"Sharon's Fateful Choice Sealed in '93"

That is the headline in Sidney Zion's Op-Ed piece today, where he writes:

Before the great handshake on the White House lawn between Yitzhak Rabin and Arafat in 1993, the 8,500 Jewish settlers in Gaza needed no protection from the Israeli Army. A couple of cops looked over them, no problem.

It all changed when Arafat set up shop in Gaza to the cheers of not only the Palestinians, but the world, including the Israeli government and the Jews of the Diaspora. Peace in our time, they said, and to ensure it, Israel delivered weapons to Arafat.

Shimon Peres, who became prime minister after Rabin was assassinated, explained: "Is Arafat to fight Hamas with sticks and stones?"

Arafat didn't even fight Hamas with words. The arms were turned against Israel. And not just Israeli weapons. Throughout the "peace process," arms were smuggled into Gaza through Egypt and everybody knew it. But the Clinton administration, intent on closing a deal, pressured Israel to keep quiet. So the weapons of destruction kept flowing under the sands of the Sinai, and the Israeli leaders turned a blind eye.

It all fell down at Camp David in 2000, when Arafat refused to accept 98% of the West Bank, half of East Jerusalem and all of Gaza. Instead, he opened the second intifadeh, this time with arms and suicide bombers. Then it required a division, 15,000 Israeli soldiers, to protect the Gaza settlers. This sea change was ignored by those who oppose the disengagement, as was the fact that the presence of the settlers did nothing to stop the influx of arms or the terrorists.

A majority of Israelis did notice, and polls consistently showed that they considered the situation untenable. Sharon, the architect of the Gaza settlements, obviously agreed; it's the bedrock of his decision to pull out of Gaza.

Assuming that Zion's timeline is correct, the sheer tragedy of the situation becomes even more mind-boggling. Of all our strengths, politics clearly isn't one of them whether we are talking about today or in the time of the Neviim.