On the diplomatic front, coalition pressures were evident in
the scrambling that accompanied the revelation of a new peace
plan devised by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian
official Abu Allah. At first the prime minister said that he
had not approved the plan and that it was "imaginary" but
later he was forced to admit that he had in fact approved the
talks that led to the plan.
The existence of the talks and the plan led to widespread
criticism from all across the political spectrum.
There was also the sideshow of a showdown with the
Palestinians, and world opinion, over Israel's refusal to
allow Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat to attend
a midnight Christian service in Bethlehem on December 25.
Most Palestinians, including Arafat, are Muslim, yet in
recent years the Palestinian Christmas celebration has taken
on a strongly nationalistic tone. The celebrations strengthen
Arafat's claim to represent Christian interests in the Holy
Land, even though the Christian population of Bethlehem has
dropped drastically since Arafat allowed terrorists to fire
at the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo from there. Arafat is
thought to be personally secular, though officially he is
Muslim. His attendance at the services can certainly not be
taken as a religious act but as a political one.
Arafat's aides had hinted he might drive to the roadblock
south of Ramallah, or even walk across.
But in a speech he suggested he had decided to stay in
Ramallah and reap the political benefits of the international
criticism of Israel. "The whole world that has seen what
happened . . . has to know what kind of terror the worshipers
in this holy land are facing," he said.
Arafat has been stuck in Ramallah since a series of
devastating Palestinian terror attacks on Israel earlier this
month. Retaliatory Israeli air strikes destroyed Arafat's
helicopters and the Israeli army tightened its closure around
Palestinian towns.
The Foreign Ministry came under a barrage of international
pressure to let Arafat go to Bethlehem. According to ministry
officials, those who officially requested that Arafat be
allowed to go to Bethlehem were the deputy chief of mission
at the U.S. Embassy, the government of France, and the
archbishop of Canterbury. Other cables came from Belgium, the
current president of the EU, and Spain, which will take over
that position in a week.
Prime Minister Sharon said that Arafat could go if he fights
terror and arrests Israeli Cabinet Minister Ze'evi's killers.
The Security Cabinet decided that Arafat must do more to
crack down on terror.
Defense Minister Ben-Eliezer eased some restrictions in the
West Bank to make it easier for Christian pilgrims to travel
during the Christian holiday period.
Israel has responded warily to the Palestinian clampdown on
terrorist groups. The crackdown prompted Hamas to announce a
temporary suspension of suicide attacks inside Israel.
Israeli officials noted that Hamas did not rule out attacks
on Israelis in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Hamas had not
announced that it was abandoning terror altogether, but
merely postponing attacks for now in the interest of
"Palestinian unity."
Officials from two other groups, Islamic Jihad and the Al
Aksa Martyrs Brigade, an arm of Arafat's Fatah Party, pledged
to continue attacking Israel.
