Sharon is saved from the threat of peace

[Fight_n_back]

It used to be said about Yitzhak Shamir that he
wanted to wake up in the morning and see newspaper
headlines saying, "The threat of peace has been
lifted." All the signs now point to Ariel Sharon
approaching the accomplishment that the former
Likud premier dreamt of. The "window of
opportunity" for renewing the peace process,
opened after the war in Iraq, has been slammed
shut. The efforts for a political deal have once
again given way to the routine of managing the
conflict, with Israel controlling the territories,
and all the settlements in place.

<snip>

To win the elections, Bush needs the money,
energy and organizational capabilities of his
friends in the Christian right and the Jewish
community, strongholds of support for Israel.
And to win in Iraq he needs help from his Arab
friends. Only the Arab states can grant
legitimacy and economic encouragement to the
puppet regime that is going up in Baghdad. The
big winner apparently will be Syrian President
Bashar Assad, who will win a "presidential
pardon" for his support of Palestinian terror
and Hezbollah, in exchange for helping
rehabilitate trade with Iraq. The Israeli
defense establishment's hopes that the American
cannon in Iraq would turn on Syria, Hezbollah
and Iran were overly optimistic.
<<snip>>
As far as Sharon is concerned, it is difficult
to think of better news. The prime minister may
have spoken of a Palestinian state and an end
to the occupation, but his proposals to the
Palestinians have been like an attempt to buy a
Kfar Shmaryahu mansion for the price of a
Amidar housing project apartment, and to demand
the house be renovated before the negotiations
even begin (and even that doesn't have a
majority in the Likud central committee). In
practice, Sharon has done everything possible
to rebuff political dialogue, repeatedly
toughening his conditions for opening the talks
while deepening Israel's grip on the
territories. Just like Shamir - but with one
big difference. Sharon understood that he
shouldn't clash with Washington, and a polite
no is better than a determined one. That's how
he managed to rebuff "the threat of peace" and
even win praise from the Americans.

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http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=336538&contrassID=2&subContrassID=4&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y