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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Win Smith who wrote (25422)	4/15/2002 9:08:41 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 281500

<<Sharon also, despite the military power of Israel, has not led his people closer to peace and security. The war with the Palestinians has become more bitter, and the hatred has deepened. Israel's international situation has deteriorated to such an extent that some people have come to regard the killing of Israeli citizens as something almost natural and Israel's defensive actions as aggression. At the moment, Sharon doesn't know how to emerge victorious from the war. >> Sharon and Arafat - a strategic picture By Ze'ev Schiff HA'ARETZ Tuesday, April 16, 2002 Iyyar 4, 5762 Israel Time: 04:05 (GMT+3) haaretzdaily.com It's hard to escape the feeling that the leaders of Israel and the Palestinians are more occupied than anything else with settling accounts with each other. It seems that this issue takes precedence over any strategic calculation. Ariel Sharon was elected prime minister to teach Yasser Arafat a lesson for the violence he adopted after the Camp David summit. Following his election, people in Arafat's bureau started saying that the goal now is to prove to Sharon and the Israelis that "Mr. Security" is incapable of providing his people with security. His defeat would prove to the Israelis that they would not attain security through the force of arms. Over a year has passed since Sharon came to power, and not only has he failed to strengthen security, but also Israel's security situation has deteriorated. It would be a mistake to think that Arafat's approach to previous leaders of Israel was more sincere. He gave a green light to terror and incitement during the terms of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, ordered attacks during Benjamin Netanyahu's period - as in the case of the Western Wall Tunnel - and initiated a military confrontation when Ehud Barak was prime minister. But he holds a special personal animosity toward Sharon. For Sharon, Arafat is someone who would never let the two peoples reach a peace accord that would allow for the existence of Israel and, because there is no chance for an alternative Palestinian leadership to arise as long as Arafat is around, he should be kicked out of Ramallah, as he was from Jordan and Lebanon. Other people close to Sharon, and not only those close to him, speak more bluntly and said that expulsion isn't enough - he needs to be terminated. According to them, the Palestinians need to realize that as long as he's their leader, they won't succeed in gaining any serious achievement and risk another nakba (catastrophe). Sharon is so focused on his opposition to Arafat - the latest expression of this is his demand for an international conference without Arafat's participation - that he missed chances to advance the political-diplomatic process under relatively favorable conditions. The peak of Arafat's de-legitimization was after Sept. 11 in the United States, with Palestinian support for bin Laden and the exposure of Arafat's plan to bring Iranian weapons into the territories and integrate Hezbollah in the war. That was the best moment for a political-diplomatic move coordinated with the Americans, but Sharon didn't take advantage of it. His focus was on getting rid of Arafat, and Sharon forced his position on the coalition. Arafat has not been expelled, and despite harsh personal criticism of him by U.S. President George W. Bush, he has become a symbol in the Arab street. Even though his behavior is blocking the possibility of forging a coalition against the Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, he permits himself to act as if he were doing favors for Washington. This is because he does not feel that he is under an American threat to break off relations if he doesn't stop the terror. Despite his weakness, Arafat has succeeded in maneuvering Sharon into numerous pitfalls. His achievements are expressed first of all in negative terms - causing strategic damages to Israel. But the key question is whether he has improved the political-diplomatic situation of the Palestinians and moved them forward toward strategic goals that he could have attained without the bloodshed. Has a single family of refugees been returned, and have the considerable sums that flowed from the donor countries improved the lives of the Palestinians? The answer is no. Arafat has not brought the Palestinian people closer to peace or to fulfilling the dream of the "right of return." At most, he has demonstrated to Israel that the chance of keeping all of the settlements in place is zero. Sharon also, despite the military power of Israel, has not led his people closer to peace and security. The war with the Palestinians has become more bitter, and the hatred has deepened. Israel's international situation has deteriorated to such an extent that some people have come to regard the killing of Israeli citizens as something almost natural and Israel's defensive actions as aggression. At the moment, Sharon doesn't know how to emerge victorious from the war. If his impatience results in the Labor Party's departure from the government, Sharon will be pushed - together with the State of Israel - down a slippery slope.