HIGHLIGHTS: Lebanon a Possible Destination||Commitment to Washington Not to Injure Arafat Stands||Split over Contingency Plan within Occupation Army Ranks Reported||Plan Faces Heated Opposition From Coalition Partner, Labour|| STORY: The Israeli army has a contingency plan to grab Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from his West Bank headquarters and fly him to exile in an Arab country, Israeli television said on Friday.

Channel Two TV said the plan, approved in principle by Israeli prime Minister Ariel Sharon, entailed a raid on Arafat's Ramallah compound by Special Forces who would ensure he was not harmed physically during the operation.

The report did not cite any sources.

He would then be taken to a waiting helicopter and flown nonstop to an Arab country which has no diplomatic relations with Israel and no close ties with the United States, Israel's premier ally, the television said, naming neighboring Lebanon as a possible destination.

The report said the scenario was a contingency plan, not necessarily likely to be implemented anytime soon.

The occupation army and a spokesman for Sharon refused to comment on the report.

Aides to Sharon have said they will stand by a commitment to Washington not to injure Arafat but they have not ruled out expelling him at some point.

There have been differences of opinion within the Israeli defence establishment, with some senior officers in favor of banishing Arafat, while others believe that the likely Palestinian backlash and international disapproval would outweigh the benefits of distancing Arafat from the Palestinian Resistance activists Israel says he supports.

Proposals to move ahead with Arafat's expulsion have so far failed to win the political green light and would face heated opposition from within Sharon's cabinet, possibly leading to the breakup of his coalition government, which pairs Sharon's Likud party with the so-called more dovish Labor.

PHOTO CAPTION

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat looks on during a Palestinian Authority cabinet meeting at his office in the West Bank town of Ramallah, August 15, 2002. A senior Palestinian official on Thursday announced a major reform of Palestinian Authority financing that would help meet U.S. demands for reviving peace talks with Israel. REUTERS/HO/Palestinian Authority, Hussein Hussein
- Aug 15 7:08 AM ET