The NY Times has called for Arafat to retire. An excerpt:

The retirement of Mr. Arafat, who is 74, would allow the creation of a more credible Palestinian government that could garner international support and claim the moral high ground in the confrontation with Mr. Arafat's equally stubborn nemesis, Ariel Sharon.

But there is, of course, no sign that Mr. Arafat is interested in much beyond his own myth. Pinned down for the last two years in his battered Ramallah bunker, Mr. Arafat has abused his control over the authority's treasury and militias. It seems to be of no importance to him that the Palestinian lands are in total ruin and that the fruits of the Oslo accords are in tatters.

His reflexive insistence that this is all the fault of "Zionists," the West and other Arabs is unsustainable. Mr. Arafat himself bears a large share of the responsibility for these misfortunes.

The full NY Times editorial.