- JERUSALEM (Reuters) - New
Israeli Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on the offensive in his bid
to become prime minister, said in an interview published on Thursday that
Ariel Sharon's leadership had left Israel in dire straits.
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- In the latest violence, the army said a suicide bomber
was killed when troops guarding a Jewish settlement outside Nablus in the
West Bank opened fire as he ran toward them, setting off an explosion that
also killed a second Palestinian.
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- Palestinian security sources, however, said the Israeli
soldiers had opened fire on two Palestinian laborers and a taxi driver
for no apparent reason. The Palestinians involved had no links to militant
groups, the sources said.
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- Netanyahu, a hawkish former prime minister, became Sharon's
subordinate on Wednesday when he took up the Foreign Ministry post, ending
three years in the political wilderness.
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- But his plans to challenge Sharon for the leadership
of their right-wing Likud party and reclaim the prime minister's office
in Israel's coming election heralded weeks of sniping between the two men
and paralysis in Middle East peacemaking.
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- His leadership challenge could also have an impact on
U.S. efforts to win Arab support for possible war against Iraq.
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- "I am running (for the Likud leadership) because
the country is in dire straits and we have to get it out," Netanyahu,
53, told The Jerusalem Post.
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- Asked if he thought Sharon was leaving the country in
worse shape than when he was elected nearly two years ago, Netanyahu said:
"I think one of the things that we see is the tremendous escalation
of (Palestinian) terror."
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- Dozens of suicide bombings have rocked Israel despite
Sharon's pledge in the previous election campaign to stop the two-year
Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.
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- The army said that in Thursday's incident soldiers had
stopped a Palestinian taxi at a checkpoint near Nablus and spotted an explosive
belt on one of the passengers after ordering them out of the vehicle.
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- The man then ran toward the troops shouting "Allahu
Akhbar!" (God is Greatest). Soldiers opened fire and, as he hit the
ground, the explosive belt went off killing another Palestinian nearby,
the army said.
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- The Palestinian security sources said the explosion was
caused when the taxi's fuel tank was hit by army gunfire.
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- U.S. SEEKING CALM
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- Netanyahu's appointment has sparked fears on the left
that Sharon's rightist caretaker government may step up the crackdown on
the Palestinians at a time when Washington wants calm while it seeks Arab
support over Iraq.
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- In a possible bid to allay concerns, Sharon told a business
conference in Tel Aviv: "I will not tolerate any attempt to harm our
international relationships. Therefore I have announced I will not damage
deep strategic understandings with the United States."
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- Israel is also preparing for possible Iraqi missile attacks
should the United States launch an offensive against Iraq.
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- Israel Radio said the military successfully tested two
upgraded Patriot anti-missile missiles in the southern Negev desert on
Wednesday. An army spokesman had no immediate comment.
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- An earlier version of the U.S.-made missile, originally
designed to shoot down aircraft, had limited success against Iraqi Scuds
that slammed into Israel in the 1991 Gulf War.
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- Netanyahu suggested he would use a recession as well
as security problems against Sharon in the run-up to the snap January polls
called after the center-left Labor Party bolted from Sharon's coalition
in a spat over funds for Jewish settlements.
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- "The economy is in worse shape... A lot of that
is derived not so much from the lack of security but from the absence of
a coherent economic policy," he was quoted as saying.
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- Sharon, 74, had calculated that bringing Netanyahu into
his team could both curb his rival's criticism of him before the Likud
primary and give Israel an eloquent defender abroad of the tough government
line on the Palestinian uprising for statehood.
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- There were also no surprises in the tough stand Netanyahu
voiced toward Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, echoing a position staked
out by Sharon.
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- "I think it is easy to persuade the international
community of what the majority of Israelis understand: namely, that Arafat
is not a partner," Netanyahu said.
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- Asked about Palestinian statehood, he said: "I think
we have to resist and I think we can and must resist the Palestinians'
efforts to achieve powers that would endanger the state of Israel, like
the fielding of an army."
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- Arafat, who the United States says should be replaced
by Palestinian leaders "not compromised by terror," has said
he hoped Netanyahu would honor land-for-peace interim accords.
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- Opinion polls show Likud winning the election. The surveys
have said the Likud leadership race is too close to call. No date has been
set for the Likud primary.
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- At least 1,648 Palestinians and 625 Israelis have been
killed since the Palestinian revolt began in September 2000.
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