Hamada Jaber writes that the Palestinian left needs to realize that the Hamas-Fatah rapprochement reflects a crisis and not the alleged unity needed to face Palestinians’ challenges. Given that, the upcoming legislative elections present an opportunity but the left needs to decide its goal — to become an effective force in the Palestinian political system, or merely to survive.

The nature of Zionist politics is always to lurch right not left. As Israel moves closer to elections Ehud Barak’s party has pushed talking points on “deterrence” in Gaza which has made his leftwing Meretz partners uneasy.