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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (Flash90)
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| By Israel Insider staff October 21, 2007 |
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The head of the Shin Bet, Yuval Diskin, revealed on Sunday that a group of PA-affiliated Fatah militants had plotted to assassinate Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on August 6 during his meeting with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. The PA arrested those involved, but released them two months later, angering Israeli officials.
Israeli security sources expressed grave disappointment regarding the release, which took place "after these terrorists' involvement in the foiled attack was made clear," Ynet reported.
"We view with severity the fact that the Palestinian Authority released the cell members it had arrested," a source in the Prime Minister's Office said Sunday morning.
Diskin said that Israel received exact information on the assassination plot prior to Olmert's trip to Jericho, a trip whose location was just as important as the content of the meeting itself.
"Before the prime minister went to Jericho, we received precise intelligence about a group of Fatah terrorists that intended to assassinate [him]," the Jerusalem Post quoted Diskin as saying.
The head of Shin Bet added that Israel opposed the terrorists' release.
"The information was handed over immediately to the Palestinian security services, who arrested the cell members. However, they've recently been released for some reason, and we have made our objection known to the Palestinians."
MK Yuval Steinitz of Likud slammed Abbas for his inability to control members of his own faction whose actions could cause the collapse of months of negotiations between the PA and Israel. The MK stressed that the incident, along with the terrorists' release shortly thereafter, clearly demonstrated that now is not the time to concretize peace agreements with Abbas.
"Even assuming good will on the part of Abbas... we've just seen a red warning light. Don't fool yourselves - [Abbas] doesn't control his own forces. This is not the time or the place for agreements [with the Palestinians]," Steinitz said.
His remark echoes criticism from across the political spectrum that Abbas is not firmly established enough to fulfill his end of sweeping territorial concessions that Olmert is rumored to be considering in advance of the Mideast summit. |
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