Always Escalate the Violence

Over the body of a Jerusalem man murdered by Hamas terrorists reveling in their new land and accompanied by the fall of rockets and shells on Israeli towns, Sharon has once again battled his way to a narrow victory.

The thug who began his career beating Etzel members, the loyal men fighting for Israel who were to form the Likud, on behalf of his Mapai patrons, who lied and deceived three Prime Ministers. Whose deceits and destructiveness brought down the government of Menachem Begin, leader of Etzel, ending the original Likud revolution. Who in 1990 at the Likud Convention destabilized Shamir's government paving the way for Rabin's victory and the Oslo accords. Who sent soldiers and police to beat men, women and children and drag them out of their homes to be handed over to terrorists.

Over the ruins of corpses and imprisoned children, of bulldozed homes and torched synagogues Sharon once again celebrates his narrow margin of victory. This protege of Ben Gurion, who has done more than anyone else to destroy the Likud from the inside, will remain in power while the brave men who fought for Israel's freedom whom he once beat remain on the sidelines. With a death grip on power he has held off elections for a little longer. The elections where a democratic voice of the people might actually remove him from power.

Former Prime Minister Begin once said of Sharon that he would surround the Knesset with tanks. That hour has not yet come as long as Sharon can bribe, blackmail and threaten his way to power. And most of all Sharon can count on the violence that he creates to destabilize the situation and cause everyone to look to him as a strong leader. The strong leader who set off the chaos in the first place. It has been said of Sharon;

"A single motif recurs throughout Sharon's military and political life: "always escalate." He believes that in the muddle resulting from an increase in violence he will always come out the winner. He will know how to create a situation in which people turn to him because he is self-confident and he knows what he wants. This constant desire to raise the level of violence springs partly from Sharon's strategic sense, and partly from his character."

Sharon has escalated yet again. Like Peres before him during the Grapes of Wrath operation in Lebanon, he's put on a show of striking back against Hamas to burnish his security credentials. His war on Religious Zionism and the settlements has split the Likud and the country. His assault on Judaism in Israel has made the Haredim pathetically eager to sell their souls for a few government shekels. His corruption investigation allows him to posture as a victim of the left even as the left is in his cabinet and defining government policy. In the ensuing chaos and destruction, the man who brought down 2 of Likud's 3 prime ministers has rebuffed a challenge from the third.

The struggle will go on to remove his tyrant from power and it may only be a matter of time before he attempts to turn the IDF not only against the settlers but against all his enemies.