Whether Palestinian elections can help or hinder the resumption of talks will depend on the outcome – if the voting actually takes place – and ultimately on Abbas’s posture, or that of his successor.
Palestinian responsibility for and success in acquiring Covid-19 vaccines continues to be ignored. Israel has supplied thousands of vaccines from its supply, while facilitating delivery of the large number of vaccines ordered by the Palestinian Authority.
“If Only Israel (IOI) syndrome,” a term I began using several years ago, is the misguided notion, peddled in the name of Israel's “best interests” by some in the diplomatic, academic, and media worlds, that if only Israel did this or that, peace with the Palestinians would be at hand.
It seemed too good to be true. Finally, here was a story about Israel —the world leader in vaccinating its entire population, in all its rich diversity, against COVID — that the media might present in positive terms.
“Israel’s economic growth depends on the talent and integration of Arabs and haredim. The future of our economy is these groups,” says Danny Gal, CEO of Kav Mashve, a nongovernmental organization that focuses on Arab employment.