8.1.05
How
The Hell Did This Happen?
How the hell did I get into this goddamned mess? I wake up in the
morning and can’t believe it. What, I, Arik Sharon, am waging a war against the
settlers? I, who put them there in the first place? I,
who drafted the map of the settlements long before the settlers themselves ever
dreamed of it?
How, for God sake, did this start? What did I
want, after all?
President Bush asked me to produce a peace plan of some kind. He needed
it for his reelection campaign. Alright then, shouldn’t I do him a favor, after
he supported us on everything just to get a good word from me, frequently
performing a U-turn, like with the settlement blocs?
I
also had to do something to put an end to the ravings of this Beilin fellow.
His “peace plan” got an international echo, presidents and prime ministers
danced around him. That could have been dangerous. First of
all, because it could undermine the public conviction that “we have no partner
for peace”. True, we have Ehud Barak to thank for this, but it is still
the most effective weapon in our arsenal. So I had to produce something that
would sweep this initiative off the table and also put me back into the center
of Israeli and international attention. It had got around that I am old, tired,
weak, without initiative; that I am letting things
drift. What, I am old? I am weak? So I took grabbed this plan and demonstrated
just how resolute, steadfast, and strong-willed I am.
And look what happened: for a whole year already, my “disengagement
plan” has been creating upheavals in
True, I did not think much before I floated it. And truly I never dreamt
that it would assume such proportions.
What, after all, did I propose? That we pull the army out of the
As
always, I had a plan for the best case and a plan for the worst case. In the
best case, I reckoned, nothing will come of it at all. Either the nobleman or
the horse will die (*). And in the meantime I would have proved that I am
really a man of peace, I would have created a world-wide sensation, I would look good. And in the end we would not have to
relinquish one square inch or remove one single settler.
In the worst case, if this did not succeed and I really had to implement
the plan, that would not be bad either. I would integrate it in my grand design
of annexing the best part of
I
was sure that the leaders of the settlers would understand this logic. I
invited them for private talks on my farm and told them: Look, boys (what,
aren’t they my boys?), I am going to execute a brilliant manoeuvre. We shall
sacrifice some small settlements. All the settlements in
True, it hurts. I told you in advance that there would be “painful
concessions”, didn’t I? But look at it from the historical point of view: we
shall evacuate some thousands of settlers, but we shall save the other 200
thousand. Not only that, but further along the road we shall bring in hundreds
of thousands more settlers and settle them on all the land that we shall annex
in
I
was sure that they would jump at it. What, don’t they know me? Haven’t I talked
with them hundreds of times? Didn’t they stay on my farm days and nights? Don’t
they understand the historic dimensions of this plan? Don’t they see that this
is a giant step forwards to the realization of Zionism?
I
told them: Zionism means a Jewish state in all of Eretz
Our task in the present phase is to annex most of Judea and Samaria,
leaving the Arabs – for the time being - in Gaza, Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus,
Jenin and their surroundings. Let them call this a
So what happened? The settlers started to rave. Not one single
settlement can be removed, they shouted.
I
told them: Look, I am a soldier. Before the battle of Abu Ageila (**) I knew
that so-and-so many soldiers would be killed. It is not that I didn’t think for
a moment about the bodies, about the bereaved families. But that did not hold
me back. If the aim was important enough to sacrifice these soldiers, they had
to be sacrificed. No hesitation. No second thoughts. If somebody is not able to
do this, he cannot be a commander. So look at it this way.
I
thought they would understand. It’s logical. But it appears that they don’t
give a damn for logic. They were in a trance. All kinds of crazies, rabbis and
born-again Jews, were driving them along. They said that if we evacuate one
single settlement, the process cannot be stopped anymore. That
in the end we shall evacuate all of them. I tried to calm them down, but
they were running amok.
And for whom? For the settlers of Gush Katif would you
believe, who were Labor people to start with. Who put them there?
Would anyone have believed five years ago that I, Arik, would become the
Enemy Nr. 1 of the settlers? That they would curse me and plot to kill me? That I would be readying the army for the
evacuation of the settlers, who I myself have raised and pampered? That’s the
irony of history.
I
would be much happier at this moment if I were with those guys, the settlers,
and was raising hell against another Prime Minister.
Somebody wrote that this is a war between the State of
But what alternative do I have? I feel as if I am swimming in the sea
and currents much stronger than myself are sweeping me along. I cannot withdraw
from the plan, because I have an obligation to Bush and because I have to look
determined and iron-willed, otherwise Bibi and the other hyenas in the party
will eat me for breakfast. And I have to protect the army. Without the army,
what will be left of
So that’s that. One must get up for another working day. One must set up
a coalition with all those nonentities, plan the moves against Abu Mazen who will
be elected tomorrow and is trying to outfox me with honeyed words . And, most
importantly – deal with the settlers, who will yet cause a civil war.
Who would have believed that it would come to this?
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(*) Here
(**)
(***) Galili and Dayan were both hawkish
Labor Party leaders.