Netanyahu vows to expel Arafat if elected

[Star]

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, trying to outflank Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on the right, vowed Tuesday that if he were elected prime minister he would expel Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

The hawkish ex-premier, vying for leadership of the rightist Likud for a Jan. 28 election, told party members Arafat was "head of the murderers" behind a raid on a kibbutz that killed a woman, her two sons and two other Israelis.

A militant group linked to Arafat's Fatah movement claimed responsibility for the shooting attack in Kibbutz Metzer on Sunday night. The Palestinian president has condemned it.

"I as prime minister will expel Arafat," Netanyahu told a party convention in Tel Aviv in his most scathing attack on the Palestinian leader since being appointed last week after the collapse of Sharon's unity coalition.

Before joining the government, Netanyahu repeatedly called for Arafat's expulsion during two years of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

He had toned down his public remarks after accepting the foreign minister's post, though he said Monday it was only a matter of time before Arafat's administration was removed.

Sharon, who faces Netanyahu in a Nov. 28 Likud primary that will decide which of the two will be the party's prime ministerial candidate, has promised President Bush not to oust or harm Arafat.

Following Netanyahu to the podium, Sharon responded with what was widely seen as veiled criticism of his rival. "We will fight terror and defeat it, but security will not be achieved through slogans," he said.

"The Israeli nation wants responsible leadership, leadership that acts with discretion, and a leadership that prioritizes in every instance the national interest over the party or personal interest," he said.

Washington has asked Sharon to keep a lid on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to avoid inflaming the Arab world while the United States prepares for a possible war on Iraq.

Recent polls have given Sharon a commanding lead over the center-left Labor Party for the general election but with only a narrow lead over Netanyahu for the party leadership.

http://www.reuters.com/news_ar....1724591

[Aryeh Shavit]

"I as prime minister will expel Arafat," Netanyahu told a party convention in Tel Aviv in his most scathing attack on the Palestinian leader since being appointed last week after the collapse of Sharon's unity coalition.

That's why I can't stand Netanyahu. Last time he said he would also bring a computer into every kid's home.

[Star]

Do you mean

[Aryeh Shavit]

Do you mean

[Star]

Do you think he would really expel Arafat?

[Aryeh Shavit]

Do you think he would really expel Arafat?

[Star]

Okay, Aryeh, and I'm an outsider, so what do I know?  But it looks to me as though Sharon is almost, behind-the-scenes, grooming Netanyahu and approving of him being next in line.  It appears, to me at least, as though they are not so much in competition as they are hand-in-hand seeking what is best for Israel.  What do you think of that?

[Aryeh Shavit]

Okay, Aryeh, and I'm an outsider, so what do I know?

[Star]

Aryeh:  Tell me more, please.  How did he manage to drive out some of the Likud's prominent members?

[Aryeh Shavit]

Aryeh: