Subtle like a Bulldozer

By Marguerite Johnson

Whatever the outcome, it will surely be remembered as his war: no other Middle East conflict had so unmistakably borne the stamp of one man. He had been spoiling for the fight against the Palestine Liberation Organization since he became Defense Minister last August. He had intensively lobbied Prime Minister Menachem Begin and his Cabinet to approve it. He aggressively directed every logistical detail of it. And, in the end, Ariel ("Arik") Sharon, 54, will reap the rewards, or the blame, for the success or failure of the enterprise. The stakes were high: Sharon hopes to become Prime Minister of Israel one day. But brinkmanship has always been his game. As one veteran Israeli politician observed last week, "He may just pull it off. If he does, it will make him a hero."

Sharon's strategic conduct of the Israeli invasion won praise from military officials. After the Israeli air force successfully destroyed the Syrian missiles that had been deployed in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley for more than a year, some of his former opponents in the defense echelon quickly joined Sharon's camp. Said one general: "There is nobody right now who is ready to oppose him or question his orders. He's got the upper hand." Sharon's unchallenged military authority, however, worried some political leaders. Said a veteran observer of the Israeli military scene: "The generals are afraid of him. He's very much in charge. Begin too is totally dependent on Sharon and on his reporting of the way the war is going." Added a Labor politician: "My main concern is that there is no other professional military judgment being presented to Begin."

Sharon does not have a great store of credibility among Israeli politicians or, for that matter, among his military colleagues. Throughout his long and controversial military career, he has rarely been far removed from the front pages, and more than once has been accused of insubordination. Israel's first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, was forced to make a public apology for a commando raid led by Sharon, then only 25, that killed scores of innocent Jordanians. Ben-Gurion castigated Sharon for "his weakness of not telling the truth." A few years later, Moshe Dayan, then chief of staff, considered court-martialing Sharon for defying orders and staging a paratroop maneuver during the 1956 Sinai campaign that cost the lives of dozens of Israeli soldiers.

A former major general, Sharon is frequently called "the Bulldozer." It suits both his girth (5 ft. 6 in., 235 lbs.) and his autocratic style. He inspires extremes of emotion. To his admirers, especially his troops, he is a brave and brilliant field commander who is not afraid to take risks, even at his peril. To his critics, among them many of his generals and Cabinet colleagues, he is an arrogant and dangerously ambitious megalomaniac with little or no respect for opposing points of view, much less democratic process. Said a senior Knesset member who attended meetings with Sharon last week: "If someone suggests another way of looking at things, he sweeps it away. He will say, 'You're not very patriotic.' "

Born to Russian immigrant farmers at Kfar Maalal in Israel's Plain of Sharon (the family changed its name from Scheinerman), Sharon joined the underground Jewish defense force, Haganah, as a youth and fought with the group in Israel's war of independence. He joined the army and rose rapidly through the ranks. But he acquired a reputation for brutality and unpredictability. When he came up for chief of staff in early 1973, Labor Party politicians passed him over. Embittered, Sharon quit the military and the party. When Egyptian soldiers crossed the Suez Canal in October 1973, Sharon returned to active duty. In an operation that was viewed by some as foolhardy, he led a task force across Egyptian lines to establish an Israeli bridgehead on the western side of Suez. He was again accused of insubordination, but the maneuver proved to be the turning point of the war.

Sharon was elected to the Knesset later that year on Begin's Likud ticket, but his political fortunes only began to rise when the Likud coalition won the election in 1977. He was given the post of Minister of Agriculture, and promptly threw all his energy into establishing new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. His object: to settle so many Israelis in the region that no Israeli government would ever be able to relinquish the territories. When Ezer Weizman resigned as Defense Minister in May 1980, Sharon wanted the job. But a cautious Begin decided to hold the portfolio himself. In a now famous remark, Begin said, "Sharon might surround the Prime Minister's office with tanks." Begin's narrow re-election victory in June 1981 paved the way for Sharon's appointment to the defense ministry.

He soon became the center of new controversy by cracking down harshly on the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. When riots broke out, many Israelis were appalled at the military's heavyhanded response, personally directed by Sharon. Eighteen Palestinians were killed in the disturbances. Even as Palestinians began to fear that Israel was preparing to annex the territories, Sharon touted the notion that, because of its sizable Palestinian population, a de facto Palestinian state already existed in Jordan. An opponent of the Camp David peace treaty, he remains adamant against any vestige of Palestinian automomy.

Such views understandably make American policymakers nervous. Late last month, Sharon was at his dogmatic and unpleasant worst when he visited Washington to meet with Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger. The two military chiefs went over a list of touchy issues. Sharon said that he did not like the idea of new U.S. arms sales to Jordan, or American support for an axis between Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Weinberger responded that Washington did not like Israel's sale of spare parts to Iran, and warned Sharon against invading Lebanon. At one point, Sharon lost his temper and began banging on the table and shouting. Weinberger coolly remarked to an aide, "Do you suppose Minister Sharon has taken a dislike to that table?"

In a 90-minute interview last week with TIME Correspondent David Halevy, Sharon discussed the invasion of Lebanon. Said he: "What's happening is an immense blow to the Palestinian and international terror movement. Whatever the impact of our strike, it will take them a lot of time to reorganize and start operating again. The bigger the blow is and the more we damage the P.L.O. infrastructure, the more the Arabs in [the West Bank] and Gaza will be ready to negotiate with us and establish co existence. I am not sure whether the destruction of these organizations will convince ransom-paying Arab governments to abandon the P.L.O. I am convinced that the echo of this campaign is reaching into the house of every Arab family in [the West Bank] and Gaza."

But Sharon acknowledged that he expects to face formidable political opposition as a result of the invasion. The prospect does not daunt him: "I know my country and its problems. I know the armed forces. I shall continue to take care of Israel's security to the best of my knowledge and capability." The moment the military campaign is completed and Israeli troops stop fighting, the internal political battle will begin. Sharon will undoubtedly be in the thick of it, trying to capture his party's political leadership once Begin steps down. ship once Begin steps down. -- By Marguerite Johnson.

Reported by Robert Slater/Jerusalem

With reporting by Robert Slater/Jerusalem

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