The Sharon Era approaching its end?

Reuters has a surge of articles on Ariel Sharon, who's suffered another and seemingly worse stroke, hinting at his era now approaching its end. Let's see if this may open up for a development that can bring peace and relative justice to that powder keg of the world.

Opinion polls have shown Sharon was on course to win the March election as leader of the new centrist Kadima faction he founded after quitting the right-wing Likud party in the face of a party rebellion over the Gaza pullout.

He has campaigned on a platform of readiness to give up more occupied land in the West Bank as a way to end decades of conflict, but he vowed to keep Israel's hold on major settlement blocs.

A large part of Sharon's popularity among Israelis stems from a belief that he could take bold steps that others would not get away with given his background as the archetypal hawk.

Palestinians have long suspected that Sharon's plans for ending conflict meant that he would dictate terms that would leave them only fragments of the state they seek.

(Quote: Reuters)