Home>News Center>World
         
 

Sharon starts to fade from the front page
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-01-18 09:28

Ariel Sharon left the political stage with a bang, but a sense of quiet acceptance has settled over Israel as the 77-year-old leader lies comatose in a Jerusalem hospital.

Two weeks after he was felled by a massive stroke, updates on the prime minister's condition are taking second or third billing in Israeli media to reports on Jewish settler unrest in the West Bank city of Hebron or regional cases of bird flu.

Almost no one in Israel expects the former general, a dominating force in the Middle East for decades, to return to office.

The political focus has shifted to Ehud Olmert, the career politician who replaced him, as Israel moves toward a March 28 general election.

"We can't just rest our hopes on one man, much as I admire him," Yaakov Sheetrit, a Jerusalem shopkeeper, said about Sharon. "I want someone to preserve what he built."

Sharon staked a claim to Israel's political center by withdrawing settlers and soldiers from the Gaza Strip last September and forming a new party, Kadima, after bolting the right-wing Likud.

Many Israelis saw Sharon as a strong leader who could make the bold decisions needed to end conflict with the Palestinians.

He leaves behind a party system in flux, after leadership changes in the Likud and center-left Labor, and a mostly untested generation of politicians trying to fill his shoes.

Olmert, a former two-term mayor of Jerusalem, has received high marks in Israeli opinion polls for a smooth transfer of power. The surveys show Kadima, with Olmert at its helm, on course to win the national ballot.

BUSINESS AS USUAL

Israel's stock and foreign currency markets trade independently of news on Sharon, gaining strength in their last few sessions on the back of a local economic recovery.

Israeli satirists are again poking fun at politicians now that the initial shock of Sharon's stroke has worn off. The popular "Eretz Nehederet" television show aired its first spoof of Olmert last Friday.

In one skit, an Olmert impersonator was asked whether he thought politicians were cynically abusing Sharon's condition for personal gain.

"I think that I am interested in taking a stick and checking to see how your left side reacts to pain," the "Olmert" character responded, referring to neurological tests conducted on Sharon to see if he would come out of his coma.

Gideon Rahat, a political science lecturer at Jerusalem's Hebrew University, said the return to business as usual indicated the strength of Israeli democracy.

"Every man has his replacement, even a charismatic leader who was accepted by a wide segment of society," Rahat said.

Olmert, 60, cuts a vastly different figure from "bulldozer" Sharon, who led troops in Israel's early wars and orchestrated a 1982 invasion of Lebanon to battle Palestinian fighters.

Dressed in signature gray suits, Olmert frequently appeared on foreign news programs as an aggressive spokesman for Israeli policies. But he was never widely seen in Israel as prime ministerial material.

"He could easily begin to annoy people," said Rahat. "He is impatient and not easygoing."

Kadima members acknowledge it could be Sharon's public popularity, evoking a sympathy vote, that might propel Olmert to victory in the upcoming election.

"If this sudden stroke had happened before the party was formed, it wouldn't receive such support," Meir Sheetrit, a cabinet minister and a Kadima member, told Reuters.

Sharon's continued incapacitation and possible death are not likely to shake Israeli society to the same extent as the 1995 assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a Jewish gunman opposed to peace moves with the Palestinians.

"It's sad because everyone expected Sharon would be reelected," said Adi, a soldier who would not give her last name. "But it's clear that after a stroke he won't return to normal. You don't have to be a big-name doctor to know that."



New Horizons spacecraft to explore Pluto
Earthquake disaster drill in Tokyo
Oil tanker explodes in New York
 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

World conference seeks funds to combat epidemic

 

   
 

Red-hot China set to cool a touch in 2006

 

   
 

Beijing urges talks on Iran nuclear issue

 

   
 

Supermarket bombers nabbed in Shenzhen

 

   
 

Unified corporate tax to balance interests

 

   
 

Taiwan 'premier' quits after poll defeat

 

   
  Airbus jet orders for 2005 hit record
   
  Iraqi captors threaten death of hostage
   
  Capsule carrying comet particles arrives in Houston
   
  Russia, China reject call to bring Iran before UN
   
  Iraq: 99% of Dec 15 vote was valid
   
  India, Pakistan to begin third round of peace talks
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  News Talk  
  Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
Manufacturers, Exporters, Wholesalers - Global trade starts here.
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 黑人3p波多野结衣在线观看| 一区三区三区不卡| 亚洲香蕉久久一区二区三区四区| 日本肉体xxxx裸交| 午夜一级免费视频| 香蕉在线精品视频在线观看6| 天天操天天摸天天干| 丰满少妇大力进入| 热99re久久精品精品免费| 哒哒哒免费视频观看在线www | 日本护士xxxx爽爽爽| 亚洲人成在线免费观看| 老师你的兔子好软水好多的车视频| 国产色欲AV一区二区三区| 久久99热只有频精品8| 最近中文字幕视频高清| 免费一级毛片免费播放| 美女扒开尿口让男人30视频| 国产精品美女久久久浪潮av| 中文精品北条麻妃中文| 日韩精品有码在线三上悠亚| 亚洲一级毛片免费观看| 欧美成人精品第一区| 啊轻点灬太粗嗯太深了宝贝| 拍拍拍无挡免费视频网站| aa级国产女人毛片水真多| 日韩精品视频在线观看免费| 亚洲午夜成人片| 精品国产v无码大片在线观看| 国产三级在线观看完整版| 香蕉精品一本大道在线观看| 国产成人精品男人的天堂网站| 一个人看的www免费高清中文字幕 一个人看的www免费高清中文字幕 | 亚洲欧美日韩国产精品久久| 狂野欧美性猛交xxxx巴西| 国产亚洲精久久久久久无码77777| 91精品国产一区| 在线视频你懂的国产福利| a级黄色片网站| 天天综合网天天综合色| www.日本高清视频|