Former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu chimed in against a Peres-Arafat meeting today, telling Army Radio that it would be \"scandalous\" and \"very foolish.\" Netanyahu, whose book \"Fighting Terrorism\" gained him worldwide stature as an expert in the field, said that it was Arafat who originated the idea of hijacking planes.
The Yesha Council and Women in Green demonstrated this morning outside the Prime Minister\'s Office against a Peres-Arafat meeting. Beit El Mayor Uri Ariel, deputy head of the Yesha Council, said that Arafat must be expelled, not met with. Likud Ministers Limor Livnat and Silvan Shalom, and Minister Shmuel Avital of the One Nation party, visited the protestors and expressed their solidarity.
Senior military officers don\'t have much to say in favor of Yasser Arafat. Following Intelligence Chief Amos Malka\'s report last week that Arafat has no intention of changing his military policies against Israel, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Sha’ul Mofaz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee today that even during the tactical \"ceasefire\" called by Arafat, \"he is interested in receiving only a passing grade from the Americans.\" He told reporters afterwards that it is his assumption that Arafat and the PA will attempt to maintain a certain level of violence for the near future. \"We detect no efforts to stop the Hamas terrorist cells or any preventive activity by the PA,\" Mofaz said.
The Yesha Council and Women in Green demonstrated this morning outside the Prime Minister\'s Office against a Peres-Arafat meeting. Beit El Mayor Uri Ariel, deputy head of the Yesha Council, said that Arafat must be expelled, not met with. Likud Ministers Limor Livnat and Silvan Shalom, and Minister Shmuel Avital of the One Nation party, visited the protestors and expressed their solidarity.
Senior military officers don\'t have much to say in favor of Yasser Arafat. Following Intelligence Chief Amos Malka\'s report last week that Arafat has no intention of changing his military policies against Israel, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Sha’ul Mofaz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee today that even during the tactical \"ceasefire\" called by Arafat, \"he is interested in receiving only a passing grade from the Americans.\" He told reporters afterwards that it is his assumption that Arafat and the PA will attempt to maintain a certain level of violence for the near future. \"We detect no efforts to stop the Hamas terrorist cells or any preventive activity by the PA,\" Mofaz said.