[Changleen]

If any of you have been paying any attention to Israeli politics over the last week or so, you'll have noticed there have been some changes.

Sharon suffered a defeat in Parliment over his latest Budget which has weakened his already weak government. In order to cling to power, he has formed an alliance with the labour party and, most unfortunately, the ultra orthodox Haredim party. Worst of all, in this new situation, the Haredim effectivly hold the swing votes.

What does this all mean? Ha'aretz had this to say about it:

Bye, bye, disengagement: This week saw a reinforcement of the innate tendency of the present government not to carry out the disengagement in full (and of course, not to try to achieve a broader agreement). Sharon's desire to disengage from Gaza is limited. It is limited by massive opposition in the Likud, and now by his ultra-Orthodox partners in the government plus the National Religious Party and perhaps Shas. With such a combination, they may begin to withdraw and to evacuate a settlement and a half, in response to the pressure of America and of an Israeli majority - but no more than that. The disengagement plan that is in full swing is Sharon's plan to disengage from secular Israelis in favor of the Haredim. Fundamentally, this is a move for the sake of the future elections, not for the sake of true separation from the Palestinians.

As you probably know, the religious elements in Israel are very anti-withdrawal and essentially hold the same views towards the Arab world as Burly et al. assert Al Qaeda hold toward the west.

To give the Israeli population the limited credit they deserve, the situation in their government is now further from the wishes of he majority than ever. An extremist minority now holds decisive power.

Hello, is the nation home? The new coalition is, of course, exactly the opposite of what a majority of Israelis want. Sharon (and more than him, the ruling party) has gone against this desire by preferring Haredi partners, who reject disengagement.

So, we'll have to wait and see if the disengagement goes ahead. Of course, if it does not, the likelyhood of peace with Palestine is drasticaly reduced, even allowing for the best possible situation resulting from the PA elections. The desires of a few old men to hold onto power way past the bounds of democracy is once again likely to cause death and suffering on a large scale, and once again, America, the only country with the power to do anything about it, will ignore it.

 

[Changleen]

Oh, btw I'm going on holiday for a week in about 1/2 an hour so see you all soon.