The aircraft carrier changes course. Bush's personal calculations must be seen, of course, against the national background.
Immediately after the Twin Towers outrage, I wrote in this column that this traumatic event would compel the United States to change its policy towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Such an atrocity would have been impossible without the huge accumulation of fury and hatred directed against the United States in the Arab-and, indeed, the entire Muslim-world. This has many causes, but the first and foremost among them is American support for Sharon's brutality in the Palestinian territories, seen daily by millions of Arabs and other Muslims on Aljazeera television.
I predicted then that the United States would act quickly to change that policy. I made my prediction-and nothing happened. I had to admit (at least to myself) that I was wrong, that American logic doesn't work this way.
And now it is happening, after all. Two years late the United States is indeed changing course. I did not take the time factor into account. A speedboat like Israel can turn around in weeks, an aircraft carrier like the United States needs years.
It is said that the American public is not interested in foreign affairs: that in elections only domestic issues matter. That is true in normal times, such as the days of George Bush Sr. But the events of 9/11 have brought the Middle East into every American living room, much like the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. It has now become a domestic matter.
The leopard's spots. Has Sharon changed his skin?
It may seem like that. He has spoken about the "occupation" (and denied it immediately). He is going to remove outposts (but only makebelieve outposts). He talks about a "Palestinian state" (But not about the "State of Palestine"). So what has happened? Has he got old? Desperate? Wise?
None of these. As a son of the soil, he is sensitive to changes in the weather. He notices the new winds blowing from Washington. The smiling George W., his great buddy, adopts a rough tone in private conversations. He dictates instead of discussing. He issues ultimatums. What is to be done?
Sharon behaves like the Jew who was threatened with death if he did not teach the Polish nobleman's beloved horse to read and write. Pleading that the job is difficult, the Jew asked for three years. "By then, either the horse or the nobleman will be dead," he comforted his despairing wife.
Sharon accepted the Bush ultimatum, but only in appearance. He is