Prepare To Evacuate
Ariel Sharon wants to pull out of Gaza

During a recent session of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, Ariel Sharon sat impassively as a former supporter harangued him from the podium, addressing the Prime Minister by his nickname, Arik, and attacking his plan to evacuate 7,500 Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip. "Why can't you be the man you once were?" shouted the man, a settler named Nissim Slomiansky. After listening to several minutes of invective, Sharon turned wearily to the minister seated next to him. "Doesn't he understand," Sharon whispered, "that it's impossible to go back?"

After a 31-year political career during which he has established himself as one of the most divisive yet enduring leaders in the world, Sharon once again faces a critical juncture. Critics of Sharon's disengagement plan range from Palestinian leaders who accuse him of trying to draw unilateral borders and subvert the peace process to right-wing Israelis who say Sharon is rewarding Palestinian terrorism. Many see in the Israeli leader's refusal to compromise with his opponents a familiar, stubborn determination that, while useful in the battles young Sharon won as a general, may prove to be his undoing.

What does Sharon hope to accomplish? At 76, he sees the withdrawal from Gaza as the centerpiece of his lifelong obsession with Israel's security. "We need to get out of Gaza, not to be responsible anymore for what happens there," he says. In his reading, there's no chance of a negotiated peace with the Palestinians so long as Arafat leads them. So, to stem the tide of blood in the meantime, Sharon is preparing to pull Israeli forces and settlers behind his West Bank security barrier and wait for the Palestinian political map to change. The trouble is, to prove he is not pulling out because of pressure from militant Palestinian groups like Hamas, Sharon has taken steps that may only fuel the conflict, most notably his approving the assassination in March of Sheik Ahmed Yassin, founder of Hamas. And Sharon warned recently that Arafat had "no insurance policy" against possible expulsion or assassination by Israeli forces.

It isn't clear who at this stage is on Sharon's side. Though quietly cheered by the prospect of the Israelis' leaving Gaza, Palestinians are enraged by his assassination policy and the suggestion that Sharon no longer sees the Palestinians as "partners for peace." Inside his Cabinet, Sharon has faced open criticism from his Foreign Minister, Silvan Shalom. At a recent meeting of Likud Cabinet ministers in Sharon's office, Shalom told the Prime Minister there was no point in a unilateral withdrawal because it was impossible to predict how Palestinians would react in its aftermath. Better, Shalom said, to work out an agreement with the Palestinians.

Even if Sharon persuades the White House and his party to go along with his plan, Cabinet ministers say, the evacuation of settlers from Gaza wouldn't begin until October at the earliest. "You know, I have some worries," Sharon admitted at a recent Cabinet meeting. Then he flashed a look of determination. "It's not that bad," he said. "I will prevail." For a moment, the old Arik was back.

—from TIME, April 12, 2004

Questions

1. Why does Ariel Sharon want Israel to withdraw from the Gaza Strip?

2. What reactions has Sharon's proposal elicited?