Ariel Sharon, candidate for Prime Minister in the election to be held five weeks from tomorrow, has received the endorsement of the Yesha Council. He met with Council leaders last night, praised the \"residents\' determined stand,\" and promised not to carry out negotiations under fire or to divide Jerusalem.
Sharon further said that if elected, he would preserve Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley, and the security areas of Yesha. The Council leaders understood this as a repeat of a pledge he recently sounded on Arutz-7 that he would not evacuate or uproot a single Yesha town. Speaking on television last night, however, he avoided making such a declaration. Pinchas Wallerstein said, \"Let us not fall into the trap of trying to make inferences from every single word he says... There are times when he will try to sound more moderate, etc. - our main goal is to topple Barak, and we must not lose sight of this.\" Noam Arnon, spokesman for the Hevron Jewish Community, explained from a different angle, “I believe that Sharon will go the way his advisors tell him the public wants to go. Right now, it appears to his advisors that the public is interested in ‘moderation,’ in the continuation of talks with Arafat. It’s up to us to mold public opinion so that it will be cognizant of the dangers of such a path, so that Sharon’s advisors tell him that it is politically expedient for him [to be more critical of the diplomatic process].”
Some statements and actions by Sharon, however, have left room for genuine concern within the nationalist camp. In addition to his sending holiday greetings Yasser Arafat last week, he said today that he does not rule out the possibility of a meeting between himself and Arafat. “My opinion of Arafat has not changed,” Sharon said, “but we do not choose our neighbors’ leaders.” Sharon did say, though, that he would shake Arafat’s hand only in the event that he reaches an agreement with him on an “end to the dispute.”
After criticizing Barak last week for calling a halt to the policy of killing specific terrorist leaders, Sharon praised him today for apparently resuming this policy over the past few days. “Higher-level terrorists should also be killed,” Sharon urged.
Sharon further said that if elected, he would preserve Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley, and the security areas of Yesha. The Council leaders understood this as a repeat of a pledge he recently sounded on Arutz-7 that he would not evacuate or uproot a single Yesha town. Speaking on television last night, however, he avoided making such a declaration. Pinchas Wallerstein said, \"Let us not fall into the trap of trying to make inferences from every single word he says... There are times when he will try to sound more moderate, etc. - our main goal is to topple Barak, and we must not lose sight of this.\" Noam Arnon, spokesman for the Hevron Jewish Community, explained from a different angle, “I believe that Sharon will go the way his advisors tell him the public wants to go. Right now, it appears to his advisors that the public is interested in ‘moderation,’ in the continuation of talks with Arafat. It’s up to us to mold public opinion so that it will be cognizant of the dangers of such a path, so that Sharon’s advisors tell him that it is politically expedient for him [to be more critical of the diplomatic process].”
Some statements and actions by Sharon, however, have left room for genuine concern within the nationalist camp. In addition to his sending holiday greetings Yasser Arafat last week, he said today that he does not rule out the possibility of a meeting between himself and Arafat. “My opinion of Arafat has not changed,” Sharon said, “but we do not choose our neighbors’ leaders.” Sharon did say, though, that he would shake Arafat’s hand only in the event that he reaches an agreement with him on an “end to the dispute.”
After criticizing Barak last week for calling a halt to the policy of killing specific terrorist leaders, Sharon praised him today for apparently resuming this policy over the past few days. “Higher-level terrorists should also be killed,” Sharon urged.