The General Elections in Israel have not yielded any winner. To many observers the elections have been inconclusive. Israel was mesmerized by the campaign (racist to the core!) & also by the soap opera style of the leaders of the political parties following the results. The soul of the State of Israel before the elections was at stake and is still at stake after the elections. King Bibi is still on the forefront. He will continue to jockey for power Gantz is as a warmonger as General Sharon, the children’s murderer, was during his Heyday in the Israeli army. What effect for the Palestinian? I think Ismael Haniya, Hamas Poliburo chief is right when he said ‘that internal political matters among zionists have no bearing on the Palestinian issue and is tangental’.
But many Palestinians want to see the back of Netanyahu because of his ultra-zionist views and more particularly when he announces his willingness to annex 30% of the occupied West Bank if he wins. The Palestinian Authority has also made it clear that they wish to ‘get rid’ of the present Israeli Prime minister Mouin Rabanni a senior fellow at the Institute for Palestine studies told Al Jazeera.
‘The Palestinian Authority has a single agenda with respect to the Israeli. Elections which is seeking to prevent a Netanyahu victory’ according to Rabbani the Palestinian Authority reasoning is that ‘Netanyahu forms the linchpin of the US-Israeli agenda to unilaterally resolve the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through measures such as annexation but that another leader will re-engage the Palestinians in negotiations and thus also have a mitigating effect on Us policy’.
I believe that Palestinian Authority is missing the point when they think that the demise/ sacking/ conviction of Netanyahu will bring a change of the policies of the Zionists. Maybe the departure of Netanyahu will bring a short breathing space for the Palestinians but nothing more.
Tareq Baconi an analyst from the international crisis group rightly said ‘in my humble opinion the position of the Palestinian Authority has taken is short-sighted and is a misreading of the present situation. The threat of annexation is not limited to Netanyahu and the failure of the peace process is not the result of recent rightward shift within Israel. Gantz (leader of Blue & white) himself has spoken about ensuring the strengthening of Israel’s control of the Jordan Valley if he comes to power? In fact the Blue & White Alliance has accused Netanyahu of stealing their policy.
We must stress that all the potential candidates for primeministership are against a two State solution except the JOINT LIST. The joint list is a political alliance of the main Arab-dominated political parties in Israel. The main political parties are: Balad, Hadash, Taal and the united Arab list. After the 2015 General elections it was the third largest faction after having received more than 80% of the Arab vote. The joint list has garnered 12 seats. The Knesset has 120 seats, but the joint list might face a lot of turmoil in the coming weeks as they are divided on the issue whether to join a center left coalition. But what about the darling of the western media? Yes Benny Gantz can be the next Prime Minister and he is portrayed as a ‘dove’. Is he? There is a pending case against him before the Hague district court, lodged by a Palestinian- Dutch man for his dirty role in the 2014 Gaza war. The bombing of civilians was done by the Israeli air force as part of the ill-famous OPERATION PROTECTIVE EDGE. And don’t forget that the darling of the Western media has expressed the wish to obliterate the Palestinians.
Mohammed Shiayyeh, the Palestinian Prime minister rightly said after the results ‘that the difference between the incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu and the former military general Benny Gantz was as insignificant as that between PEPSI and COKE. He said to ‘The Guardian’ Palestinians did not hold their breath to see who would become the next Israeli Prime minister because the ‘competition is between two candidates who do not have any agenda to end the occupation’. 4.5 million Palestinians (2.5 million in the occupied West Bank and 2 million in the Gaza Strip under blockade) live in utter poverty and in a big prison…
Do you think the potential Prime ministers care? I don’t think so. Netanyahu let the cat out of the bag when he said he wished to form a ZIONIST GOVERNMENT yes a Zionist government ! Are the Arab leaders aware what is the meaning of a Zionist government for their countries and children?
It is therefore imperative to quote what Moshe Dayan, the chief policy maker, under the Prime minister Eshkol Sait in 1969:
“ our fathers had reached the frontiers which were recognised in the UN partition plan on 1947 (56% of the land). Our generation reached the frontiers of 1949 ( 78% of the land). Now the six-day generation of 1967 has managed to reach Suez, Jordan and the Golan Heights. This is not he end”.
This is not the end! So the consequences for the Palestinians are not over. The ‘Peace Plan’of the Americans… peace prisoner of the Israelis and in the same vein the Americans (specially the Presidential candidates, senators & congress members) prisoner of the powerful Zionist lobby.
We must help the Palestinians?
Time will come!
RAMA VALAYDEN
