Who Will Replace Sharon?
Ariel Sharon is sick and that's something to get very nervous about. When he dies there is no one in Israel to take his place. I don't mean simply that there are no strong politicians who can assume the position of prime minister. I mean the fact that, when he passes away, there will be no one strong enough, and with enough "street cred" (ie a former hawk now sincerely trying to move things forward with the Palestinians) to keep the current drive toward a solution for the West Bank with momentum. Benjamin Netanyahu is the baby of the far-rght, which means that he won't do anything but stall the peace process while paying any type of lip service necessary to appease the United States, Israel's crucial supporting Big Brother. The left, and most likely the center as well, would never believe Netanyahu even if he did make overtures toward acutal dialog on the Palestinian question anyway.
Amir Peretz, the Labor Party's new leader, will surely spend the next few years ruining Israel's economy, just now off the ropes after yeårs of intifada wrecked the tourism trade and made potential foreign investors shy away from direct economic involvement in the country. A Robin Hood-esque economic policy under Peretz might improve the plight of Israel's poor - but just for a moment, until the economy tanked as businesses no longer deemed business feasible in an old-style socialist state, and looked elsewhere for engineers, to build plants, etc.
What about Ehud Barak? The guy has his heart in the right place, I firmly believe. I voted for him in the election that brought Sharon into power. But, Barak proved himself incapable in working any way but unilaterally, alienated his party by and even the dieheard far left by proposing to give much of Jerusalem to Arafat in 2001 without even asking for anyone's opinion...In sum, he's much better suited to be a monarch than head of a democratic state.
In the late 1990s there seemed to be a new generation of leaders in waiting, espeically in the Labor Party. The fact that I cannot remember the name of even one of those promising individuals shows that they weren't that promising after all.
So, now we have a sick Sharon. A true leader, but the last of a dying breed. And, a leader that appears to believe in his own immortality. So, don't expect him to spend much time grooming a successor for his Kadima party. And, don't count on him letting on when and if he feels his days are numbered.
Amir Peretz, the Labor Party's new leader, will surely spend the next few years ruining Israel's economy, just now off the ropes after yeårs of intifada wrecked the tourism trade and made potential foreign investors shy away from direct economic involvement in the country. A Robin Hood-esque economic policy under Peretz might improve the plight of Israel's poor - but just for a moment, until the economy tanked as businesses no longer deemed business feasible in an old-style socialist state, and looked elsewhere for engineers, to build plants, etc.
What about Ehud Barak? The guy has his heart in the right place, I firmly believe. I voted for him in the election that brought Sharon into power. But, Barak proved himself incapable in working any way but unilaterally, alienated his party by and even the dieheard far left by proposing to give much of Jerusalem to Arafat in 2001 without even asking for anyone's opinion...In sum, he's much better suited to be a monarch than head of a democratic state.
In the late 1990s there seemed to be a new generation of leaders in waiting, espeically in the Labor Party. The fact that I cannot remember the name of even one of those promising individuals shows that they weren't that promising after all.
So, now we have a sick Sharon. A true leader, but the last of a dying breed. And, a leader that appears to believe in his own immortality. So, don't expect him to spend much time grooming a successor for his Kadima party. And, don't count on him letting on when and if he feels his days are numbered.
posted by CatZoo at 4:26 PM
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