Navigate to News section

Likud and Islamic Jihad Decry Election Results

Does this mean there can be peace?

by
Adam Chandler
November 07, 2012
Israeli MK Danny Danon(Haaretz)
Israeli MK Danny Danon(Haaretz)

YNet is reporting that following comments made by members of Likud about the American election, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stepped in ordered his fellow Likud ministers to refrain from saying negative things about President Obama. Negative things such as this:

Knesset Member Danny Danon was one of the first to express his disappointment with the election results, saying that Obama cannot be trusted. “The State of Israel will not surrender to Obama. We have no one to rely on but ourselves,” he argued.

Although to be fair, Danny Danon DOES chair the Knesset Committee on Aliyah, so maybe he was just making his sales pitch a little brusquely. A few other ministers made some similar remarks before Bibi put the kibosh on it, instructing them to coordinate all statements about the American election with him. In the context of the upcoming Israeli elections–for which it seems imperative that Netanyahu appear to have a good relationship with the United States–this is a smart move.

President Obama’s re-election also drew censure from the terrorist group Islamic Jihad:

“Nothing will change in Obama’s second term. In fact, I don’t think he will make any positive changes regarding the Palestinian people since his administration is supporting Israel with money and weapons against the Palestinians and Arabs,” said Khaled Al Batsh.

While Al Batsh has not yet been reprimanded for his statement by the Islamic Jihad PR Squad, this unfolding does bring about a potential opening for diplomacy. For starters, both Danon and Al Batsh oppose the two-state solution.

So if mutual disenchantment with President Obama’s re-election exists between Likud and Islamic Jihad, could that be enough common ground to bring about peace between Israelis and Palestinians?

Perhaps this was Obama’s plan all along.

Adam Chandler was previously a staff writer at Tablet. His work has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Atlantic, Slate, Esquire, New York, and elsewhere. He tweets @allmychandler.