January 04, 2006

Sharon

Yossi Verter:

What has not yet happened in this election campaign? We've had the big bang that shook up Israeli politics; the two tribal elders' departure from their mother-parties; the prime minister's stroke and catheterization (Thursday).

And then Tuesday, another wild card was laid on the table. Exactly three years after the Cyril Kern affair first broke, now, like a nightmare, it is back again to terrify Ariel Sharon and his advisors on the eve of what appears to be his third great electoral victory. How much will this card impact the election? That's the three-million-dollar question.

As it appears any potential indictment of Sharon wouldn't happen before the March 28 elections, I think Sharon is still the lead pony to prevail come ballot time. As a Sharon advisor once put it: "the public prefers a corrupt man to an idiot." Not a particularly noble sentiment, but probably a pretty accurate one all told.

Developing, as they say. One can't help feeling the old lion's been through worse than this, however...

CRITICAL UPDATE: The Jerusalem Post is reporting that Arik Sharon is "fighting for his life" at this hour. Sharon was not an uncontroversial figure, to say the least, but he's acted every bit the statesman these past months in terms of carving out a broad, centrist middle-ground in the Israeli polity. We wish for his recovery, but the news at this hour appears quite grim. Developing, we hope for the better.

Posted by Gregory at January 4, 2006 03:49 AM | TrackBack (0)