Sharon later became the Officer in Charge of the Southern Command, and led armored forces across the Suez Canal in 1973, where they surrounded and besieged the Egyptian Third Army, effectively ending the Yom Kippur War.
The reputation that Sharon has earned over the years, as a leading military tactician and theoretician has served him well in his political career. He has held six different cabinet posts including the Foreign Affairs and Defense Ministries. He has managed to forge lasting political alliances between diverse factions, through great skill as a negotiator and conciliator.
With the immense reputation Sharon acquired through his military exploits, he was also given the nickname Arik. “Arik” became a synonym for security, for the hope many Israelis held that life would be better, that the violence would end, and that we could finally live quiet lives as Jews without having to constantly look over our shoulder to see who was aiming a gun at us.
In 1998, while Binyamin Netanyahu was busy giving more land to Yasser Arafat at the Wye River summit, I overheard an Israeli old-timer complaining about the sell-out that was taking place. “Who would be better,” I asked. “Arik!” was the response.
The combination of military prowess and negotiation skill held out much promise for a badly wounded nation at last year’s elections. The fall of the Barak government was spurred by the increasing violence, and by the continuing murder of Jews with impunity simply for living in the Jewish Homeland. Barak’s chosen path for dealing with the violence was soundly rejected by the electorate. Sharon was elected by the largest margin in Israeli history because of his reputation. Voters saw in him someone who could end the violence and bring Israel the security it so craves.
That was a year ago. At the time Sharon took office, on March 7, 2001, 66 Israelis had been killed in a little over 5 months of Palestinian terrorism. Since then, 219 more have been killed in a little less than a year. Instead of security, more people are being killed and injured now than before Sharon was elected. The attacks are becoming more ferocious, more daring, and more effective.
So where is Sharon? Where is the Arik that Israel elected last year?
These questions are being asked loudly and constantly these days, especially following the ambush and murder of six Israeli soldiers at a roadblock near the village of En Ariq near Ramallah two nights ago. Six more funerals are replayed on the newsreels. Six more grieving families now exist whose pain and anguish cannot be assuaged by Ariel Sharon.
The IDF responded with great power to the murder of the six soldiers. No such response was forthcoming for the other victims who have been killed during the past ten days. Not for the teenagers killed while hanging out at the local mall on Saturday night, not for the soldiers killed when their tank was bombed, not for the police officer killed by a car bomber he had foiled, and not even for the myriad attacks that missed their targets or were prevented.
But through the night on Tuesday, all day yesterday, and last night as well, IDF planes, warships, and tanks shelled more empty buildings throughout Palestinian-controlled areas. In many cases, these buildings had not been repaired since the last time they were shelled in response to increasing terrorism.
This was meant to be a show of Israeli strength. But Yasser Arafat still sits in Ramallah, laughing at the cowardice of Ariel Sharon and the feeble responses he is generating. Israel still awaits the next bombing, the next shooting, the next ambush, wondering who will be next.
There are increasing calls on the right for Sharon to either unveil the real Arik or to admit that the old Arik is gone and allow someone else to take over. This path is fraught with political danger. Israelis rarely re-elect a government. The voter is searching for answers, and is unhappy with those offered by the left, while the right offers none.
But, as one politico said this week, the government is not as important as human life. A few days later, it is painfully obvious. The right still has no answer, no program to offer voters who are crying. At the same time as the voters cry for the hundreds of lost Israeli lives and all the potential and happiness that were lost with them, they also cry out for a real fight against terrorism, for real defense of Jewish lives, and for real security. They cry out for Arik.
But the term En Ariq has now taken on a sombre double meaning. Not only is it the name of a village where six soldiers were killed, it is also a political statement. There is no Arik. And Israelis continue to cry.
Copyright 2002. All rights reserved. Yehuda Poch is a journalist living in Israel. Reproduction in electronic or print format by permission only.
