Tags:
Journalism of Courage
Israeli politicians and pundits will be busy in the coming days working out what Ehud Olmert8217;s coalition government will look like. It is clear that the brand-new Kadima party he leads will team up with Labour under Amir Peretz, but less obvious who else will join them to make up a working majority in the Knesset. The decimation of Likud and the humiliation of Binyamin Netanyahu signal a welcome defeat for the bankrupt ideology of 8220;Greater Israel.8221; For Palestinians and for others, in the Middle East and beyond, the central issue remains how this small earthquake in Israel can help resolve a bloody and intractable conflict.
The disappointingly poor outcome for Kadima still means that a majority of Israelis have voted for further withdrawals from the occupied West Bank, following Ariel Sharon8217;s 8220;disengagement8221; from the Gaza Strip last summer, with or without agreement with the Palestinians. Mr Olmert plans unilaterally to remove the Jewish outposts that lie beyond the 8220;security barrier8221; that shuts off the West Bank. His victory means that enough Israelis have understood that they have to disentangle themselves from the Palestinians 8211; almost 40 years after the 1967 war8230;
This is an excerpt from 8216;The Guardian8217; leader of March 30
