Israel is beset by all sides, including from within. This would all be hard even without Arafat's relentless opposition.
Israel has tightened security around ministers amid fears that extreme Right-wing Jewish groups may attempt an assassination to undermine the "road map" for peace in the Middle East.Posted by Alan at May 28, 2003 08:27 PMThe measures come days after the Israeli cabinet endorsed the US-backed plan, which will ultimately force Israel to make painful concessions in the occupied territories.
They include a military withdrawal from the West Bank and Gaza Strip and a dismantling of some Jewish settlements there - anathema to Israel's far Right.
Shin Bet, Israel's internal security service, is tracking Jewish extremists it considers a threat to Ariel Sharon, the prime minister, and ministers who backed him in the cabinet vote last Sunday to endorse the "road map".
One intelligence source said yesterday the security services were worried that "attacks may be carried out by Jews on government figures". Since Sunday extra bodyguards have been drafted in to protect cabinet ministers around the clock. Previously "not all of them had bodyguards all the time", he said.
Eight years ago Yitzhak Rabin, then Israel's prime minister, was shot dead at a peace rally by a Jewish student with links to an extremist group. "No one is taking any chances now," said the intelligence source.