Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is clearly a full-service provider. Disengagement realigned the political spectrum on the policy level; now, by forming a new party, he is realigning the political map along the lines he has already incised in the ground.
The results of any "big bang” are by definition uncertain. Sharon is not just risking his own political future, but that of the entire political system, in a way that could reverberate long after he is no longer on the scene.
But certain things have actually become clearer. We will now have three major parties, each of which is better defined ideologically than either Labor or Likud were just a few weeks ago. Thanks to the election of Amir Peretz, and despite his recent tacking to the center on diplomatic issues, Labor will be clearly identified on the Left, primarily on the economy, but also on foreign policy.
On the other side, rump Likud will clearly stand on the Right, with its primary job being, in its own eyes, to block future unilateral withdrawals.
Finally, Sharon will run in the center, pledging his commitment to the road map but with a record of unilateralism that is in contrast to the unconditional negotiations approach of the Left and the not-one-inch approach of the Right.
Clear choices like this are democracy’s friend.
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