Jerusalem Killings Trigger Attack on Palestinian Forces

As a month-old wave of deadly violence burst into the heart of Jerusalem on Monday, beleaguered Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was fighting for his political life in a hostile parliament eager to throw him out of office.

Late Monday, in a stark escalation ordered as retaliation for killings in Jerusalem and other attacks, Israeli helicopter gunships fired rockets at political and police headquarters of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat in at least three cities.

The offices of Arafat’s Fatah political movement--an umbrella organization that also includes armed militias that have frequently engaged Israeli troops--were hit in the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Nablus, and the headquarters of Arafat’s personal security unit, the elite Force 17, were hit in the Gaza Strip town of Khan Yunis.

The rocket attacks came as Barak told Israelis that the “window of opportunity” for peace with the Palestinians was closing. His military commanders, for their part, announced a new policy of tougher tactics that would target Palestinian shooters and their commanders. The moves followed the first fatal shooting of an Israeli in Jerusalem since the start of clashes that have claimed more than 140 lives, almost all of them Arab.

A suspected Palestinian gunman shot two Israeli security guards at a government office in East Jerusalem at noon Monday, killing one and critically wounding the other. In a separate incident, the bound and stabbed body of a religious Jew was discovered on the edge of the city.

Within hours, Barak told an angry and polarized parliament that he remained committed to making peace with the Palestinians--but would not grant concessions under threat of stones and bullets.

“I am calling today on Chairman Arafat,” Barak said, addressing the Palestinian leader. “Know that violence will not achieve anything. In the face of violence, you will find us united. Negotiations take place around a table, not in the streets. . . . There will be no reward for violence.”

Reconvening the parliament, or Knesset, after a long summer recess, Barak was repeatedly heckled in a half-hour speech, primarily by Israeli Arab members who accuse him of using excessive force to crush unrest and by right-wing members who want to topple him.

A request from Israeli Arab Knesset members to hold a minute of silence for Israeli Arabs who have died in the violence was rejected; instead, five seconds into Barak’s remarks, legislators Taleb Sanaa and Hashem Mahameed rose noisily to their feet and held aloft a collage of 13 Israeli Arabs killed by Israeli police.

Barak opened the Knesset at the helm of a weak minority government, seriously eroded by failed efforts at peacemaking. His once-commanding hold on more than half the 120-member parliament has dwindled to a mere 30 seats.

Talks with right-wing opposition leader Ariel Sharon on forming an emergency coalition remained deadlocked Monday, and Sharon later said he had lost faith in Barak and would redouble his efforts to bring down the government. Early elections seem inevitable.

Barak has won a temporary reprieve, a safety net from the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party. Shas, with the second-largest opposition bloc of seats in the Knesset, has agreed not to vote to oust the government during the next month.

It isn’t the safest of safety nets, however. Barak’s associates said they are worried that Shas, a party that often acts based on its financial interests, may renege on its pledge of support or will demand a high price for it. It was Shas that initially bolted from Barak’s government in the summer, sending it into a tailspin.

To keep Shas happy, Barak agreed late Monday to forgo a ballyhooed package of secular reforms that would have reduced the influence of ultra-Orthodox Judaism in Israel’s public life. He also agreed to reverse his earlier decision to dismantle the troubled Religious Affairs Ministry.

The urgency of Barak’s plight was underscored by the violence in Jerusalem.

In heavily Arab East Jerusalem, a gunman strode into the Israeli Social Security office--where both Arabs and Jews collect payments--and at close range fired on two guards. One, a 25-year-old Israeli, died and the other was in critical condition. The gunman, who police said was a Palestinian, fled.

Separately, the body of a 30-year-old Israeli, his hands bound, was found with numerous stab wounds in a valley between the Jewish Gilo area on the southern edge of Jerusalem and the Palestinian village of Beit Jala. It was the second Israeli body to turn up in three days.

Israeli officials said the Jerusalem violence represented a major escalation. Barak and his security officials met late Monday to plan retaliation, and the helicopters attacked after 11 p.m. local time.

“Tonight’s operation is a part of the [army’s] proactive effort to hit those responsible for the escalation of the violence directly,” the Israeli military said in a statement. “The headquarters which were attacked were preparing the shooters who carried out hundreds of shooting attacks at [Israeli military] forces and civilians.”

The retaliation came after Israeli security officials earlier Monday announced that they will begin employing guerrilla-style tactics to “take the initiative” in battling Palestinian gunmen. The officials indicated that this will include commando raids into areas controlled by Arafat’s Palestinian Authority and that the operations will pinpoint targets that might include armed militias even when these are not engaged in a firefight.

“This is the beginning of a guerrilla war,” Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh told Israeli radio.

Palestinians are demanding Israel end its occupation of parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip and remove approximately 140 Jewish settlements scattered throughout the territories.

Palestinian leaders labeled Barak’s Knesset speech and the threats from the Israeli military belligerent and said they do not promote peace.

“We will not be the only ones counting our victims,” said Marwan Barghouti, the head of Fatah in the West Bank. His office was not among those hit by the Israelis Monday night.

In a bid to stay in power, Barak has turned to Sharon, a hawk opposed to making concessions to the Palestinians. But in days of marathon negotiations, the two former army generals could not agree on how much veto power Sharon would have in a national emergency government.

Before saying he had lost faith in Barak, Sharon told parliament that he blamed an international wave of anti-Semitic vandalism on the perceived weakness of Israel. He implored the prime minister to form an emergency government with his Likud Party and said such an alliance could be achieved “at once” if Barak would agree to a plan of action in response to Arafat’s anticipated unilateral declaration of an independent state, possibly as early as Nov. 15. Israel’s reaction would probably include the annexation of some West Bank and Gaza land.

But Barak has been warned by Western diplomats that including Sharon in the government would be interpreted as forsaking the peace process. He may be delaying any such move until after a possible meeting with President Clinton next week.

Sharon is reviled in the Arab world. Palestinians contend that his high-profile visit Sept. 28 to the most hotly contested holy site in Jerusalem sparked the current violence.