Dimmed prospects for Israel, Palestine peace

Much of the rest of the world had hoped that the moderate opposition leader Isaac Herzog of the centre-right Zionist Union Party would defeat the hawkish and intensely divisive Netanyahu, whose policies have deepened Israel’s isolation in many respects.  But Herzog conceded defeat, while Netanyahu called the far-right pro-settlement leader of the Jewish Home party, […]

Much of the rest of the world had hoped that the moderate opposition leader Isaac Herzog of the centre-right Zionist Union Party would defeat the hawkish and intensely divisive Netanyahu, whose policies have deepened Israel’s isolation in many respects.  But Herzog conceded defeat, while Netanyahu called the far-right pro-settlement leader of the Jewish Home party, Naftali Bennett, to open negotiations over the shape of a new coalition government, which may take weeks. Israel operates a multi-party system based on coalition governments; no party has ever won a majority of seats in a national election to form a government on its own.
 Netanyahu clearly opposes the two-state solution that the United Nations, the United States and the League of Arab States favour; during the campaigns, Herzog expressed support for the global position.
As often the case in general elections in Israel, Palestine, the prospect of nuclear armed Iran and economic issues dominated the campaigns, although the ‘peace process’ got scant attention.
In spite of his triumph, indications are that Netanyahu’s victory is likely to carry significant political and diplomatic costs for Israel. His election eve rhetoric disavowing his previous support for a two-state solution may have set Israel on a collision course with the Palestinians and the international community.  His incendiary remarks regarding Israel’s controversial assessment of Iran’s nuclear capacity that is at variance with that of the United States, also set alarm bells ringing in world capitals that he might be planning a first-strike option at Iran, as Israel did to Saddam Hussein’s Iraq Osirak facility in 1981.
Netanyahu’s return to power likely will spell trouble for the Middle East peace efforts and could further escalate the developing tension with the United States. His testy relationship with U.S. President Barack Obama took a sharp turn for the worse in the final days of the campaign, staking out a series of hard-line positions that put him at odds with the international community. Beside expressly opposing the creation of a Palestinian state, which is a key policy of the United States and the European Union, Netanyahu also pledged to expand construction of more Jewish settlements in  east Jerusalem, the section of the city claimed by the Palestinians as their future capital.
With President Obama determined to pursue negotiations on Iran’s nuclear programme, and Netanyahu’s equally trenchant rhetoric urging the U.S. Congress to scuttle any deal, tension in the Middle East region is set to rise.  Netanyahu’s address before the U.S. Congress, in defiance of the White House, was deliberately designed to shift U. S. and global attention from Middle East peace process that the Israeli leader loathes to the politics of Iranian nuclear programme.  Ominous for the Israelis, Obama has signalled a reassessment of U.S. relationship with Israel in the international arena.
This could mean reducing protection for Israel at the United Nations and its agencies, and at the same time supporting the Palestinians’ aspirations for statehood. Indeed, one of the immediate tests of the crises that could confront Netanyahu’s new government would be the Palestinians’ determination to present documentation at the International Crime Court (ICC) in The Hague accusing Israel of war crimes and crimes against humanity over Israel’s 48-year occupation of Palestine and last year’s war in Gaza that all but destroyed the tiny Strip.
With Netanyahu remaining in the saddle, the prospects are more of the same dreary policies that have come to identify his style: gobbling up more Palestinian territory, creating conditions for the next war with Hamas that controls Gaza, and keeping up the rhetoric over Iran and Lebanon-based Hezbollah Group, etc.  
But Netanyahu and his new government must be aware that the rest of the world considers the two-state solution to be the basis of any peace settlement with the Palestinians, and that there is a price to be paid for ignoring the will of the international community, which by the way has failed the Palestinians on many occasions and at numerous levels. The global community must resolve now not to shy away from making Israel pay that price for abdicating its obligations as the occupying authority of Palestine.