\"Not a regular upset - it was a knockout upset.\" So described Israel Television anchorman Chaim Yavin the results of Ariel Sharon\'s landslide election victory last night. At the time of the announcement, it was thought that Sharon had won by 19% - but the true dimensions of the crushing victory became clear only towards the morning hours: After 99.9% of the precincts were counted, Sharon had received 62.6% of the vote, and Prime Minister Barak only 37.4%.
Excuses and explanations from the left-wing camp were quick to come. First on the list was, as Labor MK Collette Avital mentioned to Arutz-7 today, the low turnout - just under 60%, the lowest in Israeli election history. Observers noted, however, that this was partly due to the limited nature of the election - only for Prime Minister and not for the Knesset parties - and to the fact that Sharon\'s victory was easily foreseen. Even more significant was the fact that only 1/4 of the Arab sector - which comprises 12.3% of the population - turned out to vote; this was a show of anger at Ehud Barak, for whom it otherwise would have overwhelmingly voted. Among the Jewish population, therefore, the turnout hovered around the 70% mark.
Shimon Peres blamed what he called the \"stupid left-wing,\" ostensibly for not having fielded him as its candidate instead of Barak. Others on the left, such as Meretz leader MK Yossi Sarid, blamed Peres himself for not having backed out of the race earlier and more unambiguously. Some Labor party seniors, such as Interior Minister Chaim Ramon, blamed Ehud Barak - for not having consulted with his peers and for other deficiencies. MK Avital said that the election may have been a referendum on the \"policy chosen by Barak\" or, alternatively, on the \"way in which he conducted his policy.\"
Ehud Barak himself, although he assumed personal responsibility for the loss, chose to blame the public: \"[The path that I have chosen vis-a-vis the Palestinians] requires a heart-rending sacrifice, and it could be that the nation is not yet ready for it... On the other side, too [the Palestinians], the required readiness has not yet been exhibited... In a certain sense, we are ahead of our time...\" Chemi Shalev, an Israeli commentator for CNN, said that the Israeli public was fed up with Barak\'s zig-zagging and felt \"humiliated\" at the continuing Palestinian violence.
MK Collette Avital said, \"It\'s hard for me to believe that the nation said \'No\' to peace. Before the current violence started, the public supported the peace process, but changed its mind sharply when the war started. This means to me that the public wants peace, but does not think it can be reached specifically with this partner at this point in time.\" She also tended to shift the focus of blame away from the \"peace process\" to the way in which it was carried out: \"This loss tells me that the public wants to be treated seriously, and that when serious steps are taken, they must not be taken behind closed doors, but must rather be accompanied by a serious information campaign... I don\'t think they said \'No\' to the peace process, but rather to Ehud Barak...\"
Dr. Yossi Olmert, Middle Eastern affairs expert who served as director of Israel\'s Government Press Office under Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir responded, \"With all due respect to Collette Avital, she and her colleagues on the left simply cannot admit the failure of their ideology, which, to put it simply, raises the ideal of peace above Zionism... What the Israeli public said in this landslide victory is that it does not want peace at any price. They do not want peace at the expense of dividing Jerusalem, for instance, but only under certain conditions. This is why I believe that Sharon doesn\'t have to talk so much about peace, because what people are concerned about now is security.\"
Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA seconded this point by noting recent poll statistics. Last month\'s Peace Index Project poll, conducted by the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research at Tel Aviv University, shows that only 27.8% of the population is in favor of the Oslo agreements, while 42.9% are opposed. Asked about Barak\'s negotiations policy with the Palestinians, only 3.4% felt it was \"too hard,\" while 70.4% felt that it was \"too conciliatory;\" the same number felt that the reason why the Palestinians did not sign a peace agreement with Barak is because \"they are trying to get more concessions.\"
Excuses and explanations from the left-wing camp were quick to come. First on the list was, as Labor MK Collette Avital mentioned to Arutz-7 today, the low turnout - just under 60%, the lowest in Israeli election history. Observers noted, however, that this was partly due to the limited nature of the election - only for Prime Minister and not for the Knesset parties - and to the fact that Sharon\'s victory was easily foreseen. Even more significant was the fact that only 1/4 of the Arab sector - which comprises 12.3% of the population - turned out to vote; this was a show of anger at Ehud Barak, for whom it otherwise would have overwhelmingly voted. Among the Jewish population, therefore, the turnout hovered around the 70% mark.
Shimon Peres blamed what he called the \"stupid left-wing,\" ostensibly for not having fielded him as its candidate instead of Barak. Others on the left, such as Meretz leader MK Yossi Sarid, blamed Peres himself for not having backed out of the race earlier and more unambiguously. Some Labor party seniors, such as Interior Minister Chaim Ramon, blamed Ehud Barak - for not having consulted with his peers and for other deficiencies. MK Avital said that the election may have been a referendum on the \"policy chosen by Barak\" or, alternatively, on the \"way in which he conducted his policy.\"
Ehud Barak himself, although he assumed personal responsibility for the loss, chose to blame the public: \"[The path that I have chosen vis-a-vis the Palestinians] requires a heart-rending sacrifice, and it could be that the nation is not yet ready for it... On the other side, too [the Palestinians], the required readiness has not yet been exhibited... In a certain sense, we are ahead of our time...\" Chemi Shalev, an Israeli commentator for CNN, said that the Israeli public was fed up with Barak\'s zig-zagging and felt \"humiliated\" at the continuing Palestinian violence.
MK Collette Avital said, \"It\'s hard for me to believe that the nation said \'No\' to peace. Before the current violence started, the public supported the peace process, but changed its mind sharply when the war started. This means to me that the public wants peace, but does not think it can be reached specifically with this partner at this point in time.\" She also tended to shift the focus of blame away from the \"peace process\" to the way in which it was carried out: \"This loss tells me that the public wants to be treated seriously, and that when serious steps are taken, they must not be taken behind closed doors, but must rather be accompanied by a serious information campaign... I don\'t think they said \'No\' to the peace process, but rather to Ehud Barak...\"
Dr. Yossi Olmert, Middle Eastern affairs expert who served as director of Israel\'s Government Press Office under Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir responded, \"With all due respect to Collette Avital, she and her colleagues on the left simply cannot admit the failure of their ideology, which, to put it simply, raises the ideal of peace above Zionism... What the Israeli public said in this landslide victory is that it does not want peace at any price. They do not want peace at the expense of dividing Jerusalem, for instance, but only under certain conditions. This is why I believe that Sharon doesn\'t have to talk so much about peace, because what people are concerned about now is security.\"
Dr. Aaron Lerner of IMRA seconded this point by noting recent poll statistics. Last month\'s Peace Index Project poll, conducted by the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research at Tel Aviv University, shows that only 27.8% of the population is in favor of the Oslo agreements, while 42.9% are opposed. Asked about Barak\'s negotiations policy with the Palestinians, only 3.4% felt it was \"too hard,\" while 70.4% felt that it was \"too conciliatory;\" the same number felt that the reason why the Palestinians did not sign a peace agreement with Barak is because \"they are trying to get more concessions.\"