Israeli Elections

The Israeli elections are finally upon us. I for one am excited to see how Kadima fares in their first real election test (I don't consider 2006 to have been a real test- they still had that new party smell and were enjoying the Sharon sympathy bump). Tzipi and crew have been trailing the Netanyahu led Likud in polls leading up to the election, though exit polls so far today show a slight Kadima advantage.

The results of this election could make for an interesting twist in the Israeli-Arab peace process: President Obama has shown a healthy amount of interest in the region (Calling all the major players on his first day in office, granting his first interview to an Arabic news outlet, appointing George Mitchell as Special Envoy); Sarkozy has been his hyperactive self in trying to broker cease fires when conflicts erupt, with more or less positive results; Turkey has been eager to show off their clout. The current mess of the Palestinians has to be cleared up, but who would want it to be easy anyhow, right?

The prospect of Netanyahu having another term as Prime Minister intrigues me the most. I can't help but think he's the right person for the job. During his stint as Prime Minister, Netanyahu showed a willingness to engage the Palestinians in serious negotiations (even if Wye River remains un-implemented). His remarkable banking and other economic reforms while Finance Minister lead me to believe he could help Israel weather the global financial crisis.

I seem to want to analogize Netanyahu to Nixon and Reagan. I've heard it said that Nixon was the only man who could have reached out and opened relations with China. He had cut his political teeth on the House Un-American Activities Committee. His time as a Senator was largely one big anti-communism tirade after another. Had a person without Nixon's staunch anti-Communist reputation tried to open relations with China, they would have been attacked as being a pinko sympathizer. But no one could accuse Nixon of such things. Likewise, Reagan was no friend of the "Evil Empire" and he had the arms race to prove it. His reputation left him well suited for warming the relationship between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. A man with a lessor anti-communist track record could not have done it.

Back to Netanyahu, whatever one may think of him, it would be hard to call the man a friend of the Palestinians. Which might leave him ideally placed to advance the peace process. An interesting prospect at least; I'll just have to wait and see how many Israelis agree.