Politics & Policies: Israel votes -- GOPUSA

Politics & Policies: Israel votes
By Claude Salhani, UPI International Editor
United Press International
March 28, 2006

WASHINGTON (UPI) -- About five million Israeli voters are going to the polls this Tuesday to cast their ballots in what has been described at the same time as one of the country's most decisive and most apathetic elections.

Unlike previous elections since the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, where a plethora or subjects, ranging from the economy to immigration, have traditionally dominated the electoral campaigns, this time around the voters seem to be preoccupied by only one topic: security. The man Israelis believe can offer them greater security in the face of mounting Palestinian militancy is the man they will elect to lead them at this crucial time in the country's history.

Indeed, as Israelis make their way to the voting booths this Tuesday, they do so for the first time with a Palestinian government composed of fundamentalist Islamists from Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, a group whose charter calls for the annihilation of Israel. Unlike past threats that Israel has had to face from enemies across its borders, this time the enemy is at the gates -- quite literally.

Hamas, who won the majority of seats in the last legislative elections in the Palestinian territories in January, continues to refuse to recognize Israel's right to exist. The group has promised to present their complete list of government ministers for approval to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas by Wednesday, by which time the winner of Israel's election should be known.

So far, since they emerged victorious in the January elections, Hamas has been cautious not to antagonize Israel, and barring some minor incidents, they have avoided a head-on confrontation. And thankfully, Israel has also shown restraint in not rushing to conclusions and resorting to military means as the only form of dialog with the Palestinians. Despite urging from many Israelis to pull up the drawbridges and retrench inside fortress Israel, acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has played it safe.

Yes, there was that nasty business regarding the Jericho prison a few weeks ago when the Palestinians hinted that they would release a handful of prisoners detained in the Jericho jail. Under a previous agreement reached between Israel and the Palestine Authority, the Palestinian detainees, who were found guilty by Israeli courts of acts of terrorism, were to be detained in Jericho and kept under British and American supervision.

Israel immediately flexed its military and political muscle, stormed the jail and grabbed the detainees who were about to abscond after the international observers left the prison, saying they had feared for their safety.

With the Jericho prison escapade the Palestinians had tested the resolve of acting Prime Minister Olmert. He, in return, demonstrated to Hamas that despite his lack of military upbringing, he could still be firm when Israel's security was in play. At the same time it allowed Olmert to silence his political opponents, who used his lack of military experience against him, hoping it would disadvantage him in the polls.

As Mark Regev, a spokesman for the Israeli Foreign Ministry, told United Press International later that night, by acting firm in Jericho was Israel's way of sending a message to Hamas that they could not pick and choose which agreements to respect and which to ignore among those previously reached between the Jewish state and the Palestinian Authority.

So yes, with uncertainty regarding how Hamas will choose to act, security remains the primary issue for Israelis in this election, more so than before.

Security -- or rather at times the lack of it -- helped shape this campaign from the very beginning, starting with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon slamming the door on Likud, a party he helped found. Sharon's dispute with Likud arose when he clashed with the party leadership over his decision to have Israel unilaterally withdraw from the entire Gaza Strip and a couple of West Bank settlements. The more hawkish elements in the party, led by former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, opposed a withdrawal from the occupied territories.

In typical Sharon fashion, the prime minister walked away from Likud and started his own party, Kadima, or Forward. But soon after, almost like a page taken out of a Greek tragedy, Sharon suffered a stroke and fell into a coma. And as the country headed to vote, Sharon, the warrior-turned-politician, whose often unorthodox actions in defense of Israel at times raised controversy, remained unconscious in a hospital bed, probably never to regain consciousness again. Certainly never to find out if the party he created was victorious or not.

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(Comments may be sent to Claude@upi.com.)