Murderers of Peace

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Rabin was already frustrated by persistent militant attacks despite Israel's / withdrawal from the self-rule zones in the Gaza Strip and Jericho last May. Islamic extremists, who oppose Arafat's peace agreement with Israel and hope to sabotage it through violence, are concentrated in the Strip and use the newly autonomous area as a sanctuary. Says a Hamas activist in Gaza City: "Before, the Israeli army would chase our fighters, besiege their hideouts and catch them. Now those fighting the jihad can attack and then go back to their homes." Arafat's administration has been reluctant to confront the militants because these groups enjoy widespread approval among Palestinians for their anti-Israel exploits. One of Arafat's Cabinet members confides that his boss "has avoided the real job of cleaning up the extremists in Gaza."

Rabin insisted that his information made it clear that Waxman was being held in Gaza, over which Arafat was responsible. And so the Israeli Prime Minister made the kidnapping an issue of Arafat's authority and good faith and held the Palestinian leader "completely responsible" for the soldier's well-being. A further expansion of Palestinian self-rule, he said, rested on Waxman's safe release. Even as Israel's leader congratulated his Palestinian counterpart on the Nobel Prize, he issued a warning: "If there will not be security, there will also not be peace."

Rabin warned that Waxman's death would have "the gravest possible effect" on future Israeli-Palestinian relations: Israeli government officials suggested they might freeze plans to expand Palestinian authority in the West Bank. To highlight the threat, Rabin withdrew his delegation from talks in Cairo aimed at broadening self-rule. This was a marked departure for the Israeli leader, who previously had insisted on keeping negotiations going despite violence between the parties. U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher joined in pressuring Arafat, not only in the name of peace but for the sake of an American life. Arafat was motivated himself by a sense that the hostage taking was intended by Hamas to embarrass him.

Launching an unprecedented search for the captive soldier, the Palestinian chief mobilized virtually his entire 9,500-strong security force in the Gaza Strip, setting up new roadblocks, searching hideouts and rounding up 300 Hamas activists. But they were shaking the wrong tree. On Friday morning the Israelis received intelligence that the captive was in a house in Bir-Nabala, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, just three miles north of his parents' home in Ramot, a Jerusalem suburb. Throughout the day, Rabin said later, the Israelis considered a tentative Hamas proposal to exchange Waxman for Sheik Yassin, whom the government has considered freeing anyway because of his failing health. According to Rabin, the offer was never made firm by Hamas, but the militants did agree to extend their deadline by 24 hours.