Sharon's Party Rejects His Plans Again

Usually when a political leader gets a public rejection from his followers, he resigns or at very least backpedals on whatever policy got him into hot water. In the case of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a vote against him is something to be ignored. The Likud Party's central committee held a ballot on whether to OK the PM's plan to offer the Labour Party a coalition government to oversee Mr. Sharon's plan to withdraw from Gaza. The "no" vote go 58%. Mr. Sharon's office yesterday stated, "The PM will find a solution to the problem." The imagination fails.

The vote was non-binding, but any political leader who goes in front of the top people in his organization and loses 6 out of 10 votes really needs to think about the next step. And some of his opposition was just being difficult. Another resolution allowing him to negotiate a coalition with "any Zionist party" ("no Arabs need apply" is what that means) fell short by 19 votes. And back in June, his own rank-and-file rejected his withdrawal plan, and he lost his parliamentary majority.

The only way out now for anyone is fresh elections in Israel. While they aren't required until 2006, the nation simply has no credible leadership that can muster 61 votes out of 120 in the Knesset. But no politician likes to throw the dice unless they are loaded in his favor, which means that Mr. Sharon needs some kind of triumph, breakthrough or other act of God before he goes to the country.

The trouble is the division of the electorate. Most Israelis appear to support the withdrawal of the 7,000 settlers in the Gaza Strip. But most of those Israelis vote Labour or to its left, while Mr. Sharon's power base is on the right, where he has little support. As usual in Israeli politics, the orthodox religious parties are in an interesting position, kingmakers if they choose to be, but their beliefs make withdrawal almost impossible.

Worst of all, when the elections are over, and a new, possibly minority, government takes over, there will still be no one on the other side with whom to negotiate. The Palestinians have an even greater and more persistent mess on their hands. An election on the other side of the Israeli wall won't solve anything either.


© Copyright 2004 by The Kensington Review, J. Myhre, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent.


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