Will new leadership in Israel emerge? [Archives:2002/15/Focus]

Saadi Salama
Palestinian Diplomat in Sana’a
Events in Palestine and Israel during the past week have raised some interesting questions, specifically, how long has Israel wanted to eliminate Palestine?
These questions might be premature, but here are more questions waiting for answers: did the Israeli society decide to delete the other side of the equation, the Palestinians? Or did it decide for coexistence with the Palestinians? Is the Israeli society ready for a peaceful living or it had prepared for a continuous violence and bloodshed?
Whatever the answers may be, its certain that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharons failure has became so public that he should abandon his visions and retire.
He has practiced his terror for too long, during his long bloody history in the military. Now he has managed to lead the Israeli society to economic deterioration, disaster and loss of trust.
The Jewish society should monitor and question his performance during the remaining time of his term. The former general may not admit his failure that is leading Israeli society to a dead end crisis, but whether he admits it or not, the question remains, who will come after him?
And the question remains if Israel will remain trapped inside this former generals misleading policy.
No nation can eliminate another nation. This is what we have learned from experience. The loss of life and property on both sides enforces this conclusion.
The differences between the two major political parties in Israel, the Labor party and the Likud party, are minor. They have the same vision in terms of building and widening the settlements in the Palestinian lands.
The only difference is that the Likud party leads arrogantly out in the open, while the Labor party operates under cover and discretely.
It is not up to the Palestinians to decide for the Israelis whether they want to live in peace according to the international policy or not. Choosing peace means taking action on the ground.
The Israelis have tried. Their previous leader Benjamin Netanyahu led them to disasters, terror, violence and misunderstanding, to the point that regional and international changes led to his fall. Then Barak came with all his decorations as a military general.
He built more settlements in the Palestinian lands and headed for the negotiating table believing that he could do it alone. But then he failed like Netanyahu, so both paved the road for Sharon to become prime minister.
Sharon was elected by the extreme right wing together with those disappointed with Netanyahus and Baraks parties, and the extreme fanatic religious Jews. He came to power decorated by his bloody history, carrying his thirst for terror and massacre. Is this the Israeli societys will?
This question is vital because it comes right after the Palestinian killings that started with Barak. It is urgent because it comes after many promises which have just managed to increase the violence and the counter violence.
Neither Sharon nor chief of staff Mofaz can win the battle, because in order to win, they need to erase the Palestinians, or they have to change their understanding of the situation.
Maybe some analysts are correct in their belief that a new Israeli leadership will emerge from the departing members of the two major parties, a leadership that might be able to adopt the second choice, that is coexistence with the Palestinians based on mutual respect and the international legitimacy. Lets hope so.

——
[archive-e:15-v:2002-y:2002-d:2002-04-08-p:./2002/iss15/focus.htm]