Reply #20: It May Be A Useful Beginning, Sir

[The Magistrate]

If carried out in the proper spirit, on both sides, it could be a foundation for further progress to an equitable settlement.

But it does not seem to me there is any certainty of Sharon's retirement any time soon. To the best of my knowledge there is no limit to the number of terms a Prime Minister can serve, and the old fellow may win re-election at the close of his current one.

It does seem there are some useful political developments flowing from his Gaza plan, though. It has split Likud itself somewhat, and split off some of the ultra-nationalist elements, both secular and religious, from the governing coalition. That he has had to appeal to Labor for a Knesset majority may possibly be translated into electoral weakness for Sharon, if Labor plays ruthlessly enough in the coming months.

But it remains the case, to my view, that if Israel is not ready to abjure further settlement in the Jordan Valley, and unwilling to liquidate a great many settlements established there already, or, in short, to break the political cachet of the settlers' movement and risk a civil war of Jew on Jew, there will not be much lasting good come of this. The best that can be hoped for if developments follow current lines is a "victor's peace" imposed on the vanquished, and while this may well reduce greatly the amount of carnage, it cannot be viewed as a wholly favorable outcome.