For the first time in ages, an election campaign takes place in Israel, with everyone already knowing what will happen in its wake.
For the first time in eons, the big unknown is not what will happen in Israel but rather what will happen around it — across the rest of the turbulent Middle East. No one knows where Egypt is headed and what the next year or the next day will bring. No one knows the kind of Syria that will emerge, or even whether it will be able to emerge from the ruins, once the time come for Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad to step down — and come it will, soon enough. No one knows whether Jordan, as we know it today, will hold out, and what will become of the Hashemite Kingdom. Ask Military Intelligence, make inquiries with the Mossad, find out with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, try Europe, the United States or Russia — and you’ll draw a blank. Many tough questions are being asked, but answers are not forthcoming.
