Expel Arafat?

After the "summit" yesterday and the bombing in Jerusalem, some members of the Israeli government are talking about seriously considering expulsion for Arafat. For his part, Arafat has come out today and said that, for him, expulsion would be unacceptable. As far as I know, the Israeli cabinet hasn't made any great decisions on Yassar quite yet.

As I said earlier, I don't think that Arafat is going to be a true partner for peace. If anything, he's going to be a significant obstacle to the process as he, more than anyone else in the region, stands to lose tremendously in the event of a real peace.

So expulsion of Arafat will likely be one of the necessary, if unwritten, steps in the peace process. If it’s got to happen at some point, and there is political cover to protect Israel from the EU, why not go ahead and do it now? Get past the painful part and get started on building a real basis for moving forward.

Sure, Arafat will sit there and scream, whine and complain, but what can he really do about it? He is truly in a position of weakness. Israel has the power, maybe not the authority, but they certainly have the power, to remove Arafat by force, if necessary. If they decide that his removal is needed, there isn't a thing that he can do about it.

And doing so would put everyone else on the spot. Who would accept him? Certainly not Jordan or Iraq. Probably not Syria or Iran. Most every Arab nation will support him as he "fights" Israel, but they are deathly scared of the instability and corruption that he brings. So he would probably end up in Europe somewhere, most likely in Paris with some of the other members of his family.

At that point, the Israelis and a hopefully reformed Palestinian Authority could get started on building a lasting peace.

Although if there were one attack by Arafat's cronies, we might have to declare Paris a state sponsor of terrorism.

Sounds like a no lose situation for us.