Israeli Elections | The American Task Force on Palestine

News Analysis: Will Netanyahu's shaky coalition affect Israel's foreign policies?
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Xinhua
by Ronen Medzini - (Analysis) February 24, 2012 - 1:00am

JERUSALEM, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- A stormy political week in Israel may advance elections, originally scheduled for October 2013 to this year, and possibly impact crucial decisions on Iran's nuclear program and negotiations with the Palestinians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's week of sorrows started on Sunday, with the forced resignation of his bureau chief and closest personal adviser, Natan Eshel, who signed a plea admitting to "unbecoming conduct" after harassing a female co-worker.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Re-Elected Likud Party Chairman
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Batsheva Sobelman - January 31, 2012 - 1:00am

REPORTING FROM JERUSALEM -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was re-elected chairman of the ruling conservative Likud Party in a primary election Tuesday. The move secures Netanyahu's position as the party's candidate for the premiership in Israel's next general elections. Netanyahu defeated the only other candidate, Moshe Feiglin, by a wide margin. Feiglin heads the hawkish, ultra-national "Jewish leadership" stream of Likud and has challenged party leadership several times.

Hard Questions, Tough Answer with Yossi Alpher – January 30, 2012
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Americans For Peace Now
(Interview) January 30, 2012 - 1:00am

Alpher discusses the Israeli-Palestinian pre-negotiation talks in Amman, interim conclusions from the "Arab spring" one year after the outbreak of the revolution in Egypt and the meaning of the 2009 survey just published on Israeli attitudes towards religiosity. Q. The Israeli-Palestinian pre-negotiation talks in Amman adjourned after a meeting last Thursday without agreement to continue. What have we learned?

Election fever grips Israel as Netanyahu maneuver expected
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Los Angeles Times
by Edmund Sanders - January 29, 2012 - 1:00am

Reporting from Jerusalem— Israel's current coalition government is one of its most stable in decades, and the next scheduled national poll is nearly two years off. Yet election fever has gripped the country and some believe Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is quietly preparing to call for an early vote, perhaps in the middle of this year. The two biggest political parties — Netanyahu's conservative Likud and its main rival, the centrist Kadima — recently announced that they would hold primaries to select leaders whose names would be on the next election ballot.

Inside Out: Veering towards the center
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Jonathan Rosen - (Opinion) January 25, 2012 - 1:00am

Despite the fact that no formal announcement has been made, the prevalent assessment in political corridors is that a general election in Israel will be held by October 2012. The primaries that have been scheduled by the Likud and Kadima, as well as Yair Lapid’s decision to enter the political arena, have contributed to that sense of momentum. Figures from within the Prime Minister’s Office, moreover, reportedly shared with journalists a number of weeks ago that Netanyahu would prefer to seek reelection before a second-term Barack Obama was potentially seated in the White House.

Likudnik Paranoia
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Time Magazine
by Joe Klein - (Opinion) January 20, 2012 - 1:00am

Uh-oh, there’s another wave of attacks–both here and in Israel–on those of us who support Israel, but not in the mindless, aggressive way that neoconservatives do and not at the expense of America’s national interests. Over there, Bibi Netanyahu has proclaimed the New York Times and Haaretz the “biggest” enemies of Israel.

Hardliners See Opportunity to Create a ‘Greater Israel’
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News
by Patrick Seale - (Opinion) January 13, 2012 - 1:00am

This past year has dealt a heavy blow — perhaps even a terminal one — to the project, long supported by the international community, of resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on the basis of two states. When the United States itself proved unable to halt Israel’s relentless land grab, it seemed that nothing and nobody could rein in Israel’s iron-willed ambition to expand its borders towards a ‘Greater Israel.’

Reality Check: All signs point to early elections
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The Jerusalem Post
by Jeff Barak - (Opinion) January 8, 2012 - 1:00am

Despite his proud boast that the current government is the most stable in Israel’s history, there’s no avoiding the impression that Prime Minister Netanyahu is starting to gear up for early elections. The first hint came with his surprise decision to move up the date for the Likud leadership elections to the end of this month. With general elections not scheduled until October 2013, why the hurry for new leadership elections, which traditionally are held during the six months or so before polling day?

The state of Israel: Internal influence driving change
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News
by Tim Franks - (Analysis) November 5, 2011 - 12:00am

The view, as our plane banked, was familiar: the sea, the sand, the skyscrapers of the Tel Aviv coastline. It was my first return to Israel since the end of my posting as Middle East correspondent, 18 months before. What I wanted to discover was how far that familiar picture had changed. After all, there was the same right-leaning government, the same absence of peace talks with the Palestinians. But all around, the region had transformed, as the winds of the Arab Spring had blown. Was Israel's apparent quiescence all that it seemed?

Palestinians should vote in Jerusalem elections
ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz
by Avraham Burg - (Opinion) October 13, 2011 - 12:00am

It was depressing to see American President Barack Obama's weak appearance at the United Nations. It was depressing to see this talented man, who brought such great hope to the world, presenting the pitiable position of a feeble empire. It was embarrassing to see him defending positions and people whom only a few months earlier he had attacked with fury. His obsequiousness is shameful, and this weakness is a real danger to the world. Therefore anyone who wants peace cannot make do merely with accusing Obama. One cannot allow his desperation to have veto power over our hope.

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