Israeli politics
I have been a derelict blogger for the last week or so, mainly because few notable things have happened to me personally in the past week. But notable changes have certainly occurred within the Israeli government, which I will briefly explain and reflect upon.
[Background information: Israel’s Parliament, known as the Knesset, consists of 120 seats. In national elections, each voter casts his/her vote for one of many political parties, and the percentage of votes that a party receives dictates the number of Knesset seats allotted to that particular party. Since no one party in Israel has ever received a majority of Knesset seats through this system of proportional representation, a coalition government is formed after each election. This coalition, which is headed by the party receiving the most votes, must consist of at least 61 seats. The leader of the party that receives the most votes becomes Prime Minister of Israel. The two largest parties in the Knesset for the last several decades have been Labour and Likud. In terms of political orientation, Labour is considered left-of-center and Likud is considered right-of-center.]
Until last week, Ariel Sharon (Israel’s current Prime Minister) was the leader of the Likud party, which he helped found three decades ago. However, due to an array of political and ideological rifts within the Likud party, Sharon announced on November 21 that he would leave the Likud party and form a new party, which he recently christened Kadima (trans: Forward). As a result, national elections have been scheduled to take place at the end of March, and they will be hotly contested.
Much of the strife within Likud surrounds the issue of unilateral disengagement (i.e. Israel’s military and civilian departure from the Gaza Strip and outlying West Bank settlements) sans concessions from the Palestinian Authority. Sharon presents himself as a centrist who wants to finalize the borders of Israel once and for all, regardless of whether the Palestinian Authority gets its act together to partner in the process. In other words, if Sharon and his supporters have their way, Palestinian statehood may become a de-facto reality.
David Brooks, a New York Times columnist, wrote an excellent op-ed on Nov. 17 that I think accurately reflects Israelis’ current disengagement mentality. (Unfortunately I can’t link to the article since it’s only available to subscribers, but I’ve included an excerpt.) Brooks writes, “The second intifada, coming on the heels of Yasir Arafat's rejection of a deal at Camp David, cut some visceral bond that used to join the two peoples. The Israelis are separating themselves from the Middle East emotionally and psychologically…The dream of peace has been replaced by another dream, the dream of disengagement…The security barrier has not only reduced suicide bombings; it has also helped change the nation's psychology. On the Israeli side of the barrier, there is increasing safety, prosperity and normalcy.”
After reading Brook’s op-ed, I realized to my surprise that I have hardly heard Israelis talk about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, much less the peace process. My guess is that the vast majority of Israelis are too busy living their own lives to waste any more time or energy working towards a bilateral peace process that, sadly, doesn’t seem likely to progress any time soon.
[Background information: Israel’s Parliament, known as the Knesset, consists of 120 seats. In national elections, each voter casts his/her vote for one of many political parties, and the percentage of votes that a party receives dictates the number of Knesset seats allotted to that particular party. Since no one party in Israel has ever received a majority of Knesset seats through this system of proportional representation, a coalition government is formed after each election. This coalition, which is headed by the party receiving the most votes, must consist of at least 61 seats. The leader of the party that receives the most votes becomes Prime Minister of Israel. The two largest parties in the Knesset for the last several decades have been Labour and Likud. In terms of political orientation, Labour is considered left-of-center and Likud is considered right-of-center.]
Until last week, Ariel Sharon (Israel’s current Prime Minister) was the leader of the Likud party, which he helped found three decades ago. However, due to an array of political and ideological rifts within the Likud party, Sharon announced on November 21 that he would leave the Likud party and form a new party, which he recently christened Kadima (trans: Forward). As a result, national elections have been scheduled to take place at the end of March, and they will be hotly contested.
Much of the strife within Likud surrounds the issue of unilateral disengagement (i.e. Israel’s military and civilian departure from the Gaza Strip and outlying West Bank settlements) sans concessions from the Palestinian Authority. Sharon presents himself as a centrist who wants to finalize the borders of Israel once and for all, regardless of whether the Palestinian Authority gets its act together to partner in the process. In other words, if Sharon and his supporters have their way, Palestinian statehood may become a de-facto reality.
David Brooks, a New York Times columnist, wrote an excellent op-ed on Nov. 17 that I think accurately reflects Israelis’ current disengagement mentality. (Unfortunately I can’t link to the article since it’s only available to subscribers, but I’ve included an excerpt.) Brooks writes, “The second intifada, coming on the heels of Yasir Arafat's rejection of a deal at Camp David, cut some visceral bond that used to join the two peoples. The Israelis are separating themselves from the Middle East emotionally and psychologically…The dream of peace has been replaced by another dream, the dream of disengagement…The security barrier has not only reduced suicide bombings; it has also helped change the nation's psychology. On the Israeli side of the barrier, there is increasing safety, prosperity and normalcy.”
After reading Brook’s op-ed, I realized to my surprise that I have hardly heard Israelis talk about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, much less the peace process. My guess is that the vast majority of Israelis are too busy living their own lives to waste any more time or energy working towards a bilateral peace process that, sadly, doesn’t seem likely to progress any time soon.
posted by Deborah at Tuesday, November 29, 2005
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