Ariel Sharon, the warrior turned politician, has finally slipped away after a coma. He remained in this steady state of unconscious limbo for eight years. What would he say of the changes that have occurred in his absence: the Arab Spring and the US withdrawal from the Middle East?
Judicious aggression and self-reliance are two of the values invoked by the Israeli political elite as they bind past and present. The United States cannot be viewed as an eternal ally of Israel and, from their perspective, its fickle nature has been self-evident of late with the rapprochement of Iran. Sharon would not have trusted an elected Islamist president. Hamas had already invoked one man, one vote, one time. He might have expected no less from elections in the Arab spring and warned that the most likely outcome was instability, chaos and war.
It is disappointing that the world has lived down to Sharon's expectations. As a consequence, the world is less safe for Israel and less safe for us.