Select a Feature Related News Video archive Election Guide Message Board Readers' Poll Israel Primer Virtual Tour Photo Essay Search News Main Page

By Ghassan Khatib

The Palestinians, and officials in the Palestinian Authority in particular, have been following the Israeli elections closely. Since the beginning of the peace process, the Palestinian leadership has forsaken all other options in its relationship with Israel, save the option of peaceful negotiation. Much is resting on whom the Israelis elect as prime minister and how that person negotiates with the Palestinians. For this reason, the Israeli elections are one of the important factors determining the future for Palestinians.

Palestinians acutely feel the difference between the Labor Party government that signed the Oslo agreements -- allowing for troop redeployment, the creation of the Palestinian National Authority and Palestinian Legislative Council elections -- and the Likud Party government, which by and large failed to either reach new agreements or implement previously signed ones.

Over the past year, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat tried to appease the Likud government by agreeing to renegotiate certain articles and timetables in the Oslo Accords, resulting in the Wye River Memorandum. However, even this agreement, which amended the Oslo Accords according to Netanyahu's wishes, was halted due to Netanyahu's desire to secure right-wing votes by taking a hard-line stance toward Palestinians.

The Palestinians' problems with Likud go beyond the stalemate in the peace process, however. The last three years have witnessed some of the fastest and most active government-endorsed Israeli settlement expansion in Palestinian-occupied lands since Oslo. According to sources from the Israeli Peace Now movement, 19 new settlements have been established and most existing settlements have been expanded since Likud took office three years ago. This policy undoubtedly undermines the peace process; President Clinton even described settlements as "destructive to peace" in his April 27 letter to Arafat.

For all these reasons, Palestinian officials are hoping that the upcoming Israeli elections will bring back the Labor Party -- the Palestinians' partner in the Oslo Accords and the party whose interests, presumably, lie in its implementation.

News Jerusalem dispatch Israel's identity crisis American connection Recent news Video reports Opinion Voters' voices A one-man campaign Message board Readers' Poll Election Guide Candidates Issues Parties Process Israel Primer Maps Timeline At A Glance Related Sites Election Government Parties

While Palestinian officials are hanging on to the Israeli elections, perhaps because they have bet their political future on the peace process, one can't help but notice that the Palestinian public is far less excited by the elections.

In a public opinion poll taken by the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center in March 1999, 50.2 percent of respondents answered that the political situation would remain the same if Labor took power; 24.5 percent said the situation would improve should Labor win; 18.8 percent said it would get worse with Labor; and 6.5 percent gave no answer.

The Palestinian public's stance towards the Israeli parties is extremely pragmatic, influenced by the parties' practices rather than anything else. While Likud is reviled as a right-wing party committed to blocking the peace process and peopled by settlers, one must not forget that under Labor the Palestinian people have suffered harsh occupation policies both during the intifada and before it; it was also under Labor that settlements doubled between 1993 and 1996.

While the ideological and political differences between the two rival parties in Israel are slight and becoming more so due to the Israeli public's shift to the right, their ability to maneuver in the next stage of the peace process is limited. Even if Labor Party leader Ehud Barak wins, he must take into consideration the tough realities left behind for him by his predecessors, the most important of which is the settlement policy. Though Barak may want to pursue the peace negotiations, the parties he will have to bring in to form a coalition may have other priorities.

Nevertheless, the Israeli elections are important to the Palestinians, and the distinction between Labor and Likud is vital. If Likud wins, there will be no progress in the peace process and there will be more destructive settlement expansion, creating a commensurate increase in radicalization within Palestinian society that could take us back to struggle and confrontation. If the Labor Party wins, there still may not be any tangible progress in the peace process, but nevertheless, the hope or illusion of a process will remain intact.

Khatib is a lecturer of cultural studies at Birzeit University and director of the Jerusalem Media and Communications Center. He has also served in Palestinian delegations negotiating peace with Israel.

Latest News | Election Guide | Message Board | Readers' Poll
Recent News | Israel Primer | Virtual Tour | Photo Essay | Main