Sharon wants to draw new borders

PM hopes for early elections so he can return to power and decide final borders.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
arik sharon main 88 (photo credit: )
arik sharon main 88
(photo credit: )
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon wants to advance the election so he can return to power and decide where Israel's final borders are going to be, his advisers told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday. They said that although Sharon was currently saying that, after disengagement, the internationally brokered road map was the only diplomatic plan on the table, he had not ruled out a unilateral withdrawal from the West Bank in the long run. "There is no doubt that Sharon wants to draw the borders," one adviser said. "Sharon thinks that only he can do it because he knows the land and this is his historic mission. He looks around and sees no other potential Israeli leader who can do it. It will be difficult, but it's what the nation wants and it's what the world wants." Another adviser said that if the Palestinian Authority does not fulfill the road map and all diplomatic talks on a bilateral agreement with the PA fail, "he is not ruling out deciding the borders in the future without the Palestinians." Sharon's spokesman Assaf Shariv said in response that "the only diplomatic plan for drawing Israel's final border is the road map, under which the border issue will be considered only if the Palestinian Authority keeps its commitments and the third stage of the plan is reached. Sharon has said that there will not be more unilateral withdrawals." Shariv also denied a Channel 1 report that Sharon has already decided to leave the Likud and form a new party. According to the report, the party will adopt the name Ein Li Eretz Aheret (I have no other land), from a popular Ehud Manor song, and several Likud ministers and former Shin Bet chief Avi Dichter will join its ranks. "Does anyone really believe that Sharon would adopt a song that was written about the Lebanon War or that he would form a party that has the same initials as a fictitious non-profit organization that was investigated called Citizens for Ehud Barak?" a Sharon adviser said. But Sharon's advisers confirmed that after eight Likud MKs defeated the ministerial appointments of Roni Bar-On and Ze'ev Boim, the prime minister is seriously considering forming a new party. Sharon's son, MK Omri Sharon, who was always the adviser most in favor of remaining in the Likud, has reportedly joined the advisers recommending that his father jump ship. "The prime minister would be happy to run in the Likud, but the faction has lost its mind," a Sharon associate said. "The vote was another step on the way to the breakup of the Likud, which has become like the house of a couple who are living in separate rooms but haven't yet finalized their divorce." Sharon's associates said that if Shimon Peres is reelected Labor Party chairman, Sharon can reach an agreement with Labor and Shas on a date for the election some time in May. That would allow all three parties to prepare for the election. If such a deal was not reached, Sharon's associates speculated that the best time for him to initiate an early election would be immediately after the final passage of the 2006 state budget some time in December. They said that the ideal situation for Sharon would be if the budget passed without the support of Binyamin Netanyahu and the Likud rebels, so he could pin the blame for the government falling on them. Netanyahu's spokesman responded that "he won't fall into Sharon's trap by opposing the budget." He said that he would support the budget as long as Finance Minister Ehud Olmert does not break the budget framework. Rebel leader Uzi Landau said he had three conditions for supporting the budget: added funding for building in Judea and Samaria, additional support for Gaza Strip evacuees and help for the poor. Landau said the rebels would raise their demands in negotiations with Olmert. Sharon's associates called the rebels "stupid" for "playing into Sharon's hands."
Send us your comments >> Johanes Franzen, Stockholm, Sweden: "An end to the occupation that started in 1967", that is what the Road Map states and adds the UNSCR 242 to it, a resolution that clearly states: "Emphasizing the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by war". Does anybody in Israel, let alone in the entire world, think that this is Sharon's plan for the future? The "seven enclaves", with travel restrictions, is rather the disasterous vision and that one will be implemented unilaterally, thus giving and not getting anything in return but certain pain for future Israeli generations. SusZanne Ellison, USA: I want to add my exhortation to the people of Israel to accept nothing less than the land clearly given to the people of Israel according to the Word of God, the Bible. Though I am not Jewish and a Christian believer and follower of Jesus Christ I want to add my support and prayers for the Peace of Jerusalem and all those of Jewish faith and heritage, and clearly Jersualem belongs to the Jews according to God's word and the boundaries established therein. Let no man or leader compromise that, please! Forgive those in America who pressure such a thing. Shnayer Lewis, Havre de Grace, MD USA: The clear fallacy in Sharon's thinking, and the clarity of reasoning of the Arabs mesh totally. Our claim to any part of the land is based on the Bible, the "bris"- contractual obligation- between the Jewish people and G-d. Sharon is an Israeli by identification, and only Jewish by accident of birth. He does not believe in the Bible as evidenced by his life style and lack of religious observance. It is therefore silly, and the Arabs are quite correct, for him to claim any part of the land- he is not committed to be a member of the affinity group- the Jewish people- so the Arabs have a better claim to the land than he does. This is why we need a leader who is Jewish to the core and not only an Israeli. Sharon Andrews, Hereford, UK: I believe Ariel Sharon is considering a wrong, bad move. From a biblical perspective, God told the Jewish People to inhabit and be fruitful in all the Land He had given them. If the government try and re-define the Land of Israel contrary to what God has said, there can only be trouble. You cannnot ignore or break God's Word and expect everything to be well. I know the world's leaders pressure Israel into giving up land, but if you obeyed the Lord instead of men, then you would see the intervention of God. Ray Austin, Albemarle, NC, USA: Israel should not have withdrawn from the land it recently vacated, and especially none of Jerusalem. The archeology, scripture, recorded history etc., etc., all point to the land presently occupied by Israel and much of that which is presently occupied by Arab populations as being Jewish land. Furthermore, the original land grant by God to Abraham and his descendants forever still stands. Forever is forever. Only time will bear this out, Sharon or no Sharon. Yehuda Lev, Providence, RI, USA: This is presumably the same Lord who came to the rescue of the Jewish people during the Holocaust. He (or she) isn't the sort of person in whom you would want to trust the future of the Jewish people. Lilly Gottlieb, Los Angeles, CA, USA: Not only Sharon does not represent the Israeli voters, he doesn't even represent the Likud party. Therefore, he has no mandate to draw any borders. The urgent thing to do right now is to change the electoral system so that the Israeli citizens can elect directly their representatives to the Knesset and restore democracy. In any case, Israel should wait until Sharon and Peres are dislodged from their political seats by the great reaper--since they won't voluntarily retire--to decide the future of the country. Jackie, USA: With all due respect, PM Sharon cannot do what G-d already did! Or, should we say, Sharon cannot un-do what G-d already did! G-d made it very clear where He was drawing the borders of His Land (see the first book of Torah/Genesis). He gave it to Abraham and his descendants throughout their generations for an everlasting possession. I pray a lot for PM Sharon to come to his God-given senses.