Israeli cabinet votes to expel defiant Arafat

By DONALD MACINTYRE in Jerusalem

Yasser Arafat, Palestinian Authority President, dared Israel to bomb him after the 11-strong Israel security Cabinet voted by a large majority in principle for his expulsion.

He declared that he was determined to stay where he is. "This is terra sancta," he told reporters in Ramallah. "No-one can kick me out. They can kill me. They have bombs."

Although the cabinet stopped well short of setting a date for when any expulsion might happen, the Israeli Army increased the psychological pressure on Mr Arafat by commandeering the top floor of the PA's Culture Ministry overlooking his headquarters in the Maqata police compound at Ramallah.

The move was the most dramatic step yet taken in the Israeli government's campaign to persuade the Palestinian Authority - and its incoming Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia - to implement a crackdown on militant factions, and came in the wake of the double suicide bombing which killed 15 people on Tuesday night.

But Israeli sources indicated last night its implementation would depend on whether militant attacks continued and whether the new Palestinian government went further than the last in taking action to detain and disarm militants in the occupied territories.

One senior government source said that if there was another suicide attack "it could happen tomorrow, or in other circumstance it might not happen at all."

There were initial signs that the decision fell short of the demands of some Cabinet ministers for an unconditional decision to expel Mr Arafat whom Israel regards as the main obstacle to clamping down on Hamas and other militant factions.

Army sources had earlier told Israel Radio that the commandeering of the PA office in Ramallah was "deterrent in nature" and a "message and signal" to the PLO chairman.

Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister, who returned to Israel yesterday after cutting short his trip to India, was under strong pressure from this group to sanction Mr Arafat's expulsion despite strong signals from Washington that the Bush administration would regard such a move as counter-productive.

The moderate Palestinian Legislative council member Hanan Ashrawi said last week that expulsion would be "the epitome of irresponsibility and adventurism."

While some Israeli sources acknowledged that an expulsion move might be delayed for "diplomatic reasons" -in other words, in deference to the US-Sylvan Shalom, the Foreign Minister and one of the leading advocates of a hard line against Mr Arafat said before the meeting that a majority of ministers now favoured expulsion and would back it if there was a vote.

As Mr Qureia was forced to delay a meeting of the Legislative Council due to approve his new Cabinet because the Israelis did not furnish travel permits to some members in time, Mr Arafat was reportedly involved in a furious row over control of security, the issue which triggered Mr Qureia's predecessor Abu Mazen's decision to resign. Mr Arafat was said by Israel Radio to have spat at a Fatah member Nasser Yusef at a meeting, after which Mr Yusef walked out.

Before Tuesday's suicide bombings, which killed eight soldiers at a crowded bus stop near Tel Aviv and seven civilians at a popular Jerusalem cafe, some senior IDF officers were reported to have opposed the expulsion. This was partly on the grounds that it might not be achievable peacefully and that any injury to Mr Arafat would provoke fury from Palestinians.

But Mr Shalom claimed yesterday that a there was a now a "majority in favour, even among defence officials who opposed it in the past."

He added: "We are now in a position that if we ask for permission [from Washington] it will be virtually impossible to get it. But sometimes there are situations when you have to make decisions independent of outside influence."

By contrast the Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, suggested that the "solitary confinement" of Mr Arafat might be a better short-term option. This would involve confining his movements still further, denying him the right to receive visitors and possible even cutting his telephone links.

Senior government sources indicated after Tuesday's bombings that while the decision to expel Mr Arafat was now a matter of "when" and not "if", cutting him off in the Maqata compound might be preferable in the short term.

The United States, Europe and Egypt warned Israel against carrying out a threat to expel Palestinian President Yasser Arafat as thousands of his supporters vowed to defend him.

Washington said any expulsion would merely give Arafat a broader platform to operate from, while the European Union said exiling him was likely to escalate the Israel-Palestinian conflict rather than easing tensions.

More funerals were held for the victims of Tuesday's bombings -including one of an Arab waiter at the Cafe Hillel, Shafik Kerem, 27. Mr Kerem, who was from a Christian family in Beit Hanina on the West Bank, started work only a month ago and would have picked up his first pay cheque today.

The Israeli Army yesterday demolished 15 houses in Southern Gaza which they said had been used as bases for shooting at Israeli strong points in the area. And in a shooting incident near Rosh Ha'yin, North West of Jerusalem, an Israeli Arab was reported to have been wounded by gunfire. Four IDF soldiers were lightly injured, apparently after stones were thrown at them after the shooting.

- INDEPENDENT and REUTERS