Prometheus 6

Sharon to Bush: Arafat a Target
The premier says Israel will no longer refrain from harming him. The remarks could be a bid to win a party vote on his Gaza pullout plan.
By Laura King
Times Staff Writer

April 24, 2004

JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who is fighting to shore up support among hard-liners in his Likud Party, said Friday that he had told President Bush during their White House meeting last week that he no longer felt bound by an earlier pledge not to harm Yasser Arafat.

Sharon's threat against the Palestinian Authority president was by no means new, but his remarks seemed designed to imply that he had the tacit approval of the U.S. administration for any action Israel takes against Arafat. Israel recently assassinated two leaders of Hamas.

By issuing his threat against Arafat, Sharon could also be seeking to curry favor with the most conservative elements of Likud before the party's May 2 vote on his proposal to withdraw from settlements in the Gaza Strip.

Polls have suggested only a narrow margin of support for Sharon's initiative among the Likud membership.

In an interview aired Friday night on Israel's Channel 2, Sharon said he informed Bush during their April 14 meeting that a commitment he made at the outset of the 43-month-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict — that Israel would refrain from physically harming Arafat — was no longer valid.

Sharon said he told Bush, "I understand the problems, but I am free of this commitment." He refused to say how the president responded.

Bush administration officials confirmed that the prime minister told the president of the change. But they said the White House continued to oppose the assassination of Arafat.

"Our position hasn't changed," State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said. "President Bush reiterated to Prime Minister Sharon in his meeting with him our opposition to the assassination or exile of Arafat."

In the U.S. view, the Israelis' previous pledge is still in effect, he said.