JERUSAELM – Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat may postpone his threat to unilaterally declare a Palestinian state until after the U.S. elections in November to gain leverage with the United States, an Israeli military report shows.
The report, parts of which were obtained by The Post, concludes that Arafat is guessing that President Clinton will be more sympathetic to the Palestinian demand for full sovereignty over East Jerusalem once the U.S. presidential election – and the need for Jewish votes – has passed.
For the past week, Arafat has been traveling from capital to capital in the Middle East, trying to forge a coalition in support of his plan to declare a Palestinian state next month.