GLOBE EDITORIAL
Sharon's poor judgmentAFTER THE STUNNING defeat of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza disengagement plan in the Likud Party referendum, the underlying needs of Israelis and Palestinians remain unchanged. They need leaders who can guide their peoples into negotiations that agree on the creation of a Palestinian state and resolve final-status issues such as land, borders, Jerusalem, and refugees.
With his most recent miscalculation, Sharon cast doubt anew on his fitness for that role. As the Israeli politician who earned his reputation as father of the settlements, Sharon gambled that his security arguments for the Gaza disengagement plan would triumph over the zeal of the settler movement he had been instrumental in empowering. But zealous settlers went door to door denouncing the precedent of ceding even the most exposed and costly settlements in Gaza, and half the eligible Likud voters stayed home. Less than 2 percent of the entire Israeli electorate was all it took to scramble all Sharon's cards. Now Sharon has to decide whether to come up with a modified plan or stick with the original and put it either to a national referendum or votes in the government and the Knesset. Support for Sharon's original Gaza plan came from an unlikely quarter Tuesday. After a meeting of the Quartet -- the United States, the European Union, Russia, and the United Nations -- UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said: "We took positive note of Prime Minister Sharon's announced intention to withdraw from all Gaza settlements and parts of the West Bank. This should provide a rare moment of opportunity in the search for peace in the Middle East." Israel's military chiefs appear to have a different view. According to Ze'ev Schiff, defense correspondent of the Israeli daily Ha'aretz, leaders of the Israeli Defense Forces "believe a bilateral arrangement and agreement are preferable to a unilateral move." The army chief of staff, Moshe Ya'alon, "said during internal discussions that he supports the idea of leaving the Gaza Strip but in the context of an agreement," Schiff continued. "In other words, the idea is correct, but not the method and the plan." This view is the wiser not only from a security perspective but also politically. Israel can be more secure if it agrees with Palestinians on Gaza's future. Such an agreement on security in Gaza could lead to dialogue on broader issues and eventually to the end-of-conflict negotiations that alone can rescue Israelis and Palestinians from their current impasse.
President Bush, who also gambled and lost when he gave Sharon public assurances that were denounced in the Arab capitals, should cast off the usual election-year practice of refraining from Mideast peacemaking. More than ever, the two sides need an active American leadership nudging them to overcome their own fanatics and negotiate peaceful coexistence. © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company.
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