Israel, Netanyahu accepts the Foreign Affairs but asks for the expulsion of Arafat

JERUSALEM – Benjamin Netanyahu accepts Prime Minister Sharon’s offer, saying he is ready to serve as foreign minister in a new Israeli government, all right after Labor’s resignation from the national unity coalition. But the ultra-conservative former prime minister sets some conditions on his entry into the executive. One, which he himself publicly confirmed, is that the government does not last long: “We need early elections by May, when our party, the Likud, could double the seats,” says “Bibi”, as everyone in Israel calls him. And this is a condition that Sharon could easily accept, since the deadline for going to the polls, October 2003, is in any case close. Two other requests, cited on the basis of anonymous sources from the website of Yedioth Ahronoth, the largest national newspaper, are far more difficult to fulfill: the expulsion of Arafat from the Palestinian territories and the refusal of the Jewish state to create an independent Palestinian state. If they are genuine, it means that Netanyahu wants a war even worse than the one that has lasted for two years in the Occupied Territories. And if Sharon agrees, for the Middle East the trouble would have just begun. For now the prime minister limits himself to “congratulating” on the fact that Netanyahu has accepted the post of foreign minister. But Sharon adds that he will assess the “political and security” conditions posed by “Bibi” to join his team, so he will give a definitive answer, probably today, after a new meeting between the two. As in a chess game between two great masters, the predictions about how it will end are wasted. At first it seemed that Netanyahu would have rejected the proposal: it is known that he intends to challenge Sharon for the Likud leadership and for the national premiership, and as part of his government he would implicitly recognize a leading role for Sharon. “Bibi”, however, puts his hands forward: “I am ready to enter the government for a limited period, to help Sharon in a very difficult period, particularly with regard to a war on Iraq”. By letting it be understood that, afterwards, he could still challenge his prime minister. If Netanyahu also asked for Arafat’s head, however, Sharon could be forced to say no: the premier, in fact, he repeated several times that he explicitly promised Bush that he will not touch Arafat, and that he does not intend to do so. It may be that his “no” is welcomed by Netanyahu, who would only like an excuse to stay out of the government and take responsibility for refusing Sharon. And for the same reason it may be that Sharon promises him anything, including Arafat’s head, and then denies everything once “Bibi” entered the government. In short, we are faced with great electoral maneuvers, with two skilled leaders trying to cheat each other. There is little interest in the country, and even less is the peace process.

November 4 2002