The Foreign Ministers of the G-8 industrialized countries, meeting today in Genoa, Italy, came out with a surprising call for international observers in Israel today. This was the first time such a call merited United States support. Yasser Arafat said that the observer force must be carried out right away. Analyst Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA commented,

\"The most important function of [an international force] is to strip Israel of the ability to take action - either to thwart a terrorist attack or in response to an attack. Israel will be expected to submit information to the [force] rather than take action...\"



MK Michael Kleiner said, \"The G-8 Foreign Ministers\' decision is a clear crash of the restraint policy, and a victory for terrorism. Sharon, who continues to prefer the Peres [line] instead of an appropriate military response, will yet lead us to [a great catastrophe].\" Sharon himself said that he had not yet received a formal message from the G-8 Foreign Ministers, but said that international intervention \"cannot be done by force against the will of one of the sides.\"