Reply #1: An Interesting Point, Ma'am

[The Magistrate]

Without more knowledge of Mr. Ayalon's position on the left v. right spectrum within Israeli politics, it is hard to comment on the worth of his observation here. It is a reasonable supposition overall that chiefs of security services tend toward the right, but the supposition is not fool-proof. If he is considered a centerist or even somewhat left, this would be one thing, if he is a rightist, it could well be too self-interested to pass as useful analysis.

It does seem to me that what we call over here the "only Nixon could have opened Red China" argument can be overplayed. People are not elected to office in order to do the opposite of what they have always said they intended, after all, though on occassion they may be forced to that, ot find it in their best interests, once in office. It seems abundantly clear that Sharon and Likud have no intention of removing the settlements, though they might have less trouble doing so than Labor would encounter. A left government would seem more likely to make the attempt, under current conditions, though such an attempt by a left government might well produce something on the order of a low=grade civil war, featuring murderous attacks by "ultras" of the settler movement against Israeli citizens they felt traitors to the cause of "Greater Israel". This would likely lead to the quick extinguishment of that movement, it could be hoped.