Publication

This report, based on interviews with members of the Israeli Likud party and insiders, attempts to map Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s and his party’s respective trajectories, explores possible reasons behind the shift to unilateral disengagement from the Gaza-Strip and assesses how far they eventually might go. The paper presents Likud’s history, explores the reasons behind the Gaza disengagement plan and introduces Likud’s internal opposition. The paper argues that unilateral disengagement is an attempt to stabilize the Palestinian situation while impeding international efforts to end the conflict on terms that are unacceptable to Sharon.