Q 6

PLAYBOY: Do you still have hope for the peace process?

Yasir Arafat: Yes, I have hope. I think there will someday be a Palestinian state. But Netanyahu is destroying the peace process. I was not expecting an Israeli government that would destroy the peace process. And I am not the only one saying this. The Americans say it, the European Union says it, the Egyptians say it, the Jordanians say it.

Q 7

PLAYBOY: The Israeli government says that you are not living up to your end of the deal.

Yasir Arafat: That's not true. I am not responding to those charges. We are meeting our obligations, but the Israelis always demand more. Let them live up to their promises and to their obligations.

Q 8

PLAYBOY: Has Clinton been helpful in the process? Do you think he's sincere?

Yasir Arafat: Yes. He has taken some big steps. He's trying. Netanyahu met with Clinton's opposition when we visited Washington. Can you imagine that?

Q 9

PLAYBOY: What are the consequences of failure?

Yasir Arafat: If we made peace, it would change the world. And the Israelis are already losing the chance.

Q 10

PLAYBOY: What, specifically, do you mean?

Yasir Arafat: All the doors were opened for Israel when we signed the peace agreement. China, Indonesia, Russia, the former Communist countries--all those from which Israel had been barred--opened their doors.

Q 11

PLAYBOY: And now?

Yasir Arafat: The world is closing to Israel because Netanyahu opposes the peace process.

Q 12

PLAYBOY: Are you suggesting that you are doing more for Israel than it is doing for you?

Yasir Arafat: No. I'm not doing it just for Israel. I'm doing it for the people of the Middle East. Including Israel. I want to make a new Middle East.