Get ready for the mother of all elections

Get ready for the mother of all elections

By Yoel Marcus

If Ariel Sharon didn't exist, we'd have to invent him. He sits there like a Buddha, in girth and facial expression, as his political buddies and settler friends curse and swear at him. They regard him as a traitor to the cause, as they man the barricades and wave the banner of rebellion against unilateral disengagement from Gaza.

But the scarier the threats, the less his facial muscles move. His response is a mute one, calling to mind General de Gaulle's "je vous ai compris" - "I understood you" - to the settlers in Algeria. He understood them, but he did the opposite of what they thought he understood.

It took the settlers and the fanatics some time for it to sink in that the greatest illusionist in the land really meant what he said this time. After Ben-Gurion in 1949 and Yitzhak Rabin in 1993, Sharon is the third prime minister to grasp that there is no escape from dividing the country - in this case, a moment before Israel finds itself with an Arab majority and the clock runs out.

After the invasion of Iraq and the fall of the Twin Towers, Sharon realized that the world is no longer willing to accept land grabs and one nation controlling another. He and Bush have found a common language about what needs to be done and what is expected of him.

"Gaza is not the land of our forefathers, and we have no business there," Sharon said. But it soon dawned on his friends, the Zambish-clones and Yesha chiefs, that this move is a Pandora's box. They realized that Sharon is evacuating Gush Katif, but he means Judea and Samaria, that agreeing to establish a Palestinian state on land that is mostly in our hands is another way of saying: bye-bye Greater Land of Israel. Sharon's initiative does indeed end the status quo, and it is clearly not a one-shot deal.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/603301.html

thats what i love about "second guessing" what israels/sharons plans are:

"They realized that Sharon is evacuating Gush Katif, but he means Judea and Samaria, that agreeing to establish a Palestinian state on land that is mostly in our hands is another way of saying: bye-bye Greater Land of Israel"

at one point the gaza withdrawl is a ruse, then its a conspiracy, then its a distraction, then its a....whatever.......

actually its none of the above (my thinking)....its just reality setting in....sharons a tactician not a strategist. I doubt he knows what comes next and even if he thinks he does or his advisors think they do...they dont. Too many surprises await us that will have an affect on the future events.....

i just hope god (any god, I'm easy) helps the palestenains create a stable society of there in gaza.....

I think of it as an attempted orderly retreat from an untenable position. And it was the death-knell of "greater Israel". It is most ironic that Jabba pulled the plug on that.