Arafat 'Spitting Mad'

RAMALLAH, West Bank: Four days of Middle East shuttling by special envoy Dennis Ross has left Yasser Arafat emptyhanded — and spitting mad. All Ross was able to extract from Netanyahu was today's lifting of another travel ban. Says TIME's State Department correspondent Dean Fischer: "It's not much of a concession."

What really hurts, of course, is the $40 million in monthly tax revenues withheld by Israel, leaving the better part of the Palestinian Authority working pro bono. A defiant Arafat said exactly that on Thursday in a speech to some Israeli Arabs in Ramallah. "You have 220,000 Palestinians who are not able to bring food to their families."

Fischer understands the Palestinian leader's frustration. "Netanyahu got through Ross's visit with all his cards intact. He has no reason to relent." And all Arafat got was this lousy T-shirt.