Speaking to Canadian Jewish activists, the former general brushed aside international concerns over his Government’s policies to quell the three-year Palestinian intifada by saying that opponents who denied Israel’s right to defend itself also denied its “birthright to exist”.

“Regrettably, we see this phenomenon among many nations in the world community and I would say that this is a new form of anti-Semitism,” Mr Sharon said in Jerusalem.His remarks were greeted with scorn by Palestinians, who said that protests stemmed from opposition to Israel’s helicopter assassinations, bulldozing houses, land seizures, curfews and tank incursions rather than anti-Jewish sentiments.

Mr Sharon’s comments come after widespread anger, dismay and incomprehension in Israel at a recent European Union poll of 7,500 Europeans that said 59 per cent regarded Israel as the greatest threat to world peace.

“Why do they hate us?” one Israeli tabloid asked amid extensive media coverage that contrasted European anger over Israel’s security measures to curb suicide bombings and shootings with far more proIsrael attitudes in the US.

Israeli pundits often accuse European countries of harbouring latent, historic anti-Semitism fuelled in recent years by the growth of vocal Muslim minorities. Among the latest incidents cited were comments by Mikis Theodorakis, composer of the music for Zorba the Greek, who reportedly described Israel as “the root of evil, not of good”, and a governor in Germany’s conservative opposition Christian Democratic Union who compared the Jews’ role in bringing communism to power in Russia with that of the Nazis.

However, they are not confined to Europe. The most prominent incident seized upon was the widely condemned remarks by Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the former Malaysian Prime Minister, to an Islamic summit last month, that Jews ruled the world “by proxy”.

Diana Buttu, a PLO spokeswoman, said that the Israeli leadership was seeking to deflect legitimate concerns. “Sharon’s allegations of anti-Semitism are merely a means of silencing the international community and of silencing any criticism of Israel,” she said. “Israel has for 35 years refused to abide by international law and the criticism of Israel emanates from this. I would also like to point out that there are plenty of Jews out there who criticise Israel.”

Israeli officials conceded that using anti-Semitism as an argument of first resort without addressing critics’ arguments would be counterproductive. But Jonathan Peled, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, said that Mr Sharon was addressing a growing tendency to blur the distinction between attacks on the State of Israel and the Jewish people.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Foreign Minister, Silvan Shalom, said Mr Sharon and the new Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, also known as Abu Ala, were likely to meet “within ten days, in my opinion”. He spoke the day after the Palestinian Parliament ratified Mr Qureia’s new Cabinet.

SUPPORT FOR CEASEFIRE

Jerusalem: Two thirds of Palestinians support the ceasefire with Israel that Ahmed Qureia, the Palestinian Prime Minister, has made a priority of his new Government, a poll published yesterday by the Palestinian Centre for Public Opinion concluded. The institute said that 44.5 per cent favoured ending the intifada and 42.6 per cent wanted it to continue. Yassir Arafat’s popularity was unwavering, with 72.4 per cent of Palestinians supporting him. (AFP)

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