Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced at the start of today\'s Cabinet meeting that Foreign Minister Shimon Peres would not meet with Yasser Arafat today. Sharon told the ministers that it is impossible to hold the meeting while the violence and mortars continue, and after the PA released the murderer of Sarit Amrani this past Thursday.
The announcement followed last night\'s and this morning\'s news reports that Sharon and Peres had agreed yesterday that the meeting would probably take place this afternoon. Several national-camp government ministers met with Prime Minister Sharon this morning, where they apparently applied strong political pressure to call off the meeting. National Infrastructures Minister Avigdor Lieberman, in an interview with Voice of Israel Radio, refused to say whether his party - National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu - would quit the coalition in the event of a Peres-Arafat meeting. He explained why he opposes the meeting:
\"85% of the Israeli public [according to a Channel 2 poll of last night] is against the meeting; there is a clear majority within the government, against this meeting. But what is most critical is that all the security organs say firmly that Arafat is continuing with terrorism and has not changed his plans. The murderer of the young mother from Nokdim was in the custody of the PA - and they released him; just last night three mortar shells exploded in a Gush Katif community. This is not terrorism?…\" When asked if he would quit the coalition, Lieberman said, \"I hope it is Peres who quits and not us. More important right now than a national unity coalition with Peres is the security of Israel\'s citizens... It doesn\'t matter if there are 48 hours of quiet now; what matters is that he has not changed his basic position that terrorism against Israel is legitimate.\"
Housing Minister Natan Sharansky told Arutz-7 this morning that as far as he knows, there has been no concrete American pressure to hold the Peres-Arafat meeting, \"although it\'s true that the White House is interested in maintaining quiet here in our region. This does not mean, however, that we must let Israeli citizens serve as live flesh for Palestinian terrorism merely to ensure that there be quiet.\"
Shas party leader Minister Eli Yeshai is firmly against the meeting as well, and although Peres tried to explain to him that the meeting is important because the Americans want it, Yeshai was not convinced.
The announcement followed last night\'s and this morning\'s news reports that Sharon and Peres had agreed yesterday that the meeting would probably take place this afternoon. Several national-camp government ministers met with Prime Minister Sharon this morning, where they apparently applied strong political pressure to call off the meeting. National Infrastructures Minister Avigdor Lieberman, in an interview with Voice of Israel Radio, refused to say whether his party - National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu - would quit the coalition in the event of a Peres-Arafat meeting. He explained why he opposes the meeting:
\"85% of the Israeli public [according to a Channel 2 poll of last night] is against the meeting; there is a clear majority within the government, against this meeting. But what is most critical is that all the security organs say firmly that Arafat is continuing with terrorism and has not changed his plans. The murderer of the young mother from Nokdim was in the custody of the PA - and they released him; just last night three mortar shells exploded in a Gush Katif community. This is not terrorism?…\" When asked if he would quit the coalition, Lieberman said, \"I hope it is Peres who quits and not us. More important right now than a national unity coalition with Peres is the security of Israel\'s citizens... It doesn\'t matter if there are 48 hours of quiet now; what matters is that he has not changed his basic position that terrorism against Israel is legitimate.\"
Housing Minister Natan Sharansky told Arutz-7 this morning that as far as he knows, there has been no concrete American pressure to hold the Peres-Arafat meeting, \"although it\'s true that the White House is interested in maintaining quiet here in our region. This does not mean, however, that we must let Israeli citizens serve as live flesh for Palestinian terrorism merely to ensure that there be quiet.\"
Shas party leader Minister Eli Yeshai is firmly against the meeting as well, and although Peres tried to explain to him that the meeting is important because the Americans want it, Yeshai was not convinced.