Editorial de "Ha´aretz" del 20-1-03

A week before Knesset elections it would be reasonable to expect that the prime minister, seeking a vote of confidence from the people, would make his positions clear about the issues at the top of the national agenda. Political slogans along the lines of "painful concessions for peace" and even a general readiness to recognize a Palestinian state have not helped to end violence, and have not brought a renewal of peace talks any closer. The Likud's refusal to dismantle dozens of illegal settlement outposts, and its lax attitude to law-breaking settlers, do not fit with Ariel Sharon's expressed reservations about the extreme right or his call on the Labor Party to join his government after the elections.

Sharon had comments published yesterday in Newsweek: "The Quartet is nothing! Don't take it seriously! I don't think the United States takes it seriously." This was disrespectful, conceited, and politically stupid. A leader seeking a solution does not call "nothing" a forum that includes the foreign ministers of the United States and Russia, the leaders of the European Union, and the secretary general of the United Nations, when they have joined forces to find a way to settle the Middle East conflict. It is not diplomatically polite, let alone politically wise, to turn one's back on such a group.

On the political plane, the prime minister's reservations about the Quartet's proposals - for an international mechanism to monitor an end to the violence, and a settlement freeze - raise doubts about Sharon's attitude toward finding Palestinian partners for an agreement and his ambitions about the political track. The difficult reality on the ground shows that the preconditions Sharon outlined in the interview for a "Palestinian state in temporary borders" - an end to terror and replacement of the current Palestinian leadership - guarantee a continuation of the failed policies he has followed for the last two years.

Even if, as he said, Sharon believes the Americans (no doubt he meant President Bush) don't take the Quartet seriously, then it is difficult to understand why the prime minister provoked such influential international powers and cast public doubt on their decency. A balanced and reasoned foreign policy cannot rely on the support of one country, even if it is the world's most powerful.

Sharon's open contempt for the EU, Russia, and the UN will make it difficult for Washington to deal with their demand that Israel be presented with the road map after the elections. The U.S. may soon need the support of members of the UN Security Council and the cooperation of Europe and the Arab states for an assault on Iraq.

The Israeli government must not endanger the state's special relationship with Europe, including its unique trade agreements with the EU. The sweeping British weapons embargo recently imposed on Israel is a warning of what happens when Europe's interests in the Middle East are ignored. Open criticism from the U.S. assistant secretary of defense Paul Wolfowitz against the settlements, also demonstrates that there is a limit to the support Israel can expect from its most unswerving friend.