Ezer Weizman once told me this about Ariel Sharon: "Arik is like a container of sulphuric acid. Wherever you put it, the acid will eat through the container and then eat through everything around it ." This was said many years ago, before the presidency put a damper on Weizman's language.

Now, everyone is trying to figure out: Just who is the real Ariel Sharon ? Is he the butcher of Kibbyeh or is he the wrecker of Yamit and its settlements? Is he the man who had brought in the Phalangist murderers to the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatillah, or the person who, 22 years ago, asked me to arrange a meeting between him and Arafat? Is he the man who called on the Palestinians to topple King Hussein and establish a Palestinian state on the territory of Jordan, or is he the man who is showering the ill king , his bosom buddy, with slimy compliments? Is he the agitator against Rabin or the eulogizer for Rabin ?

One could be justified in assuming that the man has no allegiance to anyone or any ideal. But that would be incorrect. In fact, he is utterly consistent in his loyalty. Sharon is devoted to Sharon .

Most politicians are egocentric creatures who love to hear their own voices and see themselves in the media. It is perfectly natural. But Sharon goes beyond this. He is convinced that the very survival of the people of Israel hangs on the turning over of the steering wheel of the state into his hands. It is a matter of life and death for the nation. Which is why anyone who stands in his way is nothing but a criminal and traitor who deserves to be trampled and run over. And conversely, every act which brings Sharon closer to supreme leadership is a patriotic service, moral by its very nature, and it matters not whether the act is hawkish or dovish, rightist or leftist, religious or non-religious .

This does not mean that Sharon has no fundamental philosophy. He does have one -- a most primitive, brutal, rapacious, extremist - nationalist philosophy. But he is prepared to sacrifice it, temporarily or permanently, if the advancement of the supreme patriotic objective should so demand: The crowning of Ariel Sharon as the King of Israel .

Once I was asked by the then-Egyptian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Butros Butros Ghali to explain Sharon to him. In those days, Arik Sharon, the Minister of Agriculture, preached against any withdrawal from the Sinai, establishing the "Towers in the Air" -- fake settlements designed to prevent the return of the territory. I explained the principle to the Egyptian minister . Shortly thereafter, the following events took place: President Sadat urgently invited Sharon, complaining that no Egyptian can solve the irrigation problems on his private estate. Sharon promised to solve the matter within weeks. He proceeded to mobilize all the resources of the Ministry of Agriculture (the Israeli one), worked like crazy and within the promised time, there was the finest irrigation system in place. Sadat convened the leadership of his government and army and presented to them Sharon's amazing talent to get things done . The result: From that moment on, Sharon began to support the withdrawal from all of the Sinai, dismantling with his own hands all of the settlements there, including the city of Yamit .

Will history repeat itself now? It depends. Sharon's objective is to topple Netanyahu and inherit his position. To that end, he had to first get himself nominated to the status of a senior minister (Foreign or Defense). He is willing to pay the necessary price for the appoinment. When this stage is complete, he will roll up his sleeves and go to work: The destruction of Netanyahu and his government. Netanyahu is, of course, aware of this. He, too, has bought Sharon's help for a short period of time, in order to overcome a temporary difficulty .

Now, Sharon must decide on his next strategy. What is the best way to destroy Netanyahu? To gain American favor, to become a peace-maker, to strike a pose of the Israeli De Gaulle or Rabin the Second? Or conversely, throw his lot with the extreme Right and lead his assault at the head of the Messianic camp? It is hard to predict. One thing is certain, though: Throughout his entire career, as a military leader and a politician, Sharon was a top-notch tactician but a lousy strategist (otherwise, he would not now have to serve a Prime Minister who could be his son and whom he heartily despises). This is why Sharon may well try to hold on to both ends of the rope, to be nice to the Americans and to King Hussein, and perhaps even to the Palestinians, on the outside, while being nice to the settlers at home. But it won't work .

There is a big difference between the two antagonists. Sharon has no time left. He is 70 years old, and if he does not come to power soon , his chances will evaporate. Like Shimon Peres, he suffers from what the Germans call Torschlusspanik, the fear of the closing gates syndrome. Netanyahu, on the other hand, has plenty of time .

This struggle is much like a fight in a Roman arena, with a gladiator in heavy armor and a sword, against a bare opponent armed with a net and a trident. The gladiator had to move in on his opponent and dispatch him with a thrust of his sword, while his opponent's goal was to entangle the gladiator in the net and impale him on the trident. Such fights entertained the Roman rabble, just as the present fight entertains our media. Unfortunately, this time it is not only the lives of the two players that are on the line, but those of the hundreds or thousands of the casualties of the next war .