Unsettled Settlers

ARIEL SHARON’s career as prime minister of Israel is just now reaching a climax, and its outcome will establish him either as a leader who protected his country’s precarious security or, on the contrary, as someone who endangered it unnecessarily. For decades now, Israel has been attempting to find accommodation with the Palestinians by whatever means were possible, ranging from the softness of international diplomacy and appeasement to the harshness of military measures. Nothing has worked.

Palestinians have proved themselves to be neighbors unwilling or unable to live on peaceful terms. In this dilemma, some Israelis conclude that they have to surrender more and more to Palestinian demands, others that they must be harsher still. These conflicting visions of the future tend to political paralysis, and Sharon is obliging the nation to make up its mind, and even to face its destiny. Israelis and Palestinians have to separate as much as possible, as he sees it, and go their own ways.

About the Author

David Pryce-Jones

David Pryce-Jones (1936–2025) was a British author and commentator and served as a senior editor of National Review.

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ARIEL SHARON’s career as prime minister of Israel is just now reaching a climax, and its outcome will establish him either as a leader who protected his country’s precarious security or, on the contrary, as someone who endangered it unnecessarily. For decades now, Israel has been attempting to find accommodation with the Palestinians by whatever means were possible, ranging from the softness of international diplomacy and appeasement to the harshness of military measures. Nothing has worked.

Palestinians have proved themselves to be neighbors unwilling or unable to live on peaceful terms. In this dilemma, some Israelis conclude that they have to surrender more and more to Palestinian demands, others that they must be harsher still. These conflicting visions of the future tend to political paralysis, and Sharon is obliging the nation to make up its mind, and even to face its destiny. Israelis and Palestinians have to separate as much as possible, as he sees it, and go their own ways.