Aluf Benn - It is difficult to describe a pair more different from one another than George W. Bush and Ariel Sharon. The physical differences are obvious. One is from a tiny village in Mandate-era Palestine, the other the son of patrician Americans. One is a warrior and general and the other a rear guard pilot. At least their farms are about the same size. Their worldviews are different. Bush regards the Palestinians as peace-loving people who want to live normally beside Israel. Sharon explains to him that the main problem is Arab refusal to recognize the right of the Jewish people to a state of their own in "the cradle of their birth." Bush speaks about the road map and Sharon responds it hasn't even begun, that we are in a pre-map stage. Bush wants to know what will happen on the day after the disengagement and Sharon answers: nothing. First the Palestinians will dismantle the terror infrastructure, and only then will we go into a political process. Sharon warned about a real problem. The American efforts for quick democratization in the Middle East could perpetuate Arab hostility toward Israel even if the regimes are changed from within. The discussions at the Bush farm highlighted the gap between Israel, where there is still a debate over the withdrawal from Gaza, and the rest of the world, which is already anticipating the next withdrawal. The talk about terrorist infrastructures on the Palestinian side is barely heard.
2005-04-13 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive