Austin Bay Blog » UPDATED: Death of Israel’s “New Center”?:
In November Austin Bay wrote "a column examining Ariel Sharon’s attempt to forge a new “political center” in Israel. The column appeared a couple of days before Shimon Peres agreed to join Sharon’s new centrist party. When I read that Peres and Sharon had linked up for the new election I thought “Finally. Give’em eighteen months. We’ll see significant change in the Israeli-Palestinian situation.”"

Sharon has been important for Israel, but now with both Sharon and Arafat dead, perhaps policies can take priority over personalities.