If Likud has been able to seize the initiative it is because the violent, racist, anti-Arab policies that it has pursued since it emerged as a faction within Zionism most consistently and ruthlessly express the logic and requirements of Zionist rule today. Labour has been drawn into Likud’s orbit because it shares its commitment to Zionism. Insofar as it has identified itself with the Oslo Agreement and the “peace process,” it has done so with the perspective of creating a Palestinian mini-state that would be completely subordinate to Israel. Meeretz and Shinui support the same two-state perspective.

If Sharon declares that the country faces a national emergency because of continued suicide bombings or because the U.S. has launched a war against Iraq, these parties will fall into line, whether they are inside or outside the government coalition.

Sharon has already made clear that his government intends to establish more settlements on occupied land in the West Bank. In his victory speech he declared that he would immediately free funds from the budget “to increase immigration to Israel from all of the Jewish diaspora.”