Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom yesterday rejected Ahmed Qureia's cease-fire offer, and labeled it a deceitful trick.
An Israeli government source said yesterday that Qureia's (Abu Ala) new government, which was sworn in earlier in the day, is "a long tentacle of Arafat."
According to the source, Israel will not establish official ties with the Qureia government, before it proves in deeds its intention to fight terror and to dismantle the terror infrastructure.
Earlier yesterday, Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat swore in Ahmed Qureia as the new Palestinian prime minister and a skeleton emergency cabinet amid a dispute between Arafat and two of the minister-designates. Nasser Yussef, who had been tapped to be interior minister, and Jawad Tibi, the designated health minister, refused to participate in the swearing-in ceremony in front of Arafat due to a disagreement over the scope of their authority.
Arafat swore the six ministers in a quiet ceremony in his compound in Ramallah. He stood behind a desk as each minister approached, put his hand on the Koran and swore "by Allah to be loyal to the homeland and to preserve the law and the Palestinians' highest interests and to do my duties to the best of my abilities." Each minister then hugged Arafat, who appeared tired during the ceremony. But Yussef and Tibi did not arrive at the Muqata at all, Palestinian sources said. They said Yussef refused to be sworn in due to a conflict over his authority in the Interior Ministry and over Arafat's intention to appoint three aides in charge of the security services, which Arafat would ultimately control.
However, Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Sha'ath and other Palestinian officials said Yussef would join the cabinet in the next few days.
Qureia said three portfolios in the emergency cabinet were assigned: Sha'ath as foreign minister, Salam Fayad as finance minister, and Yussef as interior minister.
Qureia said the other five members of the cabinet would be Saeb Erekat, the current chief negotiator; Nabil Abu Hummus, the current education minister; Jamal Shobaki, the current minister of local affairs; and two legislators from Arafat's Fatah movement, Abdel Rahman Hamad and Tibi.
According to Arafat's plan, the three security aides would be responsible for general intelligence, national security and Interior Ministry services, which include the preventative security services, police and civilian defense. The plan calls for two of the security services - Force 17 and military intelligence - to remain accountable to Arafat.
The refusal of Yussef and Tibi to be sworn in to the cabinet complicates the establishment of a Palestinian government and Qureia's attempt to present a cabinet capable of controlling the Palestinian street.
At the same time, installing the cabinet is likely to make it more difficult for Israel to carry out its threat to "remove" the Palestinian chairman. The United States appears willing to give Qureia a chance, and any Israeli action against Arafat could force Qureia's immediate resignation and cause chaos in Palestinian areas.
Arafat declared a state of emergency in the Palestinian areas and abruptly named the eight-member cabinet on Sunday night, a day after the suicide bombing in Haifa that killed 19 people. The bombing led to new demands for Israel to act against Arafat.
The emergency government will serve for a limited term of a month, with a possible one-month extension if two-thirds of Palestinian legislators back the idea. Qureia could also present a full-sized cabinet to parliament within a month.
Qureia had initially planned to present a larger government to parliament for approval later in the week. But following the Haifa bombing, Arafat was clearly concerned about possible Israeli action against him.
