“After one comparatively calm day in Israel, the situation is still disturbing,” Prof. Tsanko Yablanski, Bulgarian Ambassador to Israel, said on the National Bulgarian Radio on December 3 before the Israeli attacks on Palestinian targets, including the headquarters of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank town of Ramallah. “After the terrorist bomb attacks the Cabinet held a meeting at which the Prime Minister was not present. Later in the day Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Shimon Peres briefed the Diplomatic Corps on the situation. He did not mention any concrete decisions the ministers had taken during their meeting. He made it clear that they expect the Prime Minister to come back from the United States before they undertake any measures. On December 3 Ariel Sharon came back from the United States and held a brief meeting with the Cabinet. He made no statements. Nothing extraordinary happened and we were left with the impression that the Israeli Cabinet will give the Palestinians some time. Tonight the Prime Minister Sharon is expected to address the nation. We had heard off the record reports of helicopters attacking the Gaza Strip. And this is really disturbing. The Diplomatic Corps visited the site of the terrorist attack – a crowded street in Jerusalem. Things are really very complicated. There were a lot of demonstrators who asked us to help them get out of this difficult situation.” Later in the day in a televised address to the nation Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Israel faced a "war of terrorism." "This war will not be an easy war; this war will not be a short war, but we shall win," Sharon said. Early on December 4 after more than five hours of closed-door talks, the Israeli Cabinet called the Palestinian Authority a "terrorist-supporting entity" that must be dealt with as such.

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