No reaction has yet been heard from the left, but Israel\'s nationalist camp is in an uproar over the meeting yesterday between two Knesset Members - Ahmed Tibi and Muhammed Barakeh - with the #2 man in the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine terrorist organization. It was the PFLP whose members assassinated Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze\'evi last month. Yasser Arafat was also present at the meeting between the PFLP\'s Abdul Rahim Maluah and the two MKs. Although Maluah does not have what Israel calls \"blood on his hands,\" he is now the acting PFLP-head, fulfilling the position of the man who was forced to go underground after masterminding Zee\'vi\'s murder. The PFLP has been recognized as a terrorist organization by Britain and the U.S., which last week froze the group\'s bank accounts.
Several right-wing leaders sharply condemned Tibi and Barakeh. National Infrastructures Minister Avigdor Lieberman (National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu) said, \"Tibi and Barakeh have been an integral part of the Palestinian Authority for a long time… Their actions encourage terrorism.\" He said that his party would act to ban these MKs from running in the next Knesset elections. MK Zevulun Orlev (NRP) called upon Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein to open a police investigation into the two for contacting agents of a foreign entity and a terrorist organization. MK Tzvi Hendel (National Union) said that the blame must fall, first and foremost, on government ministers who meet with Arafat: \"Peres has met, and is doing everything he can to have more meetings, with Yasser Arafat who himself head the Palestinian terror mechanism.
Several right-wing leaders sharply condemned Tibi and Barakeh. National Infrastructures Minister Avigdor Lieberman (National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu) said, \"Tibi and Barakeh have been an integral part of the Palestinian Authority for a long time… Their actions encourage terrorism.\" He said that his party would act to ban these MKs from running in the next Knesset elections. MK Zevulun Orlev (NRP) called upon Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein to open a police investigation into the two for contacting agents of a foreign entity and a terrorist organization. MK Tzvi Hendel (National Union) said that the blame must fall, first and foremost, on government ministers who meet with Arafat: \"Peres has met, and is doing everything he can to have more meetings, with Yasser Arafat who himself head the Palestinian terror mechanism.