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Jackson, I don't like the withdrawal of the Israeli Gaza settlements because that looks like a weakening of Israeli resolve to Arabs. Anything that weakens Israel should be, in the Christian term, anathema. I can guess your opinion of the withdrawals, but would you state it here?

I don’t think we’ll know for a couple years.

From an Israeli-US-Euro perspective, creating a(nother) racist state is morally questionable and likely to fail.

From Israel’s perspective, a “negotiating partner” is unlikely to emerge so imo the only solution is unilateral. Gaza is expensive to defend in terms of both money and manpower. If the second stage of Sharon’s plan involves drawing defensible borders in the West Bank which include most of the large settlements and a defensive line along the border, then shutting the door, then I think it makes sense. Whether that happens we’ll see after the Gaza withdrawal is complete, I’m sure the US will be opposed. If it turns out the Gaza withdrawal stands on it’s own, then it’s a futile act of capitulation which does little more than set the stage for the next conflict.

BTW, Sharon is reported to have told Condi Rice yesterday that if Abbas doesn't stop the attacks on Israel, he'll do it for him, so the IDF may be back in force sooner than we think.