Benjamin Netanyahu's resignation from the government right before the disengagement places him, finally, in the spot that suits him - as the leader of the extreme right in Israel. Netanyahu crowned himself yesterday as the leader of the nationalist and nationalist-religious camp, whose stars - until yesterday - were Avigdor Lieberman, Uzi Landau, Benny Elon, Effi Eitam and Aryeh Eldad.

In resigning, Netanyahu contributed support and momentum to the camp of the lawbreakers, which is threatening to thwart the implementation of the Knesset decision on the evacuation of the settlements in Gaza and the northern West Bank that passed by a wide majority. Netanyahu decided to resign now to garner momentary credit, precisely when the country desperately needs responsible leadership.

After two and a half years of image rehabilitation as finance minister, Netanyahu has again proved he is not made out of responsible, national leadership material. If he had quit two months ago, when the government and Knesset decided on the disengagement, it would have been possible to accept his argument that he is acting out of considerations of ideology and conscience. But his late resignation is meant not to influence, but to astound. It is meant not to prevent a political move he says he always knew was dangerous for the country, but to attempt to make it more difficult and to evade responsibility for implementing it.

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The press conference he convened yesterday, in which he primarily praised himself for the way he functioned as finance minister, does not cause others to forget that the principal reason for his success in that role was Ariel Sharon's decision about the disengagement - which improved Israel's standing in the world and stabilized it after the intifada years.

The lack of political and economic stability toward which the country has been flung following the resignation of a senior official can be remedied by the speedy selection of a new finance minister. That is certainly so if Netanyahu remains isolated in the course of the exceptional move he made and does not carry away other ministers with him.

After the disengagement is implemented - even Netanyahu admits that it is no longer possible to halt it - he will become no more than a distant memory of a very talented person whose troublesome personality and extremist positions stood in his way. Whoever chooses to adhere to an extreme political viewpoint, opposes every step involving compromise and does not see on the horizon the slightest chance of a political solution to the conflict with the Palestinians cannot be accepted by the public as a suitable candidate for a future prime minister.

A week before the disengagement, the prime minister deserves support and encouragement from all who believe in his path, without personal calculations and political considerations. In these difficult days, when a new murderer could rise up from the right to attempt to change reality by violent means, democracy must receive unqualified support in carrying out the process upon which the government and the Knesset have decided.

If the evacuation of Gaza takes place on time and is completed as planned, Netanyahu's resignation, which now looks dramatic, will be recorded as ephemeral. Perhaps it will also signal the beginning of a reform of the political system and the reorganization of political parties, based on their genuine, updated platforms. On one side will be the camp of the entire occupied Land of Israel, and on the other side will be the parties that support democracy in an Israel with redrawn borders.