Prime Minister Sharon was also taken to task for his remarks last night about Iraq. He told a television interviewer that there are unconfirmed reports that Iraq has hidden biological and chemical weapons in Syria, that a Palestinian terrorist cell trained in Iraq to use shoulder-launched missiles to shoot down planes at Ben Gurion International Airport was recently caught, that Iraqi nuclear scientists are working in Libya, and that the PA and Iraq are working together.



The interview came only hours after Sharon told the country that Iraq could very well attack Israel.



Labor Party leaders said that Sharon was "causing panic" merely to divert public attention from the headlines of alleged corruption in the Likud. They were particularly incensed after IDF Intelligence Chief Gen. Aharon Ze'evi-Farkash told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that the likelihood that Iraq would attack Israel before an American attack is low. Moshe Arens, who served as Defense Minister during the first Gulf War, also said that the chances of an Iraqi attack are not great.



In a related item, the Health Ministry has decided that there is currently no need to incoculate the entire population against smallpox.