A Divided Vote in Israel and US (UAE)

Israel’s elections have thrown up a divided verdict with no clear winner in sight. Both Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the prime ministerial hopeful of the governing Kadima Party, and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Likud have claimed victory.

However, none of them appears to have the magic number that would take them past the post.

Even though Livni’s Kadima Party has a slight edge over Likud in numbers, it’s Netanyahu who is likely to come out top of the heap and form the government with the help of the Yisrael Beytenu party of Avigdor Lieberman. In fact, if there’s a clear winner of this unclear electoral outcome, it’s Lieberman who has emerged as the kingmaker with his 15 seats in the Knesset, even ahead of Defence Minister Ehud Barak’s Labour party.

Which is bad news for the so-called Middle East peace process. Because both Netanyahu and Lieberman have long been known for their rabid views and posturing on peace with the Palestinians as well as relations with other Arab and Muslim neighbours. If Netanyahu has repeatedly promised bombing of Iran, Lieberman is known for his calls to abduct and assassinate Hamas leaders and Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Let’s hope, however, better sense will prevail once these hawks are in power. The exigencies and demands of power should hopefully see more reasonable and responsible behaviour by Israel’s new leaders. The Palestinians and Arabs have no option but prepare themselves to deal with the incoming Israeli leadership. Even though there’s little hope that there will be any real and meaningful progress in the peace process under the incoming regime in Israel, the Palestinians and Arab leaders must continue to press US President Barack Obama to keep his promises on the Middle East.

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