Masters of war

[Darranar]

Not long ago, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Yom Kippur War, the country was in an uproar over the publication of the minutes from the cabinet meetings that preceded the outbreak of hostilities. Despite the passage of so much time, the renewed consideration of the manifestations of insensitivity and blind arrogance that were reflected in the words of the decision-makers of the time were cause for amazement yet again: Is it conceivable to wallow in such mistaken conceptions, to insist on principles that are so petrified, to miss every iota of a chance for achieving a settlement without going to war?

Yet in retrospect, even the ignominious government of Golda Meir glows with the translucent light of innocence in comparison with what happened this week in the meeting of the cabinet of the Sharon government.

In a dialogue calculated to send shivers down the spine, something straight out of the old anti-war satire by Hanoch Levin, "Queen of the Bath," Prime Minister Sharon was revealed to be a kind of "queen of the bath on steroids."

In a blunt exchange with the director of Military Intelligence, Major General Aharon Ze'evi-Farkash, the present prime minister turned out to be not only consciously unreceptive to any prospect of a settlement with Syria, not only someone who is not striving for peace, but actually someone who is striving against it! Openly, shamelessly, with tooth and nail, Sharon lashed out and blocked any possibility that this was a serious possibility, argued with the data of the cowed intelligence chief, and simply repulsed the negotiations as though he were fighting for his life. He was not content until he "persuaded" everyone present that this peace-schmeace, too, should be rejected out of hand: Who needs it?

Haaretz