Middle East: The Israeli government decided "in principle" last night to expel the Palestinian Authority President, Mr Yasser Arafat, whom it blames for encouraging terrorism. Last night, he told cheering supporters he was staying put.
The decision to expel, taken on the second anniversary of the September 11th terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, came also in the wake of Tuesday's two suicide bombings in which Israelis were killed.
However, under heavy American pressure, ministers agreed not to carry out the decision right away, but rather for the army to come up with a plan for his removal. It seems possible that they will forbear from acting so long as the Bush Administration urges them not to.
All but two of the 11 senior ministers who held emergency talks last night, including Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon, favoured the expulsion of Mr Arafat in principle, but a series of almost desperate phone calls from senior officials in the Bush Administration, warning that the move would both exacerbate Israeli-Arab tensions and undermine US efforts to stabilise Iraq, stayed the government's hand.
A proposal from the new Palestinian Prime Minister, Mr Ahmed Korei, for a new intifada ceasefire was rejected as "not serious". Israel is interested only in concerted PA action to dismantle Hamas and other extremist groups, officials said.
Mr Korei said he was shelving his bid to form a government because of Israel's decision in principle to expel Mr Arafat.
"This is an adventurous and grave decision that . . . finishes off any attempt by me to form a new cabinet," the moderate Mr Korei said.
Mr Silvan Shalom, the Israeli Foreign Minister, who was the first to demand Mr Arafat's expulsion more than two years ago, had urged in vain that Israel ignore the American pleas. But the Defence Minister, Mr Shaul Mofaz, a longtime advocate of the expulsion who was quoted earlier in the day as hinting that Israel might even consider killing Mr Arafat - a course of action openly advocated by several leading Israeli hawks - backtracked at last night's meeting, and said Israel had to respect American wishes. A new opinion poll found only 38 percent of Israelis backing deportation.
The Palestinian president himself, in robust mood at his besieged Ramallah headquarters, declared that: "This is holy land. No one can kick me out." Asked if he intended to leave, he responded: "Definitely not."
Indeed, far from distancing himself from the heart of Palestinian governance, Mr Arafat yesterday moved to impose his authority over Mr Korei, who is also known as Abu Ala. In a move that reinforced Israeli and American reservations about Mr Korei's ability or inclination to act independently, Mr Arafat appointed himself at the head of a new National Security Council, which will oversee the various Palestinian security networks.
The US has explicitly and repeatedly demanded that Mr Arafat relinquish his control over all these networks to enable an independent prime minister to use the security personnel to combat Hamas, and has conditioned its support for Palestinian statehood on the establishment of a PA leadership that battles terror groups.
An unconfirmed report on Israel radio last night described an extraordinary confrontation over this issue between Mr Arafat and one of his hitherto loyalists, Mr Nasser Yousef, whom Mr Arafat apparently wanted to place in nominal charge of some of the security forces while retaining practical control himself. Refusing to take the post, Mr Yousef told Mr Arafat that "all revolutions have succeeded around the world, except for the Palestinian revolution, because it is led by you".
With Mr Arafat's deportation on hold, a tightening of the siege around his headquarters is now in prospect. Yesterday, the army took over the building housing the PA Culture Ministry, and now controls two buildings within 300 yards of Mr Arafat's offices. Israel's Channel 2 television station said Israeli snipers were deployed in the area.
The ministers also discussed a possible major Israeli army offensive into the Gaza Strip, to attack Hamas strongholds. However, top army officials oppose this move, because of the anticipated heavy bloodshed. Moreover, they pointed out, while the Hamas leadership directs operations from Gaza, almost all of the hundreds of "successful" and "unsuccessful" suicide bombers over the past three years have entered Israel from the West Bank.