The Sharon Plan

The exit from Gaza has been excellent for Israel from a PR standpoint. The media can no longer portray what is happening there as a fight against occupation.

It is now the Palis attacking Israel across a border.

This is very good.

There will no longer be any settlers once the West Bank is similarly cleared. However, that need not happen any time soon (years, maybe decades) as the benefits from Gaza PR will to some extent carry over into the territories.

So many Israelis have said the exit from Gaza was a mistake. I always thought it was a brilliant move. It changed the rules of engagement in the international press. And getting the Palis to elect Hamas, priceless.

It is like chess. You may have to take temporary losses for permanent gains. I always thought Sharon was an excellent general. When he first announced the Gaza withdrawal I was standing on my chair clapping. The Pali civil war. The change in the tone of the press. The change of the rules of engagement. They were all things I expected. Sharon is brilliant for seeing that before any one else. A strategy so brilliant that it could be executed in plain sight and the enemy could not defeat or deviate from the plan. A plan so brilliant that once set in motion the planner was no longer needed for guidance. One of the greatest generals of all time.

Sharon saw so clearly what every one else missed. You cannot defeat an occupied people. You can defeat a soverign state. He also saw clearly that what the Palistinians needed most was defeat. To lose hope.

BTW here was my prediction last year around the time of the Gaza withdrawal.

Operation Summmer Storms with links to up to the minute news.

This post inspired by the discussion at Israelly Cool.

Update: 30 June '06 0147z
An Israeli comentator agrees with me.

Technorati:
Israel, Shalit, Olmert, Palistinians, Middle East, Hamas, Middle East Rules, Lebanese Rules, Ariel Sharon