Special Report
What Does Arik Want?
Sharons actions remain elusive at time when being
elusive may help.
MITCHELL DANOW
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
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sraeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon may have a strategy, but
in a week that has seen dizzying
numbers of Israeli and
Palestinian casualties, many are left
scratching their heads trying to figure
out what Sharon is up to.
His government is an uneasy coali-
tion of left and right voicing their
competing demands, and his seeming-
ly contradictory words and actions
reflect some of those competing forces.
Moreover, Sharon has to be alert to
international reaction — particularly
what emanates from Washington,
where officials are concerned the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict could ham-
per efforts to build a strong coalition
for the global war on terror.
Put all these pressures together and
you may get a glimpse into why
Sharon bobs and weaves like a.con-
summate politician-prizefighter.
Last week, for example, Sharon
announced that pummeling the
Palestinians militarily is the only way
to bring them back to the negotiating
table.
He accompanied the words with a
massive anti-terror operation in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip.
These developments elicited a state-
ment of concern from U.S. Secretary
of State Colin Powell, who wondered
before a congressional committee last
week whether Sharon's policy would
"lead us anywhere." The next day,
President Bush announced that he was
sending his Middle East envoy,
Anthony Zinni, back to the region
this week.
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180-Degree Turn
A day after that, Sharon made the
first of two stunning about-faces: He
announced over the weekend that he
would no longer demand seven days
of calm before launching cease-fire
talks with the Palestinians.
Dismissing an outcry from his
right flank that he was reversing his
long-standing policy of not negotiat-
ing under fire, Sharon said he was
acting out of national responsibility
— and from the realization that
seven days of quiet are currently
unachievable.
On Sunday, the second shoe
dropped when Sharon said he was
willing to release Palestinian
Authority leader Yasser Arafat, who
has been under virtual house arrest
since December.
Sharon said Arafat had fulfilled
Israel's demands by arresting all
those who allegedly killed Tourism
Minister Rehavam Ze'evi last
October.
"This is not capitulation," Sharon
added. "We stuck to our demands,
and they were met." Political
observers viewed the two concessions
as an attempt by Sharon to smooth
the way for a resumption of diplo-
macy.
But just as suddenly, Sharon
authorized the Israel Defense Forces
to step up its operations this week in
Palestinian refugee camps in the
West Bank and Gaza.
Military officials said the IDF cap-
tured dozens of "hardcore terrorists"
in the operations, which also netted
untold amounts of weapons and
explosives.
The international community,
however, noticed something else: the
steadily mounting number of
Palestinian casualties.
Last Friday alone, more than 30
Palestinians were killed during Israeli
raids on villages and refugee camps.
On Monday, at least 12 Palestinians
were killed during an IDF operation
in the Jabalya refugee camp in Gaza.
On Tuesday, that toll increased
after the IDF launched a major
operation in Ramallah.
Israelis, already reeling from an
unrelenting wave of suicide bomb-
ings and shooting sprees, braced for
more.
So which is it? Sharon the peace-
maker who wants a cease-fire, or
Sharon the general who wants
another military victory? In a move
that reflects the pressures Sharon has
faced from within his coalition, two
Israeli Cabinet ministers submitted
their resignations on Tuesday.
As far as they were concerned —
based on the two concessions Sharon
had made over the weekend —