Not a peace process

Ira Sharkansky writes in The Jerusalem Post:

News media and politicians from many countries, including Palestine, are concerned that without Sharon there can be no peace process. The reasoning is that only he can persuade Israelis to give up more land.

My own perception is that there has been no peace process at least since the year 2000. What Sharon did in his disengagement was to signal frustration at the lack of a Palestinian partner, and to leave some territory in order to simplify Israel's problems of security.

Since then, Palestinians have been a long way from anything that looks like a peace process. Chaos does not provide the setting from which a government can negotiate.