The Israeli government authorized the army last night to “remove” Yasser Arafat and gave its security services a green light to move against the 74 year-old Palestinian leader “in a manner, and at a time, of its choosing.”

Arafat who has been trapped in his office for a year and a half by Israel declared that no one will “kick me out,” after thousands of Palestinians poured into streets throughout the West Bank and Gaza to support him.

A spokesman for the Arab league described the move as ” tantamount to a declaration of war.”

The Jerusalem Post, the No. 1 English-language newspaper in Israel, editorialized: “We must kill as many of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders as possible, as quickly possible, while minimizing collateral damage, but not letting that damage stop us. And we must kill Yasser Arafat, because the world leaves us no alternative.”