Applause - restrained, but still applause

In a potentially dramatic development, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has told the Israeli daily newspaper Haaretz

"as part of the disengagement plan I ordered an evacuation - sorry, a relocation - of 17 settlements with their 7,500 residents, from the Gaza Strip to Israeli territory....

"The aim is to move settlements from places where they cause us problems or places where we won't remain in a permanent arrangement. Not only settlements in Gaza, but also three problematic settlements in Samaria," he said,

for a total of 20 such settlements.

Samaria is the Biblical name for the area known as the West Bank.

That is, Sharon is proposing removing almost all Israeli settlements from Gaza (except for three close to the Israeli border) while conceding that as part of an ultimate settlement the area will be ceded to the Palestinians.

The statement, which apparently even caught his fellow Likud coalition members off-guard, is getting a loud but mixed response. The central question seems to be is he serious? He has his doubters, such as Haaretz commentator Yossi Verter, who writes on February 3 that

[s]o far, it's all talk.

Verbally, over the past three years, Sharon has established a Palestinian state, expelled Arafat and made numerous painful concessions.

But some in the Knesset (the Israeli parliament) think that this time he means it. Still, with the possibility of being indicted in a bribery scandal hanging over him, Sharon is accused by others of simply trying to change the subject.

Yet there is one other possibility being discussed, one of cynicism that may generate hope: that he wants to be remembered by history as the peacemaker rather than the PM who resigned in disgrace.

There is some reason to be doubtful: He immediately followed his statement about withdrawal with an assertion of how difficult the move would be, saying it

"is not simple and cannot be done overnight. We are talking of a population of 7,500 people. It's not a simple matter. We are talking of thousands of square kilometers of hothouses, factories and packing plants. There are people who are third generation there."

But he did say that it could be done in one to two years, an actual time frame rather than a vague "working toward it."

So is he serious? I have no idea. Sharon is a strong and clever politician who has played bait-and-switch before. But now he's made specific promises for a specific time. So for now I will give him the benefit of the doubt and applaud him as a man who has learned - at least a little - that Israel's future is best served by peace and its security best founded on justice.