Newsday

EDITORIAL

Too Tough

Sharon's hard-line tactics and bellicose talk may work against Israeli and U.S. interests.

September 24, 2002

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who doesn't need to prove his hard-line credentials to anyone, cannot be faulted for his zeal to protect Israel. But he should be taken to task for pushing his bellicose policies and tactics too far, in ways that may hurt Israel's own goals and those of its closest ally, the United States.

Such is the case in Sharon's latest standoff with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, which has reduced Arafat's Ramallah compound to rubble; and in Sharon's declaration to President George W. Bush that Israel intends to retaliate if Iraq attacks Israel in the event of a U.S. military action against Baghdad.

On the surface, both moves make sense for Israel. But Sharon appears not to have taken into account the potential counterproductive consequences. Both could disrupt Secretary of State Colin Powell's efforts to secure an international consensus on Iraq's disarmament.

Israel, of course, must be able to defend itself against attack. But Washington has already made clear it would take preemptive action against Iraqi missile installations in the run-up to any invasion. With its talk of retaliation, Israel could set Arab states against cooperating with U.S. plans for a strike on Iraq. Reducing Saddam Hussein's threat to the region is a goal Israel and the United States share; they should make sure to coordinate their policies.

In mounting a new siege on Arafat's compound - the third this year - Sharon may have stopped dead the gathering political momentum against Arafat among Palestinians. The assault provoked angry demonstrations of support for the feckless Palestinian leader.

Just before the siege, an opinion poll showed that 62 percent of Palestinians believed a new approach to dealing with Israel was needed and that 80 percent favored the adoption of nonviolent tactics. The same pollsters found wide support among Israeli Jews for Palestinian statehood, so long as they used nonviolent means to achieve it.

Sharon should have used this popular sentiment on both sides to make constructive moves toward resuming peace negotiations. Instead, he chose heavy-handed tactics to pressure Arafat to turn over terrorists wanted in the wake of Hamas and Islamic Jihad suicide bombings. The renewed support for Arafat may fade quickly, as it did not long after the previous siege. But why renew the provocation? Sharon seems to know no other way.