Date: 29.10.08

And now it's Israel's turn to vote in a new parliament. What is good for the goose is good for the gander.

The results of the elections in Israel and America are bound to affect the Middle East and, hopefully, the new leaders of the two countries will bring good tidings for traumatised Arabs and Israelis.

The Israeli election was precipitated by the failure of premier-designate, Tzipi Livni to form a new coalition government. As the outgoing foreign minister, Livni was chosen by her party in a primary election last month to take over from corruption- tainted incumbent prime minister Ehud Olmert who, as a result of Livni's failure, will continue to serve in that position probably as late as March, if not April, when a new government will be installed.

To her credit, Livni exposed the conditions outlined by the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, which controls only 12 seats in the Knesset (parliament), to join her government.

The party demanded more government assistance for its constituents as well as a pledge from Livni that she would not make any concessions on the future of occupied Jerusalem. The Palestinians want to return to the Israeli-occupied Old City as mandated by UN resolutions.

Tough call

Reacting indignantly to Shas's "unreasonable economic and political demands", she gave up her attempt to form a government and opted for a general election.

"Anyone willing to sell their principles for the prime minister's chair does not deserve to sit in it," she said.

What is strange about all of this is that the Shas party, recognised as "a crucial kingmaker in Israeli governing coalitions", has been a member of the still-functioning Olmert government which, in turn, has been negotiating for a Palestinian-Israeli settlement since it pledged to do so at the Annapolis conference last November.

The other side of Livni's coin is not promising. She has been holding talks with her Palestinian counterpart, Ahmad Qurei, for almost a year.

In this context, Akiva Eldar, a columnist for the Haaretz, observed that Livni "has not achieved significant progress toward understandings on any of the issues". In fact, he added, "she has not presented a map delineating borders, has declared that no refugee will be allowed to return to Israel, and has avoided serious discussion of Jerusalem."

A serious competitor to Livni in the upcoming Israeli election is Benjamin Netanyahu, the hawkish leader of the Likud Party, who has declared his unwillingness to share occupied Jerusalem with the Palestinians and reintegrate the Palestinian refugees who had left their homeland. Netanyahu, who was until this week a front-runner in the race for the premiership, is also on record as refusing to give up the occupied Golan Heights or major areas within the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

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George Hishmeh is a Washington-based columnist.