Natan Sharansky, author of perhaps my favorite book “The Case For Democracy,” has submitted his resignation to Ariel Sharon to protest the unilateral disengagement of the territories.

JERUSALEM (AP) – Cabinet minister Natan Sharansky, a frequent critic of Israel’s peace moves with the Palestinians, submitted his resignation Monday in protest over the planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

Sharansky, a former Soviet dissident whose imprisonment there made him a hero to world Jewry, wrote in a letter to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that he opposes making unilateral concessions to the Palestinians.

Sharansky, the author of “The Case for Democracy,” a political study endorsed by President Bush, also wrote that any progress in peace talks should be linked to greater democracy in the Palestinian areas.

“I consider the disengagement plan to be a tragic mistake that exacts a high price and also encourages terror,” Sharansky told Israel Army Radio. “Since the only justification for the existence of the government in its current composition is to carry out the disengagement plan, I don’t think I can be part of it.”

This is actually one of the major tenets of the books, that Israel has given way too many concessions without ever seeing progress. I agree, along with his other point that strengthening Arafat the way that the west did was counter-productive. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; the burden of proof is Abbas and the Palestinians.