Arab media: Right will win, peace will lose
Arab world's newspaper believe next Israeli administration 'likely to be country's most extreme government to-date'
"Those who stand to lose the most from the Right's victory in the coming Israeli elections are the Israelis themselves," Lebanon's Annahar newspaper said Wednesday.
As expected, the Israeli elections, which spell a near-certain victory for the political right, are of great interest to the Arab media.
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The majority of the Arab press believes that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will get another term in office, and all are in agreement that his election will perpetuate the stalemate plaguing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
"It is likely that the next Israeli government will be the most radical in the history of the Israeli governments, with Shas and Habayit Hayehudi alongside the Likud, and when religion is used to secure political capital and gains," Egypt's Al-Shorouk newspaper said, in an opinion piece titled "The rise of the Israeli Right."
Public's loss? Lebanon's Annahar
The article went on to state that, "The race is essentially between the interests of the Right and the interests of the radical Right, in lieu of the traditional Right-Left faceoff."
Netanyahu, the article continued, "Has never made the peace process with the Arabs his top priority and in his two terms in office he has done everything within his power to undermine the prospect."
London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat stated that "There will be no peace with the next (Israeli) government"; adding that the only real difference between the Left and the Right in Israel was that "The Left looks better on the outside."
"They have the same policy. But the Left sugar-coats it and is able to deceive many outside Israel."
Jordan's Watan News attempted to analyze the "Political delusion in Israel," saying that Netanyahu is promoting the image of a self-confident PM – but that is not necessarily grounded in reality.
Sugar-coating the truth? Al-Hayat
"Israel is currently dealing with several internal and regional issues that threaten its national security; like the Iranian threat, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the fall of the Arab regimes – on top of the emerging Palestinian state, the settlement and the recession."
According to the Jordanian newspaper, the election campaign has neglected to address important issues, "Sufficing instead in slinging mud at each other and beating around the bush.
"Even now, no one – including the leaders themselves – knows where they each stand on the issues."
'Rise of the Right.' Al-Shorouk
The paper further recommends that the Arab nations "take advantage of the negative changes in Israel and capitalize off the political-diplomatic horizon that is unfolding."
Lebanon's Annahar predicted that "The Israeli public will pay for the Right's victory in the election – it will be forced to capitulate to the zealotry and radicalism promoted by it.
"The Palestinians, however, will be made to pay for the Right's victory with their freedom and their right to live with dignity in their own independent state."
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