PERES CALLS IDF OPERATION IN JENIN A 'MASSACRE'
Brian Sunderland
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres is very worried about the expected
international reaction as soon as the world learns the details of the
tough battle in the Jenin refugee camps, where more than 100
Palestinians have already been killed in fighting with IDF forces. In
private, Peres is referring to the battle as a "massacre."
IDF officers also expressed grave reservations over the operation in
Jenin. "Because of the dangers," they said, "the soldiers are almost not
advancing on foot. The bulldozers are simply 'shaving' the homes and
causing terrible destruction. When the world sees the pictures of what
we have done there, it will do us immense damage."
"However many wanted men we kill in the refugee camp, and however much
of the terror infrastructure we expose and destroy there, there is still
no justification for causing such great destruction."
Peres, who is feeling increasingly isolated in the government - Sharon
added three hard-line ministers to his cabinet Monday - believes Arafat
is still irreplaceable at this stage.
He does not regard the documents that Sharon presented Monday in the
Knesset as a "smoking gun" that irrefutably proves that Arafat was
directly linked to ordering terrorist activity. And Israel's isolation
of the Palestinian leader, he believes, only enhanced his prestige and
turned him into the key player.
Despite his harsh criticism, however, and his belief that Labor will not
be able to remain much longer in the government, Peres is in no hurry to
quit. He is telling his closest associates that after the fighting ends
and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has visited, the decision will
be made. If Powell presents a political plan, Labor will want to fight
for it in the government.
09 April 2002 | Amos Harel | Ha'aretz - Israel
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Dum spiro, spero.