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Israelis keep national vigil after Sharon surgery
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-07 19:31 CRUCIAL JUNCTURE FOR PEACE PROCESS
Sharon's doctors, speaking before Friday's surgery, cautioned against undue
pessimism over his condition.
"Everyone is mentioning the less pleasant things," said Hadassah's deputy
director Shmuel Shapira. "Any assessment is irresponsible. Things can go one way
or the other."
Sharon is reviled in the Arab world but increasingly seen by the West as
having opened up new prospects for peace. He suffered his stroke at a crucial
juncture as he was fighting for re-election on a promise to end conflict with
the Palestinians.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice cancelled a trip to Indonesia and
Australia because of concerns over his condition and the risk of another
eruption of Middle East violence.
Political analysts said Israel's March 28 election, which Sharon had been
widely expected to win as head of the new centrist Kadima party, would become an
open race without him.
Much of Sharon's popularity among Israelis stems from a belief he could take
bold steps towards reconciliation with the Palestinians which others would not
get away with, given his background as the archetypal hawk.
But two opinion polls published in newspapers on Friday suggested that under
Olmert, Kadima would still win around 40 of parliament's 120 seats -- well ahead
of Likud, the rightist party Sharon abandoned, and centre-left Labour.
Sharon had been campaigning on a platform of readiness to give up some
occupied land in the West Bank, but has vowed to hold on to major West Bank
settlement blocs, a prospect Palestinians say would deny them a viable state.
In a possible sign of Washington's concern that Sharon's absence might stall
its Middle East diplomatic efforts, Rice spoke to Olmert briefly by telephone to
express solidarity.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called Olmert on Thursday to voice hopes
Sharon would recover, but some other Palestinians were less forgiving of the
Israeli leader's harsh measures to fight a five-year-old uprising.
One Muslim preacher at Friday prayers in Gaza denounced him as "the man who
wiped the smiles from the faces of children". Sharon had insisted that tough
tactics were needed to defend Israel against suicide bombers and other
attackers.
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