Editorials on the Israeli elections are starting to appear in Canada’s daily newspapers. Opinion already ranges from the results being a total disaster for the peace process, to a vote that still reflects a moderate electorate.
The Toronto Star Feb. 12 editorial, “Israel’s decisive tilt to the right”, plays the “bad-for-peace” card to the max: “…there was nothing unclear or indecisive about the collective message the voters delivered. By a big margin, Israelis opted for right-wing government – even if it fans Arab hostility and risks a falling-out with U.S. President Barack Obama over pursuit of a Mideast peace deal.”
The Star followed up on Feb. 13 with “Israel’s Voting System,” Â warning Canadians who favour electoral reform about the problems with Israel’s sytem of proportional representation: “Now comes the next stage in Israeli politics – the backroom horse-trading as the larger parties try to attract support from the smaller ones in order to form a government. Typically, that support is offered in exchange for adoption of a key plank in the smaller party’s platform.
“For Canadians who were shocked by the backroom deal late last year that led to the formation of a ‘coalition’ to supplant the Conservatives in office, this kind of horse-trading is another reason to think twice about bringing proportional representation here.”
In “A new voice in Israel’s politics,”  Feb. 13, the Edmonton Journal cautioned against “judgments based on first appearances …especially so on the matter of the multi-party system.” The editorial did note: “At the risk of oversimplifying, it seems clear that the failure of parties of the left to reduce the implacable, often violent opposition to Israel’s existence is prompting many voters to give other, less compromising approaches a chance.”
The Ottawa Citizen‘s Feb. 13 editorial, “Democracy in action” refuted the “Israel has gone right-wing big time” analysis that dominated media coverage: “Perhaps the most interesting outcome this week is that Israelis did not flock en masse to the security hawks of the right. The centrist Kadima party, at last count, received the most seats. This is surprising because, with Hamas at Israel’s southern border and Hezbollah at the northern one, and Iran around the corner threatening to wipe the Jewish state from the Earth, Israel remains under siege.”
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