The Domestic Politics Of Israeli Peacemaking
The (possible) resumption of direct and high-level talks between Israel and Palestine has generated a wide range of reactions among analysts and pundits. Much of it has been negative, particularly when it comes to presumptions about Israeli intentions. The standard assumption among observers is of a stronger rightwing government, with a couple maybe-centrists here and there, facing off against a weaker leftwing opposition -- a formula that many assume can only mean the continuation of the status quo.
Things may turn out that way, but we simply cannot know at this point. Information is contradictory and incomplete. More importantly, the domestic politics of peacemaking in Israel encompasses multiple considerations among a variety of parties. It is too simplistic to contend that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a rightwing ideologue who is only stalling for time, while Israel's intra- and inter-party struggles and politicians' personal ambitions will exert considerable influence over how committed Israel is to talks.
Of the parties in the government coalition, Likud-Beiteinu is an electoral alliance of Likud and Yisrael Beiteinu. In the past, Likud could be considered a center-right party. Its ideological roots lie in the maximalist priorities of Revisionist Zionism, but by the 2000s it had come to accept (though not formally) that a Palestinian state was probably inevitable; but that for security reasons, rather than historical or biblical, the West Bank and Gaza had to remain under Israeli control.
That changed in the recent Likud primaries, when a number of more moderate individuals were dumped and several hardline annexationists were promoted to higher positions on the electoral slate -- all but guaranteeing them election to the Knesset and a place in government. Among them, Danny Danon has declared, "I will use my strength and influence to convince as many people as I can within the party...that a Palestinian state is bad news for Israel." Tzipi Hotovely wrote last year that "the territories of Judea and Samaria [West Bank] are mostly uninhabited...90% of the territory is empty," which facilitates "the complete application of Israeli law over Judea and Samaria." Ze'ev Elkin believes in a single state between the river and the sea under Israeli sovereignty.
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