Ari Shavit

Now, as Gush Katif is being buried in the sand, Israel must sit shiva for it. For if the entire public does not know how to mourn the death of Gush Katif, its death will poison our lives.

Now, as Gush Katif is being buried in the sand, Israel must sit shiva for it. For if the entire public does not know how to mourn the death of Gush Katif, its death will poison our lives.

Religious Zionism is not fighting for Gush Katif now. It knows that Gush Katif is lost. Religious Zionism is now fighting for its very existence.

Religious Zionism is not fighting for Gush Katif now. It knows that Gush Katif is lost. Religious Zionism is now fighting for its very existence.

There are a mere few weeks left. The blue camp must come to its senses. It must grant a humane and moral dimension to the historic move; it must give the disengagement valid significance. It must look in the eye those whose world it is about to destroy and speak to them.

There are a mere few weeks left. The blue camp must come to its senses. It must grant a humane and moral dimension to the historic move; it must give the disengagement valid significance. It must look in the eye those whose world it is about to destroy and speak to them.

Now that its capital has been hit, the wounded British lion will be forced to roar in the face of the continued bloodshed in Iraq and the terror that has hit Kings Cross.

The selection of Gavison and Kremnitzer would sear President Barak's heart but save his enterprise. It would also transmit an important educational message: Even giants are human. Not the sons of gods. And not immortal.

The man who devised the strategy of disengagement from the Palestinians is now devoted to a project that is wholly caught up in the lives of the Palestinians.

There is only one way to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian peace: 1948 in exchange for 1967. The right of self-definition in return for a surrender of the right of return.

Ya'alon brought with him a rare quality to the Israeli command echelon: integrity. Zealous integrity, ascetic integrity, fundamental integrity. But the current establishment can't bear this integrity.

Abu Mazen managed to convince the world he is on his way to Helsinki, and all at once the burden of proof was shifted to Israel, to the dramatic commitments it took upon itself.

True, the moderates among the settlers have good reason to try to intimidate the supporters of disengagement. The decent among the settlers are now searching for the last-minute rabbit to pull out of the hat to prevent a final decision for partition.

It's true that the Israeli economy is likely to profit from Fischer's appointment. But Israeli society and Israeli democracy are not capable of bearing the moral costs of this unacceptable postmodern appointment.

The Israeli determination to disengage and the Palestinian readiness to change make the year 2005 a year of rare opportunity. In order to capitalize on this opportunity, however, we have to move from politics to diplomacy.

Ruth Yaron, the IDF spokeswoman, is trying to do PR for an army that is mired up to its neck in a cursed war. Ilana Dayan, a well-known television personality, is trying to preserve a high journalistic standard in a commercial media arena that is becoming increasingly polluted.

Does Ehud Barak deserve to be prime minister again? When the Sharon era ends, should Israel's fate once again be placed in the hands of this meteoric man?

If Israel fails to adapt itself to President Bush's resolute ideological agenda, it will encounter serious problems. On the other hand, if Israel becomes the standard bearer of the democratic idea in the Middle East, the skies are the limit.

Today both America and the West need a Democratic party and a Democratic leader of a different sort. It is not worthwhile waiting. It is worth putting out the tender tomorrow: a new Harry Truman is needed.

From the left's perspective, the matter is very simple: only Sharon can do it. If Sharon will not be able to evacuate settlements in 2005, no one can. The occupation would become a permanent state of affairs.

The rights of the weak must not be trampled underfoot at the very same time the rights of the powerful are sanctified. Those who did so over the past few months to the local authority workers committed an indecent act.

The precedent of the destruction of Zionist settlements in the Land of Israel is a dramatic one. Therefore, the accepted rules of the ordinary parliamentary game do not apply here. The mass uprooting needs a solid moral basis.

The spoiled brats of the left will never accept Ariel Sharon. The spoiled brats of the right will never forgive Shimon Peres. But both groups must understand that at this juncture, one cannot stand outside the garbage dump and roll one's eyes. The spoiled brats have to stop being spoiled.