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Palestinians Give Thumbs Down to Israeli Election Results
Tweet Share on Facebook February 12, 2009 Comment (15)By Larry Derfner, Mideast Watch
Palestinian reactions to Israel's elections Tuesday were entirely negative, differing mainly in the degree of disapproval. The general view is that the Israeli right won the election and thus it doesn't really matter who becomes prime minister. Neither Likud's Binyamin Netanyahu or Kadima's Tzipi Livni would be able to move toward peace even if he (or she) wants to. The mildest reactions came from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in the West Bank. Al Arabiya reports:
President Mahmoud Abbas said whatever the next Israeli cabinet is, it would be obliged to continue peace talks and meet international obligations. "The ascent of the Israeli right does not worry us," he told Italy's La Repubblica newspaper.His Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told reporters Israel must meet international obligations. "We imagine that the expectations of the international community (toward Israel) will be the same as ours," he said.
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Israeli Election Math Favors Netanyahu
Tweet Share on Facebook February 9, 2009 Comment (10)By Larry Derfner, Mideast Watch
Dominating the news is tomorrow's Israeli elections. While former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party has lost much support lately to the far-right, blatantly anti-Arab Yisrael Beitenu (Israel Our Home) party, leaving Likud with a very slim margin over the centrist Kadima (Forward) party, Netanyahu is still expected to become Israel's next premier. The daily Ha'aretz newspaper explains:
Even if Kadima gets one or two more seats in the Knesset than Likud, Netanyahu, together with other right-wing and ultra-Orthodox parties, will be substantially larger than the center-left bloc. And even if Yisrael Beitenu leader Avigdor Lieberman joins Kadima leader Tzipi Livni, she needs another right-wing party to form a government, because Meretz and the Arab parties won't support a government which includes Lieberman.
Livni's bloc, which today stands at about 52 or 53 seats, would lose 12 or 13 spots the moment she goes with Lieberman. And Lieberman, before he recommends that the president tap Livni to form a government, will have to think long and hard if she is capable of forming a stable coalition; otherwise he will commit suicide twice, by supporting her against the will of most of his voters and again if her attempt to form a government fails.
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Turkish Leader Tries to Calm Western Fears After Davos Dust-up With Israeli President
Tweet Share on Facebook February 6, 2009 Comment (3)By Larry Derfner, Mideast Watch
Turkish Prime Minister Recip Tayyip Erdogan's recent irate walkout on Israeli President Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, still dominates Turkish news. In the wake of the spat, the Islamist-led government is trying to calm Western fears that Erdogan's display signals a turn away from the United States, Europe, and Israel in favor of a closer alliance with Iran. Saban Calis, a Turkish professor of international relations and supporter of Erdogan, puts a happy face on the prime minister's gesture in Today's Zaman newspaper:
Surely the prime minister's attitude was against Peres' speech and style. Therefore, it was aimed at the rulers of Israel. This attitude will push Israel to become more eager to achieve peace. But it will also send a message to Hamas calling for a more lenient approach vis-à-vis the problem; this shows that Turkey's policy and attitude will actually contribute to the achievement of a viable solution. It will be fair to argue that the recent policy will enhance Turkey's ties with the US, the EU and the West. The prime minister's discourse and attitude will be welcomed by EU leaders as well as newly elected US President Barack Obama.
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Landslide Win for Iraq's Maliki in Elections
Tweet Share on Facebook February 5, 2009 Comment (1)By Larry Derfner, Mideast Watch
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's bloc has won a landslide victory in elections in Iraq's two largest cities, Baghdad and Basra, in countrywide provincial elections. The Dubai-based satellite TV station Al Arabiya reports:
Maliki's win is likely to give him a major boost ahead of a parliamentary election at the end of the year.
The election for regional councils that name powerful governors in 14 of 18 provinces was Iraq's first vote since 2005 and the most peaceful in the war-battered country since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
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Gaza War May Be Over, but So Is Israeli Political Unity
Tweet Share on Facebook February 2, 2009 Comment (7)By Larry Derfner, Mideast Watch
With Israeli elections coming up February 10, right-wing Likud leader Binyamin Netanyahu remains the favorite, with centrists Tzipi Livni of Kadima and Ehud Barak of Labor battling for second. Netanyahu, being dogged by parties to his right, is playing the nationalist card, as the Jerusalem Post reports:
"We did not return to Jerusalem after praying for it to be rebuilt for 2000 years in order to give it up," Netanyahu told a throng of reporters from around the world at the City of David. "We did not unite the city in order to divide it, and my government will maintain a united Jerusalem. A sane country does not give its capital to its enemies."