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Arafat's long personal and political survival was taken by most Western commentators as a sign of his mastery of asymmetric warfare and his skill as a tactician, given the extremely dangerous nature of politics of the Middle East and the frequency of assassinations. Some commentators believe his personal survival was largely due to Israel's fear that he could become a martyr for the Palestinian cause if he were to be assassinated or even arrested by Israel. Others believe that Israel kept Arafat alive because they feared Arafat less than Hamas and the other Islamist movements gaining support over Arafat's secular organization.
Arafat's ability to adapt to new tactical and political situations was perhaps exemplified by the rise of the Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad organizations, Islamist groups espousing rejectionist opposition to Israel, employing new tactics such as "martyrdom operations", known as suicide bombings. In the 1990s, these groups seemed to threaten Arafat's capacity to hold together a unified secular nationalist organization with a goal of statehood. They appeared to be out of Arafat's influence and control, and were actively fighting with Arafat's Fatah group. Some allege that activities of these groups were tolerated by Arafat as a means of applying pressure on Israel (see PLO and Hamas.) Some Israeli government officials opined in 2002 that the Fatah's faction Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades began attacks on Israel to compete with Hamas. Some sources claim that frequent Israeli military strikes against the Palestinian Authority have made it difficult for Arafat's security infrastructure to effectively counter the increasing influence of groups like Hamas. Spokesmen for Hamas and Islamic Jihad have at times publicly supported Arafat, suggesting that the common goals supercede infighting between these factions.
On May 6, 2002, the Israeli government released a report, based in part on documents allegedly captured during the Israeli occupation of Arafat's Ramallah headquarters, with copies of papers apparently signed by Arafat authorizing funding for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades' activities. These documents, however, drew skepticism from various quarters because the Israeli military had forcefully prevented any independent observers or reporters from observing the operation. [10]
Others point to the constraints of the political situation, and argue that Arafat could neither condemn nor constrain the tactics employed; and that any attempt to do so would endanger his rule or his life, and possibly initiate a disastrous civil war. Furthermore, ending violent resistance activities would amount to a de facto surrender to Israel, which has access to weapons that Palestinians lack. The use of suicide bombers appears to be a permanent feature of this conflict. The number and intensity of attacks rose sharply in the first months of 2002.
In March 2002, the Arab League made an offer to recognize Israel in exchange for Israeli retreat from all territories captured in the Six-Day War and statehood for Palestine and Arafat's Palestinian Authority. Supporters of this declaration saw this offer, which included recognition of Israel by the Arab states, as a historic opportunity for comprehensive peace in the region, while critics of this offer say that it would constitute a heavy blow to Israel's security, while not even guaranteeing Israel the cessation of suicide bombing attacks. Israel ignored what it deemed a facetious offer.
This was followed by attacks carried out by Palestinian militants which killed more than 135 Israelis. Ariel Sharon, who previously demanded that Arafat speak strongly in Arabic against suicide bombings, then declared that Arafat "assisted the terrorists and made himself an enemy of Israel and irrelevant to any peace negotiations". This was followed by a major Israeli offensive into the West Bank, during which Israel razed entire city blocks (see " Operation Defensive Shield".)
Persistent attempts by the Israeli government to identify another Palestinian leader to represent the Palestinian people failed; and Arafat was enjoying the support of groups that, given his own history, would normally have been quite wary of dealing with him or of supporting him. Marwan Barghouti emerged as a leader during the Al-Aqsa intifada but Israel had him arrested and sentenced to 4 life terms. Arafat was finally allowed to leave his compound on May 3, 2002 after intensive negotiations led to a settlement[11]; six militants wanted by Israel, which considers them terrorists, who had been holed up with Arafat in his compound, would not be turned over to Israel, but neither would they be held in custody by the Palestinian Authority. Rather, a combination of British and American security personnel would ensure that the wanted men remained imprisoned in Jericho. With that, and a promise that he would issue a call in Arabic to the Palestinians to halt attacks on Israelis, Arafat was released. He issued such a call on May 8, 2002, but, as was the case before, his public call to halt attacks was ignored.
On July 18 2004, U.S. President George W Bush stated regarding Yasser Arafat: "The real problem is that there is no leadership that is able to say 'help us establish a state and we will fight terror and answer the needs of the Palestinians'". (Le Figaro).
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