THE BED OF ROSES:

Sharon strikes deal with Labor Party, giving boost to Gaza plan (Steven Erlanger, December 18, 2004, The New York Times)

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel struck a deal Friday night with the opposition Labor Party to join his Likud government, which is likely to ensure that Sharon can carry out his plan to dismantle all Israeli settlements in Gaza and four small ones in the West Bank.

The deal was first reported in the Israeli media, and confirmed by aides to Sharon. An official agreement is expected to be signed Sunday, after the Jewish sabbath. But the deal must first be approved by Labor's central committee, where the debate is likely to be spirited.

The negotiations with Labor were bitter, but preordained to succeed, given Labor's conviction that Sharon's Gaza plan was a crucial step to a final settlement with the Palestinians and could fail without support. While the Gaza plan divided Sharon's Likud party, Labor and other leftist parties vowed to support him so long as he remained committed to pulling settlers out of Gaza.

And so, we have the Left demanding that Mr. Sharon continue his unilateral course as the Palestinians race to elect a sufficiently legitimate leadership that they might be allowed to participate in determining a final settlement--the geopolitical manuevering that brought us to this point has been brilliant.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 18, 2004 8:23 AM