Senior White House and US State Department officials contacted the Israeli embassy in Washington DC last night to enquire about the state of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's health. The embassy stayed in constant touch with the prime minister's bureau after the news broke that he had been hospitalized in Hadassah Ein Kerem, Israeli Ambassador to the US Daniel Ayalon said last night.
Initial anxiety among foreign policy makers in the Bush administration at the news that Sharon had suffered a stroke changed to relief when it was reported that his life was not in danger and that he had not suffered brain damage.
Nevertheless, the White House, the National Security Council, and the State Department are well aware, and not just since yesterday, that the future of the US peace initiative in the Middle East and further implementation of the Road Map for Peace rest on the shoulders of one 77-year-old man.
Ayalon said that no change in US diplomacy towards Israel was expected following the prime minister's hospitalization.
It is believed that the US administration's working assumption is that if Sharon is removed from the political arena, the peace process will collapse, because no other Israeli leader will be able to take the steps necessary to reach a final settlement.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on December 19, 2005