For a centrist way to work, there has to be a vision that also encompasses the steps necessary to eventually end the seemingly never-ending conflict with the Palestinians, including a complete enough withdrawal from the West Bank to give the Palestinians a workable state.

We’re already seeing the bitter fruits of that pipe-dream in Gaza; Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 borders would only lead to the same thing in the West Bank. Sharansky is right: years of PLO misrule since Oslo have created a society incapable of governing itself or living at peace with its neighbors. Look how they educate their children!

Israel should withdraw only far enough to provide defensible borders and dismantle those settlements that are too hard to defend, as in Gaza. (I wonder if Sharon was a student of Emperor Aurelian?) Until Palestinian society can work the bile out of its system, there is no way they should have their own state.

In December when he suffered the first stroke, I suggested that what he should do IMMEDIATELY was explain to the Israeli people who would succeed him, how Kadima would be organised and what it would attempt to do with or without Ariel Sharon.

In 15 minutes of Nation-Wide air-time, he could have ensured that his policies and vision would survive his death,and that the natural implosion of Israeli Politics might have been prevented for a decent period. What he might have said would have mattered; what Olmert says now— Not So Much.

At the last, he forgot he was a General, and needed a plan that could survive a catastrophic strike at HQ, and allow the remaining Army to fight on.

Frankly, the future was pretty much set anyway, but his failure to secure his position when he could have done so, is a serious tactical and strategic error. It would have been better had he tried harder to break the mold of Israeli Politics which is hopelessly dysfunctional.

No matter who is PM —

A. Gaza will continue to devolve into anarchy.

B. Hamas will eventually destroy Fatah, but not win decisely enough to prevent ongoing violence.

C. The Wall WILL be Completed, and harsh counter-measures will be pursued against any attacks on Israeli targets. Some BUT not many West Bank Settlements will be desolved, but only to improve the defenses of the others.

D. There will be no Peace, nor will there arise another ‘Partner in Peace’ among the Palestinians.

These things would have happened anyway, and Sharon planned for each and every one of them. His program was not aimed at a ‘peace’ treaty. It was aimed to protect Israelis as the Palestinians devolved into an evermore violent morass.

In planning for ‘objective’ Israeli reality he succeeded; in planning for his own ‘objective’ reality —– he failed.

Agreed. Wars are won by destroying the enemy’s will to resist, not by negotiation.î

Agreed. Negotiations are meaningful only when both sides seek a win-win solution. The Islamic nihilists hate Jews. Itís as simple as that. These thugs must be either killed or jail. There is no other realistic option. I am losing my patience with well meaning fools who seem unable to think and follow a logical argument. On top of that, they often have the nerve to describe someone like me as hotheaded. No, my position is the rational and calmly thought out one.

How is a moderate Palestinian often perceived by those around him? He is considered to be a Zionist traitor. Such people are forced into silence and political impotence. Signing agreements with them is an utter waste of time. They are incapable, regardless of their possible good intentions, of delivering the goods.

Of course, if the standard for enough land for a workable state is that whatever state is created on the land has to work, Israel may well cede to the Palestinians the entire surface of the Earth, and perhaps that of all the other terrestrial bodies in the Solar Syatem, without it being enough.

Agreed. Wars are won by destroying the enemy’s will to resist, not by negotiation.

For heavenís sake, when will his sentimental nonsense cease? There is only one way to bring about peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians: the Israelis must either kill or jail the Arab ìtrue believerî nihilists. There is no possibility of a workable compromise until this is accomplished. The moderate Palestinians can do nothing while they are intimidated by the crazies within their midst. Israel must do them a favor and eradicate the nihilists. Why is this so difficult to comprehend?