Israel threatened again yesterday to ?remove? Palestinian President Yasser Arafat. ?There is no room for Arafat among us, and the time will come when we will remove him... and that day is closer than ever,? Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said.

Israel and the United States have tried to sideline Arafat, a longtime symbol of Palestinian nationalism, accusing him of fomenting violence in the nearly four-year-old Palestinian uprising. Arafat, 75, effectively confined to his battered West Bank headquarters by Israel for more than two years, denies the allegations.

Shalom?s remarks to his rightist Likud Party, broadcast by Israeli radios, were the second threat made by Israel this week against the Palestinian leader. Israeli Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz said on Monday a security cabinet decision made a year ago to expel Arafat was still valid, but hinted that implementation had been delayed to avoid complicating a planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Senior Israeli officials have reaffirmed the threat against Arafat several times before, but political sources say such a move is unlikely as long as the United States, Israel?s main ally, strongly opposes it.