The diplomatic process between Israel and the Palestinians has been at a standstill ever since the John Kerry talks in 2014. It certainly wasn’t a major issue in Israel’s recent election campaign. All that was left to discuss was the long-delayed Donald Trump peace plan, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took advantage of that claiming only he could withstand the pressure from Washington. On the other hand, since nothing is actually known about the plan, the “deal of the century” never became a bone of contention, subject to debate between the parties.
In contrast, the problem of rockets being fired from the Gaza Strip was a common mantra throughout the campaign, creating all sorts of surprising alliances. The right complained that on the one hand, Netanyahu was handling Hamas with kid gloves and allowing the Qatari representative to bring his monthly payments into Gaza, but that on the other hand, the prime minister would not approve a military operation to defeat Hamas (the branch of the Muslim Brotherhood in Gaza) and Islamic Jihad (Iran’s franchise in Gaza), out of concern that a military clash would result in numerous Israeli casualties and might even force Israel to remain in Gaza once it was reoccupied. Blue and White leader Benny Gantz and Yisrael Beitenu head Avigdor Liberman both aligned themselves with the right in this criticism of Netanyahu.
