'I hated him': Israeli justice minister

Blaming Yasser Arafat for global terrorism and the failure to achieve Middle East peace, an Israeli Cabinet minister expressed hope today that a new Palestinian leadership would put down militant groups and negotiate with Israel.

The comments by Justice Minister Yosef Lapid marked the first reaction by a top Israeli official to Arafat’s death at a French hospital before dawn Thursday. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s aides declined comment.

Lapid focused on Arafat’s image in Israel as a terrorist.

“I hated him for the deaths of Israelis … I hated him for not allowing the peace process … to move forward,” Lapid told Israel Radio.

“It is one of the tragedies of the world that he didn’t understand that the terror that began here would spread to the entire world,” he added.