JERUSALEM -- Israeli leaders on Sunday backed away from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's latest threats against Yasser Arafat, saying there are no immediate plans to kill the Palestinian leader. Sharon declared in a television interview over the weekend that he is no longer bound by a promise to the United States not to harm Arafat. The comments, which were criticized in Washington, Europe and the Arab world, raised speculation that Arafat might be in Israel's crosshairs. In recent weeks, Israel has killed the founder of the Hamas militant group and his successor.
With Arafat's movements limited, there is little the Palestinians can do to protect him from Israel's air force. The Israeli air strikes that killed the two Hamas leaders in Gaza added to Palestinian fears for Arafat.
However, Israeli Vice Premier Ehud Olmert and Cabinet minister Gideon Ezra said Sharon has no plans to expel or assassinate Arafat. They said the Israeli leader had merely repeated a long-standing Israeli position.
"The prime minister doesn't intend to carry out anything next week or today or tomorrow," Olmert, a Sharon confidant, said.
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