The Ariel Route by BRET STEPHENS

The Likud Party is Ariel Sharon's baby, conceived in the seat of his tractor and initially financed with the sale of two tons of hay from his Negev ranch. In the summer of 1973, Mr. Sharon decided to bring Israel's half-dozen opposition parties together into a single bloc that could credibly challenge the then-dominant Labor Party. The parties ranged from nationalists to free-marketers to left-wing splinter groups. In elections that winter, Likud--the word means "unity" --scored an impressive 39 seats in Parliament, setting the stage for its rise to power four years later under the leadership of Menachem Begin. It has been in power for 20 of the past 28 years.