Prospects for Negotiations After the Israeli Elections
An analysis of the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations after the elections.
The 2013 Israeli 19th Knesset elections are over. Many an important and thorny issue will have to be addressed by the upcoming government; but the conflict with the Palestinians will be its most problematic, in light of the unprecedented impasse reached in finding a settlement to the dispute.
The positions espoused by the electoral programs of the various competing Israeli parties were remarkably similar in dealing with the topical issues of the day.
This parallel came despite the various slogans that each of them espoused to differentiate themselves in the eyes of the voters; yet, the similarity in views concerning the Palestinian conflict was due to a number of reasons, both Israeli and Palestinian:
On the ground, the events that surprised the Israelis in the military confrontation in the Gaza Strip, with Hamas transformed into a real enemy which Israel now considers to be a credible threat to its political agenda in the region. This is a perception that narrowed the margin of differences between the competing Israeli political parties.
