Indeed, after his masterfully orchestrated political rise to power; Sharon's ability to subdue the Palestinians through other than actually using Israel's overwhelming force should no longer be underestimated. The message from Sharon to Arafat is quite clear: "You Must Comply, Resistance is Futile".

[The Observer - Sunday, 1 July]: While Israel's hawkish Prime Minister rails against Yasser Arafat as the 'head of a gang of terrorists', he sends his son to try to negotiate a settlement with the Palestinians.

But, behind the scenes, the Israelis are in daily contact with senior Palestinians, including Arafat, exploring the next moves in their tortured, bullet-ridden ceasefire. And, in spite of Sharon's rhetoric, his main channel to the Palestinians is his own, much-loved elder son, Omri.

Sharon Junior, a former paratrooper, aged 36, has made several trips to the Palestinian headquarters in Ramallah on the West Bank, a journey that would be suicidal for most Jews. He has gone for secret talks with Arafat, his personal safety being guaranteed by the Palestinians.

Arafat seems to like and trust him. The Palestinian leader cited Omri when he was pressed at a rare press conference in Ramallah last Thursday night over whether he and Sharon could be partners in peace.

The two leaders have a long history of personal confrontation. Sharon, the Butcher of Beirut to most Arabs, just missed finishing Arafat off in that massacre of Palestinians by Israel's Lebanese allies in 1982. Only three years ago, in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in the US, Sharon refused to shake hands.

Arafat, confronted by journalistic scepticism over the prospects for peace, told The Observer: 'Yes, Mr Sharon can be a partner. You forget, his son was his permanent red [hot] line between him and me. That is more important than a handshake.'

The Palestinian leader described Omri as 'a very broad-minded man'. He later laughed: but it was not clear whether he or the translator had made the joke, describing Omri, who is less right-wing than his father, as a 'genetically modified improvement'.

Like all go-betweens, Omri prefers anonymity, and is reluctant to talk to journalists, or at least non-Israeli ones. He is almost constantly at his father's side. A single parent, he lives with him on the family farm, the Sycamore Ranch, in the Negev desert, the biggest single private farm in Israel.

Omri accompanied him to Washington last week for the meeting with President George W. Bush. According to the Jerusalem Post, at a gala reception in New York, Omri was at the top of a list of Israeli dignitaries, ahead of ambassadors and government officials. His role is controversial in Israel. The opposition parties accuse Sharon of hypocrisy, claiming his use of Omri contravenes his pledge in the run-up to the election for Prime Minister that he would not negotiate with Arafat while violence continued.

There is also unease over what some regard as nepotism: the Israelis see themselves as part of the European democratic tradition, almost alone in a Middle East where despotism and nepotism are common. One official, Rafi Peled, director-general of the Prime Minister's office, has resigned amid rumours of a power battle with Omri.

Against this background, an opposition leader, Yossi Sarid, took the issue to court and the Attorney-General, Elyakim Rubinstein, ruled that Omri could no longer see Arafat unless first obtaining his permission. Rubinstein told the Haaretz newspaper: 'One cannot act as if the government is your personal domain. Sending a family member on diplomatic missions is not consistent with clean government.'

The Rubinstein ruling prevented Omri from joining the talks at the White House. But the Palestinians confirmed that contact was maintained. Arafat said: 'You have to keep in mind that Omri is not confined to meetings with me. Many of my colleagues have meetings with him.'

Nabil Shaath, Arafat's foreign affairs specialist, echoed this: 'Mr Arafat has had no meeting with him since the ruling, but close associates [of Arafat] still see Omri. Omri does not come to Ramallah but they go to see him.'

Sharon, as expected, went in hard against the Palestinians when he became premier, though he showed restraint after the Dolphinarium bombing. His popularity rating in Israel is above 70 per cent.

Lily, Sharon's second wife - his first died 38 years ago - died last year. He has two sons: Gilead, who has less interest in politics than Omri, runs the family farm, where Sharon spends his weekends.

Zalman Shoval, twice Israeli ambassador to the US, said: 'Sharon was very much devoted to his late wife and I have no doubt he misses her very much. I do not want to be an armchair psychologist but I am sure that need to be close to his son is part of that.'

Sharon has admitted that Omri has had a moderating influence on him. Both are on the centre-right but, according to members of their Likud party, while Sharon belonged to the old school that believed in a Greater Israel, his son recognises there will eventually be a Palestinian state.

Sharon too has grudgingly come to admit this. In an interview with Ma'ariv last week, he said he could conceive of Palestinian 'independent rule, even as far as a state under certain conditions'.

He showed a map to Bush in which Israel would retain a strip of the West Bank along its border with Israel and along the border with Jordan. Not a proposition that will appeal to Arafat, but at least a shift from Sharon's previous extreme position.

Asked by Ma'ariv if Omri was a left-winger, Sharon said: 'He is as left-wing as I am. But he thinks things should be approached differently. It took even me 70 years to realise that not everything is black and white. I have to admit that is my son's contribution.'

The test of whether Sharon no longer sees life in black and white is yet to come.

Mid-East Realities

www.middleeast.org

Source: http://www.middleeast.org/articles/2001/7/260.htm