JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied an Israeli newspaper report that opposition leader Shimon Peres had advised Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat not to sign an agreement on Hebron.
“There is no truth whatsoever to these reports,” said Netanyahu, who reached Peres by phone in Sweden Sunday night to stress that he gave the report no credence.
Peres said he appreciated the gesture. “I think it is ridiculous that a journalist is willing to go on the word of this `rabbit’ who made the claim but is afraid to identify himself,” he told Israel Television.
The claim, attributed to a “senior political official” quoted Sunday in the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot, came as Israeli and Palestinian negotiators continued efforts to conclude an accord on implementing Israeli troop redeployment in Hebron.
While some say it was leaked from Netanyahu’s office, it was denied by the prime minister and his staff, who publicly declared they did not believe it.
Netanyahu refused to comment on allegations that he himself had started the rumor, saying they were not worthy of a response.
Peres called upon the official to reveal himself so that he could face legal redress, and scolded the media for playing a “not-so-innocent” role for the sake of a scoop.
Shimon Schiffer, the reporter who scooped the report, said Monday: “In all honesty, we must admit we are all instruments in the hands of our sources, and every report has a purpose.”
He said the “sources” try to use journalists for their purposes, “and that’s how we obtain information.”
Meanwhile, Arafat denied that Peres had advised him regarding the agreement. He warned that further delays in negotiations with Israel would pose a “direct threat” to the entire peace process.
Labor’s leaders were furious about the report, which they perceived as part of a campaign to delegitimize Peres and the opposition.