I cannot help but hope that the Labour Party will win Israel's upcoming elections with a sufficient margin to allow it to form a government without having to enter into a coalition with any other parties. Amram Mitzna, Labour's new leader, speaks a new language, so different from the one we have become accustomed to of late. He speaks of negotiations when others speak of killing and reoccupying land and demolishing homes and population transfer. He wants the Palestinians to select their representatives when others want to throw Arafat out of the country. He speaks of withdrawal from Palestinian territories, something we have not heard for two years. An electoral success for Mitzna would not mean that the Palestinian problem will be resolved, but it could move us closer to a settlement.
A large swathe of Arab voters have been staying away from the ballot box having assumed that is no substantive differences exist between one candidate and another. Mitzna's success in winning the leadership of the Labour Party has changed things. There is now a clear distance between the positions of the two parties, between Mitzna and Sharon, which may entice Arab voters to throw their weight behind Labour. It would be useful, perhaps, if the Palestinians were to meet Labour halfway; they could, for instance, declare that civilians will no longer be the target of martyrdom operations. This would reassure the Israeli voter that peace is possible through negotiations and withdrawal, not bloodshed.
I cannot help but hope that the Labour Party will win Israel's upcoming elections with a sufficient margin to allow it to form a government without having to enter into a coalition with any other parties. Amram Mitzna, Labour's new leader, speaks a new language, so different from the one we have become accustomed to of late. He speaks of negotiations when others speak of killing and reoccupying land and demolishing homes and population transfer. He wants the Palestinians to select their representatives when others want to throw Arafat out of the country. He speaks of withdrawal from Palestinian territories, something we have not heard for two years. An electoral success for Mitzna would not mean that the Palestinian problem will be resolved, but it could move us closer to a settlement.
