Ariel Sharon, a deeply flawed individual

Submitted by Kenneth S. Besig (Israel), Nov 28, 2005 at 14:49

Consider for a minute that Ariel Sharon is going to let his son Omri go to jail for a crime that he, Ariel Sharon, actually initiated, planned, committed, and benefitted from. You really have to ask yourself what sort of father would do a thing like that, and what sort of person that father must be to do a thing like that. And whether a corrupt and unprincipled person and father like that is a fit leader for a nation.

While Israeli politics is really the seventh circle in the pit at the best of times, Ariel Sharon has done his level best to make it even more corrupt and cynical. Mr. Sharon's betrayal of his son is no different from his betrayal of the political party he founded, or his campaign promises to his voters, or his betrayal of the Jews who lived in the Gaza and Shomron settlements that Mr. Sharon helped to establish.

When Mr. Sharon failed to gain cabinet approval for his betrayal of his campaign platform, he simply fired his cabinet and replaced them with the Left wing Labor party which he had defeated.

Moreover, Mr. Sharon went so far as to call for not one but two Likud part referendums, and when he badly misjudged the outcomes of those votes, which both went against him, he simply ignored the results. Not exactly the behavior of a politician who plays by the rules of democracy.

I must also mention that in another example of Mr. Sharon's lack of political judgement, just this past month Mr. Sharon enthusiastically supported the candidacy of Shimon Peres for the leadership of the Labor Party, and Mr. Peres was defeated by a relative newcomer for that post.

Ariel Sharon has taken unethical politics to lows never seen or expected in Israel and has managed to attract some of the most unscrupulous, unprincipled, and failed Israeli politicians from other parties to join him in his new party.

I cannot of course predict the outcome of this latest Israeli political venture, but if the past is any guide, then Mr. Sharon is in for a rude awakening the morning after the votes are counted.

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