A Battle of Interpretation: The Last Campaign in the Israeli Election

The Israeli election has been interpreted in very different ways by outside observers who know little about our political life and by our own experts who command a first-hand knowledge of Israeli society.

To most outsiders, the primary significance of the election is that for the first time in Israeli history a party believing in “the integrity of the Land of Israel” (meaning, in practice, trying to keep the West Bank and the Gaza Strip) has taken power Its platform opposes any settlement with the Palestinians, or even the Jordanians, that would provide for the return of these occupied areas. These observers see the major question as whether it is now possible to continue negotiations between Israel and the Arabs on th...