Mr Ariel Sharon, removed in disgrace from his position as Israel's defence minister 15 years ago, has been dramatically restored to centre stage, writes David Horovitz in Jerusalem. The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, yesterday named Mr Sharon as his foreign minister, with the appointment to take effect on Tuesday - in time for Mr Sharon to play a leading role in the Middle East peace summit that begins in Washington next Wednesday.
For Mr Sharon, ousted as defence minister in 1983 after a state commission of inquiry held him indirectly responsible for the previous year's massacre by Christian militiamen of Palestinians in two Beirut refugee camps, rehabilitation is now complete. But for Jewish settlers and the rest of the Israeli far-right, whose cause Mr Sharon has lately been championing, alarm bells are ringing.
Mr Sharon has hitherto opposed an Israeli withdrawal from another 13 per cent of the occupied West Bank - as provided for in the interim peace deal that the Americans hope to finalise in Washington. His acceptance of the Foreign Ministry post, and of a key role in negotiating a full peace accord with the Palestinians, could signal that he has now relented. However, Mr Sharon insisted last night he had not changed his mind. "I am opposed to this much of a retreat. My position hasn't changed, " Israeli television reported him as saying.