Israeli PM vows to remove Arafat street sign in Arab town

JERUSALEM – Israel’s prime minister has vowed to change a street name in an Arab town honouring the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday before a cabinet meeting that he won’t allow streets “named after murderers of Israelis and Jews.”

Mohammed Watad, of Jatt council in northern Israel, told Channel 2 TV the sign has been up for nine years.

He pointed out that Arafat, together with then-Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994.

Arafat is widely remembered in Israel as leading militants who targeted civilians. Palestinians view him as a national icon of their movement for independence.

Arabs in Israel enjoy full rights but face discrimination in some areas. Many identify politically and culturally with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.