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Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/04/AR2006010402151.html
Bush at Risk of Losing Closest Mideast Ally
(Washington Post) Glenn Kessler - The cerebral hemorrhage suffered by Prime Minister Sharon threatens to deprive the Bush administration of its closest working partner in the Middle East. Much of the administration's policy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, such as its decision in 2002 to refuse to deal with then-Palestinian leader Arafat, has been influenced by Sharon, who first won election shortly after Bush took office in 2001. Sharon also persuaded Bush to back his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, winning from the president a written pledge that appeared to acknowledge that Israel could keep large settlements on the West Bank and refuse the resettlement of Palestinians in any eventual peace deal.