ISRAELI PRIME Minister Ariel Sharon's support of President Bush's two-state solution is classic Sharon.

His recent proffer to create a contiguous swath of territory on the West Bank isn't about giving land to Palestinians. It's about building a series of tunnels and bridges between Hebron and Jenin that would spare Palestinians the humiliation of having to pass through Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks. But that has never been the deal-breaker for Palestinians, at least not in this form.

It's not surprising that Mr. Sharon would rely on bricks and mortar. His commitment to a greater Israel can be seen on West Bank hilltops from Jenin to Hebron -- the red tile-roofed houses of the Jewish settlements that he has encouraged and supported throughout his public life.

President Bush's two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict requires Israeli concessions on the divisive and inflammatory issue of Jewish settlements. But Mr. Sharon refused to discuss specifics on that front in meetings last week with newspaper editors and participants at a national security conference. And specifics are critical to any diplomatic effort to end the terrorist attacks and violent confrontations that have killed so many Israelis and Palestinians in the past 26 months.

Mr. Sharon's proposal to cobble together an independent Palestine via a network of bridges and tunnels may be his starting point for negotiations with the Palestinians -- once the terrorist attacks stop. But the offer won't help him build a unity government if his hard-line Likud party wins the Jan. 28 parliamentary elections as expected. Without a commitment to remove settlements, Israel's left-to-center Labor party won't join a Sharon government, according to the party's new leader, Amram Mitzna.

Mr. Sharon then would have to rely on the smaller, more conservative parties to form a government. And they are as adamant about what they would expect from Mr. Sharon as the Laborites -- more settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Ultraconservatives go further, advocating the expulsion of Palestinians to Jordan.

Palestinians also are expected to go to the polls in January to elect a new president.

In the coming weeks, Mr. Sharon will certainly reiterate his position that peace and security depend on a cessation of violence by Palestinian militants and terrorist groups.

Palestinians also need to give serious thought to the events of the past 26 months, to whether the violence has brought them any closer to a state of their own. The outcome of both elections will determine whether peace and security for either people can be a reality in the years ahead.