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Netanyahu
regrets Israel had not already expelled Arafat
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OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, November 6 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Former Israeli
premier Benjamin Netanyahu has fired the first shots in the race to lead
Israel's next government after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon called early
elections following the collapse of his uneasy coalition.
Hawkish
Netanyahu on Tuesday, November 5, announced he had accepted Sharon's
offer to become foreign minister in the caretaker government ahead of
elections to be held on January 28, providing him with a strong platform
for his bid to regain the premiership he held 1996-99.
He
immediately hurled himself onto the campaign trail, even before being
formally sworn in as foreign minister on Wednesday, November 6, reported
Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Speaking
on public television late Tuesday "Bibi" Netanyahu said he
regretted that Israel had not already expelled Palestinian President
Yasser Arafat in retaliation for Palestinian attacks.
Netanyahu
said a U.S. strike on Iraq would provide an ideal opportunity to oust
Arafat.
Such
an operation would "enable us to get rid of Saddam Hussein and
provide a good opportunity to get rid of Arafat", Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu,
who has made no secret of his ambition to run against Sharon in Likud
party primaries, said Likud would win a sweeping victory after the
leadership run-off is held.
"I
am convinced that the crushing majority coalition that the Likud will
set up can put us on the right path to bring the country solutions over
the next four years," Netanyahu said.
Sharon,
Netanyahu's rival in the Likud party, said the early elections had been
forced upon him by the "irresponsible" decision of the Labor
party to collapse Israel's national unity government.
"Elections
are not what the state needs," said Sharon, but stressed that after
Labor's walkout and the "unacceptable" demands of far-right
parties to form a new coalition, they were "the least damaging
option."
Sharon
accused Labor of putting "irresponsible political reasons"
ahead of national interest by quitting in a row over funding of Jewish
settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
"We
are facing difficult challenges today, perhaps more complex than we have
ever faced," said the hardliner, whose 20-month national unity
coalition collapsed on October 30.
"I
will not deviate from the national responsibility," said Sharon,
who has refused to talk peace with the Palestinians until all violence
ceases.
Labor
leader Binyamin Ben-Eliezer said his party would focus on social issues
in the election campaign.
Ben-Eliezer,
whose resignation as defense minister sparked the political crisis,
slammed Sharon's failure to tackle social issues as the country wallows
in its worst-ever economic crisis, with one in five Israelis living in
poverty.
"Two
years of nothing -- no political, social or economic achievements. Never
has a prime minister enjoyed the support of so many, and done so
little," Ben-Eliezer told reporters.
Sharon's
announcement will trigger internal elections in both main parties, Likud
and Labor.
Sharon
is the more popular candidate with the general public, but Netanyahu
enjoys a strong standing within Likud itself and has promised to bring
Israel out of its dire economic crisis provoked largely by the
two-year-old conflict with the Palestinians.
He
also advocates expelling Arafat from the territories.
Inside
Labor, Ben-Eliezer, who drew massive flak from the party's left for
remaining Sharon's defense minister throughout the invasion and
reoccupation of the West Bank and the erosion of the Labor-crafted 1993
Oslo accords, is trailing in the polls against his two more dovish
rivals, Haifa mayor Amram Mitzna, the favorite, and Knesset member Haim
Ramon.
Washington,
meanwhile, vowed to continue its Middle East peace efforts despite the
political turmoil in Israel.
"The
United States will continue to pursue this as we can," State
Department spokesman Richard Boucher said.
"We're
going to follow through" with efforts to finalize a roadmap for the
creation of a Palestinian state in three years, he said.
"Those
goals remain important," Boucher said, while stressing the need for
Palestinian reforms.
As
if to underline the problems, which any new administration will face,
the violence on the ground continued unabated Tuesday.
Two
young Palestinians killed by Israeli tank fire in Rafah on the
Egypt-Gaza border, after a crowd of youths pelted Israeli tanks and
bulldozers with stones.
Fifteen
other Palestinians were wounded, including two in critical condition.
