Jerusalem — Insisting that Israel won't be "put on trial," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon grudgingly met Sunday with a U.S.-led panel investigating Mideast violence and blamed Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for ordering months of fighting.
The panel, led by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell, has been meeting with a wide range of Israelis and Palestinians, gathering information on the worst outbreak of fighting since the two sides launched peace negotiations in 1993.
The violence which has killed 434 people broke out last September after Sharon, then opposition leader, made a controversial visit to a disputed Jerusalem holy site.
But Sharon on Sunday insisted that he was not to blame, saying Arafat ordered the uprising.
"The full responsibility for the outbreak of violence and its persistence rests on Arafat," Sharon told the commission. "We know for sure that the security forces of the Palestinian Authority, including the presidential guard, Force 17, are directly involved in the recent terror activities."
The Israeli leader also made clear that he opposed the work of the commission, calling it "a historic mistake because no one has the right, no one, to put Israel on a world trial." Nonetheless, Sharon said he had no choice but to meet the commission, which was established before he took office this month.
The commission is expected to complete its report on the violence in about a month.
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