Israel wants to live in peace. That is all the pressure she can apply. Nothing more can be done when facing an neighbor whose only policy is to wipe out Israel off the map and push them in the Mediterranean see.

oh like that will work. why not just put your fingers in your ears and sing 'la de da de da'?

No doubt what the US has here is a failure to communicate !....Sharon has been and continues to be a militaristic bully of sort while all the while crying wolf(e) about the security of Israel. Most USA citizens don't know the population of this tiny country recently called Israel...most never heard about the screw up of the Balfour Agreement (go read it !)....most US citizens don't know that this country of under 10MM people receive an average of 4-5 BILLION US TAX DOLLARS ( YOUR MONEY) each year (not including loan guarantees and the like)...you can do the per capita math. Now what does Israel produce, give, or sell that the US can not live without?? Well the answer to that is easy...NOTHING. They have no oil, and export a bit of technology and fertilizer (which may be appropriate). Insiginificant stuff methinks. So WHY all the money going to Israel??...well guess..hmmm...it's a powerful Jewish lobby here in the US !...nothing wrong with that, but there're almost as many CUBAN AMERICANS in Miami than there are Jews in the entire US...and Hispanics constitute the largest minority (approx 38MM). So why the policy of treating Israel like we owe them something (other than respect)...why are we paying through perhaps a guilt complex through the nose, when the perpetrator of mass evil, GERMANY doesn't even do so...why do we get worn OUT with constant TV and movie images of the Holocost, when WE freed German JEWS??..ah yes..hmmm...The US is NOT responsible for the safety of a foreign country...any really...especially Israel. Where is THAT written that we must act like Israel is a WARD of the US...If it's that damn important let's make it the 51st STATE, then let's own it...The return on the GIFTS (not investment) seems only to get the US in more trouble...pulling Jewish chestnuts out of the fire....why do you think we invaded IRAQ...and maybe IRAN latter??..why you ask?, the answer is that the US is doing Israel's dirtywork, and a foreign country named Israel (I couldn't care if it were Canada, another democratic ally), has TOO MUCH influence on our policy...What MAY be good for the US, may NOT be good for Israel....but I assure you that Israel is only thinking of themselves first...which is the way it should be...but why aren't we awake enough to see that these peoples' agenda may get us blown to hell one day....odd stuff

He doesn't want peace!

This man needs our foot up his tuckus on a constant basis.

Sharon historically has supported expansion of israel's borders into Lebanon, expansion of Settlements, stood ideally by while palestinians were massacred and is under great internal pressure from the ultra right who holds many seats in the knissett to not give up one iotta of the land which they illegally occupy. The United Nations should broker and enforce a peace settlement not the United States. The only reason Israel wants the US to intermediate is due to the support of the american jewish and conservative Christian right.

Yes. You need to lean on Sharon just as much as anyone else. He is often the instigator of tit-for-tat provocation in that region. (From what I understand, and I would be happy to be corrected if I am wrong, Europe does not finance Palestinian schools..it stepped in to cover the shortfall Bush lost, because otherwise it smacked of favouritism and was grossly unfair to the Palestinians. However, we would like to see a Palestinian state AND an Israeli state in some form of peaceful co-existence. This is not what Arabs want because they feel that the Jews were moved into another people's home and took it over...rather like the Native Americans must have felt. They don't seem committed to changing that mindset anytime soon, so it would be in our interests - and perhaps give us more leverage - if the western approach were balanced.)

Sharon has a responsibility to protect, as best he can, the citizens who elected him and preserve the existence of the Jewish State. Put pressure on him to push for peace? Come on.

Anybody who seriously believes that putting more pressure on Sharon or Israel should read Preachers of Hate, by Kenneth Timmerman.There's a pretty good possibility that anyone who reads it will come to believe that Israel,Sharon(and the US.) are too nice.

I think that both Arafat and Sharon need to be motivated towards getting back on track with the peace process. Both are mired in delusions of excessive nationalistic pride. The Jews HAVE to make concessions to make the peace process work; it isn't a two way street here. I believe that we got to this point because of US policy towards Israel in, you guessed it, the Clinton administration. Clinton had an idealistic view of the Jewish leadership, particularly Rabin. He gave up a central tenet of American foreign policy towards Israel, that settlements in the West Bank are illegal. When we gave that up, we lost our status as honest brokers in the whole deal. The first Bush administration brokered the Oslo agreements in 1992 that would have been the cornerstone of a lasting peace in the Middle East. Reality is that this is a conflict that we really shouldn't be taking sides in. The Palestinians deserve their rights and indeed they are no better than the Jews. I think that George W. Bush understands this, but then we have our own war on terrorism that muddles the whole question. The United States is going after terrorist organizations like Al Qaeda, but the Jews claim that Palestinian terrorists need to be put under this umbrella of terrorist regimes. This only makes things worse. Sharon is putting us in a compromising position by saying that we'd be going soft on terrorism if we don't support the Jewish cause. Again, it's a conflict we have no business taking sides on. Palestinian terrorism is motivated by different causes than transnational organizations like Al Qaeda; for one thing, Palestinians are not using terrorist tactics because of religious reasons. They want their rights; something they're being denied under Sharon. Additionally, it weakens our position as credible brokers in the crisis; are the Palestinians or as a matter of fact any Arab nations going to sit in on our mediation of the crisis if they feel that the deck is stacked against them from the beginning? No, we need to fair here. But the Palestinians are also as liable as anyone else; the intifada has really done a lot of damage to the peace process, more than anything else. It puts the Americans in a very difficult position in relations to helping strike a compromise. As long as the Palestinians use terrorism as a means to get their point across nothing will get accomplished. But likewise, we need to put up the pressure on Israel to begin compromising. Their state in the long run is in great danger if they don't do this. The United States ought to resume it's former position by saying that the Israelis have to stop settling in the West Bank and if they don't cease in doing this, there will be economic sanctions going into effect. The Palestinian issue really has little to do with directly with the American war on terrorism. We can't continue to overtly favor the Israelis like we have been for the past 10 years; it's damaging international relations in the region.

You can't make an old senile relic rule a country with decency.

There is no point to pressure Sharon. Israel is not interested in the conflict, Palestinian militants are. And until Israel destroys terrorism infrastracture, Europe stops finanancing Palestinian schools that do not have Israel on the map of the world, and US stops paying so much money to oil sheiks which (note: which, not who) forward that money directly to terrorist organizations, while their own people leave in poverty, NOTHING IS GOING TO CHANGE!

This is a ridiculous idea. Sharon is a fanatical homicidal thug. He cannot be reasoned with, and there is no kind of pressure that can be applied to him to push for peace because his entire being is dedicated to ridding Israel of all non-Jews. He is anti-peace. But go ahead, try reasoning with him, he is just as murderous and fanatical as Osama bin Laden.

There will be no progress on peace in the Middle East until Israel starts actually dismantling real settlements. Until that happens, no Palestinian could possibly think Israel intends anything but a total land grab in the West Bank and Gaza.

He's being bombed by suicide bombers everyday, what more can he do?

Sharon has tried to obtain peace...difficult to do when you have to work with Palestinian terrorists. How many more innocent Israelis and unfortunately brainwashed Palestinians have to die before Sharon realizes that force is the only option (like the US did with the Al Quaeda terrorists)?!?

This is not really a feasible solution. What does "push for peace" mean anyway? Is Sharon to restrict Israeli soldiers from firing on suicide bombers? The only political incentive that will work with Sharon is a guarantee that Palestinian refugees will not have the "right to return" and that the extreme elements will acknowledge Israel as a state. We should focus our efforts on improving relations with nations that have absorbed many of these refugees and, with them, much anti-Israel and by extension anti-American sentiment.

More pressure needs to be asserted on both Arafat and Sharon by the US, the UN , the EU, the Arab League - Anyone with influence. This conflict has gone on way too long. Too many innocents on both sides are being killed. Sharon is a very stubbern man, he keeps pushing his military in to try and root out militants - ends up killing a bunch of civilians and destroying their homes, then the palestinians retaliate and kill lots of Israeli civilians, then the army goes in again and... Its a cycle of violence which must be broken. Arafat does not have much control over these terrorist organisations, he is weak. Sharon on the other hand has control over his army. The first step forward needs to be taken soon by one of thes guys or all out civil war may ensue.

Like Arafat, this guy has a deep hatred of the Muslims and is spreading that hatred among his people. However, it would be much more logical to pressure Sharon for peace because of the fact that the U.S. is reponsible for over 50% of the costs of running the Israeli military. I'd tell Sharon to ante up and do something or kiss our funds goodbye.

Both Sharon and Arafat are to blame. Arafat has no business dealing with terrorists if he wants to be taken seriously, but Sharon has no excuse either! Arafat is dealing with a broken nation of desparate people who have been beaten down to the point of suicide bombing. What other choice do the Palestinians have aside from throwing rocks at tanks and getting shot for it? If the US and Israel could see that Palestinians are doing these bombings because they see no way out, then maybe Israel could give some occupied land back and stop razing Palestinian homes. I hate to take sides on this, but the ball is in Sharon's court. Were there suicide attacks on the scale we see now when Rabin was in power? NO! That kinda tells you something.

Why? Arafat should be the one to push for peace, he is the one who wants to make his own terror state? Why waste time trying for Sharon to make peace? If Arafat really wants his own country, he should stop these suicide bombings and push for peace himself.

The U.S. has given isreal 3 billion a year to create a mighty military to fight a war against Palestinian civilians. The violence has to end. Funding for the Isreali military should be curtailed if not cut off all together -- that would certainly get Sharon talking!

Im going to set it all straight for everyone. Ever since the United States became a Superpower. They were automatically given authority over the world, with no country that can contridict what they do. No matter what..they WILL do as they want. And so far its very obvious. The reason no advancemnt has happened with Israel and Palestine is because The United States doesnt really want anything to happen. They want Israel to be a strong force in the Middle East, as their only real allie in that region. They supply Isreal with all its weapons, how can a country supply Isreal with the weapons, etc, and want improvment in the situation. The United States has all the power to stop anything that is going on ANYWHERE in the world..the destiny of Israel is in their hands...the US would do anything for what they want, as they are doing about Iraq...so i say it again...if they want it...they'll get it.(period)

The Israeli's are turning into the Nazi's. They are murdering innocent men women and children in the streets. Then when the Palestinians try to use the only method available to them to get freedom, food, and lives Israel acts as though it is the victim. One needs also to remember the following: 1.) The type of terrorism that the Palestinians are using (minus the suicide) was originally used by Michael Collins to end the 900 years of English oppression endured by the Irish. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RELIGION! 2.) The Palestinians were there first! They were kicked out of their homes, their homes were demolished and they were put in refugee camps with no food, clean water, or chance for education. People of Jewish descent may have lived there 2,000 years ago, but that has little to do with now. 3.) The number of Palestinians killed is over three times the number of Israeli's killed in the last 2 years, most of them innocent civilians.

Mr.Sharon is not doing anything in terms of peace. This "President" is a WAR CRIMINAL why is he even in his current high state. Why is America picking on Iraq? George Bush is just finishing off his dads dirty work, and SUPPORTING Areal Shaon with loads of money, think about it... America is SUPPORTING A TERRORIST. Mr. Areal Sharon. He's done nothing in terms of peace, only complaining about Arafat. This man is the "eye" of the war in the Middle East. Ashame most people dont realize this.

"First blood " was when Sharon went to a holy place of the Palestinians with 2000 policemen.He wants war (and now he has it!) I think he is a total warmonger.(+ a war criminal)

Neither Sharon nor Arafat want peace, both are hate mongers deep down inside, and both sides will continue to kill each other. I hope for our side, America, that we don't get sucked into their blood bath. That's why it is critical to allow our soldiers the God given RIGHT to not participate in any armed conflict against their will. Nobody has the right to force anybody to kill anyone. If a gov't is worth defending, the people will naturally defend her. But any gov't that resorts to forcing their citizens to kill others who themselves were also forced into combat, is not a gov't that is worthy to continue to exist. The right to refuse to participate in any armed conflict is a human rights issue that is comparable to slavery. We, in America, often disregard the human rights of soldiers by saying things like 'he knew he could have been forced off to war by joining' or 'it's an all volunteer army after all'. But, that does not mean that soldiers who joined can be deliberately misused as oil mercenaries or that they can not say NO to any violent order at any time. The horrible duty to kill or not rest solely on the one doing the killing, not a President or general, or anyone else. Remember that, NO ONE has the right to force anyone to kill anybody against their will.(period) That includes soldiers, for they are people too!!! Once we guarantee that right to our soldiers we can focus on emancipating soldiers all over the globe. And we would serve humanity if we were to support the rights of the Israeli soldiers who are refusing to participate in criminal acts, ie. snipping monks in the back, occupation, or preventing ambulances from passing. For the greatest injustice still facing most of the young men of our planet is all these criminal gov'ts that actually believe they have a right to force people to kill others. Think about it, if a gov't called for a war but no one showed up. What can be more democratic than that?

Neither Sharon nor Israel needs more pressure than they already experience during the nearly 20 months of palestinian and muslim terror.

this is stupid. eventually israel had to defernd itself, not only that they waited much longer than any other country would've (like the US for exemple, one atack and they immidietly went offencive) before finelly defending themselvs, there re a few negotetions in which israel sudgested the phalestinians some territories, but even THEN they had to make another suicide bombing, which stopped the negotetions. israel cannot just sit quietly and let the phalestinians atack them, and they certeinly will not and should not make peace with them as long as the bombings continue.

Ariel Sharon is a fool and an idiot - no better than Arafat - and if we don't start pressuring both sides, nothing is ever going to get accomplished and we may as well give up on the Middle East. Seven days cease-fire? Is that what he's asking for? Oh, give me a break. He knows as well as anyone else does that an entire week with no suicide bombings or any other militant action is impossible at this stage. He (ahnd Arafat) needs to get his head out of the sand, his nose out of the air, and he needs to haul his body to the negotiating table. Take care, everyone!

So far, world pressure hasn't had much effect on either Israel or the Palestinians. In my view, the only way this suggestion could even be considered would be if it were re-worded to read "apply more pressure on Sharon and Arafat to push for peace". To expect Israel even to talk about peace while the suicide bombings continue is unreasonable. In another comment, CastleBee pointed out that we (U.S. and other countries) have not interceded in Northern Ireland even though the violence and deaths have been going on there for many, many years. I think that many of us are more concerned about the Middle East because it has so much potential to explode into a much greater scale of death and destruction.

I don't even think this makes sense. Peace cannot be achieved against a warlike power that does not want you to exist. In this situation, peace means surrender. It is not the place of the U.S. to tell Israel to surrender.