(New York Times Magazine) James Bennet- Sharon's story has become Israel's story, and today's Israel - with its won't-be-fooled-again attitude about any warm peace with Arabs - is Sharon's Israel. Capitalizing on a White House that has chosen to view the world much as he does, he is trying to gird Israel for a conflict - not merely with the Palestinians - whose end he cannot foresee. Israel now has peace agreements with two of its neighbors, Egypt and Jordan. ''But these are agreements between leaders,'' Sharon said. ''There is no peace between nations or peoples. And the main problem is that the Arabs are not ready yet...to recognize the birthright of the Jewish people to have an independent Jewish state in the homeland of the Jewish people.'' To Israelis, Arafat walked away from Camp David because he wanted, and wants, to destroy Israel, not build a state beside it.
2004-08-17 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive