“After Gaza, more Gaza”

It sometimes seems that in the 53 days remaining before the withdrawal from Gaza, every single settler will be interviewed by one Israeli media outlet or another. The obsession with the magnitude of the human interest of such withdrawal is understandable, but the deafening silence on what happens next is a problem. The strategy of Ariel Sharon pertaining to the disengagement plan has not been analyzed. Let’s call this tactics “After Gaza, more Gaza”. It looks like this: the Gaza and northern West Bank withdrawal is complicated, and there are a lot of issues with the Palestinian Authority that still need to be addressed. Having started (intentionally?) dealing with these issues so late, it is not certain that they will resolved in the 53 remaining days. It will take months for a resolution.
During such period of uncertainty and discussions, the opposition can not fight against the government nor organize anticipated elections, and negotiations will only be on the withdrawal from Gaza. In short, there would be a midget peace process whose terms will be set by Sharon: no “road map”, no disengagement, no negotiations on final status. To Sharon, it has been a good move, but not for Israel.
A similar tactic will strengthen Hamas to the detriment of the Palestinian Authority. This strategy should be challenged by the realists at Knesset, by the International Quartet and the Palestinian Authority. The Palestine Authority should revise its demands about the final status, the Quartet should redefine the route map to adapt it to the new circumstances, and establish at Knesset a major coalition made up by the realists.