Quote:
Originally Posted by Manhattanboy
I was just going to make the same point.
Both Israelis and Palestinians deserve major structural changes to their democracies.
Israel has had what five elections in three years? The PR system is unworkable and fringe parties with extreme agendas wind up with far too much power. Years ago when Likud and Labor had a national unity government there were serious discussions about constitutional amendments to change the system to more of a first past the post similar to ours but unfortunately those changes were not adopted.
As for Palestine, they need to free themselves from Hamas (Iran).
The real worry for Israel of course is the tens of thousands of more sophisticated missiles stockpiled in Lebanon in the hands of Hezbollah (Iran).
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It would take a major shift in the Palestinian cause to free themselves of Hamas. In the last election Hamas won 73 of 132 seats, with the next closest party, Fatah, only getting 43 seats.
A weak ago Abbas was delaying elections, most certainly out of fear that Hamas would have another major victory.
Meanwhile, in Israel, the hard right gains more support everyday as the ultra-orthodox have more children. The Haredi currently make up about 12% of the Israeli population. But in 40 years, that number is estimated to jump to 1/3.
The most hardline major Haredi political party is Shas. They represent the non-Ashkenazi Jewish Haredi movement. Shas is now the 3rd biggest political party in Israel. Unlike Ashkenazi movements, the Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews - who are almost exclusively refugees from Muslim and Arab countries - have a lot less sympathy for the Palestinian movement. Many spent centuries living as Dhimmi, being forced into daily humiliations, like wearing ridiculous hats in public, only to end up being violently forced from their lands.
Basically, my point is that the peace process seems to be running out of time, if that time hasn't already passed. If something is going to happen, it needs to happen quickly.