Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon renewed his threats against Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on Monday, risking more international criticism, as security forces went on high alert for Passover.
Sharon was slapped down last week by his allies in Washington after giving an interview in which he warned that Arafat is a ”marked man”.
Striking a note of defiance on Monday, he told public radio that his long-time nemesis is to blame for ”the murder of Jews for decades”.
Sharon, whose army last month assassinated the founder of the radical Palestinian group Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, said earlier in the interview that ”all those who kill Jews or push for the killing of Jews or Israeli citizens deserve to die”.
He also brushed off United States criticism over his comments, insisting that ”every country which respects itself, faced with assassins, must defend itself, like the US does”.
Sharon’s threats towards Arafat are widely seen as an attempt to prove that he has not ”gone soft” as he prepares to evacuate most if not all of the Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip.
In a separate interview to army radio, Sharon said there is no intention to demolish Gaza settlements when a withdrawal takes place but added that he is seeking financial compensation for them.
”We have no intention of destroying the houses in the Gaza Strip. We are hoping for contact with international organisations which can take responsibility for these buildings in exchange for financial compensation,” he said.
As defence minister in the early 1980s, Sharon oversaw the demolition of settlements in the Sinai as the territory was handed back to Egypt.
But it now appears that settlers’ homes and infrastructure in Gaza will be handed over to the Palestinians intact.
In February, when he first announced his intention to withdraw from Gaza as part of a wider ”disengagement” plan, Sharon said 17 of the 21 settlements, which are home to 7 500 Jews living in the strip, would go.
But he said he is now in favour of an evacuation of all the settlements, as well as ”no more than four” settlements in the northern West Bank.
A poll published by the Yediot Aharonot daily on Monday showed that a majority of Israelis and Palestinians favour the disengagement plan, which is also likely to see Israel strengthen its control over other West Bank settlements.
A total of 64% of Israelis said they backed the plan while the figure rose to 73% among the Palestinians, even though their government has been kept out of any negotiations.
A majority of Israelis (62%) and Palestinians (58%) said that the pull-out should be conducted through negotiations and not unilaterally.
Sharon, however, says the Palestinian government has not proved itself worthy of being a partner in negotiations because of its failure to stop attacks on Israeli targets.
Intelligence officials fear that Palestinian militants will seek to mark the Passover holiday, which begins with a traditional Seder feast on Monday night, with a spectacular attack.
Twenty-nine Israelis were killed in the worst suicide bombing in the country during Passover two years ago.
Hardline groups have also vowed to exact revenge since the assassination of Yassin two weeks ago.
Extra troops and police have been deployed across the country and especially around settlements for Passover.
Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz told Sunday’s Cabinet meeting that ”during Passover, Israel is witnessing a high motivation by terrorist elements to perpetrate bomb attacks inside Israel”.
He has also ordered a closure of the Palestinian territories, which will last until Independence Day in a fortnight.
The lockdown has prompted a postponement of Monday’s meeting of the Palestinian Cabinet.
Several ministers, mainly from the Gaza Strip, were unable to travel due to stepped up restrictions imposed by Israel for the Jewish holiday, Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath told Palestinian radio. — Sapa-AFP