Syria Today | Israel heads for early elections

Israel heads for early elections

The future of the current Syrian-Israeli peace process has been put in doubt following the sudden move by Israeli Prime Minister hopeful Tzipi Livni to hold early elections on October 26.

A date for the next round of peace talks between Syria and Israel was due to be agreed by both sides once Livni, the newly elected leader of Israel’s ruling Kadima party, formed a coalition government. Livni’s inability to form a coalition government, however, is expected to lead to an election in late January or early February next year.

The need for an election comes after Livni failed to win the support of the ultra-orthodox Shas Party. Shas was a crucial ally in former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s coalition. Traditionally, however, it is a political force aligned with the conservative Likud Party which advocates the termination of peace talks with Syria.

Whilst other Israeli MPs can try to form a governing coalition over the next three weeks, political analysts say no other coalition is likely to emerge and Israel will be forced to hold snap elections. Should early elections take place, recent opinion polls say Livni’s Kadima party will face a tough battle against Likud.

Israel announced the postponement of the fifth round of Syrian-Israeli indirect peace talks on September 17, the day Livni replaced Olmert as leader of the ruling Kadima party. On the same day, Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Mu’allem said Damascus would resume indirect peace negotiations whenever the Israeli government is ready.

Having missed the deadline to form a coalition government on October 20, Livni had been granted a 14-day extension, until November 3, by Peres. She had already secured the backing of the left-of-centre Labour party, after promising its leader Ehud Barak the position of top deputy in any government. Barak has been angling for a more dominant role in peace talks with Syria and the Palestinians.

Whilst Livni has previously stated she will follow Olmert’s line and pursue indirect peace talks with Syria, she recently made it clear she will adopt a tougher stance. In an interview with Al-Arabiya television network on September 9, Livni said she has no need to meet with Syrian representatives unless Damascus severs its ties with Iran and stops supporting Hezbollah and Hamas.

In the first Syrian reaction to Livni’s election, editor-in-chief of Syria’s daily Tishreen newspaper Issam Dari expressed confidence that Damascus and Livni could achieve a peace settlement.

“If Livni desires peace, she will achieve it,” he wrote in an editorial on September 20. “Livni is well aware of the demands for peace and she knows that the way to achieve the just peace everyone is yearning for is by returning the occupied Arab land to its rightful owners.”