Sunday, October 8 2000 14:15 9 Tishri 5761

Barak gives Arafat 48-hour ultimatum
By Arieh O'Sullivan and Herb Keinon

TEL AVIV (October 8) - Prime Minister Ehud Barak last night gave Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat a 48-hour ultimatum to halt violence in the territories or face an end of the peace process and a tougher IDF response.

"We won't surrender to violence. Whoever uses force against us will be met by force. We will fight with the same determination that we showed seeking peace," said Barak, appearing with Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Shaul Mofaz at a news conference at the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv.

Barak said that Arafat could end the violence, if he wanted to, "with one simple command," and that Israel would not negotiate while under attack.

"If we don't see a change in the violence in the next two days, then we see this as a cessation of the peace negotiations by Arafat. And we will order the IDF and the security forces to use all means at their disposal to stop the violence," Barak said.

Barak's press conference took place as a few hundred young men demonstrated outside the ministry gates, calling for war. "Barak don't kid yourself. We are already at war," said one placard. Another had "Peace Now" with the word "peace" rubbed out and replaced with "war." "War. War. War now," the crowd chanted.

Inside, Barak evoked a sense of existential threat to the country on the eve of Yom Kippur.

"There is a new situation forming. This is one of the most important struggles in the history of Israel, a struggle for our right to live in this difficult part of the world as a free people," Barak said.

He called for national unity to meet these trying times, and warned of tougher days ahead.

"We cannot impose peace on our partners," Barak said. "The picture appearing now is that there is no partner for peace. This is the painful truth, but it is the truth and we have to face it with open eyes."

Barak blamed Arafat and the Palestinians for the escalating violence in the territories.

"They initiated this violence. They are continuing with it. If they want to stop it, put an end to it, they can do it within 24 hours. The door is open for this," Barak said.

Regarding Lebanon, Barak warned Israel's enemies not to open new fronts of conflict.

"We are strong enough to defend our interests and I would not recommend anyone test our operational capabilities," Barak said.

US President Bill Clinton spoke with Barak three times yesterday to work out an end to the violence and a return to the peace process. He also spoke to Arafat and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, canceling a trip to Ohio and Indiana to monitor developments. The US was also involved in recent days in transferring messages between Israel and the PA regarding the withdrawal from Joseph's Tomb.

Arafat adviser Bassam Abu-Sharif rejected the ultimatum, saying: "Barak committed a big mistake that will have serious repercussions on the Israelis... the situation is no longer limited to the Palestinians and Israelis only. Arafat doesn't have a switch to switch the violence on and off."

"We reject such ultimatums, after all we are still officially the Israelis' peace partner despite the riots," said Nabil Amr, the PA's Minister for Parliamentary Affairs.

He called for US intervention to end the confrontation and bring the sides back to the negotiations.

Meanwhile, Palestinian security officers expect the violence in the territories to intensify following the kidnapping of three IDF soldiers by Hizbullah yesterday afternoon around the Shaba farms.

"Now that the people feel that they are getting support from Lebanon, they will be encouraged to continue and intensify the demonstrations," a Palestinian security officer said. Tanzim militia leader Hussein Sheikh warned that the violence may turn into a military confrontation between Israel and the Arabs if it is not stopped soon.

Mofaz gave a similar assessment, and a warning. "We assess that the violence launched against us will escalate. The IDF's hands are not tied," he said.

The chief of General Staff noted that the IDF had until now shown great restraint, and that the number of Palestinian casualties would have been "tens of times more" had it not done so.

At an emergency cabinet meeting in Tel Aviv last night, Barak warned that the potential exists for a greater escalation of violence, and said there will be "more difficult moments in this struggle, but we will win not only because we are right, but also because we are stronger."

The prime minister defended his peace policies, saying that "had we not taken these policies, and [then] found ourselves facing a dead-end and deterioration [of the situation], we would not have been able to look each other in the eye."

Barak has been saying since Camp David that if the process collapses and a confrontation ensues, Israel will be able to say to the world - and to itself - that it did everything it could to try and bring about peace.

Barak briefed the cabinet on weekend events, including what happened on the Temple Mount on Friday, and the withdrawal from Joseph's Tomb and kidnapping of the three soldiers yesterday.

Following the cabinet meeting, the smaller security cabinet convened and was briefed by military and security chiefs.

Acting Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami echoed Barak yesterday, saying that Israel at this time "does not have a peace partner." According to Ben-Ami, Arafat orchestrated the violence to prevent publication of American "bridging proposals" which the US was discussing last month to break the impasse in the peace negotiations.

Ben-Ami said Arafat was worried that if the Palestinians refused these proposals they would be portrayed as "peace obstacles" and their position in the world would suffer. As a result, Ben-Ami said, Arafat decided to ignite the territories to prevent the proposals from being presented.

He had harsh words for Arafat, saying that the world "needs to take steps to punish him," and that rather than "spoiling him" with international conferences, it needs to condemn him for the violence.

"That man is liable to ignite the whole Arab world," Ben-Ami said, calling attention to the protests taking place in Amman and other Arab capitals.

Ben-Ami said that Israel is now facing "a new situation," and called for a national unity government at this time.

(Lamia Lahoud contributed to this report.)