Good news - Arafat will be displaced within 6 months, IDF says

[NewsGuy]

Arafat will be displaced within 6 months, IDF says
Haaretz (http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=184181&contrassID=2&subContrassID=1&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y)

The IDF's General Staff has reached the conclusion that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's stature is dropping so precipitously that there is no need for Israel to push him out of the territories.

This analysis, following President George W. Bush's speech calling for a new, different Palestinian leadership and the opening of Operation Determined Path, has been presented to the political echelon. It says Arafat's prestige has been so damaged that there is no need for action on Israel's part to expel Arafat. A senior military source told Ha'aretz that "chances are increasing that within six months, Arafat's standing will have declined so much that he won't be able to prevent a new, pragmatic leadership from emerging, which will lead the Palestinians to a compromise with Israel."

* * *

Maybe the IDF is correct in its assessment. But I still think that that the best chance for the world to rid itself of arch-terrorist Arafat is due to his serious health problems. Either way, the world will be a better place without the Palestinian "Ra'is."

[L@mplighterM]

I suspect that Arafat still has teeth and can still order a reign of terror. Counting him down and out would be a grave mistake. We can all wish that his flame is extinguishing but in the meantime Israel should remain vigilant.

[NewsGuy]

Originally posted by L@mplighterM
I suspect that Arafat still has teeth and can still order a reign of terror. Counting him down and out would be a grave mistake.
Agreed.

Until an Israeli bullet is firmly lodged in his sweaty Kaffia, or cancer gets the best of him, he is a danger to Western civilization.

Sorry to be morbid.

[elke]

Originally posted by NewsGuy

Agreed.

Until an Israeli bullet is firmly lodged in his sweaty Kaffia, or cancer gets the best of him, he is a danger to Western civilization.

Sorry to be morbid.

How is that morbid? ;) Sounds like a happy event to me... I prefer to think of him just dead of natural causes though: i.e. that Parkinsons' sounds promising...

[cerulean]

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=08072002-120531-3724r

Magazine says Arafat to step down soon
AMMAN, Jordan, July 8 (UPI) -- Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is expected to step down in the coming weeks through an agreement between the United States, Israel and certain Palestinian and Arab parties, a Jordanian magazine said Monday.

The opposition periodical, Al-Majd, which is considered close to Syria, quoted unidentified high-ranking Palestinian sources as saying the president of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Ahmad Qurai, known as Abu Alaa, is Arafat's most likely successor.
...

[cerulean]

I can't vouch for the accuracy of this source, but this article is interesting.

http://216.26.163.62/2002/ss_palestinians_07_09.html
Tuesday, July 9, 2002
AMMAN — Arab leaders have told Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat that neither the United States nor Israel will agree to deal with him again.

[On Monday, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Secretary of State Colin Powell has ended communications with Arafat. "He has no plans to talk to chairman Arafat," Boucher said. "I think we made that quite clear."]

Arab diplomatic sources said Arafat's allies in Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have, in recent weeks, come to terms with the prospect that Arafat will probably be replaced. They said Arafat has rejected several offers to go into exile, Middle East Newsline reported.

Israeli sources said the decline in Arab support for Arafat has been dramatic over the last two weeks in the wake of President George Bush's call for a new democratic Palestinian leadership. They said Arafat's former allies are now searching to support a replacement for the Palestinian leader who will be most understanding of their interests.

"The idea is to make it clear to the Palestinians that Arafat is the sole obstacle to the goal of achieving a Palestinian state," an Arab diplomatic source said. "This has placed unprecedented pressure on Arafat." ...