TURN
Sharon had gone soft on the
Palestinians.
Political Defections
Tourism Minister Binyamin Elon and
National Infrastructure Minister
Avigdor Lieberman specifically cited
Sharon's announcement that he was
freeing Arafat to travel from his
Ramallah headquarters.
The resignations, which were to go
into effect later in the week, mean
Sharon will now have to rely on the
support of the Labor Party and the
Orthodox Shas Party to stay in power
until the next round of elections are
held late next year.
For its part, the Labor Party has
been debating whether Sharon had
gone too far in his military reprisals
against the Palestinians.
But last week, the party's leader,
shooting attack near a West Bank set-
tlement.
• Sunday: One Israeli was killed and
another wounded in a shooting attack
at the Gaza settlement of Netzarim.
The gunman opened fire with a pistol
at the gate used by workers to enter
the settlement. Also that day, a 12-
year-old Israeli was seriously wounded
in a Palestinian shooting attack at a
bar mitzvah in Ashdod. Police appre-
hended the gunman, who fled the
scene after his gun jammed.
• Saturday: Thirteen Israelis were
killed in terrorist attacks in Jerusalem
and Netanya. In the Jerusalem attack,
11 Israelis were killed and at least 54
injured in a suicide bombing at Cafe
Moment. In the Netanya attack, two
Palestinian terrorists shot dead two
Israelis and injured about 50. An
Israeli civilian also was killed in the
crossfire between police and the terror-
ists.
These attacks came on the heels of
another attack March 7, when five
Israeli teen-agers were killed and 23
wounded by a Palestinian terrorist in a
Gaza settlement. The five were killed
when the terrorist cut through fences
into the settlement, opened fire and
threw grenades.
Israeli officials cited the dizzying
pace of attacks on Israelis when
explaining the IDF operations against
the Palestinians.
U.N. Criticism
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-
Eliezer, got party members to agree
not to leave the government during
this period of national emergency.
While many can only guess what
Sharon's strategy truly is, all would
agree that the country is in a state of
emergency.
Witness the following casualties:
• Tuesday: Six Israelis were killed
and seven wounded while traveling
close to the Lebanese border. The six
were shot by terrorists who opened fire
on vehicles traveling a highway in the
western Galilee. In another incident
that day, one Israeli was killed and
another moderately wounded in a
These operations prompted United
Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan
to lash out against Israel during a
speech Tuesday before the Security
Council, where he called on the Jewish
state to end its "illegal occupation" of
Palestinian lands.
Annan also said the actions of the
IDF "gravely erode Israel's standing in
the international community."
At the same time, however, Annan
also took cognizance of the Israeli
death toll. He added that the number
of fatalities on both sides had soared
to appalling levels, and urged Israeli
and Palestinian leaders to "lead your
peoples away from disaster."
Some argue that Sharon has no real
strategy and is just playing it from day
to day.
Others say his strategy is to remain
perpetually unpredictable and that this
keeps the Palestinian leadership off
balance.
As the seemingly interminable vio-
lence continues, according to this group,
inscrutablity is a definite asset. ❑
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3/15
2002
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