Passions in Israel are Heating Up

• 03.12.2015, 19:12
•  Near East,  World

On the eve of the Presidential elections in Israel passions are heating up. Day by day the ruling Likud party is losing its chances to receive the majority of the votes. According to the latest poll, as the Haaretz reports, the Zionist Union, center-left Israeli party, is ahead of the ruling Likud part - Zionist Union pulls 24 Knesset seats, while Likud is down to 21.

Even the former president Shimon Peres expressed his support for the Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog to become the next Prime Minister of Israel. As the Jerusalem Post reports, Peres declared that it is a long time he knows Herzog and called him "a cool-headed leader who has maintained his honesty and is full of responsibility and dedication to the Israeli public." Peres expressed confidence that if Herzog becomes the Prime Minister he will be able to unite the Israeli society.

The current Prime Minister of Israel, as expected, has quite a different opinion. According to him, if Herzog forms the next government, then Israel’s security will be at risk. Netanyahu posited that Herzog will weaken Israeli’s position both on the Iranian and Palestinian fronts. Announcing about this danger, Netanyahu called the Israeli society, those who want to "stop" that, to vote for Likud party.

"Yes, there will be pressures to withdraw to the [pre-]1967 lines and divide Jerusalem. Yes, there will be pressures to relinquish our opposition to the Iranian deal. If the gap between the Likud and Labor is not shrunk, then Buji and Tzipi will be here and, with the support of the Arabs, will capitulate on all fronts," – Jerusalem Post quotes Netanyahu’s words.

The Prime Minister even excluded the possibility that he will form a coalition with Zionist Union.
Likud party also issued a statement referring to Peres support of Zionist Union. In the statement it was said that Peres have the same convictions as Herzog and the former president’s support for him was not of any surprise. "Peres is the architect of the Oslo Accords, he was an ardent supporter of the disengagement (from Gaza), and he supports withdrawing from Judea and Samaria. This is exactly what Buji and Tzipi, as the leaders of a left-wing government supported by the Arab party, would do," – Likud statement reads, the Jerusalem Post reports.

To understand whether Netanhayu’s fears have any ground, one should look at the election platform of the Zionist Union. As Jerusalem Post writes, the part in the platform on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict settlement reads as follows: "The final settlement will be based on preserving the essential security needs of the State of Israel and ending the Arab-Israeli conflict. The arrangement shall be designed with the support of moderate Arab states and the international community, and based on the following principles: demilitarization of the Palestinian state; keeping the West Bank settlement blocs under Israeli sovereignty; strengthening Jerusalem and its status as the eternal capital of Israel; and guaranteeing religious freedom and access to the holy places of all religions while maintaining Israeli sovereignty."

There is no exact indication here, what the exact borders of Israel will be, what particular settlement blocs the party means. Is the Zionist Union going also to keep the Eastern Jerusalem? These are questions, the answers to which cannot be found in the platform. Even the fears of Likud party seem to be groundless as no exact indication on any concession is mentioned in the platform. However, nothing should be excluded as the practice of politics of the world has proved that the election campaign sometimes does not have much in common with intentions and conducted policies…