In a press briefing yesterday, Justice Minister Meir Sheetrit explained Israel\'s military offensive. Sheetrit is considered one of the doves of the Likud party. He was the only Likud member who did not oppose the Labor-initiated Oslo accords which called for and led to the transfer of Israeli land and tens of thousands of weapons to the PLO. Some excepts from the briefing follow:
\"Let us remember how we got to this point. Until September, 2000, we had a good economy and the Palestinian economy was prospering. This all exploded when Arafat refused the Camp David agreement. We offered the Palestinians 98% of the West Bank and a third of Jerusalem, including the Old City. Arafat refused this offer. He returned to the Middle East and began a wave of terror...\"
\"From 2000 on, the number of terrorist attacks committed by the Tanzim and its leader, Marwan Barghouti, is five times the number of attacks committed by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Arafat is thus committing five out of every six attacks that kill Israelis. We have paid dearly, with hundreds of lives and thousands of wounded in these attacks.\"
\"Arafat is a liar. Arafat is the head of a terror organization, not a government. I can state that Arafat received advance notice of suicide attacks in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. An example is the Sbarro bombing, which killed 15 people and wounded over 100. Arafat received information asking him to arrest the man about to commit the bombing. He did nothing with the information.\"
\"I don\'t know of any country in the world which would not retaliate after such a bombing, even more aggressively and strongly than we have. The US, following the World Trade Center attacks, went into Afghanistan and hunted down terrorists; there was no question of negotiation or hesitation.\"
\"Arafat said he arrested people, but the arrested terrorists just went free through a revolving door. There is no such thing as a terrorist state, but that is just what Arafat leads. An entire state with guns and police. Territory dedicated to terror is an absurd idea in this world, but it indeed exists...\"
\"In the month of March, 124 people have been killed and 693 wounded. This is the month in which Gen. Zinni was here, when Israelis cancelled all anti-terror activity to give the Tenet/Mitchell plan a chance. As a political figure, I am not worried about what the world thinks or says. What is going on here is insufferable and unacceptable. I support the IDF operations, no matter how much time it takes. We must win this war; we will not accept Palestinian violence against us...\"
\"We have existed for over 50 years without a Palestinian state, and we can live another 50 years without one. We were here before Arafat; we will be here after him. I was the only Likud member who did not oppose the Oslo Accords. The world is worried about how many rooms Arafat has, if Arafat is feeling all right. What would the US do if they had Bin Laden holed up in a room? Arafat has around 70 terrorists with him in that room, one of them being Shoubaki, the terrorist responsible for the Karine A weapons shipment...\"
Sheetrit also confirmed that Arafat counterfeited not only millions of shekels, but also dollars. According to some reports in Israel, over 100,000 counterfeited dollars were confiscated from Arafat\'s headquarters.
Regarding peace activists who were shot during demonstrations, Sheetrit said \"a group of people who come here to cause provocation is a mystery to me. A person playing with fire who gets burned should not complain.\"
Q: How long do you estimate you will stay in Mukata? How much longer will Arafat be surrounded by tanks?
A: (Sheetrit) As long as it takes to stamp out terrorism, that\'s how long we\'ll be there. We would be happy not to have to use the IDF.
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has a different angle on the duration of the IDF offensive. In an interview with army radio, he said this morning that the cabinet authorized an initiative lasting a few weeks. Peres indicated that if Israel\'s War on Terror goes beyond that time, he may oppose its continuation. Prime Minister Sharon and Peres also differ on the isolation of Arafat. Wafa (\"Official Palestine News Agency\") reports that Arafat \"cannot be reached by any communicating means.\" Sharon favors the continued isolation of the PLO Chief, but Peres said that the move causes Israel harm \"because the world ignores the terror and focuses on Arafat.\" Peres\' comments, which contradict the cabinet decision, upset many other ministers who maintain that Peres\' remarks weaken Israel\'s position at a time of war. Sharon said today that he does not rule out exiling Arafat from Israel.
\"Let us remember how we got to this point. Until September, 2000, we had a good economy and the Palestinian economy was prospering. This all exploded when Arafat refused the Camp David agreement. We offered the Palestinians 98% of the West Bank and a third of Jerusalem, including the Old City. Arafat refused this offer. He returned to the Middle East and began a wave of terror...\"
\"From 2000 on, the number of terrorist attacks committed by the Tanzim and its leader, Marwan Barghouti, is five times the number of attacks committed by the Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Arafat is thus committing five out of every six attacks that kill Israelis. We have paid dearly, with hundreds of lives and thousands of wounded in these attacks.\"
\"Arafat is a liar. Arafat is the head of a terror organization, not a government. I can state that Arafat received advance notice of suicide attacks in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. An example is the Sbarro bombing, which killed 15 people and wounded over 100. Arafat received information asking him to arrest the man about to commit the bombing. He did nothing with the information.\"
\"I don\'t know of any country in the world which would not retaliate after such a bombing, even more aggressively and strongly than we have. The US, following the World Trade Center attacks, went into Afghanistan and hunted down terrorists; there was no question of negotiation or hesitation.\"
\"Arafat said he arrested people, but the arrested terrorists just went free through a revolving door. There is no such thing as a terrorist state, but that is just what Arafat leads. An entire state with guns and police. Territory dedicated to terror is an absurd idea in this world, but it indeed exists...\"
\"In the month of March, 124 people have been killed and 693 wounded. This is the month in which Gen. Zinni was here, when Israelis cancelled all anti-terror activity to give the Tenet/Mitchell plan a chance. As a political figure, I am not worried about what the world thinks or says. What is going on here is insufferable and unacceptable. I support the IDF operations, no matter how much time it takes. We must win this war; we will not accept Palestinian violence against us...\"
\"We have existed for over 50 years without a Palestinian state, and we can live another 50 years without one. We were here before Arafat; we will be here after him. I was the only Likud member who did not oppose the Oslo Accords. The world is worried about how many rooms Arafat has, if Arafat is feeling all right. What would the US do if they had Bin Laden holed up in a room? Arafat has around 70 terrorists with him in that room, one of them being Shoubaki, the terrorist responsible for the Karine A weapons shipment...\"
Sheetrit also confirmed that Arafat counterfeited not only millions of shekels, but also dollars. According to some reports in Israel, over 100,000 counterfeited dollars were confiscated from Arafat\'s headquarters.
Regarding peace activists who were shot during demonstrations, Sheetrit said \"a group of people who come here to cause provocation is a mystery to me. A person playing with fire who gets burned should not complain.\"
Q: How long do you estimate you will stay in Mukata? How much longer will Arafat be surrounded by tanks?
A: (Sheetrit) As long as it takes to stamp out terrorism, that\'s how long we\'ll be there. We would be happy not to have to use the IDF.
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has a different angle on the duration of the IDF offensive. In an interview with army radio, he said this morning that the cabinet authorized an initiative lasting a few weeks. Peres indicated that if Israel\'s War on Terror goes beyond that time, he may oppose its continuation. Prime Minister Sharon and Peres also differ on the isolation of Arafat. Wafa (\"Official Palestine News Agency\") reports that Arafat \"cannot be reached by any communicating means.\" Sharon favors the continued isolation of the PLO Chief, but Peres said that the move causes Israel harm \"because the world ignores the terror and focuses on Arafat.\" Peres\' comments, which contradict the cabinet decision, upset many other ministers who maintain that Peres\' remarks weaken Israel\'s position at a time of war. Sharon said today that he does not rule out exiling Arafat from Israel.