The European Union wants to send investigators to Israel to interview Palestinians in Israeli prisons about the Palestinian Authority's use of European donations to fund terrorism.
The EU fraud investigation agency (OLAF) opened an investigation at the end of last year after a unanimous demand from the European Parliament for a probe of allegations that PA chairman Yasser Arafat and senior officials transferred EU funds to Fatah's military wing, the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.
Parliamentarians requested an open investigation, but a classified one by OLAF was ultimately decided upon. OLAF officials visited Israel at the beginning of 2004 and reviewed documents and testimony presented by the IDF and Shin Bet security service.
Some of those documents were seized during the IDF raid on Arafat's Muqata compound in Ramallah during Operation Defensive Shield in April 2002. After examining the material, investigators determined it was authentic.
Continued...The beat goes on. No one is immune. Even Arafat's power has its limits.