by Askia Muhammad
White House Correspondent

THE WHITE HOUSE (FinalCall.com)�With the tacit approval of President George W. Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had ordered F-16 fighter jets to attack the police headquarters and the offices of Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat in the West Bank town of Jenin at Final Call press time Dec. 3.

The attacks were ordered in the wake of weekend bombing attacks that killed 25 Israelis and three suicide bombers. On Dec. 1, two suicide bombers detonated explosives near the crowded Zion Square shopping complex in Jerusalem, killing 10 Israelis and themselves, and wounding another 180. A third blast�a car bomb�exploded about 10 minutes later.

Later, the next day around midday, another bomb destroyed a bus in the Israeli port city of Haifa, killing 16 people, including the suicide bomber, and injuring about 35 others, according to broadcast reports.

"The Palestinian Authority forcefully condemns the attacks that were carried out tonight in Jerusalem. The goal of these attacks has been to destroy the American peace efforts," the Palestinian Authority said, in a statement almost immediately after the first bombing.

"These attacks cause great damage to our people in international public opinion and the Palestinian Authority will do everything in its power to catch those responsible. It pays its condolences to the Israeli people."

Mr. Arafat subsequently ordered a sweeping crackdown on Palestinian militants, arresting 110 people in pockets of Palestinian controlled areas.

Mr. Arafat faces the danger of resistance to his crackdown, which could lead to a civil war among the Palestinian population. In one refugee camp in Bethlehem, for example, when dozens of Palestinian police and intelligence agents moved in to attempt to arrest militants there, they were held back by a large angry crowd firing rifles into the air. The police withdrew empty-handed after a tense standoff, according to a published report.

There is widespread belief in the Arab world, and even shared by some western analysts however, that Israel�s security establishment has tried to foment civil strife inside the occupied territories to pressure Mr. Arafat, or to even topple him from power.

The weekend suicide bombings may have in fact been retaliation for the assassination of Mahmoud Abu Hanoud, a top commander of the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas, by Israeli military forces when missiles struck his car near the West Bank town of Nablus Nov. 23.

Hamas distributed a videotape Dec. 3, recorded by Palestinian Maher Ihbeishi before he blew himself up in the Haifa bus attack.

The grainy footage showed the 24-year-old plumber wearing camouflage fatigues and a green bandana. "I say to the Zionists, you will not enjoy security. Dozens, even hundreds of martyrs are awaiting their turn," Mr. Ihbeishi said, holding a Holy Qur�an in one hand, and an assault rifle in the other, according to Reuters news service.

Despite Mr. Arafat�s swift condemnation, Pres. Bush and Mr. Sharon both blamed the Palestinian leader for the desperate attacks.

"Chairman Arafat and the Palestinian Authority must immediately find and arrest those responsible for these hideous murders," Mr. Bush said in a strongly worded statement after his Oval Office meeting with Mr. Sharon Dec. 2.

"(Mr.) Arafat is responsible for everything that is happening here," Mr. Sharon said after returning to Israel, accusing him of "choosing to pursue political goals through murder."

The Israeli military action will only lead to more violence in the region, rather than a capitulation by the Palestinian leadership, the PA�s chief negotiator warned. "This will only breed bullets. This will only breed more bloodshed," Saeb Erakat said in a broadcast interview.

"(Mr. Sharon) is saying: �War, war, war now, peace later.� I think he is making the mistake of his life," Mr. Erakat continued, calling on U.S. and European leaders to "stop Sharon."

Instead, the Israelis may have intentionally targeted Mr. Arafat�s headquarters in order to send him a message. "Did the Israelis intend to target Arafat, or did they deliberately choose a target that they knew would be a clear signal to him that they could get him any time they wanted?" retired Admiral Eugene Carroll, of the Center for Defense Information told The Final Call. "They took out two of his helicopters that normally fly him around the region.

"They seem to me to have sent a clear signal to him that: �You could be next if you don�t put an end to this violence that you�re directing against us,�" Adm. Carroll continued. Gone are the days, he said, when heads of state were not considered to be "fair" military targets.

"We live in a very different age than when monarchs waged orderly wars against each other. The king is part of the target-set in this day and age. It�s just that the political consequences of it are so extreme that the Israelis probably are reluctant to go after (Mr. Arafat) directly."

The facts is, Adm. Carroll continued, Mr. Arafat is "vulnerable any time they make that decision. They will go after Arafat personally, if he does not rein in the terrorist activities which have accelerated despite his claim that he�s attempting to control them."

The White House said that Israel had the right to defend itself in the face of new attacks, but insisted President Bush had not given Mr. Sharon a green light to pursue military action against Palestinian militants.

"Obviously Israel has the right to defend itself and the president understands that clearly," White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters Dec. 3. "The President thinks it�s very important that Palestinian jails not only have bars on the front, but no longer have revolving doors at the back.

"This is a real opportunity for Chairman Arafat to show in actions, not words, that he stands for peace and that he will take action that is enduring, and meaningful, against the terrorists and those who sponsor the terrorist attacks that took place in Israel," Mr. Fleischer said.

He drew a distinction however, between Mr. Arafat and Afghan Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, who the U.S. blames for harboring Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network. Mr. Fleischer said Mr. Arafat in the past has taken steps for peace as opposed to Mullah Omar who "did not, has not and will not" consider peace.