Israeli Justice Minister Yosef Lapid said Israel might consider putting Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on trial after the conviction of an uprising leader from his Fatah movement for killing Israelis.
"After the verdict we may have to consider putting Arafat on trial one of these days," Mr Lapid said after the conviction of Palestinian lawmaker Marwan Barghouthi, who has been seen as a potential successor to Mr Arafat.
A senior Israeli source said there were no immediate plans for prosecuting Mr Arafat, who has long been accused by the Jewish state of fomenting violence in an uprising since 2000. Mr Arafat has always denied this.
Mr Lapid said Israel had not brought Mr Arafat to trial already because it did not want to prosecute public figures.
