Peter Hirschberg

JERUSALEM – The Israeli rescue services had hardly finished evacuating the dead and injured from the scene of the suicide bomb blast in the coastal town of Netanya that killed five people on Monday, and already the speculation was under way. What will be the impact of the first bombing on the 2006 election campaign? … Continue reading “Netanya Bombing Scatters Political Questions”

JERUSALEM – A reliable, pragmatic leader who is tough on Palestinian violence but willing to make calculated sacrifices for peace. A leader who does not trust the Palestinians, but understands that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank cannot continue in its current form. That is how Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will present himself to … Continue reading “Sharon Minus Likud Equals … What?”

JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was doing his best to dispel the impression that another disengagement plan, from the West Bank this time, was in the works. "Yesterday a rumor spread that we were considering other plans," he told an economic forum in Tel Aviv Thursday. "We are not, we already have one: … Continue reading “Sharon Leaves Everyone Guessing”

JERUSALEM – In the last two weeks, they have become the most courted, the most polled, and the best-fed group of people in Israel. For good reason: they hold the fate of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the ruling Likud party, and possibly even that of the state of Israel, in their hands. These are the … Continue reading “Sharon Appears the Struggling Dove”

JERUSALEM – It might have been expected that Israel, not wanting to have pictures broadcast of Palestinians triumphantly entering the evacuated homes of settlers in the Gaza Strip, would want to demolish those homes. It might equally have been expected that the Palestinians, wanting to be seen marching into the homes of their retreating occupiers, … Continue reading “What Will Become of Gaza Settlers’ Homes?”

Anti-pullout protesters blocked a major highway near Tel Aviv, disrupted an Israeli army graduation ceremony for new officers, and tried to march on a highly sensitive religious site in Jerusalem this week. The three protest actions were launched in just three days by opponents of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan to evacuate all 21 settlements … Continue reading “Is Israel Facing ‘Civil War’”

JERUSALEM – Opposition leader Joseph "Tommy" Lapid recently bragged that he had been receiving calls from senior U.S. officials asking him to throw the weight of his 14-member Shinui party behind the government’s budget for 2005. "I don’t know whether this pressure is from the U.S. administration or if Sharon’s office asked the U.S. to … Continue reading “Gaza Pullout Faces Rising Hurdles”

JERUSALEM – The initial reactions bordered on the euphoric. Lebanese citizens were pouring into the streets of Beirut in open defiance of Damascus, and Israelis were cheering. Talk in Israel of a democratic, Syria-free neighbor to its north abounded. Some even speculated Lebanon might be the next Arab country – after Egypt and Jordan – … Continue reading “Israeli Euphoria Over Lebanon Wearing Off”

JERUSALEM – Having bathed in the dreamy tranquility of Sharm El-Sheikh and imbibed the heady atmosphere of their ceasefire summit at the Egyptian Red Sea resort, both Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas returned to considerably less attractive political landscapes at home. Abbas was greeted less than 48 hours after his … Continue reading “Cracks Appear in Truce Already”

JERUSALEM – Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon go into Tuesday’s summit in Egypt with a strong common interest – to portray their long-awaited meeting as a success – but with very different agendas. In many ways, the summit, hosted by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the Red Sea port of … Continue reading “Abbas and Sharon: Common Interest, Different Agendas”