Sharon’s plan for “disengagement” now unfolding in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip, illuminates not only what is transpiring today but also what he intends to establish in the months and years ahead. Not since the early days of Israeli rule in the occupied territories has an Israeli leader been able to play such a dominant role in establishing the foundations that Sharon believes will consolidate permanent Israeli rule over these areas. Building upon the pattern of settlements that Sharon has been constructing for almost three decades, Israel intends to preserve the territorial advantages of its 1967 victory by maintaining direct, permanent control over half of the West Bank and perhaps 20 percent of Gaza.