Israel in the balance

My prayers are with Ariel Sharon and his family, in hoping for a full recovery. On the political front I wish that the recent positive developments in Israeli politics will not be damaged by his probable inability to return to office.
Meanwhile, the Iranian president is up to his usual tricks:

Iran's president said Thursday he hoped for the death of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, the latest anti-Israeli comment by a leader who has already provoked international criticism for suggesting that Israel be "wiped off the map."
"Hopefully, the news that the criminal of Sabra and Chatilla has joined his ancestors is final," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying by the semiofficial Iranian Students News Agency.

Which proves Amir Taheri's prescient point (via GayandRight):

You may be surprised but I also regard the election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as the new president of the Islamic Republic as good news. The reason is simple: Ahmadinejad has the courage, some might say recklessness, to cast aside the hypocritical mask worn by his two predecessors, both businessmen-mullahs, in a strategy of deception. He has eschewed taqiyah (dissimulation) and that, believe me, is welcome news. His presidency will force the people of Iran and the rest of the world either to come to terms with the Khomeinist revolution or challenge it in a meaningful way.

I hope we're going for the challenge...
Meanwhile Pat Robertson has also, as is his wont, gone off the deep end.