Despite the war that the U.S. and the North American Treaty Organization (NATO) have declared on worldwide terrorism, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres plans to meet with Yasser Arafat this coming Sunday night. Arafat\'s Fatah, Tanzim, and Force 17 organizations have been waging a terrorist war against Israel for the past year, following many years of intermittent attacks. Peres said that the meeting will be \"the Palestinian leadership\'s opportunity to order a stop to terrorism and a start to negotiations.\" The Foreign Minister said, though, that results so far have not been satisfactory.
Likud Government ministers, Knesset Members, and even U.S. Senators have expressed objections to the meeting. Interior Minister Eli Yeshai demands that Prime Minister Sharon call off this \"inconceivable and unreasonable\" meeting. Minister Danny Naveh said that instead of talking with Arafat, we must fight him in the framework of the worldwide war against terrorism, and Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze\'evi expressed yet again his long-standing opposition to such a meeting. MK Michael Kleiner (Herut) said that a meeting with Arafat is \"the epitome of stupidity.\"
Yediot Acharonot is also against the meeting. Israel\'s largest paper editorialized yesterday, \"For almost a year, the State of Israel has been facing a brutal terrorist onslaught alone, and Israeli counter-terrorism efforts have frequently met with no small amount of international criticism. However, given the horrific scenes in Washington and New York, the eyes of many will be opened... Just as holding diplomatic negotiations with the Nazis during World War II was unthinkable, no one can negotiate with terrorists in the new millennium.\"
Likud Government ministers, Knesset Members, and even U.S. Senators have expressed objections to the meeting. Interior Minister Eli Yeshai demands that Prime Minister Sharon call off this \"inconceivable and unreasonable\" meeting. Minister Danny Naveh said that instead of talking with Arafat, we must fight him in the framework of the worldwide war against terrorism, and Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze\'evi expressed yet again his long-standing opposition to such a meeting. MK Michael Kleiner (Herut) said that a meeting with Arafat is \"the epitome of stupidity.\"
Yediot Acharonot is also against the meeting. Israel\'s largest paper editorialized yesterday, \"For almost a year, the State of Israel has been facing a brutal terrorist onslaught alone, and Israeli counter-terrorism efforts have frequently met with no small amount of international criticism. However, given the horrific scenes in Washington and New York, the eyes of many will be opened... Just as holding diplomatic negotiations with the Nazis during World War II was unthinkable, no one can negotiate with terrorists in the new millennium.\"