Arafat Unmasked
Comment By Binyamin Netanyahu

(January 11) - The capture of an arms laden ship destined 
for the Palestinian Authority unmasked Yasser Arafat once 
again before the entire world. It exposed yet again his 
systematic duplicity of talking peace in the West while 
preparing for war in the East. Arafat fans and lowers the 
flame of terror as he sees fit, always preparing the next 
murderous attack in order to pursue his unchanging objective: 
the destruction of Israel. 

The prime minister, defense minister, IDF and the various 
security forces deserve the highest praise for this spectacular 
operation. But what strategic conclusions must now be drawn? 

First, the existential danger posed by a Palestinian state has 
again been brought to light. Once a Palestinian state is 
established, we will be unable to prevent ships from delivering 
weapons to it day and night, and it will become nothing less 
than a sovereign terrorist power. Within a short time, such a 
state will obtain weapons that will endanger the entire country 
and threaten every Israeli citizen. 

Therefore, for the foreseeable future, Israel must maintain full 
control over all of its current borders - control which is 
incompatible with full Palestinian sovereignty. 

Ever since the Oslo agreements were signed, I have warned of the 
existential dangers Israel would face with the establishment of 
a Palestinian state. Today, I cannot assert more unequivocally 
that any agreement to establish a Palestinian state, such as 
the one proposed by our foreign minister with the approval of 
our prime minister, is an historic mistake that must be avoided. 

Second, all of us must finally come to the realization that we 
will not be able to come to any agreement with Arafat. His promises 
and his signature are equally worthless. Everything he says and 
does is designed to deceive us. As the head of the PLO, his only 
goal is to bring us to a point where the Arab world can destroy 
us. 

Therefore, our only option is to dismantle his regime and to crush 
the terrorist infrastructure over which he presides. Only then will 
a potential successor understand that a heavy price would be 
paid for waging a war of terror against Israel, and that any plan 
to destroy us would be defeated. 

Perhaps then, a real path toward peace and reconciliation would 
be opened between Israel and those Arabs who - for the time being - 
still hope to annihilate us. 

(The writer is a former prime minister of Israel.)