TEL AVIV Ñ Israel believes the Palestinian Authority has formed a strategic alliance with Iran and has ordered intelligence agencies to focus their
efforts accordingly.
Israeli officials said the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has
become alarmed by the increase in Iranian aid to Hizbullah and the Palestinian
Authority. They said that after years of enmity Iran has reconciled with the
PA and is ready to supply a range of missile and rockets to the regime of
Yasser Arafat.
Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer ordered intelligence agencies to
increase their monitoring of PA ties with Iran and Hizbullah, the officials said. The minister
is said to have termed these ties as a strategic threat against Israel, Middle East Newsline reported.
A classified report by Israel's Foreign Ministry research and
intelligence division said Teheran is concerned that Arafat will implement a
ceasefire and has pledged to ensure the supply of weaponry that will both
continue the war against Israel and increase Palestinian military
capability. The report said the Karine-A episode is the "tip of the iceberg"
in Iranian efforts to provide military support to the Palestinians.
Israeli intelligence asserts that the watershed took place last summer,
months after the capture of the Palestinian-bought ship Santorini. Arafat
agreed to align himself with Iran and a dialogue was launched between the
Palestinian leader and Khamenei. The two men decided to shelve their
differences regarding the 1993 Oslo agreement, repeatedly condemned by
Teheran.
Last month, Arafat approved the sending of Karine-A freighter to the
Gaza Strip.
Palestinian agents were ordered to bribe Egyptian officials to ensure that
the ship would move through the Suez Canal without disruption.
U.S. officials said Washington has helped Israel in efforts to stop the
smuggling of Iranian weapons to the Palestinian Authority. They said the
U.S. Sixth Fleet has been ordered to stop and search suspicious ships
believed heading for Lebanon or the Gaza coast. The officials confirmed the
search of a ship in the Mediterranean last week.
The Foreign Ministry report warned that the Islamic clergy led by
Khamenei would be bolstered in their effort unless the international
community takes action against Teheran. Khamenei has launched a crackdown on
reformers in Iran aligned with President Mohammed Khatami.
Officials said Israel is pressing Washington to elevate Iran to that of
a strategic priority. They want the Bush administration to press Russia to
stop nuclear and missile technology to Teheran. Transportation Minister
Ephraim Sneh wants the White House to deem Iran as the next target in the
U.S.-led war on terrorism.
"Iran wants to do with the population in the central sector of Israel
what it did with northern residents -- to build a network of rockets that
will cover most of the country's population," Sneh said.
The U.S.-Israeli strategic dialogue begins on Wednesday with the arrival
of Undersecretary of State John Bolton to Israel. "I think it is an
opportunity for them to discuss nonproliferation issues," State Department
deputy spokesman Philip Reeker said on Tuesday.
