Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres are butting heads on
whether or not label UN Mideast envoy Terje Larsen - persona non grata and therefore expel him from Israel. Many cabinet ministers during yesterdays weekly meeting urged Sharon to make the move because of Larsen’s obvious bias towards the Palestinians. While visiting the Jenin area following Israel’s military operations there, Larsen was quoted as saying it looked like an “earthquake” leveled the town. He also said that the mission was, “The darkest day in Israeli history.” Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer criticized Larsen for failing to condemn PLO terrorist attacks against Israelis.
Peres however defended Larsen calling him a “friend.” Peres said that he was against declaring Larsen persona non grata, and claimed that Larsen acknowledged that he erred in the statements he made following his initial evaluation of the situation in Jenin. Peres stated that Larsen has been involved in events in the region for over a decade, displaying a friendship towards Israel during that period.
In other Jenin related news, The official Iraqi news agency reports that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ordered that $25,000 be paid to Arabs for each house destroyed by Israeli forces in Jenin. Iraq already has been making payments of $25,000 to families of Arab suicide bombers over the past several months.
whether or not label UN Mideast envoy Terje Larsen - persona non grata and therefore expel him from Israel. Many cabinet ministers during yesterdays weekly meeting urged Sharon to make the move because of Larsen’s obvious bias towards the Palestinians. While visiting the Jenin area following Israel’s military operations there, Larsen was quoted as saying it looked like an “earthquake” leveled the town. He also said that the mission was, “The darkest day in Israeli history.” Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer criticized Larsen for failing to condemn PLO terrorist attacks against Israelis.
Peres however defended Larsen calling him a “friend.” Peres said that he was against declaring Larsen persona non grata, and claimed that Larsen acknowledged that he erred in the statements he made following his initial evaluation of the situation in Jenin. Peres stated that Larsen has been involved in events in the region for over a decade, displaying a friendship towards Israel during that period.
In other Jenin related news, The official Iraqi news agency reports that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein ordered that $25,000 be paid to Arabs for each house destroyed by Israeli forces in Jenin. Iraq already has been making payments of $25,000 to families of Arab suicide bombers over the past several months.