When Osama bin Laden burst into fame after his genocidal jet-bombs assaulted New York and Washington, our publishing team discussed adding him to our list of candidates for israelinsider person of the year, recognizing the man or woman who has most impacted the Jewish State. But we nixed the idea -- first, the primary target of his attacks is America. The impact on Israel may well come -- but not this year.

But the bin Laden spirit and tradition is well represented on our list -- and in fact, it was this nominee who handily won the popular vote. If bin Laden is the new killer on the block, Yasser Arafat (or Abu Amar, his nom de guerre) is the "old man" of terror. Arafat founded his Palestine Liberation Organization in 1964, long before Israel had conquered East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza in the defensive Six Day War.

It was Arafat and his colleagues who brought terrorism to world attention, setting in motion the new notion of hijacking and blowing up airplanes in the 1970's. He even did the original four jet explosion trick in the Jordanian Desert in September 1970. He and his Palestinian lieutenants masterminded the Munich Massacre, hijacked the cruise ship Achille Lauro, and hundreds of additional acts of terror. He gave Israel the opportunity to stage our dramatic Entebbe Rescue on the American Bicentennial. He has always had a flair for drama, and last-minute surprises

Arafat has been nothing if not consistent: the same olive drab uniform and kefiya, the same holster, the same stubble. He has destabilized and subverted every country he's lived in: Jordan, Lebanon -- Tunisia could not have been happier to see him leave, when the Israeli left wing, working behind the back of Yitzhak Rabin, turned him into a statesman. Now he's working on the West Bank and Gaza, trying to exploit these territories (he already occupies) to achieve the larger goal to the west, working with the Arab citizens of Israel -- Palestinian Israelis -- to destroy the democracy next door.

A friend of mine, disappointed that Arafat seemed to have forgotten his appeals to for "a peace of the brave," suggested that maybe he was suffering from Alzheimer's Disease, regressing to memories of old speeches, repeating them like a stoned, stuttering zombie.

So Arafat seemed in his response to the attack on America, with goons whispering in his ear what to say: "I'm shocked. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Unbelievable." Yet he's healthy enough to give blood -- or at least to be photographed doing so. (I stayed awake worrying that his blood was actually saved and passed on to the American blood supply. I have since been assured that it was not.) He has learned how to get good press: threaten to kill anyone who reports the news that makes you look bad.

But you have to respect one thing about Arafat. He has demonstrated, contrary to the doddering, trembling appearance, tight control of his revolutionary movement, directing its diverse factions, involved in its diverse terror operations on a day-to-day basis. When Arafat stammered, "I am shocked" about the terrorist attacks on America, I thought immediately of one of my favorite scenes from "Casablanca." Bogey as Rick is outraged that French police inspector Renault is closing down his nightclub. "How can you close me up? On what grounds?" Renault huffs: "I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here." Then the croupier arrives with a bag: "Your winnings, sir."

When I speak to Palestinian acquaintances, they tell me that the gross corruption practiced by Arafat and his buddies is the source of unending local gossip and jokes in Gaza and the West Bank. But it's no surprise to Israelis. Some believed that by lining Arafat's pockets, they could bribe him into suppressing the Islamic militants. He quickly learned -- by talking and shooting at the same time, that he could keep the cash and still lead the revolution. He has faithfully implemented his phased plan to destroy Israel, using each territory acquired as a launching pad for military and diplomatic efforts to get more.

Despite everything -- the broken agreements, the refusal to lift a finger to stop terrorism, the constant incitement to hatred and violence against Jews and the Jewish State -- there are still Israeli politicians who think he remains the only game in town, that there is no alternative to negotiations with him. "You make peace with your enemies, not your friends," they say. Well, sometimes. Other times, as the Americans are learning with bin Laden, you have no choice to defeat and destroy them -- before they destroy you.

As 5761 began, Arafat chose not to accept Prime Minister Barak's generous offer: a 96-100% land swap, three-quarters of Jerusalem's Old City, recognition and support for a Palestinian state, symbolic acceptance of tens of thousands of refugees to Israel annually. He rejected Barak's offer and didn't even bother with a counter-offer. He continues to insisted on what he has always demanded: sovereignty over all of Jerusalem's Old City, including the Jewish Quarter, and full implementation of the right of all Palestinian refugees to return to Israel rather than Palestine.

It became clear that Arafat wanted it all: to have his state, and eat one too -- by bullets in the first case, by ballots in the second. Israelis realized what they should have understood in the name Palestine Liberation Organization, in the clauses of the Covenant never formally abrogated, in the official emblems of the PLO, which portray all the land from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Israelis realized that he and most Palestinians rejected a solution of an Arab and Jewish state side-by-side, that they -- and Arab Israeli citizens (who now call themselves Palestinian Israelis) -- saw all of Israel as occupied territory. He launched the violence that augured in our New Year, causing so much unnecessary death and suffering all year long. He initiated and sustained the bloodshed to distract his own people from his own failures as a statesman and corruption as a politician. It became clear that the peace of the brave was just a euphemism for the peace of the grave.

Yet, unbelievably, President George W. Bush and Secretary Colin Powell reportedly are now trying to enlist Arafat's support in the coalition against terrorism. One doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. Talk about asking the cat to guard the milk! Faded are memories of Arafat killing American diplomats, blowing up Marines, embracing Saddam. Forgotten, despite the recent reprise, are the Palestinians crowds celebrating the SCUD attacks. To be generous with the embattled American Administration, perhaps they need to learn more about how terror organizations work. No one knows more than Arafat.

But no matter how much he will try -- Arafat's people will not allow him to join the Great Satan. He has educated them to hatred, to murder in the name of martyrdom, and there is no going back from that brink, certainly not after the great joy of the attack on the United States. The celebration of American humiliation is the rule, not the exception. Arafat educated his people to the glories of armed struggle, to hatred and defeat of the Jews, and they expect nothing less from their leader.

Israeli Prime Minister Sharon, speaking to Secretary Powell a day after the attack on America, called Yasser Arafat "our bin Laden." The same evening, a senior American diplomatic official told a joke to a gathering in Israel. The fact that he felt bold enough to tell it shows just how far Arafat's stock has fallen. The joke went like this: "One guy says to the other: 'Did you hear Arafat's last speech?' The other guy answers: 'I hope so.'"

And so, O Yasser Arafat, we congratulate you on being selected as israelinsider person of the Jewish Year 5761, as the man whom we and our readers believe has most impacted--literally--our last twelve months.

In fact, we hope to soon present you with a posthumous award for lifetime achievement. Some folks may be trying to revoke your Nobel Peace Prize, but most Israelis would like to give you what you truly deserve.

Get it when next you come to Israel. Or we can come to you. You may not be bin Laden, but you are ours.

We look forward to your last acceptance speech.

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