‘Peace Now’ suggests that election will stymie ‘peace process’

by Philip Weiss on February 9, 2009 · 8 comments

Peace Now is grim about the election. It says that in all likelihood four parties will poll between 15 and 25 seats in Knesset, with Lieberman's racist Yisroel Beitenu party outpolling Labor.

Peace Now: How do Tuesday's Knesset elections shape up in terms of prospects for a stable, peace-oriented government?
Yossi Alpher (political consultant, friend to J Street):
All of these scenarios are virtually dictated by the grim prospect that the four leading parties–Likud, Kadima, Yisrael Beitenu and Labor–will end up with somewhere between (in descending order) 25 and 15 mandates. Four medium-sized parties whose philosophies encompass nearly the entire spectrum of secular Zionist views are a recipe for lack of governability, to say nothing of lack of a viable peace process…
Once again we are reminded that the Israeli political system, while offering ultra-democratic representation to the most isolated minority and sectarian views, is ill-suited for the task of governance, and particularly for dealing with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict…
Throughout this period, an additional factor strengthening the Israeli political right has been the growing radicalization of the Arab citizens of Israel, whose political and intellectual leaders increasingly call for Israel to cease to be a Jewish state in order to accommodate them. This Israeli Arab ideological trend is in many ways an outgrowth of the failed Oslo process…

Related posts:

  1. Report: McCain to Do Nothing on Peace Process
  2. Why I’m Doubtful About the ‘Peace Process’
  3. Nadler’s ‘Right of Return’ Legislation Throws Wrench in Works of Peace Process
  4. A peace process that has been obsessed with 1967 needs to refocus on 1948
  5. ‘Nothing Has Changed.’ A Dialogue With Saif Ammous Over the ‘Peace Process’

{ 8 comments }

1 chris berel February 9, 2009 at 2:19 pm

Seems Israel has had it with the Palestinian refusal to come to the negotiating table in an open and honest manner.

2 otto February 9, 2009 at 2:23 pm

Not that anyone should support Peace Now, which is another group trying to get the Palestinians to accept settlers in East Jerusalem.

3 otto February 9, 2009 at 2:41 pm

"with Lieberman's racist Yisroel Beitenu party outpolling Labor."

You have to be careful here: Yes, Lieberman's party is even more bigoted than the others, but you shouldn't use an expression which gives the impression that the others aren't racist parties too. They also support settlers and muse about how to get the Israeli arabs out of Israel.

4 Alice February 9, 2009 at 4:46 pm

Seems the world is waking up to the Israeli refusal to come to the negotiating table in an open and honest manner. Hopefully the new
even more extreme right wing coalition government will open the world's eyes even more.

5 chris berel February 9, 2009 at 5:42 pm

The good little parrot, Alice, is having trouble forming words again. Have another cracker.

6 Rowan February 10, 2009 at 12:49 am

Elections in totalitarian states, like Israel, the USA, etc., are deceptions pure and simple. Any attempt to attach significance to them is dishonest.

7 chris berel February 10, 2009 at 7:23 am

Of course they are. There, there, go back to bed.

8 omar February 10, 2009 at 10:02 am

@Rowan

Is there any state in the world with a government/regime that you do not think is totalitarian?

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