Editorial: What lies ahead for Israel

Sunday, Jan. 8, 2006 | 8:02 a.m.

It is highly unlikely that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will be able to return to political life after having suffered a massive stroke last week. Israelis and, for that matter, people all over the world who hope for a lasting peace one day in the Middle East, reacted with sadness to this turn of events.

"The situation leaves me with a lot of uncertainty. I don't know what will happen next in our country," Doron Diamont of Jerusalem told Cox News Service. "In my opinion, Sharon is the only leader that can make decisions and implement them."

It certainly was Sharon's drive and quest for peace, with security, that led to his increasing popularity. Furthermore, his bold decision recently to leave the hard-line Likud Party was a watershed moment in Israeli politics, which too often have been wracked by bitter divisions and small extremist parties holding the balance of power.

In response, Sharon created a new centrist political party, the Kadima Party, one he believed could govern from the middle and hopefully reach a peace agreement. National elections in Israel are less than three months away, and Sharon was confident that Kadima would emerge victorious.

It is vital that Israel carry on Sharon's vision, one that included his decision last year to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. It was encouraging that Shimon Peres, the vice premier, after meeting on Friday with Ehud Olmert, the acting prime minister, said "we will know how to continue Israel's policy .. to continue Ariel Sharon's policies."

We hope that Olmert continues the peace process in the same way as Sharon did, emphasizing peace with security.