Prime Minister Sharon informed Foreign Minister Shimon Peres yesterday that there would be no Peres-Arafat meeting tonight. However, despite Peres\' disgruntlement, Sharon told the Knesset today that he is willing to make a deal. He said that if Palestinian terrorism stops totally for the next 48 hours, he would not only allow Peres to meet with Arafat, he would also call off all IDF offensive activity against the Palestinian Authority. A careful perusal of Sharon\'s speech shows that the new 48-hour cooling-off period does not replace the seven-day period that had been demanded until now. The Prime Minister specified that it would merely enable Peres to meet with Arafat to discuss the seven-day quiet period that is a necessary condition for the implementing the Mitchell Report. Labor party officials are upset at Sharon for having made the offer without consulting with Peres.



Earlier in his Knesset speech, Sharon took a much tougher stance against Arafat, saying, \"Arafat has chosen terrorism against the citizens of Israel, and this is no different than the terrorism practiced by Bin Laden against the citizens of the U.S.\" The Prime Minister said that a meeting with Arafat at this point would grant him a \"good guy\" image in the eyes of the world.