Yasser Arafat

"We know Yasser Arafat has been to blame for the murder of Jews for decades," said Sharon.

Ariel Sharon

Sharon, whose army last month assassinated the founder of the radical Palestinian group Hamas, Sheik Ahmed Yassin, said earlier in the interview that "all those who kill Jews or push for the killing of Jews, or Israeli citizens deserve to die."

The prime minister rejected U.S. criticism of threats he made against Arafat on April 2. "Every country that respects itself, faced with assassins, must defend itself, like the United States does," he said.

The Japan Times Weekly: April 10, 2004
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