Arafat's Dance Of Death

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The Israelis are not concerned about the reasons behind the joint terror. They just want the attacks to cease and are no longer waiting for Arafat to stop them. After a devastating spasm of suicide bombings at the start of the month, the Israelis, as usual, gave Arafat a list of suspects to arrest. His forces picked up a handful, but none was a big fish. One who got away, a Hamas leader from the village of a-Til near Tulkarem, was therefore free to send the Emmanuel attackers on their mission, according to Israeli intelligence.

Upon severing relations with Arafat last week, the Israelis announced that they would from now on make their own arrests of Palestinian fugitives. That means violating a key component of the Oslo peace accords, which forbid Israeli forces to enter territory under Authority control unless they are in "hot pursuit" of a wanted individual. But the right-wing Sharon has never liked the Oslo accords, which were negotiated under a dovish government. He immediately delivered on his vow, sending his troops, backed by tanks, into West Bank towns to arrest 50 suspected militants. For good measure, Israeli fighter planes and helicopter gunships blasted buildings belonging to Arafat's various security forces. In a gunfight near Nablus, Israeli troops killed six Palestinian policemen.

Was this the end to all hopes for diplomacy? Privately, Israeli officials said they would restore ties with Arafat if he would embark on a real crackdown. One of his security officials in Gaza argues that Arafat cannot do that without alienating his constituents. This source compares Arafat to the coach of a national soccer team. "How can you turn around halfway through the game and say the goaltender is Islamic Jihad, so he has to be arrested, and one of the players is Hamas, so we're going to arrest him too? How can you explain that to the spectators?"