The Lion of Judah

While many of us on the right have been justifiably critical of Ariel Sharon's heavily restrained reactions to Palestinian atrocities and his refusal to liberate the Temple Mount from the Muslim savages, recent reports indicate that under Operation Defensive Shield the IDF has effectively wiped out 98% of the known members of Hamas and the entire west bank leadership of the PFLP (the murderers of tourism minister Rehavam (Gandhi) Ze'evi HY"D). As I have written before ("Has the 'Butcher' Gone Soft?"), I believe Sharon has slowly been making progress in the fight to destroy the Palestinian terror infrastructure and to retake Yesha from the barbarians. We have not sacrificed one square inch under Sharon thus far, and have in fact retaken much of what was lost under the Wye and Hebron outrages (under Netanyahu I don't need to remind you). Sharon has effectively managed to retake all of Area A without sacrificing US support. As Zev Chafets recently pointed out:

Only six months ago, Palestinian military leaders thought they had an unstoppable weapon - suicide bombers. But Operation Defensive Shield, March's much-maligned Israeli invasion of the West Bank, changed the situation dramatically.

"When we began Defensive Shield, there were roughly 70 senior terrorists in the northern West Bank," says an Israeli security analyst. "They were the hard core, responsible for hundreds of killings. Today there are fewer than 10 left, and it's just a matter of time before we catch up to them."

While I realize these gains may seem temporary (as Perez and Ben-Eliezer eagerly try to deliver the children of Hebron to the murderers, G-d forbid!), I believe that Sharon has done the best that could be hoped for under difficult diplomatic and political circumstances.

While much of the right condemns Sharon for what he has not yet achieved, I prefer to look at his impeccable record of over 50 years from Qibya, to Umm Qatef, to Deversoir. Let us remember that as Chairman of the Ministerial Committee for Settlement Affairs from 1977 to 1981 and as Minister of Housing & Construction from 1990 to 1992, Sharon initiated and carried out the extensive settlement of Judea, Samaria, Gaza and the Golan. While it is easy to sit back and criticize what he has not yet been able to accomplish, I think it would be difficult for anyone to find someone who had done more for Israel’s security and for the Jewish presence in Yesha.

I believe that Sharon's goals cannot be questioned even as we are impatient with his methodology.