We don't need to make this about Iraq because as long as they have a US-installed government they are not going to be a threat to Israel. That would also probably get the thread locked were it to go in that direction.

That said, a lot of the people in this thread who have sounded unusually hawkish about Arafat fail to see how nuanced the situation in Israel is. You have Palestinians who want a free Palestine achieved through diplomatic means, and you have terrorists some of whom want a free Palestine achieved through force, and some of whom want to destroy Israel.

There are in fact close ties between the Palestinian government and the terrorists, and the reason the situation is so tough is because at the negotiating table the responsibility for controlling the terrorists is placed upon the Palestinian government.

In addition, aside from Gaza City there is no defined outline of where exactly Palestine is or would be. Palestinians are mixed in with the Israeli population. You can't "defeat" something that's not a defined entity.

Calling Arafat a terrorist and talking about how he's such a bad guy and not acknowledging what would need to be done in his absence is exactly the same sort of thing as a doctor telling you "the whole problem is you are a fat bastard who smokes."

Israel has shown some willingness to pull out of primarily Arab lands, but until the Palestnian government does a good job of reigning in terrorists you will not see Israel concede much more than that. Israel is complicit, if not equally so, in creating the current set of problems.

If you ask me the most contentious issue is the city of Jerusalem. Israel and most Jews around the world want to keep it totally part of Israel. The palestinians want West Jerusalem for themselves.