Keep your enemies close, but not that close

This Washington Times editorial praises Israeli Prime Minister Sharon for inviting the opposition Labor party’s most famous dove, Simon Peres, into his government. Sharon did so in order to implement a withdrawal from Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip. However, the need to enlist Peres — responsible in the past for making one deadly concession after to another to the Palestinians — in order to make new concessions constitutes good reason to doubt the wisdom of these latest concessions. Caroline Glick of the Jerusalem Post provides more concrete reasons for harboring such doubts.
UPDATE: Talks between Sharon’s Likud party and Peres’ Labor party have broken down for now, reports the Jerusalem Post. Disagreement over economic policy has prevented the formation of a coalition government so far.
In a statement that reminds me of Labor’s approach to bargaining with Arafat, the party’s negotiating team chair reportedly threatened, “if they don’t want us as partners in the government then they can humiliate us in the opposition.” As baseball utility player Chico Ruiz once said, “play me or bench me.”

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