Palestinians disappointed with Israeli election results

This story originally appeared at The Media Line.

Palestinians throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are unhappy about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dramatic win in the Israeli election results favoring the right, as it seems to set back the chances for a two-state solution. Towards the end of his electoral campaign, Netanyahu announced that he would never allow for the creation of a Palestinian state.

While discontent seems to be the general response to the re-election of Netanyahu, many Palestinians said there weren’t any real differences among Israeli political parties.

“We will continue to deal with any Israeli government that is committed to international resolutions,” Palestinian Presidential Spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeineh told The Media Line. “We're not worried about who is Israel's Prime Minister; we want a two-state solution with east Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital, otherwise the peace process does not stand a chance.”

PLO member Ahmad Majdalani said “the Palestinian Authority (PA) will determine its policies based on the next Israeli government's commitment to the peace process.”

Some Palestinians said that one bright spot was the success of the Arab List, a union of four Arab parties that won 14 seats in the 120 seat parliament to become Israel’s third largest party.

“The results show that the Israeli right has become more powerful despite its division, however, the Arab Joint List obtaining 14 seats was surprising,” Rafiq Awad, a professor from Birzeit University told The Media Line

He emphasized that “the far-right can still form a government headed by Netanyahu, who will implement policies and cruelty aimed at the Palestinian people; Netanyahu will not carry out negotiations; instead, he will continue promoting the Judaization of the West Bank.”

The Islamist Hamas movement which controls Gaza, said it does not really matter who is in control in Israel.

“We have never been concerned whether Likud, Labor or any other party in the Zionist entity is in power. We believe that all Zionists are two faces of the same coin,” Hamas leader Ismail Redwan told The Media Line. “Those who counted on endless negotiations to bring forth a solution to the Palestinian question should join the resistance against the occupier. Palestinian national unity is the best response to the electoral results.”

Abdallah Alshami, a key leader of the Islamic Jihad group in Gaza, agreed, saying “we have always dismissed negotiations as the solution to the conflict.”

Others groups, such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), are advocating for joint efforts of both negotiations and “resistance”.

PFLP's Central Committee member Kayed al-Ghoul stated that “there is a need for a national unified strategy. We have to restructure the PLO. We need (Palestinian Authority President) Mahmoud Abbas' approach, but there must be a partnership that combines the different strategies of all Palestinian political parties, including Hamas itself.”

 According to Saleh Naser,a  member of the DFLP, “Arab masses in the Israeli Parliament have given us a lesson in unity, therefore, we need to restore our national integrity, taking into consideration all decisions made by the Palestinian National Council, and reestablish a coalition between Hamas and Fatah.”

Fatah Member of Palestinian Ibrahim Almossadar, called for implementing the unity deal, reached between Hamas and Fatah in April, 2014.

Almosadar stated that “the formation of the PA was based on the peace process and dissolving it will not serve the Palestinian people. We know that Israel is exploiting the internal political split, locally and internationally. Therefore, Abbas must support the internal Palestinian front, reactivate the Palestinian Legislative Council, and form a lobbying Arab task force within the international community, and adopt the popular resistance”.

Gaza-based political analyst, Hani Habib told The Media Line that the new Israeli administration will not make any significant changes.

“This indicates more fundamentalism in the Israeli political spectrum; Palestinians live under a lot of restrictions, however, due to international pressure the new Israeli administration will have to ease our lives. Netanyahu will probably easy some of the pressure, but will continue with his racist policies. The current Israeli siege of Gaza will is likely to continue and negotiations, clouding the possibility of achieving peace.”

Residents of the Strip believe that Israeli political leaders are quite the same concerning their policies on the conflict.

“Over the last 10 years, Israel has made our lives more difficult; they continue to impose a blockade and have launched three major operations against us,” Nour Azizi, 21, told The Media Line. “I personally cannot never count on whoever is elected by the Israelis; Netanyahu, just like (former Prime Ministers) Olmert and Sharon, has waged wars against us.” 

Rafa Mismar contributed reporting from Ramallah.