RAMALLAH, West Bank ? The second-ranking official in the Israeli government said Sunday that killing Yasser Arafat was an option, as thousands of Palestinians took to the streets across the West Bank and Gaza Strip promising to protect their leader.

Israel blames Arafat for blocking peace efforts and preventing a crackdown against militants who have carried out two suicide bombings in the last week.

Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that killing Arafat was a possibility — along with expelling him or keeping him in a siege that would “isolate him from the world.” Olmert’s comments have not been part of any official government statement.

Olmert’s comments appeared aimed at sending signals to other Palestinian leaders to abandon Arafat. Olmert, considered a likely future candidate for premier, is the closest official to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to say outright that Arafat might be killed.

“Arafat can no longer be a factor in what happens here,” Olmert told Israel Radio. “Expulsion is certainly one of the options. Killing is also one of the options.”

Secretary of State Colin Powell said Israel would incite rage among Arabs and Muslims everywhere by exiling or killing Arafat.

“The Israelis know our position quite well,” Powell told “Fox News Sunday” during a visit to Iraq. “The United States does not support either the elimination of him or the exile of Mr. Arafat.”

On Sunday, thousands of supporters arrived for a fourth straight day at Arafat’s compound, chanting that their 74-year-old leader “is a mountain that the wind can’t shake.”

Arafat emerged and waved, smiling.

Some 5,000 Palestinians in the Rashidiyeh refugee camp in southern Lebanon also demonstrated to support Arafat. Speaking by telephone over a loudspeaker, Arafat told them: “I will die in Palestine, and I will not leave.”