Home About Chat Users Issues Party Candidates Polling Firms Media News Polls Calendar Key Races United States President Senate House Governors International

New User Account
"A comprehensive, collaborative elections resource." 
Email: Password:

  Tiring of moderates, many Israelis prefer 'iron fist'
NEWS DETAILS
Parent(s) Container 
ContributorArmyDem 
Last EditedArmyDem  Feb 07, 2009 10:59am
Logged 0
CategoryNews
News DateFriday, February 6, 2009 04:00:00 PM UTC0:0
DescriptionBy Cliff Churgin | McClatchy Newspapers

ASHKELON, Israel — Three years ago, Sagiv Plio decided to shelve his long-standing support for Israel's hawkish Likud Party and give the country's new centrist Kadima Party a chance to run things.

However, after watching Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert struggle for three years to handle serious challenges from militant Hamas and Hezbollah forces, the Ashkelon event planner has had enough.

Hours after Gaza militants fired another rocket at his hometown of Ashkelon earlier this week, Plio said that Olmert and his allies had failed to live up to expectations.

Backed by voters such as Plio, Ashkelon was a Likud stronghold that voted for Kadima in 2006. After Israel's latest military operation in Gaza failed to halt Palestinian rocket attacks, however, angry voters are ready to move to the right, and in many cases the far right.

That's bad news for the Obama administration's high-priority effort to revive peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, because the far-right parties oppose any concessions on key issues such as control of Jerusalem and the right of Jews to settle in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, between Israel and Jordan.
Share
ArticleRead Full Article

NEWS
Date Category Headline Article Contributor

DISCUSSION