Israel Stands at the Edge

Israel's election results show the Middle East peace process is in more trouble.  Although Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and her Kadima party won one more Knesset seat than Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party (28-27) the nationalist camp controls a larger bloc of seats (63-57).  If Livni cannot put a coalition together that totals 61 seats, Netanyahu will.  The strong showing of the ultra-right Yisrael Beiteinu party (15) means that if Netanyahu is asked to form a government, he will not be willing to make any unilateral concessions to the Arabs. Yisreal Beiteinu (Israel Is Our Home) recently accused Israeli Arabs of disloyalty leading to the barring of two Arab parties from taking part in the election.  However, the action by the Knesset Central Election Committee was overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court.  In an interview with a Jewish-American peace action group, Akiva Eldar, chief political correspondent for Ha'aretz, said that Israel is akin to a friend "standing at a cliff".  The United States must be willing to provide Israel guidance, even if it means "hitting them over the head". In his view that means making it clear to Israeli policymakers that US interests in the region extend well beyond Israel's.  Mr. Eldar suggested that the new US administration should not turn a blind eye to settlements in the West Bank and violation of commitments to past administrations.  The Obama administraiton should tell Israel, "There is going to be a price tag and we're waiting for you with a full basket of rewards if you go our way, but if you don't, don't expect us to play business as usual."