|
|
May 17, 2002/Sivan 6, 5762, Vol. 54, No.35
Likud vote may bolster Sharon as a statesman
LESLIE SUSSER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM - It's no secret that former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu plans to challenge Ariel Sharon for leadership of the Likud Party and, he hopes, succeed Sharon as prime minister of Israel.
So when Netanyahu moved to have Likud's Central Committee vote May 12 against the establishment of a Palestinian state, it seemed he had found the perfect weapon to accelerate Sharon's political demise.
Indeed, Netanyahu succeeded in pushing through the vote against a Palestinian state, over Sharon's vehement opposition.
Yet after being seen for some time as the front runner for the next leader of the Likud and possibly the next prime minister, Netanyahu may have embarked on a gambit with unintended consequences.
Paradoxically, the fact that the policy-making body of Sharon's own party turned against him has only shored up Sharon's credentials among the general Israeli public as a centrist and a responsible national leader.
Internationally, too, Sha-ron's strong statements repudiating the Central Committee vote reassured world leaders that he would not spurn the slight recent opening toward peace, and painted him as a statesman able to rise above petty domestic politics.
Sharon's troubles in his party began last September when he declared that Israel was prepared to allow the Palestinians to establish a state of their own. That set off alarm bells in the Likud, where the idea of Palestinian statehood long has been anathema. Prompted by Netanyahu, some party activists decided to bring Sharon's deviation from the party line to a vote.
Sharon tried to defer the vote against Palestinian statehood, but was soundly defeated. Still, commentators lauded his courage in presenting the motion despite the certainty of a humiliating defeat.
Sharon made clear to the committee that he was not prepared to rule anything out at this juncture, and that he wanted to keep his diplomatic options open.
"I was elected to bring security and peace," he said, "and that is what I intend to do."
Sharon also told U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell that he would not allow party machinations to deflect him from his search for peace with the Palestinians.
Glowing media reports the next day said Sharon had come across as a national leader, ready to take a political beating within his party rather than compromise the national interest.
Netanyahu, on the contrary, was widely depicted as an opportunist, willing to undermine Israel's international standing for the sake of petty political gain.
Worse, by opposing Palestinian statehood so vehemently, Netanyahu may have painted himself into a far right-wing corner, which will make it difficult for him to win support from the center if he runs again as a candidate for prime minister.
Netanyahu supporters argue that it was their man who was going out on a limb for the national interest. They contend that a Palestinian state would be a mortal danger to Israel, because statehood entails control of airspace, borders, armed forces and water.
Internal party polls show Netanyahu 15 percent to 25 percent ahead of Sharon among the full Likud membership, they say.
But independent polls say otherwise. A recent Ma'ariv poll showed Sharon leading Netanyahu by 44 percent to 35 percent among right-wing voters, and a poll in Yediot Achronot showed Sharon even further ahead in the Likud, by 54 percent to 35 percent.
|
