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Photo: Gil Yohanan
No threat to Sharon: Uzi Landau
Photo: Gil Yohanan

Comrade George, Comrade Landau

Ariel Sharon will return from the U.N. confident, strong and stable

Ariel Sharon went to New York this week looking for three main things from U.S. President George W. Bush: support, support, support.

 

Following the long-awaited meeting at U.N. headquarters, one can confidently say Sharon came away from the encounter with all three.

 


Who could ask for anything more? Bush and Sharon (Photo: AP)

 

Now, Sharon can come home next week having achieved exactly what he wanted: a promise from Bush to slow the pace, to give the Palestinians a chance to do their part after the disengagement.

 

More than that, he couldn't have asked for, diplomatically or politically.

 

Clear gains

 

The diplomatic gains of the trip may be clear, and the kudos from other leaders may have been nice, but at the end of the day, who in the Likud Central Committee really cares about a handshake from leaders of countries most of them couldn't find on a map?

 

Committee members want more, a lot more. They want the Land of Israel (at least what's left of it). They want to know that after Gaza, we are not rumbling forward to more unilateral disengagements.

 

They want to know that after Gaza, they'll get the Arik of old back, sitting firmly in the prime minister's chair and not moving one millimeter.

 

Stability rules

 

Essentially, this is not only the desire of the Likud Central Committee, but of Israeli society. Israelis want to know that the person driving the ship of state is doing so with a steady hand on the wheel.

 

After the traumas of Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak, one must not underestimate the importance of this desire.

 

Stability is the name of the game in Israeli politics. The most stable candidates will win, and this is the point of Netanyahu's efforts in recent weeks and months.

 

Therefore, as important as Sharon's meetings with Bush and other diplomats were important diplomatically, they were even more important politically.

 

Slamming the door

 

At a time when everyone is speaking about another pullout, this time in the West Bank, along comes the prime minister and slams the door in everyone's face, for better or worse.

 

Everyone who didn't believe Gaza would be the last stop for the pullout train at this time, can now add Bush's signature to he declaration that, indeed, the train has stopped, at least for now.

 

With friends like this, who could ask for anything more?

 

Convincing the party

 

Sharon will now bring his friend George to the Israeli public, and, more importantly, to the Likud Central Committee which is – for those who forgot – scheduled to meet the week the prime minister returns from New York.

 

Sharon will stand on the stage, and try to convince the booing crowd to rebuff attempts to replace him as party chairman.

 

Uzi Landau and Benjamin Netanyahu can only dream of the public power support Sharon has got at the moment.

 

There is just about nothing either of them can say or do to cut into the popularity Sharon will enjoy when he returns from the halls of the U.N.

 

Power, confidence and hara-kiri

 

One only had to see Sharon strut into the U.N. to understand the true meaning of power, the meaning of self-confidence.

 

And despite it all, the Likud could easily spin out of control and commit hara-kiri, both live on TV and at the ballot box.

 

Because none of the gains Sharon will return with are enough to ensure a victory for healthy logic over base hatred.

 

And no one can guarantee that the quiet that currently reigns in Gaza will continue into the coming days.

 

At the end of the day, a couple of Qassams that hit the spot could destroy everything for Sharon, and turn the trip to New York as nothing more than a sweet memory.

 


פרסום ראשון: 09.15.05, 13:32
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