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Election Fever Builds in Israel; Positioning and Sparring Intensifies Against Large Netanyahu Lead
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Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu makes it official on Sunday that elections will be held on September 4. Netanyahu’s speech before his Likud party’s convention will confirm what Israelis already know and further intensify the posturing and sparring that has been rife for a week. With polls predicting Netanyahu’s Likud party will emerge even stronger than at present, speculation is keen about what his coalition will look like next time around, in particular whether he will trade some of his traditional hard-right-wing support for center-left coalition partners that could open the door to representation by a broader cross-section of Israel’s political landscape than the nation has seen in years. The Labor party, which for years was the leading political power but imploded in recent years, is seen as having the potential to increase its strength from its current faction of 8 parliamentary seats (out of 120) to about 18 (compared to Likud’s predicted strength of 30). Labor’s gain will doubtless come at Kadima’s expense. Polling indicates that the rapid decline of the party Ariel Sharon created as his new home after abandoning his life-long affiliation with Likud will not be abated by the replacement of Tzipi Livni with Shaul Mofaz, whose successful ouster of Livni has left even his own Kadima members unmoved. For his part, after finding no resonance with his attacks on Netanyahu or in his characterization of the race as a head-to-head affair between himself and Netanyahu, Mofaz his taken to attacking the head of the Labor party, accusing her of “orchestrating an assault” on Kadima with Likud. Despite strong polling for first-timer Yair Lapid, a media-personality-turned politician, skeptics are becoming more vocal as more details of his new party and his authoritarian control of it are revealed.
Hundreds of Demonstrators Arrested in Cairo; One Dead, Hundreds Injured
One soldier died and at least 300 were wounded in protests outside the Egyptian Defense Ministry over the weekend and forces of the ruling military council arrested an estimated 300 Egyptians. A curfew was imposed on Saturday night and troops were deployed to restore peace. Protestors were demanding that the council, which has been in control since Hosni Mubarak was ousted, step aside immediately and hand over power to civilian control despite the fact that elections are already set for May 23. The current round of unrest came after the council invalidated the candidacies of at least 10 would-be presidential contenders, provoked by followers of an Islamist who was disqualified. Those arrested on Friday face military trials, removing them from the civilian authorities. Hundreds of injuries among protestors were reported on Friday, many resulting from gun fire, rocks and tear gas. Saudi Arabia has returned its ambassador to Egypt, one week after recalling him in protest of loud demonstrations that were held outside the Saudi embassy in Cairo. A delegation of Egyptians number in excess of 100 visited King Abdullah on Friday in an apparently successful attempt to restore good feelings between the two nations.
Abbas Bow to Pressure and Reverses Internet Censorship Order
Bowing to intense domestic and international pressure following the revelation by the Ma’an news agency that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had ordered the leading telecommunications company to interfere with customers’ access to a number of websites critical of Abbas’ rule, Abbas issued a new order on Saturday reversing the order. At a news conference, Abbas said, “From this point forward, the attorney general and judiciary are prohibited from shutting down or blocking websites, and they are instructed to lift any existing bans.” The attorney general was instructed to alert Internet providers to the fact that they are no longer required to block websites. The Ma’an revelations triggered public criticism from leading Palestinian figures including Hanan Ashwari and from international rights groups including the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Fighting Escalates to Eastern Syrian Oil-Producing Province
Warfare between the Syrian forces of Bashar Al-Asad and the Free Syrian Army spread to a key oil-producing province along the eastern border with Iraq on Saturday night. Opposition sources reported attacks by the Al-Asad forces and counter-attacks by rebels armed with rocket-propelled grenades. The Reuters news agency is reporting the presence of tanks on main access roads in the town of Deir Al-Zour, on the Euphrates River.
Palestinian Hunger Strike Vexing to Israeli Security Officials
The growing hunger strike by hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners being held by Israel is proving difficult at best for Israeli officials. Palestinian sources now place the number of participating strikers at 1,500. The tactic has already succeeded in garnering international admonitions critical of Israel’s handling of the situation which grew exponentially after a deal was cut with the first hunger striker. Support for the hunger-strikers is growing rapidly on the streets of the West Bank where 300 rallied in their support in Ramallah on Thursday. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is threatening to take the matter to the United Nations while the head of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization is threatening violence in revenge if any strikers die. Yet, some Palestinians see the outpouring as small and question whether the tactic will succeed. For the Israelis, the primary concern is that a precedent not be set whereby someone arrested on security issues begins a hunger strike as a way of buying his or her freedom. The Palestinians insist that the target of the protest is the ability of Israel to hold prisoners under administrative detention without charging them with a crime. Two members of Islamic Jihad were released by Israel after fasts lasting 66- and 43- days, respectively.
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