Last Update: 05/03/2004 06:10

'The day after' Arafat dies - not just an IDF game
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/401587.html
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent

The Israel Defense Forces recently conducted a simulation "war game" about what
would happen the day
after Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat passes away.

The exercise examined several possible scenarios and how Arafat's death - by
natural causes - would
influence the domestic situation in the Palestinian Authority and its relations
with Israel. The
Central Command exercises involved senior officers; apparently, the General
Staff will continue
where the Central Command officers left off.

Security sources told Haaretz that the exercise was not the result of any new
information about the
state of Arafat's health.

Last fall there was speculation about the 75-year-old's health after he appeared
to be fatigued and
gaunt, but after medical treatment he seemed to be feeling fine.

The army regards "the day after" as a "new chapter" in PA - and Palestinian -
history. The
assumption is that everything that will take place - the funeral, the mass
demonstrations, power
struggles for the leadership - will lead to a change in the Palestinians'
strategic relationship
with Israel.

The exercise included issues like where the funeral would be held, the route it
would travel, the
possibility of violent demonstrations, loss of control by the PA, and attempts
by the Hamas to
forcibly grab power in Gaza.

There is also growing speculation in the PA about what happens on the day after.
Channel 2 reported
this week that Arafat wants a crypt for himself on the Haram al-Sharif, the
Temple Mount, where
there are graves of many past Palestinian leaders.