Jewish World Review / Oct. 15, 1998 / 25 Tishrei, 5759
"Arik" Sharon and Netanyahu |
Hawkish Sharon May
Bring Home the Dove of
Peace
MY LATE GRANDFATHER "WIRELESS"
LOUIS ZELTNER, who wrote for
New York papers (including, on
occasion, the Daily News), used to
complain about "reporters who
like to quote themselves." Then he'd go on and
quote himself.
So, in keeping with a hallowed family tradition,
allow me to hark back to a column that
appeared in July 1997 discussing
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's
chances for making peace with the
Palestinians: "Netanyahu, with an assist from
[Ariel] Sharon, may just be able to carry it off. . .
. It's the old Nixon-China syndrome: Only an
archconservative can get away with a radical
shift in policy."
I remembered that column when I heard the
news that Netanyahu had named the
70-year-old ex-Israeli general as his foreign
minister.
Down at the State Department, the idea that
hawkish Sharon, the epitome of Israeli
toughness, will be accompanying Netanyahu
when he meets with Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat at their Washington summit tomorrow
has more than one official shaking. "We
thought Netanyahu was tough," says one
Mideast specialist, "but this is like going from
biting on cement to chewing on cast iron!"
Even Sharon's own personal friend and fellow
soldier, Israeli Labor Party leader Ehud Barak, is
wringing his hands. Sharon's appointment,
Barak said in Tel Aviv the other night, is "a sure
recipe for a continued impasse and for
hastening the advent of violence."
Interestingly enough, one of the few relatively
positive comments came from Palestinian
Transport Minister Nabil Shaath. The
frequently reflective Shaath said he and other
Palestinian leaders were willing to "forget
history" if Sharon's appointment gave
Netanyahu the kind of political backing he
needs to strike a deal with Arafat and break the
peace process impasse.
And it was Sharon who many still believe
played an indirect role in the Lebanese
Christian massacre of Palestinian civilians in the
Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Lebanon.
But it was also Sharon who stood up to Israeli
right-wingers when Israel's Sinai Peninsula city
of Yamit had to be dismantled as part of the
U.S.- brokered Egypt-Israel peace agreement of
1978.
He also has the ability to talk peace deals with
Arab leaders and be believed. Again, to quote
myself: "I wish I had a shekel for every time I've
heard an Arab political analyst say that only
right-wing Israeli leaders like Netanyahu,
Sharon and the late Menachem Begin can
make lasting peace with the Arabs."
In fact, it is Sharon's toughness and insistence
on maintaining levels of territorial security he
believes vital to Israel that may save the
Arab-Israeli peace process. If Sharon goes along
with plans for a further turnover of West Bank
territory to Palestinian control, it's going to be
hard for most right-wingers to argue that
Netanyahu is knuckling under to American
pressure and compromising Israel's future.
To be sure, says Israeli analyst David Makovsky,
Sharon sees his role at tomorrow's summit as "a
watchdog." He'll want to make sure Netanyahu
doesn't make any concessions on demands the
Palestinians live up to their security
commitments before Israel pulls soldiers out of
one more inch of West Bank territory.
And Sharon has sworn he'll never shake Arafat's
hand. Netanyahu used to say the same thing,
but last week Bibi had a kosher lunch with
Yasser. Bill Clinton may yet have his October
By Richard Z. Chesnoff
CHECKERED RECORD
And that's the key to the meaning of Sharon's
new job. The former defense minister and hero
general, who has fought in every one of Israel's
wars, has a decidedly hawkish, if checkered,
record. It was Sharon who helped architect the
costly — and some say ill-conceived — Israeli
invasion of Lebanon in 1982.
JWR contributor and veteran journalist
Richard Z. Chesnoff is a senior correspondent at US News
And World Report and a columnist at the NY Daily News.
10/07/98:
Flake of Araby Won't
Make Deal on Pan Am 103
8/25/98: Embarassed to be a journalist
8/24/98: Clinton Sent Right Message With Those Missiles . . .
8/17/98:
Fair Settlement
For Survivors of
the Holocaust
7/27/98: When hopes collide with reality
7/22/98: A lesson about peace ...in Auschwitz
7/15/98: What Hitler tried todestroy, the 'Net helped put back together
7/8/98: Love -- and leave -- thy neighbor
4/9/98: The US Navy's two faced Pollard policy
4/2/98: A breakthrough in Lebanon?
3/30/98: Full rights for all Israelis?
2/27/98: America's Schindler
1/30/98: A last chance for the Mideast?
1/11/98: The Moment for Restitution Has Arrived