Here you go, brucie. As I mentioned before, it has been suggested (by Palestinians among others), that if Sharon wanted to get rid of Arafat, he wouldn't be making him such a big issue:

GARDELS: Has Sharon's strategy to isolate Arafat and destroy his effectiveness backfired?

SHAATH: Absolutely. Arafat today is the most powerful leader in the whole Arab world. His constituency now is not just the Palestinians, but every one of the 300 million Arabs.

http://www.digitalnpq.org/global_services/global%20viewpoint/04-08-02shaath.html

Arafat is very useful to the Sharon administration for many different reasons.