Israel, which has been plunged into a turmoil since last week when Prime Minister Ariel Sharon fell on a severe stroke, will continue its domestic and foreign policies despite the slim chance for Sharon to return to politics, analysts said.

Doctors at Hadassah Hospital where Sharon has been treated for the past week said on Tuesday that the prime minister showed further progress in his condition and was in no immediate danger to his life following the massive stroke and cerebral hemorrhage last Wednesday.

But they urged patience with Sharon's recovery, saying it will take a few more days to assess the exact extent of damage to his brain.

Medical experts say that whether or not the ex-general survives, he is rather unlikely to resume duties.

Many analysts, however, believe that the absence of Sharon from office will not lead to drastic changes in Israel's policies in general.

Ra'anan Gissin, senior advisor of Sharon, told Xinhua that since the prime minister's policy on national security and democratic society was not only widely embraced by the centrist Kadima party he founded two months ago, but also recognized by a majority of the nation, Kadima will continue his policies in the run-up to the March 28 general elections.

Gissin said that as the Jewish people have waded through many crises and difficulties over a long period of time in history, they are strong enough to survive this time.

On the economic level, Sharon's economic advisor Iyal Arad believed that the upturn of Israel's economy will remain unchanged in the near future despite that the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange opened with a 6 percent drop on Jan. 4, the day when Sharon was hospitalized.

In Arad's opinion, Israel's economy has been proved to be "very strong" as the country enjoyed a 5.2 percent growth in 2005 with the unemployment rate under 8 percent.

All the signs showed a smooth improvement of the economy, said Arad, adding that steady growth will be the trend for economic development in the coming years.

As for security policies, Ya'akov Amidror, former director of assessment for Israeli Military Intelligence, said that the policies will remain largely the same at least before the March elections.

"Israel has a complete system of security, with professionals as its leaders. The whole system and people running it can only change according to security concerns, not to Prime Minister himself," said Amidror.

Talking about foreign policies, Yariv Ovadia, a senior official of the Foreign Affair Ministry, told Xinhua that a new Israeli leadership might try to continue peace talks by seeking negotiation partners on the Palestinian side.

But he asserted that no one in Israel could possibly follow Sharon's bold step and further evacuate settlements in the West Bank.

"Sharon decided to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip and the northern West Bank last summer because he couldn't find a partner for negotiation on the Palestinians side," said Ovadia.

"No politician like Sharon has the courage, determination and ability to do so," Ovadia stressed.

Therefore, the new leadership after Sharon must spend some time establishing themselves in order to gain inside and outside support and the new government is likely to return to the negotiating table with a potential Palestinian partner, he added.

Nevertheless, the sudden grave illness of Sharon, who raised fresh hopes for the Mideast peace process after his ambitious Gaza pullout in September, cast uncertainty to the country in 2006.

"No one can predict the future of Israel," said Yiftah S. Shapir, an analyst from Strategic Studies in Tel Aviv University.

He cited that at the beginning of 2005, nobody ever believed that Sharon, who was the center-right Likud chairman, and the then left wing Labor chairman Shimon Peres would form a coalition in carrying out the disengagement plan.

Shapir pointed out that new practical Israeli leaders should seek for balance between ending occupation of the Palestinian lands and maintaining stability.

"No matter who becomes the next prime minister of Israel, he has to give priority to national security, economic development and fight against corruption," said Shapir.

Nicknamed "The Bulldozer", Sharon has been the architect of the successful Gaza pullout after 38 years of occupation of the coastal strip. It is the first time that Israel quit land it seized in the 1967 Middle East War.

The move has won Sharon international accolade as many see him as capable of bold steps toward settling the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The very possible absence of Sharon from the Israeli landscape also put uncertainty to the March Israeli general elections as analysts expect an open race among Sharon's Kadima party, the center-left Labor and the center-right Likud.

But latest polls showed that Kadima would beat Labor and Likud even without Sharon.

A powerful veteran figure that has dominated Israel's politics, the ailing Sharon is certain to send major repercussions across the Jewish state and the Middle East, analysts said.

Source: Xinhua