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Bibi’s Choice: Make Peace Or Lose the Right Wing

If Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is sincere in seeking an agreement with the Palestinians, he must distance himself from his party's extreme right-wing faction that opposes peace.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint news conference with Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer, Energy Minister Silvan Shalom and Finance Minister Yair Lapid (not pictured) in Jerusalem June 19, 2013. Israel said on Wednesday it will keep the majority of it's newfound natural gas for domestic use, but will still allow enough gas to be sold abroad to satisfy exploration companies who want access to the global market. REUTERS/Baz Ratner (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ENERGY BUSINES
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“We’re pretty sure [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s ship has sailed,” said the senior diplomat. “Do you have any idea where he’s heading?” the man asked. “Is the prime minister really planning to advance toward a two-state solution?”

I answered that I wasn’t sure whether Netanyahu himself could answer his question because as far as I know, the prime minister himself has not decided where he wants to take the negotiations with the Palestinians. But, I added, the more interesting question in my mind is not what Bibi wants to do about the conflict, but what he can do. Even if the concerns he has been expressing recently about Israel turning into a binational state are valid, it appears that his horses have bolted. It is highly doubtful whether the Likud party organs — from the Knesset faction to the party’s central assembly — would have even voted nowadays in favor of Israel’s Declaration of Independence. In fact, how many Knesset members from the right wing of the coalition believe in the article that promises “complete equality to all citizens,” including Arab citizens? How many of them support freedom of “religion, conscience, language, education and culture, regardless of religion, race and sex?”

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