My article comparing Ariel Sharon's Gaza disengagement with Charles de Gaulle's exit from Algeria is now up at 972 Magazine.
Sharon and
De Gaulle: A Comparison
Ariel Sharon was Israel’s most politically successful
military politician. His political career was a full decade longer than those
of Yitzhak Rabin, who entered the Knesset at the same time as Sharon, and
Dayan, and a half-decade longer than those of Yigal Allon and Ezer Weizman. But
what have Sharon and Israel to show for it? Sharon’s political career had four
major accomplishments in terms of deeds: the disastrous 1982 invasion of
Lebanon, the settlements in Gaza and the West Bank, the crushing of the Al-Aksa
Intifada from 2002 to 2004, and the Gaza disengagement of 2005. The Gaza
disengagement, unilateral rather than negotiated, led to Hamas rule and the
Palestinian duality that has let Israel off the hook from negotiating seriously
with the Palestinian Authority on statehood.
The settlements remain on the West Bank. Sharon settled the territories
as agriculture minister while Begin and Shamir gave him political cover. And as
prime minister he gave cover for a massive expansion of the settlements during
his five years in office.
