Israel runs risks with assault on its ‘deputy sheriff’

THE Israeli onslaught against Yasser Arafat, his people and his security forces over the past months and most especially of the past six days, with the accompanying isolation and attempted humiliation of the Palestinian leader, is likely to achieve for Israel the very reverse of what it appears to want: security and peace inside the occupied territories and effective measures by Mr Arafat to end the suicide bombings.

Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, is clearly intent on deactivating, detaining or deporting Mr Arafat to render impotent the Palestinian Authority - but it is a desperate solution for a man he sees as his ancient and persistent foe and likely promulgator of the independent Palestinian state that he cannot abide.

If he is sent into exile, Mr Arafat can fairly pronounce: Après moi, le déluge. For it may seem impossible to credit - when Israeli and Western leaders are blaming the Palestinian leader for failing to restrain suicide bombers - but a short time ago Mr Arafat was under attack from the Left, at home and abroad.

He was under fire from Islamic militants for his reliance on the United States for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. Indeed, he was assailed for his perceived willingness to act as Israel’s "deputy sheriff" in the Occupied Territories.