How Israel Crushed the Intifada

One of the least reported stories of late is how Israel has - over the course of about 18 months - crushed the Intifada. Sharon's policies have focused on ruthlessly hunting down and killing terrorist leaders wherever they are, building the Great Wall of Israel to separate the terrorist breading grounds from Israel proper, and thumbing it's nose at anything the UN says.

The result:

"If we were to sum up where we have ended up after four years of the Intifada, [we would find that] there are three opinions: the first opinion is that after the killing of 1,000 Israelis in the Intifada, Israel would collapse, as would Sharon; the second opinion is that the armed Intifada would liberate the homeland; the third opinion is that the Intifada would bring the settlements to a halt. An examination [of the matter] shows that Sharon did not fall. On the contrary, he has become the most popular [leader] in the history of Israel, after having been subjected to condemnations in Israel. On the same note, all of the Palestinian lands are now occupied and vulnerable, and the settlements have nearly doubled. We damaged our relations with the Americans and with Israeli public opinion; the latest statement from the Quartet is an additional indication of what has become of us." - former Palestinian Authority prime minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen).

The Bush Administration could learn a great deal from Sharon's tactics.