Despite Its Threats, Sharon Says Israel Won’t Kill Arafat

Israel has ruled out assassinating Yasser Arafat even though the Palestinian leader is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of Israelis, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Monday.

Speaking to a gathering of European Union lawmakers, Sharon gave his first public indication that an attempt on Arafat’s life was not imminent despite the Israeli Cabinet’s declared intention to “remove” the aging Palestinian Authority president.

“You don’t have to worry -- he’s alive, and not only that ... but he’s very active in taking all the steps that [lead] to the murder of children, civilians, old people,” Sharon said. “But I don’t see any plans to kill him, although the man is responsible for the death of hundreds and thousands of mostly civilians.”

Arafat has lived for weeks under threat of isolation, exile or assassination since Israeli officials announced their decision to oust him following two suicide bombings on Sept. 9 that killed more than a dozen people.

But in the face of vociferous international opposition -- including a sharp rebuke from the United States, Israel’s strongest ally -- Sharon has recently backed down from his government’s drastic line on Arafat, whose popularity among Palestinians has soared as a result of Israel’s threats.

In a published interview this month, Sharon -- who has expressed regret at not having killed Arafat years ago -- acknowledged that expelling him “would not be good for Israel.”

Analysts say that deporting Arafat from his battered West Bank headquarters would arouse worldwide opprobrium and give the former Palestinian guerrilla leader an even larger stage on which to press the case for an independent Palestine.

Palestinian statehood is also envisioned in the U.S.-backed Mideast peace plan known as the “road map,” an initiative that has all but broken down in the wake of continued terrorist attacks by Palestinian militants and Israel’s refusal to freeze the growth of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and dismantle all outposts erected since March 2001, as called for by the peace plan.

Both sides now seem far from fulfilling their obligations. Palestinian gunmen shot to death three Israeli soldiers late last week, and Israeli media reported Monday that the government has decided to provide limited public services to eight Jewish settler outposts in the West Bank.

Although not quite legitimizing the outposts, Israel’s decision implies some level of recognition, the newspaper Yediot Aharonot said.

In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Korei spoke of progress in talks with militant groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad toward a possible cease-fire. He called on the Israeli government to join a comprehensive truce. Israeli officials have scoffed at the offer and continued their campaign of hunting militants in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces were also engaged Monday on the country’s northern border, where troops traded fire with Hezbollah fighters who launched mortar rounds across the Lebanese border.

Guerrillas shelled Israeli positions in the disputed Shabaa Farms area, lightly injuring an Israeli soldier and triggering retaliation by Israeli warplanes, which struck at suspected Hezbollah hide-outs.

It was the fiercest exchange along that frontier in nearly three months and came amid sensitive, protracted negotiations between Israel and Hezbollah leaders for a prisoner swap. The Associated Press reported that Hezbollah issued a statement praising its attacks on the “first day of blessed Ramadan,” a reference to the Muslim holy month.