Washington, Sept 21: The Top Israeli Minister who said it would be an option for Yasser Arafat to be killed insisted that the Palestinian leader should not have "immunity" from reprisals. Amidst international controversy over Israel's threat to expel Arafat from his West Bank base, Ehud Olmert, Israel's Deputy Prime Minister and Trade Minister, told a Washington conference on the Middle East that arafat Was "responsible for terror" and should be accountable for his actions.
After the Israeli security cabinet agreed on September 11 to "remove" Arafat, Olmert intensified the international condemnation last week by saying that "liquidation" was also possible.
Olmert has since qualified his comments by stating that killing Arafat was only an option, not that it was being considered. But he took the Palestinian Authority leader in his sights again at the conference organised by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Olmert said many people around the world now accept that "Arafat is now the single stumbling block" to peace and that he "sabotaged" the government of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas and had "inspired" and financed "terrorist action against Israel".
"Does he deserve to entertain immunity?" said the deputy to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
"Do we have to wait for more Israelis to be killed, brutally murdered in our cities, more fathers and daughters butchered on the eve of weddings, before we point the finger at the person who can stop it," Olmert said. Bureau Report