"The Bulldozer" clanks on

Coming all the way back from war-criminal disgrace, hard-liner Ariel Sharon is about to become the next prime minister of Israel.

By Flore de Préneuf

Jan 25, 2001 | In what may be the strongest rebuke yet to Ehud Barak's stewardship of the peace process, Israelis who overwhelmingly supported the prime minister in his 1999 election bid have defected to Ariel Sharon in droves.

Israeli voters are incensed with Barak for failing to deliver peace and allowing his country to spiral perilously close to war. Their faith in him is almost as low as their trust in Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat who, in their eyes, has donned the grim face of a master terrorist once again -- one who sanctions drive-by shootings, car bombs and the lynching of Israelis, seven years after the Oslo Accords convinced the world that he was actually seeking peace. While Barak's team conducts marathon last-minute talks with the Palestinians, the Israeli public has already ceased to care. They want Barak out and are poised to elect a hawkish former general, who has pledged to make Israel's security his mandate, when they head for the polls in two weeks. After four months of bloodshed, it seems, more and more Israelis would rather have safety now than an elusive peace later.

Sharon, a veteran politician, is blamed by many for spearheading Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon when he was a hot-headed defense minister. It took 18 years to undo the effects of the general's adventurous and controversial policies, which earned him the nickname the Bulldozer." During that time, more than 1,500 Israeli soldiers lost their lives and Lebanese guerilla fighters routinely sprayed Israeli border towns with artillery fire, forcing residents to spend day after day in special shelters. And Israel's international reputation carries the stain of the Sabra and Shatila massacres in which hundreds of Palestinian refugees were killed by Lebanese-Christian militiamen under Sharon's watch. A campaign slogan adopted by Meretz, a left-wing party that supports Barak's reelection on Feb. 6, seeks to refresh those dark memories in the minds of voters: "Sharon -- Lebanon -- Disaster." The slogan rhymes in Hebrew.

But Sharon has undergone a metamorphosis from Mr. War to Mr. Peace-and-Security at a time when Israel seems rudderless and helpless in the face of a Palestinian intifada. Ironically, that uprising began the day after Sharon made a controversial visit to the Temple Mount -- a Jerusalem shrine held sacred by both Muslims and Jews and the object of rival property claims by Palestinians and Israelis. The violence has killed nearly 400 people and reduced seven years of peace-building to tatters. (The latest victims were two Israeli restaurateurs in Tel Aviv, who were shot by masked Palestinians on Tuesday in the West Bank town of Tulkarem.) But in a time of terrorism and tumult, Sharon's rough-and-tumble image is considered a reassuring asset by many Israeli voters. As the election approaches, Sharon maintains a 20-point lead over Barak in polls conducted by Maariv and Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's two largest daily newspapers.

To many Israelis, Sharon's record of relying on force in dealing with Israel's Arab neighbors heralds a return to law and order. "He promised nothing," says David Ouzana, discussing a campaign stop Sharon made at his house recently. "But we don't need anything. We know who he is."

Ouzana and his wife Batya are residents of Zarit, a small Israeli town just hundreds of yards from the Lebanese border. Their son was a lieutenant in the Israeli army, one of the thousands of boys bogged down in a protracted and deadly war that Barak promised to end when he was elected nearly two years ago. Barak fulfilled his pledge last May, withdrawing Israeli troops from southern Lebanon. Ouzana's son was one of the last officers to make it safely back to Israel. In a way, Barak saved her son's life.

But Ouzana's not impressed. Palestinian refugees in Lebanon staged a violent demonstration at the border here in October and, if fighting ever resumes between Israel and Lebanon, Ouzana's house sits right in the line of fire.

"Barak saved my son but I'm afraid to stay here. Barak promised to protect us, promised us work, but he has done nothing," said Ouzana, who keeps her 12-year-old twins indoors for fear of sniper fire. When Barak swept into power in May 1999, Ouzana voted for him. But next month, when Israel heads to the polls to elect a new prime minister, Ouzana plans to cast her vote for Barak's right-wing rival Ariel Sharon.

Next Page: Barak under pressure

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