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A decade later, the idea would suddenly resurface. In my first meeting, as a
newly promoted Major General, with our then Defence Minister Ariel Sharon,
Sharon turned to me and the army’s Chief of Staff, Rafael Eitan, and said: “Tell
me. Why the hell is Arafat still alive?” He looked first at Raful, then at me, and
added: “When I was 20 years younger than you are, I never waited for someone
like Ben-Gurion or Dayan to ask me to plan an operation. I would plan it! Then
I’d take it to them and say, you’re the politicians, you decide, but if you say yes,
we'll do it.” I smiled, telling him that I’d done exactly that, a decade earlier,
only to have one of his mates in the top brass say no. Sharon now said yes. But
the plan was overtaken: by his ill-fated plan to launch a full-scale invasion of
Lebanon in 1982, targeting not just Arafat, but with the aim of crushing the
PLO militarily once and for all.
I finally met Arafat face-to-face at the end of 1995. Although the Oslo peace
process had dramatically changed things, it was clear that the real prize — real
peace — was still far away. We were in Barcelona, for a Euro-Mediterranean
meeting under the auspices of King Juan Carlos, aimed at trying to re-invigorate
negotiations. The ceremonial centrepiece of the event was a dinner at one of the
royal palaces, and it was arranged for me and Arafat to meet for a few minutes
beforehand. | arrived first. I found myself in a breathtakingly opulent, but
otherwise empty, room. Empty, that is, except for a dark-brown Steinway piano.
From childhood, I have loved music. And while I am never likely to threaten the
career of anyone in the New York Philharmonic, I have, over the years,
developed some ability, and drawn huge enjoyment, as a classical pianist. I
pulled back the red-velvet bench and began to play. With my back to the
doorway, I was unaware that Arafat had arrived, and that he was soon standing
only a few feet away, watching as I played one of my favourite pieces, a Chopin
waltz. My old commando antennae must have been blunted. I may not have
become “fat”. But, undeniably, I was now a politician.
When I finally realised Arafat was behind me, I turned, embarrassed, stood
up, and grasped his hand. “It’s a real pleasure to meet you,” I said. “I must say I
have spent many years watching you — by other means.” He smiled. We stood
talking for about 10 minutes. My hope was to establish simple, human contact;
to signal respect; to begin to create the conditions not to try to kill Arafat, but to
make peace with him. “We carry a great responsibility,” I said. “Both of our
peoples have paid a heavy price, and the time has come to find a way to solve
this.”
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