You are right about the past. Labor governments encouraged settlements as much as Likud. But the new political map forces Labor to be the party that will bring peace, obviously with Livni`s Kadima.
I put easily my hopes in a clever and fair diplomatic initiative by the Obama government that will develop a formula that both Israel and the Arabs will have to swallow although with a great deal of nausea. It will include evacuation of settlements and ironclad guarantees by the Quartet and moderate Arab states of security for Israel. To Israel`s dismay it will bring Hamas into the game (as there cannot be any meaningful agreement without Hamas), and to the Arabs` dismay it will reduce the refugee issue to a meaningless apology and a compensation formula for the actual refugees and their direct heirs. |
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