Ariel Sharon has secured a 68-seat majority at the Knesset forming an extreme right-wing government so he can come out a ‘moderate.’ Sharon’s government is comprised of Shinui, National Religious Party (NRP), National Union and the mighty right-wing Likud party. This coalition is guaranteed to delay any possible peace agreement while buying time in order to build settlements and create realities on the ground that make the American two-state solution impossible to implement.

NRP, which is also known as the ‘settlers’ party,’ has secured the Housing Ministry which will issue more permits to build illegal settlements on privately owned Palestinian land. National Union, the most extreme party in the Knesset calling for the transfer of Palestinians and the Arabs with Israeli citizenships has submitted a letter voicing their opposition to an independent Palestinian state; NRP was also quick to send a similar letter to the Israeli Prime Minister. Shinui, a secular center-right party holds fifteen seats in the new Knesset, was also recruited to join the most extreme government in Israel’s history.

Apparently, Ariel Sharon and the Likud find themselves the moderates in this new Israeli government, giving Sharon, who has opposed all peace agreements ever signed including those with Egypt and Jordan, the unlikely role of advocate and fighter for peace! Sharon has been branded an obstacle to peace by some Israeli people, those who are members of the Meretz Green Party and the opposition Labor Party. Nevertheless, Bush views Sharon as a ‘man of peace,’ regardless of his history and the International Court case brought up against him for war crimes committed in 1982. Sharon was found ‘indirectly responsible,’ by an Israeli investigative committee, for the massacre which left thousands of Palestinian women and children dead at Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon.

At the same time George W. Bush has announced that he will pressure Israel’s new government to adopt the US roadmap for peace, after a regime change in Iraq and a change in the Palestinian leadership. Bush said he will ask Israel to stop building illegal settlements, which are outlawed in the Oslo agreement in 93’, only after the Palestinians elect new leaders. Meanwhile any attempt to reform or hold Palestinian elections have been prevented by the Israeli government.

If anything, it is evident that this government elected by the Israelis is not interested in peace. This coalition will do some irreparable damage to any possible peaceful solution. The number of settlements has more than doubled since Oslo, creating real obstacles on the ground that aim to make a two-state solution impossible. With the war on Iraq coming up, Palestinians are expecting the worse. There has been more than 140 Palestinians killed since the New Year and many more are expected to be killed and displaced as the world continues to concentrate on Iraq and treat Israel as a state above the law.