A cloud over Sharon

Sharon's plan for a unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, which he is to discuss with President Bush April 14 in Washington, might not survive any longer than Sharon does in the event he is indicted. And the doubt that shrouds Sharon's tenure in office could presage one of those moments when Israeli and Palestinian leaders strike out on new paths to a negotiated resolution of their conflict -- the outcome that majorities of both peoples need and desire.

Sharon has survived other setbacks, so it would be rash to assume that his political demise is at hand. It is still possible that Israel's attorney general will, at the risk of contradicting his professional prosecutors, decide not to proceed with an indictment. And even if he is indicted, Sharon could suspend himself from his post until a verdict comes in and entrust the premiership to Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

However, the harsh political reality is that rivals inside and outside Sharon's Likud Party smell blood in the water and are circling the wounded leader. The far-right chairman of the National Religious Party, Effi Eitam, has already warned that a prime minister under threat of indictment for accepting bribes "cannot travel to the US and commit himself to a plan with implications fur the future destiny of the state."

Within Likud, it is an open secret that former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is building support for the moment when he can once again challenge for leadership of the party and the post of premier.

The slow but self-correcting workings of Israel's democratic rule of law may also create the opportunity for a political resurgence by the Labor Party, the new Social Democratic Party, and the left-wing Meretz Party.

In the proposed peace agreement called the Geneva Initiative, as well as the peace plan outlined by Palestinian professor Sari Nusseibeh and former Israeli security chief Ami Ayalon, Israel's liberal and centrist politicians have models they can draw upon to persuade the public that the conflict with the Palestinians can be ended peacefully, at the negotiating table.

For this to happen, any Israeli leader will need a proper response from Palestinians. They will also need an American president who understands that no road map to peace will be of use unless he propels the travelers to the desired destination.