Violence Intensifies in Mideast
J E R U S A L E M, Dec. 31 -- The son of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, ananti-Arab leader, was killed today, along with his wife in a shootingattack in the West Bank, a day after Palestinian leaderYasser Arafat’s Fatah faction called for an intensification ofviolence.
Hours after the ambush-style shooting near a Jewish settlementin the West Bank, a senior member of Arafat’s Fatah faction wasgunned down near his home in the West Bank town of Tulkarem,Palestinians said.
The army had no immediate comment, butPalestinian sources claimed it was an assassination. The dead man,Thabet Thabet, was the secretary-general of Fatah in the Tulkaremarea.
The deaths sent tensions skyrocketing, with both sides bracingfor retaliatory violence. The army and police were beefing upsecurity in parts of the West Bank and in Jerusalem, where theslain settler couple were to be buried later today.
A group calling itself the “Martyrs of the Al Aqsa Intefadeh”faxed a claim of responsibility for the killing of Binyamin ZeevKahane to a Western news agency in Beirut. Its authenticity couldnot be verified.
The group, whose name refers to the holy site central to theIsraeli-Palestinian dispute, has claimed responsibility for severalattacks against Israelis since the current violence broke out inlate September.
Kahane: A Controversial Family
Kahane’s father, Meir Kahane, headed the now-outlawed Kachmovement that advocated expelling Palestinians from the West Bankand Gaza Strip. He was gunned down in 1990 after a speech in NewYork, and a Muslim extremist was later convicted of conspiracy tocommit murder.
Prime Minister Ehud Barak met with his Cabinet today, whichsaid afterward that if the Palestinians do not accept compromiseproposals put forth by President Clinton as a basis for talks,Israel will “take a time out” in the peace process. An outrightPalestinian rebuff of the American plan would likely bring anescalation in the level of violence, the Cabinet statement said.
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