Friday,October 6,2000 Floyd Flake BIBI: THE BEST HOPE FOR PEACE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE death of the Mideast peace process means a sunny career forecast for the one politician who no one thought would ever return to the pinnacle of peace-process power: former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Ypost.com Following the second bloody week in Jerusalem and the West Bank, it seems inevitable that a no-confidence vote will take down current Prime Minister Ehud Barak later this month; new elections will follow. It isn't much of a stretch that weary Israeli voters will summon Netanyahu - the only person who could even think about resurrecting the moribund peace effort and ending what seems to be the early stages of a renewed Intifada. Netanyahu's earlier mantra, "security through sincerity," now makes more sense than ever. Israelis - both hawks and doves - increasingly feel that they have been duped by Yasser Arafat's denunciation of violence as a means to peace. All along, Arafat has said one thing to the United States, Israel and the West, while saying just the opposite in words to the Palestinians and other Arab leaders - and in his actions. I now truly doubt whether he ever seriously viewed a workable end to the original peace process begun in Oslo. Bibi will recapture the golden ring of Israeli politics because of the foolishness and callous irresponsibility of the one politician who could least afford Netanyahu's return: Former Defense Minister and career agitator Ariel Sharon, whose reckless and irresponsible actions last week are to blame for instigating Palestinian violence. His needless arrival at Temple Mount - site of the Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock and Al Aksa Mosque - created a perfect climate for violence. Blood is on his hands, and Israel's international moral credibility is seriously undermined. Now the ball is back in Netanyahu's court. Whether he will run is up to him and members of his Likud Party, who are in serious need of leadership after Sharon's debacle. My guess is that we have not seen the last of Bibi. No partners for peace More from the Press Elections 2001 Poll data |
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