Haaretz
Adar1 13, 5765
Ariel Sharon's government made history yesterday
with its decision on the evacuation of the settlements from the Gaza Strip
and northern West Bank. The dry, brief evacuation orders issued after the
cabinet meeting and bearing the signatures of A. Sharon and Mofaz herald
the beginning of the end of the Israeli settlement enterprise in the
territories. The fence route approved by the cabinet marks the change in
Israel's war goals vis-a-vis the Palestinians - from one of guarding every
centimeter until the enemy gives in, to a rearguard battle to save the
blocs of settlements, to annex Ma'aleh Adumim, Ariel and Efrat.
The
prime minister is today enjoying international support like he has never
before experienced. Jordan and Egypt are sending their ambassadors back
without waiting for the settlers to be evacuated; and U.S. and European
statesmen are enthusiastically applauding Sharon's courage. The man who
once symbolized only war, destruction and oppression has suddenly become
the symbol of hope in the region.
But this support will last, at
best, until the gate closes on the last of the settlers to be evacuated.
The world expects Sharon to be Mikhail Gorbachev - the leader who made the
crack in the dam, which was followed by the flood.
Gorbachev didn't
plan on dismantling the Soviet Union, but merely to somewhat loosen the
shackles of the Communist regime so that he could survive a little better.
But the moment he allowed freedom to trickle in, no one could stop it, and
the regime was buried beneath it.
In Washington, in Paris, in
London, as well as in Ramallah, Cairo and Amman, the same fate is being
wished for Sharon - that the next withdrawal from the West Bank is even
quicker and deeper; that with Mahmoud Abbas as president of the
Palestinian Authority, and with security calm, Israel will lose its
remaining arguments and excuses and will be forced to pull out of Ofra,
Beit El and Hebron, and then Beit Hanina, Sheikh Jarrah and most of the
Old City in Jerusalem too.
Sharon has no intentions of racing to
the 1967 lines, and he will try to delay the process. In Israel, they are
still debating the disengagement, the level of violence of the pullout
opponents and a referendum. In the international arena, the withdrawal
from Gaza looks like a done deal, and the political debate is already
centering on the next stage - a final-status agreement or an interim
arrangement.
Sharon wants to crawl toward interim agreement in the
West Bank; Abbas wants to gallop to a final settlement. Abbas enjoys
widespread support in Europe and has supporters in the U.S. administration
too; the White House is going with Sharon, and sticking to the road map's
interim settlement.
Sharon has five weeks to get the budget
approved, and thereafter, in early April, he will go to Washington for his
victory tour. The treasury is already working on the aid package that
Sharon will request from President George Bush.