WHAT'S LEFT OF THE LEFT IN ISRAEL? THE SHADOW OF THE FEBRUARY 2009 NATIONAL ELECTION

Abstract

The February 2009 elections mark a water-shed in Israeli politics and highlight an increasingly rightward drift in Israeli politics: Labour had its worst ever result. The violent intifada shattered belief that negotiations with the Palestinians could ever be successful and the security barrier seemed increasingly necessary if Israel was to remain both Jewish and democratic. The coalition government constructed by Binyamin Netanyahu was carefully balanced and looks durable, the more so as, somewhat surprisingly, it includes Labour and Barak as defence minister. Kadima could face some hard days in opposition unless Netanyahu falls out with Washington, or the coalition collapses.

Notes

Shai Feldman and Heda Rechnitz-Kijner, Deception, Consensus and War: Israel in Lebanon. Tel Aviv: Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, 1984, p.64.

Gideon Levy, “Does Zionism Legitimate Every Act of Violence?”. Ha'aretz (in Hebrew), February 12, 2009.

On Israel's economic transformation see Sharmila Devi, “Business as Usual”. Financial Times Magazine, April 14/15, 2007. Devi makes the point that much of Israel's hi-tech industries are the direct result of spin offs from the IDF who have always regarded the maintenance of a technological edge over Arab armies as crucial to offsetting the obvious demographic asymmetries faced by Israel.

Gershon Shafir and Yoav Peled, “Citizenship and Stratification in an Ethnic Democracy”. Ethnic and Racial Studies Vol. 21. Issue 3 (1998): 408–427.

The figures given are for the period September 2000 to January 2005. See Ian MacKinnon, “Quiet man of Palestine prepares to step out of Arafat's shadow”. The Times (London), January 8, 2005. In addition 28,399 Palestinians and 6966 Israelis were wounded.

On these competing narratives see Benny Morris and Ehud Barak, “Camp David and After: An Exchange”. The New York Review of Books Vol. XLIX. Issue 10 (2002): 42–45. Robert Malley and Hussein Agha, “A Reply to Ehud Barak”. The New York Review of Books Vol. XLIX Issue 10 (2002): 46–48.

Ari Shavit, “The Enemy Within”. Ha'aretz (in English), August 30, 2002.

See Jonathan Rynhold, “Israel's Fence: Can separation make better neighbours?”. Survival Vol. 46. Issue 1 (2004): 59–61.

N. Morag, “Measuring Success in Coping with Terrorism: The Israeli Case”. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism Vol. 28. Issue 4 (2005): 310.

Arnon Soffer, Israel, Demography 2000–2020: Dangers and Opportunities. Haifa: National Security Studies Centre/University of Haifa, 2001, p.21.

These figures are provided by the Israeli Human Rights organisation B'Tselem. See http://www.b'tselem.org/english/Separation_Barrier/Statistics.asp

Baruch Kimmerling, “The Fence will Never be a Border”. Ha'aretz (in Hebrew), January 23, 2006.

Avirama Golan, “Getting over 1977”. Ha'aretz (in Hebrew), February 11, 2009.

Clive Jones, “The Writing on the Wall: Israel, the Security Barrier and the Future of Zionism”. Mediterranean Politics Vol. 41. Issue 1 (2009): 11–17.

See for example Uri Bar-Joseph, “A Bull in a China Shop: Netanyahu and Israel's Intelligence Community”. International Journal of Intelligence and Counter Intelligence Vol.11. Issue 2 (1998), 162.

Rory McCarthy, “Profile: Avigdor Lieberman”. The Guardian, August 3, 2009.

“Behind Netanyahu's Government”, British Israel Communication and Research Centre Focus, at http://www.bicom.org.uk/context/research-and-analysis/israeli-affairs/bicom-focus-behind-netanyahu-s-government

Daniel Gutwein, “Break up Labour”. Ha'aretz ( in Hebrew), March 25, 2009; Ze'ev Sternhell, “Why are there no more worthy Zionists”. Ha'aretz (in English) April 3, 2009.

James Hider, “Ehud Barak leads Labour into Coalition to Tame the Israeli Hawks”. The Times (London), March 25, 2009.

The Guardian, 3 August, 2009.

“Will the Relationship Change? Yes it Can”. The Economist, February 14, 2009. pp. 29–32.

Julian Borger and Ewen MacAskill, “White House takes on two Intractable Problems in one Massive Gamble”. The Guardian, August 26, 2009.

‘Binyamin Netanyahu, “Full Text of Speech on Palestinian State”. Ha'aretz (in Hebrew), June 14, 2009.

Chaim Levinson, “New Settlement Permits aren't Really New”. Ha'aretz (in English), September 8, 2009.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Clive Jones

Clive Jones is Professor of Middle East Studies and International Politics and Head of School in the School of Politics and International Studies (POLIS), University of Leeds, UK. His books include Britain and the Yemen Civil War (2004), Soviet Jewish Aliyah 1989–92 (1996) with Emma Murphy, Israel: Challenges to Democracy, Identity and the State (2002). He is co-editor with Ami Pedahzur of The al-Aqsa Intifada: Between Terrorism and Civil War (2005). His latest volume, Israel and the Hizb'allah: An Asymmetric Conflict in Comparative perspective was published in November 2009.