For a long time, Palestinians followed the Israeli elections very closely. They were aware of who was up, who was down, the platforms of every party in Israel and how each's victory or loss could affect the coalition and the peace process.

Today in Palestine, there is no such interest — and it is not clear why. Is it because Palestinians see little difference between the various competing politicians? Is it because the peace process is not a major topic of discussion among Israelis, or simply that the media terrain has changed so much in the past few years?

That Palestinians see little difference in the major parties is certainly a possibility. At one time, Israeli politics was divided into right and left, doves and hawks. Generally, right-wing parties represented hawkish attitudes, while left-wing ones were seen as being more dovish. Perhaps the best proof of this was the Israeli labor party, whose leaders Yitshaq Rabin and Shimon Peres made an initial breakthrough when they approved the mutual recognition between the PLO and Israel, followed by the Memorandum of Understanding.

Rabin was later assassinated and Peres lost elections when he squandered public support after the murder of Rabin, the Grapes of Wrath attacks on South Lebanon and the Cana’a massacre, in which nearly 100 palestinians hiding in a UN compound were mercilessly killed. The result was a razor-thin victory for Benjamim Netanyahu, due in part to the fact that the Palestinian citizens of Israel had decided not to vote or to vote with white cards.