Sharon attacks peace supporters

In a Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) interview on the radio, Israeli 
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon lashed out against Gush Shalom, the Israeli 
peace block. Seemingly as a spontaneous answer to a spontaneous question, 
the PM came up with a long quote of the ancient historian Josephus Flavius 
about how the Romans nearly 2000 years ago defeated the Jews "who were 
fighting among themselves".

All this was intended to show the Israeli public how evil and abject Gush 
Shalom is for having sent warning letters to officers of the Israeli army, 
officers who had openly boasted about acts which constitute violations of 
the Geneva Conventions.

By telling the officers that what they themselves had told the media might 
be used as evidence in court — an Israeli court or an international court 
— the Gush Shalom activists earned for the third time in the past months a 
furious outburst from the PM.

Sharon demanded the Attorney General probe Gush Shalom.

The Attorney General came to the conclusion that there was no reason to 
prosecute Gush Shalom. The Minister of Justice then announced that he would 
take legislative measures to bring the Gush Shalom activists to trial 
anyway.

On the following day the Attorney General told him that there was no need: 
Gush Shalom members could after all be put on trial within the present 
legislation.

Former Knesset Member and Gush Shalom leader Uri Avnery commented: 
"Israelis remember very well what was the result of that earlier hate 
campaign — against Rabin — in which Sharon played quite a central role."

Sharon also said that he did not feel a sense of failure as a result of the 
increasing terror, the economic crisis and the diminished prospects for 
peace.

"It was indeed a difficult year, but I think that we must also look back on 
the achievements", he said.

"First, we established a national unity government, which is no small feat. 
On the terror front, we waged war against terror and the Palestinian 
Authority, which tried to break us. We didn't break, but stood fast. The 
battle is not yet over."

The question arises: Is the PM planning a further escalation, involving 
measures which might get him and his military officers in trouble with the 
new Hague War Crimes Court? Could that be why he wants Gush Shalom out of 
his way?