U.S. Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer again angered many Israelis yesterday when he told students at the Givat Haviva Center that they should pressure their government to “make peace” with the Palestinians. Kurtzer said, “You’re the people, you are the ones who choose your government, and you’re the ones who define who rules and who doesn’t rule … They need to hear from you that you want peace, that you want reconciliation, that you want reasonable compromise…” He advised them to organize demonstrations, public rallies, and the like.

Commenting on the US Ambassador’s interference in internal Israeli affairs, MK Eliezer Zandberg (Shinui) said, “Kurtzer would be better off calling on the Palestinian people to overthrow Arafat, who is an obstacle to peace.”

Reports from Washington say that the Bush Administration is reevaluating its position vis-a-vis the Palestinian Authority and Yasser Arafat in light of Arafat’s failure to arrest terrorists and bring an end to terror attacks. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell phoned Arafat last night and asked him again to explain the Karin-A freighter that was caught with 50 tons of rockets, missiles and other weaponry on their way into the Palestinian Authority.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 25th, 2002 and is filed under hotnews.