Bush Working to Ensure Sharon's Re-Election

As long time Israeli peace and human rights activist Gila Svirsky observed,

"For decades, we in the Israeli peace movement have been struggling to get Israelis to compromise on the issue that feeds the conflict with the Palestinians. And then our work for peace gets doused twice: once by a prime minister who believes brutality will convince the Palestinians to give up, and then by a U.S. president who supports him on this. Bush has become a big part of the problem. He has to make up his mind: either he’s for peace, or he’s for Sharon. He can’t be both."

Similarly, Israeli commentator Gideon Samet, writing in Haaretz, has noted that the United States has become "more Israeli than the Israelis…. Continuing to rage, raining abuse on ‘the other,’ and demonizing the Palestinians." He adds, "With favors like that from our friends, we don’t need enemies."
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