(Ha'aretz) Daniel Sobelman - Ephraim Halevy, chairman of the National Security Council and former Mossad chief, told the conference on national security at the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center on Monday: Senior Palestinian leaders who have started to condemn acts of terror against Israel are "sober people who correctly read the regional and international political map, and fear that if the Palestinians continue with terrorism there is a real danger the national Palestinian movement will be wiped out." "There are sprouting signs of Palestinian recognition that the price they are paying and will pay for their crimes will be unbearable if they don't hurry to change direction." The attempt to down an Israeli civilian aircraft in Kenya was "a major escalation that cannot be ignored....If a mega-terrorist incident succeeds, it will at once change a long series of rules of behavior. The essence of the threat is essentially genocide, the destruction of the state, and destruction of its foundations. Against such a threat, Israel has a broad range of capabilities....Presumably, international opinion will understand, accept, and internalize the change in the rules and the levels of action." Every country will have to make its views known regarding the war against terrorism. "Those who are neutral are not neutral."
2002-12-03 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive