Ariel Sharon was one of “the most clear-eyed realists in Israeli politics,” said The Jerusalem Post in an editorial. Sharon, who died last week after eight years in a coma, played a key role at every major crossroads Israel faced in his adult life. As a soldier, his “bloody cross-border retaliation attacks against Palestinians” forced Israelis to grapple with moral questions about the use of violence. As a politician, he sent Jewish settlers into the Palestinian territories, but once he “realized that controlling the West Bank and Gaza jeopardized Israel as a Jewish and democratic state,” he changed tactics and announced a unilateral disengagement from Gaza. He even created a new party, Kadima, when his Likud party would not support his plan. What was most important to him was not party loyalty, or keeping territory, but ensuring that Israel would survive and thrive.
That’s an overly generous interpretation of his turnabout, said Uri Elitzur inMa’ariv. In fact, Sharon withdrew from Gaza not because he thought it would be best for Israel but because he needed to distract the country from the scandals that threatened to unseat him. In early 2004, Sharon was accused of using his influence to help his son’s friend build a casino on a Greek island and then of taking money from a British businessman to finance his campaign. His response was to come up with a scheme that redrew the Israeli political landscape and “totally changed the face of the Middle East, the state of the dialogue with the Palestinians, and Israel-U.S. relations.” We may honor Sharon the soldier, but “we do not forgive Sharon the politician for the giant destruction operation he initiated and carried out for the sake of the survival of his rule.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
7 beautiful towns to visit in Switzerland during the holidaysThe Week Recommends Find bliss in these charming Swiss locales that blend the traditional with the modern
-
The Week contest: Werewolf billPuzzles and Quizzes
-
'This needs to be a bigger deal'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Malaysia: Hiding something or just incompetent?feature It is “painful to watch” how Malaysia has embarrassed itself before the world with its bungled response to the missing plane.
-
Tunisia: The only bloom of the Arab Spring
feature After years of “stormy discussions and intellectual tug-of-war,” Tunisia has emerged as a secular democracy.
-
Australia: It takes two to reconcile
feature To move beyond Australia’s colonialist past, we Aborigines must forgive.
-
South Africa: Trying to live up to Mandela
feature That South Africa was prepared for the death of Nelson Mandela is one of his greatest legacies.
-
China: Staking a claim to the air and the sea
feature China has declared an air defense identification zone over the East China Sea that includes a set of islands claimed by Japan.
-
China: Is our aid to the Philippines too meager?
feature China donated $100,000 to the Philippines after Typhoon Haiyan, but later increased the amount to $1.6 million.
-
Philippines: A calamitous response to calamity
feature “Where is the food, where is the water? Where are the military collecting the dead?”
-
Canada: Crack-smoking mayor won’t quit
feature “I’m only human,” said Toronto Mayor Rob Ford after admitting to smoking crack “in one of my drunken stupors.”