Sharon's Gamble
This remains the essence of the disengagement plan:
The main fly in this ointment of super-political rationality is that while Arik's Israel is now totally committed to the physical evacuation of settlements by July, the solidity of Washington's commitment to its part of the deal - support for Israeli annexation of the major settlement blocs on the West Bank, through the thick and thin of negotiations on a long-term settlement with Abu Mazen's Palestinian Authority - is far from certain.
It will take a political master to keep everything together - one false step, and the slippery slope of withdrawal will become an international feeding frenzy for territorial concessions which will end up obliterating Israel's strategic depth (this is in fact what happened to Netanyahu at Wye). Sharon is a tactical genius, and the best Israeli politician alive. He has the closest ties to an American President ever, and the American President that he has ties to happens to be on an on-going mission to remake the world. Maybe giving Sharon some room to maneuver wouldn't be the worst idea.
The main fly in this ointment of super-political rationality is that while Arik's Israel is now totally committed to the physical evacuation of settlements by July, the solidity of Washington's commitment to its part of the deal - support for Israeli annexation of the major settlement blocs on the West Bank, through the thick and thin of negotiations on a long-term settlement with Abu Mazen's Palestinian Authority - is far from certain.
It will take a political master to keep everything together - one false step, and the slippery slope of withdrawal will become an international feeding frenzy for territorial concessions which will end up obliterating Israel's strategic depth (this is in fact what happened to Netanyahu at Wye). Sharon is a tactical genius, and the best Israeli politician alive. He has the closest ties to an American President ever, and the American President that he has ties to happens to be on an on-going mission to remake the world. Maybe giving Sharon some room to maneuver wouldn't be the worst idea.
