Ayoob Kara won’t present these dilemmas to the Jewish public. Even if he is appointed to a post in the Netanyahu government, he must remain right-wing and “loyal,” to the liking of Avigdor Lieberman. Kara, a hawk and reserves officer who declares his complete loyalty to the state and Likud, does not view himself as a Palestinian like most Arab citizens in Israel. Yet despite these differences, he promises that he will faithfully represent the entire Arab public. (more…)

To form the kind of center-right government Mr. Netanyahu says he would like to administer, he needs the Kadima party as a moderating force. (more…)

Netanyahu’s version of “center-right” (and the Christian Science Monitor’s apparently) is not bombing Palestinians into submission, but rather increasing land expropriation and settlement expansion. Oh, and not requiring Israeli Arab citizens to swear loyalty oaths to the state. How moderate of Netanyahu.

We must not be led astray in this election campaign and consider both Livni and Barak as moderates, in contrast to the “extremist” Netanyahu. This is a deception. Kadima and Labor, the center and left-wing parties, have led Israel to two awful wars within two years. Netanyahu has yet to go to war once. True, he speaks more radically than the other two, but so far it has only been words, while the “moderates” have taken radical, aggressive action. (more…)

The left-wing pretends to accept the concept of a land-for-peace settlement but, in practice, perpetually stalls it by launching regional atrocities. The right-wing is more honest. It openly rejects the notion of relinquishing any land. (more…)

Some time before Israelis vote in February, Mr Obama should spell out precisely the sort of peace America envisages: two states sharing Jerusalem, with a border very close to the pre-1967 armistice line, not one that lets Israel keep its settlement blocks deep in the West Bank. Just as Hamas needs to hear that Israel is not going to disappear, so Israel—especially if it elects a Likud government—needs to hear that America will not let it hold those settlements for ever. (more…)

Feiglin said Netanyahu’s campaign against him proved that “Bibi is under pressure because he’s worried that one day I’ll replace him and lead the Likud and the country.” (more…)

Three polls released since the Likud primary all point to an emerging trend: the Likud, even with Moshe Feiglin – maybe precisely because of Feiglin – is increasing its lead over Kadima. Kadima is slipping, even as Labor rises. (more…)

“When the Palestinian state is created, I will be able to go to Palestinians citizens – who we call Israeli Arabs – and say to them: You are residents with equal rights, but your national solution is in another place,” Livni was quoted by Army Radio as saying to students at a Tel Aviv high school. (more…)

Who is she trying to compete with for hawkishness…? Oh… right.

“It might harm our chances to win the election because he and his group are very different from the Likud,” said Yuval Steinitz, a Likud Knesset Member and Netanyahu loyalist before the primary. “Their positions are very much to the right of the Likud.” (more…)

Feiglin endorsed candidates who he said would most likely be loyal to the Land, people and Torah of Israel, and he succeeded in getting them elected. (more…)

Two documents appeared side by side in Haaretz last week, on November 21: a giant advertisement from the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO) and the results of a public opinion poll.The proximity was accidental, but to the point. The PLO ad sets out the details of the 2002 Saudi peace offer, decorated with the colorful flags of the 22 Arab and the 35 other Muslim countries which have endorsed the offer.

The public opinion poll predicts a landslide victory for Likud, which opposes every single word of the Saudi proposal.

The PLO ad is a first of its kind. At long last, the PLO leaders have decided to address the Israeli people directly.

The ad discloses to the Israeli population the exact terms of the all-Arab peace offer: full recognition of the State of Israel by all Arab and Muslim countries, full normalization of relations – in return for Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders and the establishment of the Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The refugee problem would be solved by mutual agreement – meaning that Israel could veto any solution it considered unacceptable.
(more…)

The Israeli peace camp was born in sin and died because of a lie: It was born as the legitimate son of the sin of occupation, and died the illegitimate son of the lie that “there is no partner” with whom to negotiate on the other side. Between September 1967 and October 2000, it spent 33 years waging the brave and determined struggle of a minority against a majority, “traitors” against “patriots,” “defilers of Israel” against “lovers of Israel,” David against Goliath. Today, we must painfully admit that it was struggle that did not produce much.

The peace camp was born of a small ad – a statement bearing only a dozen mostly unknown signatures – addressed to the general public, and then began to die a pathetic death, which is lamented by no one. Since then, its body has laid in public squares that are void of protesters, in streets empty of struggle and in public discourse free of ideas. On occasion, it lets out a desperate and dying gasp from the direction of a group of determined but marginalized groups, near the separation fence in Na’alin or in Gush Shalom’s advertisements in the Friday paper.

On occasion, it wraps itself in the guise of a mass demonstration, mostly at deceptive memorial rallies for Yitzhak Rabin – also featuring pop stars Aviv Geffen and Ninet – and in public opinion polls in which the majority claims to adopt its positions. But the interim balance sheet of history is clear and razor sharp: The occupation, the settlements, the police thugs and the brutality have been victorious over everything else. Never have so many people said we need to put a stop to things, and never have so few done anything about it. (more…)