Netanyahu apologizes over posters
Palestine, Politics, 7/3/1997

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the derogatory posters plastered on the walls of Arab shops in the West Bank town of Hebron on June 28. The premier telephoned the Palestinian mayor of Hebron, Mustafa Natsheh, to "vigorously condemn these anti-Islamic posters," said a statement released by Netanyahu's office.

"The prime minister considers the distribution of these posters with the utmost gravity, (as they) go against the respect that we have for Islam, for the prophet Mohammed and for other religions," said the statement.

But Yasser Arafat's Palestinian authority accused Netanyahu's government of complicity in the incident. "I do not believe it was spontaneous. Netanyahu insists on destroying the peace process with the support of radicals," the director general of the Palestinian Interior Ministry, Ahmed Tamimi, said.

"It is a provocation to the feelings of Muslims everywhere," Tamimi told a press conference in Hebron.

Meanwhile Netanyahu struggled on June 29 to quench wildfires in his tumultuous cabinet. Netanyahu met Infrastructure Minister Ariel Sharon, who held secret talks with a Palestinian leader close to Arafat. Foreign Minister David Levy, deeply entrenched in a power struggle with Netanyahu, cancelled a conciliatory meeting with Netanyahu after learning of Sharon's secret meeting through the media.

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