Word: baraker
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...fact, there are many reasons Israelis voted for Sharon, but a resurgence of the national will-to-fight is not one of them. If anything, it was the violence brought on by Barak's policies that elected Sharon, whose toughness Israelis hope will bring some measure of deterrence and security. Israel is not ready to give up on peace and mobilize for war, in part because most Israelis realize that the current situation is far too complex for the kind of heady nationalism that unified the country in common struggle in its first 30 years after independence...
...such a mobilization seems to be the goal of the chorus of commentators calling on Barak's left-wing Labor party to join Sharon's Likud in a "national unity" government. In a time of crisis, they argue, it is better for Jews to stand together to face their enemies. There is no room for political opposition in a time...
...attention away from challenges and issues--including the secular-religious divide and the socioeconomic status of the Arabs and Jewish immigrants--which are the real stumbling blocks to Israeli national unity. If Sharon executes his campaign pledge to end the single-minded obsession with formal peace talks that characterized Barak's government, a policy which would obviate the need for a unity government, then perhaps some of these pressing domestic issues can finally be addressed...
...Tuesday, Feb. 6, Israel held elections for its 12th prime minister, a man who will play the lead role in developing and implementing Israeli foreign policy. The election results revealed that Ariel Sharon, who won by a 20 percent margin over incumbent Ehud Barak, will be the new face of Israel...
Some have explained this landslide victory by citing the large numbers of Israelis who voted for neither candidate by staying home, unwilling to support the hardline Sharon and yet disappointed in Barak who, the story goes, conceded too much to the Palestinians, which sparked the recent violence. For those Israelis who did turn out to vote, however, it appears that they no longer believe that they can achieve peace by making the concessions Barak planned to make, since that would sacrifice the essential character of the Jewish state. That is, if they were to allow Palestinians the right of return...