Israel braces for possibility that Arafat near death

Israeli leaders and security forces braced Thursday for the possibility that Yasser Arafat's death might be near.

Top Israeli security officials were meeting Thursday to discuss Arafat's deteriorating health and how his possible death would affect the Middle East, officials said.

The security authorities, including Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz and army chief Moshe Ya'alon, were to focus their weekly meeting on reports that Arafat's health had taken a sudden turn for the worse, officials said.

Unnamed Israeli security sources were quoted as telling the Associated Press that the Israel Defense Forces had been placed on high alert, and was monitoring developments closely, although no troops had been moved.

The army has a contingency plan, called "New Leaf," to deal with the fallout from Arafat's death, including possible Palestinian rioting.

Peres: New PA leadership already formingLabor Party Chairman Shimon Peres, who shared a Nobel Peace Prize with Arafat in 1994 for signing an interim peace deal, said the Palestinian leader's death would have great impact on the region and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"What has happened [already] is that a new leadership is forming," Peres told Army Radio.

The new leadership appears to be "more firmly grounded and also has great determination to bring an end to the terrible problem of the Palestinian nation," Peres added.

"They [the Palestinians] have to correct their main error which is the takeover of Palestinian politics by terrorists, and I hope that the group that will come to leadership understands this and will act accordingly," Peres said.

Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Wednesday that officials were closely monitoring Arafat's health, following criticism last week when they were caught off guard by the sudden change in his health.

"We are tracking his condition very carefully," he told Israel Radio. "Our aim is to prepare for the day after, if he dies."

Israeli intelligence was widely criticized after it was caught off guard last week by the sudden deterioration in Arafat's health.

Shalom said Arafat's condition was "very serious," but gave no details.

At the same time, he said, "It is too soon to eulogize Yasser Arafat."