Sharon and Israels Future

The Washington Times takes a look at Arab reaction to the events in Israel:

And yet, the rehabilitation of Mr. Sharon's international reputation during his five years in office has also affected Palestinian views of the Israeli leader. Writing in the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam, editor Abdel Nasser A-Najar compared Mr. Sharon to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and bemoaned the rising insecurity left behind by the two.

"The political map in both Israel and Palestine looks very complicated, with their borders intertwined and unclear. Even the road map looks like it is hibernating towards its death," he said.

"After Sharon, the Israeli people will live in a state of vacuum and confusion not different from the state that the Palestinians had undergone after Yasser Arafat's death. It will take years before both the Israelis and the Palestinians find leaders like Arafat and Sharon."

I know that in the eyes of many Arabs, comparing Mr. Sharon to the terrorist Arafat is a compliment. To the rest of the civilized world, it's the ultimate insult.

Here's why the loss of Sharon's leadership will not effect the Israeli's remotely as much as Arafat's death effected Palestinians; Israel is a democracy and as such has had many other leaders who can take the reins and maintain stability. Netanyahu, Olmert and numerous others have been in positions of leadership for decades and know how to run an effective government.

Compare that to Arafat's dictatorial reign. He allowed no one to attain any type of leadership position that would threaten his rule. He played Hamas against all the other organizations and accepted blood money from Saddam and the other Arab nations to continue the Intifada which ensured he would remain in power.

When Arafat died, his successor Abbas had no mandate and no portfolio to speak of. He was a man who filled the vacuum with no inherent power from the governed. We see how that has turned out in Gaza.

Speaking of Benjamin Netanyahu, the HuffPo's Norman Solomon takes a few whacks at the former PM who aspires to succeed Sharon. He compares Netanyahu to Iranian madman Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and deduces that they are equally insane:

Candidate Netanyahu is a standard bearer for nuclear insanity. He's also an implacable enemy of basic Palestinian human rights. Many Israelis understand that Netanyahu is an extremist, and polls published on Jan. 6 indicate that the post-Sharon era may not be as hospitable to Netanyahu as initially assumed.

I find it amusing that the left now labels Netanyahu an "extremist" and praises Sharon when a few short years ago it was Sharon who was the ultimate extremist.

A little research shows that Solomon has been a harsh critic of Israel for years including this piece posted on the far-left site Alternet and this takedown of Sharon at the liberal Media Matters site.

You know a man is way to the left if he criticizes Frank Rich for being to easy on the Bush administration.