Negotiations 'r us

As the Likud Central Committee members were making their way to the polls on Monday, a small group of protestors organized by the Geneva Initiative gathered at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds chanting slogans calling for the resumption of diplomatic negotiations with the Palestinians. As one would expect, most of the passersby were quick to confront the protestors and accuse them of playing into the hands of the enemy and destroying the State of Israel. As the shouts and mutual recriminations grew louder, one Likudnik stood aside and, with a pained expression, turned to one of the protestors and asked: Don't you understand that you're hurting the prime minister? Fundamental misunderstanding And there it is in a nutshell. With this simple question, posed as if he were talking to a buddy, a mate, a member of the same club, the speaker encapsulated all that is wrong with the Israeli political map today. His expectation is that the left would continue to support the prime minister now that Sharon has completed the withdrawal from Gaza and declared to the world from the halls of the U.N. that he is extending his hand in peace. The responsibility for this misunderstanding, which unfortunately is shared by much of the Israeli public, lies with the Israeli left, which has failed to make it clear that it supported the withdrawal from Gaza not because it endorsed the prime minister's policies or identified with his motives but because it could not, would not, and should not oppose the dismantlement of settlements. Period. The left understands The left understands that unilateralism is an attempt to reduce the conflict to its territorial dimension alone and that by ignoring other issues, such as the refugee problem, this approach will never bring about a resolution of the conflict. The left understands that Sharon's thunderous U.N. speech in which he referred to united Jerusalem as the eternal capital of the State of Israel cannot be considered an overture toward the other side. The left understands that ongoing settlement construction is designed to impede any future agreement and destroy any possible basis for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. The left understands that by refusing to recognize Abu-Mazen as a partner, Sharon is crippling the moderate Palestinian leadership and creating conditions for a new leader to arise from the ranks of Hamas. The left understands that there is no such thing as semi-occupation in which the withdrawal from Gaza is leveraged against Israel's tightening grip on the West Bank. And the left understands that the window of opportunity for the two-state solution is slowly closing and that it is imperative to hold final-status negotiations now, without preconditions and before it is too late. No victory for peace Sharon's victory at the Likud Central Committee is not a victory for the left it is not the victory for Rabin's legacy it is not the victory of the path of peace. Sharon beat Netanyahu and his gang of hooligans in an attempt to de-legitimize the Likud leader, and for that he is to be congratulated, but let no one believe he plans to use his renewed mandate to move forward. Sharon has made it perfectly clear that his plan now is to sit pretty while he raises the hoops through which he expects the Palestinians to jump. Despite the outcome of the Likud vote, the possibility of early elections remains on the agenda, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will remain one of the key issues in the national debate. Recent polls show that a majority of the public wants the Gaza pullout to be followed by the resumption of negotiations. It is imperative that the left act now to clarify to the public the sharp differences between Sharon's agenda and its own and convey the message that "negotiations 'r us." Susie Becher is a, member of the Meretz-Yachad executive

Negotiations 'r us

Sharon's victory at the Likud Central Committee was no victory for the left