Israel Rejects Arafat Claim of Innocence : Speedy Resolution of Affair Seen as Proof of His Role

Israeli officials Wednesday rejected the claims of Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat that his organization had nothing to do with the hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro. They said the speed with which the affair was resolved proved his complicity.

“I believe that Mr. Arafat is one of the greatest liars on earth,” Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin said when he was asked by Israel radio about the PLO leader’s claim of innocence. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he lies now again.”

Talking with reporters later, after a state dinner for visiting West German President Richard von Weizsaecker, Rabin said: “There is no doubt in my mind that the PLO of Mr. Arafat was linked to (the hijacking) in some way.”

PLO Offers Denial

Earlier Wednesday, in Tunis, Tunisia, PLO officials had denied any responsibility for the hijacking, denouncing it again as an attempt to discredit the organization.

An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said there will be no official Israeli statement until more is learned about what went on aboard the ship during the two-day ordeal.

Still, he said, Israel has “information,” partially confirmed, that the hijackers had not originally planned to commandeer the ship but instead to board as passengers and slip ashore during a scheduled stop Tuesday morning at Ashdod, an Israeli port south of Tel Aviv.

“They probably had in mind terrorist activity in the port city of Ashdod,” he said.

Pressed about the source of this information, the official said: “We have our sources. We have reports. I can’t spell them out to you.”

He implied, but refused to say, that the information came from intelligence sources.

Infiltration by Sea

The official noted that Palestinian terrorists have made several unsuccessful attempts in recent months to infiltrate Israel by sea. Having failed, he said, “They tried to infiltrate through a third-party vessel.”

The official had no plausible explanation for why the shipboard terrorists might have changed their minds and decided to hijack the vessel.

“Something went wrong with their plans,” he said, adding that what it was that went wrong is a mystery.

Similarly, Israeli government sources offered only circumstantial evidence that Arafat loyalists were behind the hijacking.

The hijackers are believed to represent the Palestine Liberation Front, a faction that split away from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command in 1977. Later, the Palestine Liberation Front itself divided into at least two factions, one allied to Syria and one tied to Arafat.

Ties to Syria Seen

According to the Israelis, the hijackers are from the pro-Arafat faction, which is headed by Mohammed Abbas, known as Abul Abbas. U.S. sources told The Times on Tuesday, however, that the faction responsible for the hijacking was thought to be a violent pro-Syrian splinter group that opposes Arafat because they consider him too moderate.

An Israeli Foreign Ministry official said that Abul Abbas was in Port Said on Wednesday helping to arrange an end to the hijacking. He was using the name Abu Khaled.

“Abu Khaled and Abul Abbas--it’s the same person,” the official said.

He added that Abul Abbas is “fully connected with the PLO and with Arafat,” and said that “the speedy solution of the affair is yet another indication of the fact that they were deeply, deeply involved in that affair.”

“All the time we hear that Arafat is the sole representative of the Palestinian people,” the Foreign Ministry spokesman went on. “Somehow it’s limited to he’s a sole representative only when it comes to diplomatic negotiations. What about terror? Suddenly he’s not a sole representative? He’s involved!”

Israeli analysts say it is typical of Arafat to step up terrorist activity against Israel whenever he begins a diplomatic offensive.

Peace Efforts

Arafat and Jordan’s King Hussein agreed last February on a “joint framework” for Middle East peace negotiations, and both are maneuvering to get recognition for the PLO as a legitimate participant in peace talks.

Israel refuses to deal with the PLO, which it condemns as a terrorist group. The United States has refused to talk with PLO representatives until they recognize Israel’s right to exist and disavow the use of violence.

According to Israeli analysts, Arafat wants to destabilize the Middle East even as he moves toward a political solution in order to reinforce among Americans the fear that time for a settlement is running out. Washington, in this view, would then put more pressure on Israel to make concessions.

Israeli officials say they have proof that Arafat was behind an abortive attempt to land 28 terrorists near Tel Aviv on Israel’s Independence Day last April. The Israeli navy intercepted the freighter carrying the terrorists and sank it, killing 20 and capturing eight.

They say they also have proof that three pro-Palestinian guerrillas, charged with last month’s Yom Kippur slayings of three Israelis at a marina in Larnaca, Cyprus, are members of Force 17, a commando unit that includes Arafat’s personal bodyguards.

Israeli warplanes attacked PLO headquarters in Tunis on Oct. 1 in retaliation for the Cyprus incident, killing at least 60 Palestinians and Tunisians.

Arafat’s defenders say the Israelis are trying to discredit him. They say he is a moderate whose efforts to negotiate an end to the Mideast conflict are being undermined by hard-line Palestinian opponents carrying out terrorist attacks against Arafat’s will.