Unfortunately, numerous terrorist groups, including Hizballah and Hamas, maintain offices or training camps in Syria or areas of Syrian-occupied Lebanon.
Syria, which sits prominently on the State Department's terrorism list, is in clear violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1373 which directs all states to "refrain from providing any form of support" for terrorists.
And, just as the Israeli - Palestinian situation was reaching a crisis, Syria unleashed Hizballah and other groups to attack Israeli troops and Israeli civilians in northern Israel.
Yeah..but he'll actually DO it.
I've seen him on TV enough to believe it also. He's flat-out had enough!!
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